Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and Cytotoxic Activities of Juglans regia L. Pellicle Extract

The difficulty to treat resistant strains-related hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) promoted the study of phytoextracts, known sources of bioactive molecules. Accordingly, in the present study, the pharmacological activities of Juglans regia (L.) pellicle extract (WPE) were investigated. The antiviral effect was tested against Herpes simplex virus type 1 and 2, Poliovirus 1, Adenovirus 2, Echovirus 9, Coxsackievirus B1 through the plaque reduction assay. The antibacterial and antifungal activities were evaluated against medically important strains, by the microdilution method. DPPH and superoxide dismutase (SOD)s-like activity assays were used to determine the antioxidant effect. Besides, the extract was screened for cytotoxicity on Caco-2, MCF-7, and HFF1 cell lines by the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents were also evaluated. Interestingly, WPE inhibited Herpes simplex viruses (HSVs) replication, bacterial and fungal growth. WPE showed free radical scavenging capacity and inhibited superoxide anion formation in a dose-dependent manner. These effects could be attributed to the high content of phenols and flavonoids, which were 0.377 ± 0.01 mg GE/g and 0.292 ± 0.08 mg CE/g, respectively. Moreover, WPE was able to reduce Caco-2 cell viability, at both 48 h and 72 h. The promising results encourage further studies aimed to better elucidate the role of WPE in the prevention of human infectious diseases

beta-carotene supplementation in patients radically treated for stage I-II head and neck cancer: results of a randomized trial

This study was aimed at evaluating the efficacy of beta-carotene in improving survival (S) and in disease-free survival (DFS) and reducing the incidence of second primary tumors (SPT) in patients with a radically treated stage I-II squamous head and neck tumors. Eligible patients were randomly allocated to receive beta-carotene (n=104) or no treatment (n=110). beta-carotene was administered at the dose of 75 mg/day for 3-month cycles within one month intercycle intervals for a 3-year period. The 3-year compliance to the beta-carotene was 68.7%. Only eight patients reported drug-related toxicity (7.8%). The median follow-up of all patients was 59 months. The median follow-up was 61 months (range 1-116 months) in the beta-carotene and 58 months (1-123 months) in the control group. The 10-year DFS was 75.7% for the patients in the beta-carotene and 74.3% for those in the control group (P=0.56). The 10-year S was 85.9% in the beta-carotene group and 80.9% in the control group (P=0.20). beta-carotene supplementation had no significant effect on the incidence of second primary tumors (RR=0.99; 95% C.I. 0.28-3.44). A statistically non-significant 40% reduction in the risk of death among subjects assigned to the beta-carotene compared to the controls was observed (RR=0.60; 95% C.I. 0.26-1.38). No increase in the death from cardiovascular diseases was observed among patients treated with beta-carotene. Our results might support the hypothesis that an adequate beta-carotene treatment could be potentially associated with a decreased risk of death in these patients

Nuclear BMI-1 expression in laryngeal carcinoma correlates with lymph node pathological status

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The main cause of treatment failure and death in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma is metastasis to the regional lymph nodes. The current clinical staging criteria fail to differentiate patients with occult metastasis from patients without metastasis. Identifying molecular markers of the disease might improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis and development of laryngeal carcinoma and may help improve clinical staging and treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixty-four previously untreated patients who underwent surgical excision of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma with neck dissection were included in this study. The expression of B cell-specific Moloney murine leukemia virus integration site 1 (BMI-1) was examined immunohistochemically on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded primary tissue specimens.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nuclear expression of BMI-1 (nBMI-1) was detected in 32 of the 64 tumors (50%), cytoplasmic expression of BMI-1 (cBMI-1) was detected in 22 (34.4%), and 10 tumors (15.6%) showed no BMI-1 immunoreactivity. High nBMI-1 expression levels (≥10) were detected in 28 of the 32 (87.5%) nBMI-1-positive patients. Multivariate analysis including age at diagnosis, grade, tumor location, TNM status, and nBMI-1 expression showed that a high nBMI-1 expression level was an independent prognostic factor for lymph node metastasis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The expression of BMI-1 in patients with laryngeal carcinoma seems to correlate with lymph node metastasis.</p

Effects of guidelines on adeno-tonsillar surgery on the clinical behaviour of otorhinolaryngologists in Italy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several guidelines on adeno-tonsillar disease have been proposed in recent years and some discrepancies in relation both to clinical manifestations and indications for surgical treatment have emerged. The aim of the study was to verify what influence (adeno)-tonsillectomy guidelines have had on the clinical behaviour of ENT specialists in Italy. Our study is a retrospective and multi-centre case series with chart review.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The survey involved 14,770 children, aged between the ages of 2 and 11, who had undergone adeno-tonsillar surgery between 2002 and 2008 in fourteen Italian tertiary and secondary referral centres. Anova test was used for the statistical analysis, assuming p < 0.05 as the minimum statistical significance value.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The frequency of adeno-tonsillar surgeries did not change significantly (p>0.05) during the study period and following the Italian policy document publication. Overall, adeno-tonsillectomy was the most frequent intervention (64.1%), followed by adenoidectomy (31.1%) and tonsillectomy (4.8%). The indications for surgery did not change significantly for each of the operations (p>0.05), with the exception of adeno-tonsillectomy in case of feverish episodes due to acute recurrent tonsillitis ≥ 5 without nasal obstruction (decreased p= 0.010) , even when the feverish episodes due to acute recurrent tonsillitis were < 5 over the last year. Nasal obstruction was associated with feverish episodes due to acute recurrent tonsillitis in 65.2% of operated cases, while otitis media had been diagnosed in 43.3% of the patients studied.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The recommendations first developed in Italy in a 2003 policy document and then resumed in guidelines in 2008, were not implemented by ENT units involved in the survey. The study highlights the fact that the indications for adeno-tonsillar operations are based on the overall clinical presentation (comorbidity) rather than on a single symptom. Guidelines are necessary to give coherent recommendations based on both the findings obtained through randomized controlled trials and the data collected from observational studies.</p