Catalase Takes Part in Rat Liver Mitochondria Oxidative Stress Defense

Highly purified rat liver mitochondria (RLM) when exposed to tert-butylhydroperoxide undergo matrix swelling, membrane potential collapse, and oxidation of glutathione and pyridine nucleotides, all events attributable to the induction of mitochondrial permeability transition. Instead, RLM, if treated with the same or higher amounts of H2O2 or tyramine, are insensitive or only partially sensitive, respectively, to mitochondrial permeability transition. In addition, the block of respiration by antimycin A added to RLM respiring in state 4 conditions, or the addition of H2O2, results in O2 generation, which is blocked by the catalase inhibitors aminotriazole or KCN. In this regard, H2O2 decomposition yields molecular oxygen in a 2:1 stoichiometry, consistent with a catalytic mechanism with a rate constant of 0.0346 s(-1). The rate of H2O2 consumption is not influenced by respiratory substrates, succinate or glutamate-malate, nor by N-ethylmaleimide, suggesting that cytochrome c oxidase and the glutathione-glutathione peroxidase system are not significantly involved in this process. Instead, H2O2 consumption is considerably inhibited by KCN or aminotriazole, indicating activity by a hemoprotein. All these observations are compatible with the presence of endogenous heme-containing catalase with an activity of 825 +/- 15 units, which contributes to mitochondrial protection against endogenous or exogenous H2O2. Mitochondrial catalase in liver most probably represents regulatory control of bioenergetic metabolism, but it may also be proposed for new therapeutic strategies against liver diseases. The constitutive presence of catalase inside mitochondria is demonstrated by several methodological approaches as follows: biochemical fractionating, proteinase K sensitivity, and immunogold electron microscopy on isolated RLM and whole rat liver tissue

Influenza della sterilizzazione su strumenti fabbricati con leghe trattate termicamente

RiassuntoObiettiviDi recente sono stati proposti in endodonzia innovativi processi di produzione di leghe con trattamenti termici. Scopo di questo studio è stato di valutare l'effetto di vari cicli di sterilizzazione in autoclave sulla resistenza alla fatica ciclica di strumenti endodontici rotanti realizzati con leghe nichel-titanio (Ni-Ti) trattate termicamente.Materiali e metodiSono stati selezionati tre gruppi (n=24) di strumenti in Ni-Ti di taglia 04.40 K3, in lega Ni-Ti tradizionale, Vortex, in lega M-Wire e K3 XT prototipi in lega TF. Ogni gruppo è stato poi suddiviso in due sottogruppi (A e B) composti rispettivamente da strumenti non sterilizzati e strumenti sterilizzati in autoclave per 10 cicli a 134°. Tutti i 72 strumenti sono infine stati testati per fatica, valutando il numero di cicli a frattura (NCF). I dati sono stati raccolti e analizzati statisticamente (ANOVA).RisultatiGli strumenti K3 XT hanno mostrato una resistenza alla fatica ciclica significativamente maggiore (p<0,05) rispetto a tutti gli altri strumenti. Inoltre, sono state notate differenze statisticamente significative tra i file K3 XT sterilizzati e non sterilizzati (762 vs 651 NCF), mentre gli altri due tipi di strumento non hanno mostrato differenze rilevanti in seguito ai cicli di sterilizzazione (524 vs 539 K3, 454 vs 480 Vortex).ConclusioniPoiché i K3 e i K3 XT sono identici nel disegno e si differenziano solo per il trattamento termico, si può ipotizzare un'influenza positiva dell'apporto termico, come quello derivante da sterilizzazione in autoclave, in alcune leghe trattate termicamente.SummaryObjectivesRecently, innovative processes of production of alloys with thermal treatment have been proposed in endodontics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of various cycles of autoclave sterilization on cyclic fatigue resistance of rotary endodontic instruments, made of heat-treated nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) alloys.Materials and methodsThree groups (n=24) of Ni-Ti instruments with the same size (04.40) were selected: K3 (traditional Ni-Ti alloy), Vortex (M-Wire alloy) and K3 XT prototype (TF alloy). Each group was then divided into two subgroups comprising respectively non-sterilized instruments and instruments sterilized in an autoclave for 10 cycles at 134°. All 72 instruments were finally tested for fatigue, considering the number of cycles to fracture (NCF). Data were collected and analyzed statistically (ANOVA).ResultsThe instruments K3 XT showed significantly higher resistance to cyclic fatigue than all other instruments. Statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were also noted among the files K3 XT sterilized and unsterilized (762 vs 651 NCF), while the other two types of instrument did not show significant differences as a result of sterilization cycles (524 vs 539 K3, 454 vs 480 Vortex).ConclusionsGiven that K3 and K3 XT are identical in design and differ only in the heat treatment, a positive influence of heat treatment, such as the one caused by autoclaving, can be hypothesized

Bollettino Sismico Italiano: gennaio - aprile 2015

Nel primo quadrimestre 2015 si sono verificati 5 eventi di magnitudo superiore a 4: il 23 gennaio un Mw 4.3 è stato localizzato tra le province di Bologna e Prato, seguito da una sequenza di alcune centinaia di eventi; il 6 febbraio un Mw 4.7 al largo delle Isole Eolie, ad oltre 270 km di profondità; il 28 febbraio un Mw 4.1 nella Piana del Fucino; il 15 aprile un evento di magnitudo Mw 4.3 nel Mar Tirreno, al largo della costa calabra occidentale, ad una profondità di oltre 250 km e il 24 aprile un terremoto di magnitudo ML 4.0 tra le province di Ravenna e Forlì-Cesena,seguito da una sequenza di oltre 80 repliche.Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia e Dipartimento Protezione CivilePublished4IT. Banche dat

Bollettino Sismico Italiano: maggio - agosto 2015

Nel secondo quadrimestre 2015 si sono verificati 7 eventi di magnitudo superiore a 4: il 9 maggio un evento di ML 4.5 è stato localizzato nel basso Tirreno ad una profondità di circa 217 km; l’11 maggio un terremoto di Mw 4.4 nel Mar Ionio a circa 47 km di profondità; il 29 maggio un Mw 4.2 nel Mar Adriatico di fronte a San Benedetto del Tronto; il 2 agosto un evento di magnitudo ML4.0 nel Mar Tirreno, al largo della costa calabra occidentale, ad una profondità di circa 247 km e il 3 agosto un terremoto di magnitudo ML 4.0 tra le province di Cosenza e Catanzaro a sud della Sila, seguito da una sequenza di oltre 80 repliche di piccola magnitudo. L’8 agosto 2015 si è verificato un terremoto di ML 4.1 alle Isole Eolie, ed infine il 29 agosto un evento di Mw 4.0 vicino al confine della Slovenia con il Friuli Venezia Giulia, seguito da una sequenza sismica che è continuata anche dopo il 31 agosto.Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia - Dipartimento di Protezione CivilePublished4IT. Banche dat

Bollettino Sismico Italiano: settembre - dicembre 2015

Nel terzo quadrimestre 2015 si sono verificati 5 terremoti con M>4 nel territorio Italiano. In particolare il 14 ed il 16 ottobre si sono verificati due eventi profondi del basso Tirreno il primo con M=4.2 a 300 km di profondità, il secondo con M=4.4 a circa 250 km di profondità. Due terremoti M4.2 e M4.4 sono avvenuti il 6 dicembre nel Mar Adriatico a nord delle Isole Tremiti. Associati a questi si sono verificati alcuni eventi di magnitudo sopra a 3.5: si è trattata di una vera e propria sequenza sismica durata pochi giorni. L’ultimo evento di magnitudo superiore a 4 si è verificato a NE di Palermo nel basso Tirreno il 20 dicembre con una M=4.2. E’ infine da segnalare un terremoto con M = 4.8 che si è verificato il 1 Novembre in Slovenia, al confine con la Croazia.Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia - Dipartimento di Protezione CivilePublished4IT. Banche dat

Bollettino Sismico Italiano: maggio - agosto 2016

Il 24 agosto 2016 un terremoto di magnitudo 6.0 ha dato inizio ad una sequenza sismica in Italia centrale, che ha generato decine di migliaia di eventi sismici. Per l’analisi e revisione di questa sequenza si rimanda ad un uscita speciale del BSI prevista per fine 2017(S_BSI_CI). In questo quadrimestre e nel successivo gli eventi nella zona della sequenza sono quelli localizzati nella sala di sorveglianza. Solo gli eventi con M>= 3.5, e pochi altri (vedi Marchetti et al. Annals of Geophys. DOI: 10.4401/ag6116) sono stati rivisti dal BSI.Nel secondo quadrimestre 2016 si sono verificati sedici eventi di magnitudo superiore a 4.0 (ML) rivisti dagli analisti del BSI uno vicino alle coste tunisine quindi fuori dal territorio nazionale; l’evento di Mw 4.1 che è avvenuto il 30 maggio in provincia di Terni vicino al Lago di Bolsena (lat=42.7, lon=11.98 ad una profondità di 8 km) e 14 eventi nella zona della sequenza nell’ultima settimana del quadrimestre: il 24 agosto 2016 si è verificato l’evento di magnitudo ML=6.0 (Mw=6.0) che ha iniziato una sequenza sismica per la quale sono stati localizzati decine di migliaia di terremoti e che alla fine di ottobre 2016 ha generato eventi persino più forti (fino a Mw=6.5) della prima scossa.Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia - Dipartimento di Protezione CivilePublished4IT. Banche dat

Human provoked amphibian decline in central Italy and the efficacy of protected areas

Context. Today, more than 32% of amphibian species are threatened and more than 43% face a steep decline in numbers. Most species are being affected simultaneously by multiple stressors and habitat protection is often inadequate to prevent declines. Aims. The main goal of the present research was to understand the consequences of alternative human land use in producing landscape disturbance for amphibians. At the same time, we also evaluated the effect of changing climatic conditions as additional potential drivers of population decline. Another goal was to determine whether and to what extent the existing nature reserves have been effective in protecting species in recent decades. Methods. Weused generalised additive models (GAMs) to investigate the association between the state (stable/decline) of amphibian populations in 55 km cells in central Italy and proxies of different typology of anthropogenic stressors, climatic variables and protection measures. Key results. We found a significant association between anthropogenic landscape modifications and species decline. This negative relationship was revealed with agricultural predictors for the majority of the species, whereas urban fabrics had a slightly smaller impact. We found significant associations between amphibian declines and climatic variation, particularly the increasing number of dry days. Protected areas protected declines of two species only. Conclusions. Our results showed that the status of amphibians in this region warrants greater attention than has been given previously. The detrimental effect of agricultural practices, combined with increasing aridity, makes amphibian populations particularly susceptible to extinction, and the conservation measures applied till now are inadequate for species protection in this region. Implications. Our results should stimulate the implementation of environmental policies that focus not only on the protection of single habitats, but also on ensuring the environmental quality of the surrounding landscapes. Moreover

Sexual dysfunction following surgery for rectal cancer - a clinical and neurophysiological study

Abstract Background Sexual dysfunction following surgery for rectal cancer may be frequent and often severe. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the occurrence of this complication from both a clinical point of view and by means of neurophysiological tests. Methods We studied a group of 57 patients submitted to rectal resection for adenocarcinoma. All the patients underwent neurological, psychological and the following neurophysiological tests: sacral reflex (SR), pudendal somatosensory evoked potentials (PEPs), motor evoked potential (MEPs) and sympathetic skin responses (SSRs). The results were compared with a control group of 67 rectal cancer patients studied before surgery. Only 10 of these patients could be studied both pre- and postoperatively. 10 patients submitted to high dose preoperative chemoradiation were studied to evaluate the effect of this treatment on sexual function. Statistical analysis was performed by means of the two-tailed Student's t test for paired observations and k concordance test. Results 59.6% of patients operated reported sexual dysfunction, while this symptom occurred in 16.4% in the control group. Moreover, a significantly higher rate of alterations of the neurophysiological tests and longer mean latencies of the SR, PEPs, MEPs and SSRs were observed in the patients who had undergone resection. In the 10 patients studied both pre and post-surgery impotence occurred in 6 of them and the mean latencies of SSRs were longer after operation. In the 10 patients studied pre and post chemoradiation impotence occurred in 1 patient only, showing the mild effect of these treatments on sexual function. Conclusion Patients operated showed severe sexual dysfunctions. The neurophysiological test may be a useful tool to investigate this complication. The neurological damage could be monitored to decide the rehabilitation strategy.</p

In Vivo Evaluation of TNF-Alpha in the Lungs of Patients Affected by Sarcoidosis

Introduction. Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disorder characterized by multiple noncaseating granulomas involving intrathoracic lymph nodes and lung parenchyma. Recently, the use of anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNFα) agents has been introduced for therapy of chronic and refractory sarcoidosis with controversial results. Infliximab (Remicade) is a chimeric monoclonal antibody (mAb) that recognizes and binds TNFα, neutralizing its biological effects. In the present study, Tc 99m labelled infliximab was used to study the expression of TNFα in sarcoid lesions and to evaluate its role as a predictive marker in response to therapy with Remicade. Material and Methods. A total of 10 patients with newly diagnosed sarcoidosis were enrolled together with 10 control patients affected by rheumatoid arthritis. All patients were studied by planar imaging of the chest with Tc 99m-infliximab at 6 h and 24 h and total body [18F]-FDG PET/CT. Regions of interest were drawn over the lungs and the right arm and target-to-background ratios were analysed for Tc 99m-infliximab. SUVmean and SUVmax were calculated over lungs for FDG. Results and Discussion. Image analysis showed low correlation between T/B ratios and BAL results in patients despite positivity at [18F]-FDG PET. Conclusion. In conclusion, patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary sarcoidosis, with FDG-PET and BAL positivity, showed a negative Tc 99m-infliximab scintigraphy

Efficacy of carboxymethyl beta-glucan in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: A retrospective, case-control study

BACKGROUND: Persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection constitutes the principal risk factor for the development of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer. For this reason, new drugs have been studied to support the host immune system against the HPV infection. The aim of this retrospective, case-control study was to detect the efficacy and safety of carboxymethyl β-glucan (Colpofix®) gel as adjuvant therapy in HPV infection. METHODS: The medical records of patients attending the Colposcopy Service of four hospitals in Rome from 2011 to 2013 were collected. Case arm consisted of patients submitted to local therapy with Colpofix®. Control arm comprised patients who did not receive this therapy. Atotal of 999 patients were included, divided into four groups, according to their cytological and histological specimens, colposcopy and subsequent management. RESULTS: Local therapy with Colpofix® gel resulted effective with respect to no therapy for the regression of low-grade CIN (CIN1) in patients submitted to follow up (P=0.0204), while it was no effective for the regression of CIN1 submitted to ablative therapy and high-grade CIN (CIN 2+) (P value not significant). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, Colpofix® gel represents a valid alternative to "wait and see" strategy in patients affected by CIN1. Further prospective studies are warranted to confirm these results