Zebrafish or Danio rerio: A New Model in Nanotoxicology Study

Nanotoxicology represents a new research area in toxicology that allows to evaluate the toxicological properties of nanoparticles in order to determine whether and to what extent they represent an environmental threat. Behavior, fate, transport, and toxicity of nanoparticles are influenced to their particular properties and of several environmental factors. The mechanisms underlying the toxicity of nanomaterials have recently been studied specially in aquatic organisms. In particular, in recent years, the use of Danio rerio or zebrafish as an animal model system for nanoparticle toxicity assay increased exponentially. In this review, we compare the recent researches employing zebrafish, adults or embryos, for different nanoparticles’ toxicity assessment

Toxoplasma gondii in animals and food: results of four-years monitoring by the official italian zoonoses informative system.

When considering human toxoplasmosis, food remains the main source of infection. Whether is meat from susceptible animals that naturally harbour Toxoplasma gondii tissue cysts or food like fresh vegetables or fishery products (mussels, fish) contaminated by environmentally derived oocysts, information about animal toxoplasmosis prevalence should continue to be under the spotlight. Directive 2003/99/EC of the European Parliament and the Council classifies toxoplasmosis and its causative agent as a class B zoonosis/agent for which monitoring depends on the epidemiological situation. Surveillance systems on animal toxoplasmosis are different across Europe and regulated by national legislation. In Italy, administrative regions are called annually to submit data on animal toxoplasmosis to SINZOO (Zoonoses Informative System) that is part of the Veterinary Informative System managed by the Italian Ministry of Health. Foodborne zoonoses data collected at the national level are then processed and summarized by EFSA to became part of the annual EFSA/ECDC joint European Union summary reports on trends and sources of zoonoses, zoonotic agents and foodborne outbreaks. No foodborne outbreaks of toxoplasmosis have been reported in Italy during 2017, the most recent year for which a report is available. Unfortunately, prevalence data are often the results of fragmented researches or clinical investigations but, nevertheless, they provide baseline data to monitor epidemiological trends for guiding public health preventive measures. Over the past four years (2014-2017), in Italy, sheep, cattle, pig, goats, wild boars and wild ruminants were the main species tested besides pet animals. Prevalence of the infection ranged: 3.49-11.10% in cattle (209 to 2289 animals tested); 11.46-34.55% in pigs (37 to 2051 animals tested); 18.01-45.72% in sheep (912 to 2682 animals tested); 5.98-23.25% in goats (234 to 432 animals tested. Positive among wildlife ranged from 0 to 10.24% for wild boars (26 to 901 animals tested) and from 0.76 to 11.25% for wild ruminants (240 to 394 animals tested). For cats, that are solely responsible for contamination with environmentally-resistant oocysts, the prevalence ranged from 19.48 to 34.77% (77 to 696 animals tested). Although these data cannot support epidemiological analyses, they suggest that pigs and small ruminants are still the major sources of meatborne toxoplasmosis. Cattle are also under a special watch list since beef consumption has been predicted as the most important source of meatborne toxoplasmosis at least in Italy and the Netherlands as resulting from quantitative risk assessment studies. Cattle are often found positive to serological screening although direct detection of T. gondii via biological assay or PCR is uncommon with lack of concordance between antibodies and parasite DNA detection. The informative system also reports very limited information on food such as fresh vegetables or fishery products that can be contaminated by T. gondii oocysts dispersed in the environment although 1 sample of mussels and 3 samples of fish resulted positive by PCR in 2017. These findings suggest that surveillance on animal toxoplasmosis and meat and other food contamination with T. gondii should be enhanced since it is one of the few effective tools to control the parasite diffusion and prevent the transmission of the zoonosis

Results of five years monitoring for Toxoplasma gondii infection in animals by the official Italian Zoonoses Informative System (SINZOO)

In order to drive effective public health preventive measures for human toxoplasmosis a scrupulous epidemiological monitoring of animal toxoplasmosis is essential. BACKGROUND AND AIM:T. gondii is the fourth most important parasite in the world and second out of 14 foodborne pathogens in the USA and in Europe. Meat-borne transmission of T. gondii causes most of food-borne infections in Europe (EFSA-European Food Safety Authority). SINZOO is part of the Veterinary Informative System of the Italian Ministry of Health. It collects and transmit data to EFSA, published in the annual EFSA/ECDC summary reports on zoonoses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of SINZOO for epidemiological surveillance of toxoplasmosis in Italy. METHODS:Among animal species tested in Italy between 2015 and 2019 the ones most commonly reared for human consumption (sheep, cattle, pig, goats) were selected, moreover wild boars, wild ruminants, cats. RESULTS:Infection rates ranged from 0.73% in wild boars to 45.72% in sheep. Total number of tested animals ranged from 37 pigs in 2015 to 3449 sheep in 2018. Besides a relevant incidence among wild boars in 2018 (45%) and 2019 (32%), higher infection rates were more often reported among sheep and pigs. Between 2018 and 2019 67% of the overall analyses were carried out in one region (Sardinia), mostly on one species (sheep) and emerged from targeted research or clinical investigation. In fact in 2019 83.45% of analyses were performed following clinical suspicions while only 8.43% came from official controls, highlighting toxoplasmosis underestimation by the national veterinary health system. CONCLUSIONS:Despite EFSA recognizes the relevance of toxoplasmosis, this is not included among zoonoses under mandatory notification, making animal epidemiological surveillance rather scarce and uneven. Data reported to SINZOO suggest that T. gondii is still a relevant hazard to monitor by meat inspection and in-farm survey, for effective epidemiological evaluations and appropriate public health interventions. This issue characterizes Italy and Europe, highlighting that toxoplasmosis monitoring should be made mandatory and with uniform rules

Posterior muscle-fascial reconstruction and knotless urethro-neo bladder anastomosis during robot-assisted radical cystectomy: Description of the technique and its impact on urinary continence

Objective: The aim of our study is to describe the use of posterior muscle-fascial reconstruction during urethro-ileal anastomosis in bladder cancer (BC) patients submitted to robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RC) with orthotopic neobladder (ON) and its role in facilitating day- and night-time continence recovery during a 12-month follow up. Materials and methods: We prospectively collected data from 42 consecutive patients who underwent RARC with totally intracorporeal ON and extended pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) at our Institution from June 2014 to October 2017. Prior to the urethro-neobladder anastomosis we reconstructed the Denonvilliers Fascia (DF) as previously described for radical prostatectomy using a bidirectional barbed suture. Day and night-time recovery rates were reported at 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery, with continent patients being those using either no urinary pads or 1 safety pads. Results: Median age at surgery was 63 yrs, 41 (97.6%) patients were male. 28 (66.7%) patients presented a clinical T2 disease. Median operative time and median ON reconstruction time were 450 minutes and 180 minutes respectively. 13 (31%) individuals had non-organ confined disease, with 11 (26.2%) patients with positive lymph nodes (median 3 positive lymph nodes) and 2 (4.8%) with non-urothelial cancer at final pathologic examination. Median hospital stay and median catheterization time were 7 (IQR 7-8) and 21 (IQR 19-22). During first 30 post-operative days we recorded 7 (16.7%) low-grade Clavien and 2 (4.8%) IIIa Clavien complications, whereas between 30 and 90 postoperative days we recorded 4 (9.5%) low-grade, 4 (9.5) IIIa and 1 (2.4%) IIIb complications. Day-time and night-time continence rates were 61.9% vs 52.4%, 73.8% vs 64.3% and 90.5% vs 73.8% at three, six and twelve months follow up. Day-time continence was significantly superior in the younger group (97% vs 57%, p 0.01); night-time continence rates were also superior among < 70 yrs patients, despite not reaching statistical significance (77% vs 57%, p 0.3). Conclusions: Posterior muscle-fascial reconstruction aids continence recovery in BC patients undergoing RARC with ON, with younger and fitter patients most benefitting from ON reconstruction

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Is Associated with Liver Damage and Atherosclerosis in Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

We assessed whether obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and nocturnal hypoxemia are associated with severity of liver fibrosis and carotid atherosclerosis in patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD and low prevalence of morbid obesity. Secondary aim was to explore the association of OSA and hypoxemia with NASH and severity of liver pathological changes

A pan-European epidemiological study reveals honey bee colony survival depends on beekeeper education and disease control

Reports of honey bee population decline has spurred many national efforts to understand the extent of the problem and to identify causative or associated factors. However, our collective understanding of the factors has been hampered by a lack of joined up trans-national effort. Moreover, the impacts of beekeeper knowledge and beekeeping management practices have often been overlooked, despite honey bees being a managed pollinator. Here, we established a standardised active monitoring network for 5 798 apiaries over two consecutive years to quantify honey bee colony mortality across 17 European countries. Our data demonstrate that overwinter losses ranged between 2% and 32%, and that high summer losses were likely to follow high winter losses. Multivariate Poisson regression models revealed that hobbyist beekeepers with small apiaries and little experience in beekeeping had double the winter mortality rate when compared to professional beekeepers. Furthermore, honey bees kept by professional beekeepers never showed signs of disease, unlike apiaries from hobbyist beekeepers that had symptoms of bacterial infection and heavy Varroa infestation. Our data highlight beekeeper background and apicultural practices as major drivers of honey bee colony losses. The benefits of conducting trans-national monitoring schemes and improving beekeeper training are discussed

Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in Parablennius sanguinolentus and related biomarkers of exposure. <br /> <br />

In the last years, water contamination has been evaluated using fishes as bioindicators. In environmental biomonitoring the main approach to assess marine ecosystem status, is the analysis of pollutants concentration in fish tissues and the utilization of exposure biomarkers. The aim of the present study, is to analyze the level of contaminants, such as Cadmium (Cd), Mercury (Hg), Lead (Pb), Arsenic (As) and the expression of their exposure biomarkers, on gills and muscle tissues of Parablennius sanguinolentus, which has been recognized as a useful bioindicator of environmental pollution. In particular, 30 samples of P. sanguinolentus were collected from the east coasts of Sicily and analyzed by histological examination. Biomarkers of metal exposure, such as metallothioneins (MTs) of low molecular weight and Heat Shock Proteins 70 (HSP70), were detected using Western Blotting assay and immunoistochemical techniques. Moreover, Inductively coupled-plasma mass-spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis has been performed in order to quantify metal concentration. Gill and muscle epithelium sections, showed a strong HSPs70 immunopositivity. A clear positive response to MTs has been observed only in gill chloride cells. Moreover, the positivity to MTs and HSPs70, was confirmed by Western Blotting analysis. ICP-MS analysis showed an increase of the mean concentrations of As (14,103mg/Kg), Pb (0,145mg/Kg), Hg (0,035mg/Kg) and Cd (0,014mg/Kg). Histological examination showed no morpho-functional alterations on gills and muscle tissues. The detected concentrations of Pb, Cd and Hg are in accordance to the values established by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006, that sets maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs. However, Arsenic levels are significantly higher than those reported in literature. For Arsenic no maximum concentration is yet established by European Union. The diet is the main source of human exposure to Arsenic and therefore is extremely important to focus on wider studies based on heavy metals pollution and Arsenic in particular

RUOLO DEL COEFFICIENTE APPARENTE DI DIFFUSIONE (ADC) NELLO STUDIO DELLA PROSTATA IN RISONANZA MAGNETICA (RM)

Materiali e Metodi: La nostra popolazione è costituita da 25 di età compresa tra 50 e 81 anni (media 63.95 +/- 9.54) sottoposti ad esame RM della prostata con apparecchiatura da 1.5 T mediante l'ausilio di bobina endorettale. Oltre al protocollo morfologico (T1w-T2w) , la valutazione spettroscopica e dinamica post-contrastografica, sono state acquisite sequenze DWI sul piano assiale con valori di b pari a 800/mm2. E' stato calcolato il valore di ADC in regioni di interesse poste in corrispondenza di aree di zona periferica (ZP) con aspetto normale ed aree che presentavano segnale ipointenso enne sequenze T2w e/o che mostravano restrizione della diffusione dell'acqua nelle sequenze DWI. All'esame istologico, ottenuto tramite biopsia e/o prostatectomia radicale, la diagnosiè stata di carcinoma prostatico (CaP) in 18 pazienti, di prostatite+PIN in 4 pazienti e di fibrosi post-radioterapia (RT) in 3 pazienti. RISULTATI. Le medie di valori ADC sono risultate 1.57+/-0.28 per la ZP normale, 0.72 +/- 0.11 per il CaP, 0.97 +/- 0.07 per la prostatite+PIN, 0.89 +/- 0.13 per l fibrosi post-RT. La media dei valori di ADC è risultata significativamente più bassa in corrispondenza del CaP e delle zone patologiche non tumorali rispetto alla normale ZP (p<0.01) e del CaP rispetto alla prostatite + PIN (p<0.01) in assenza di sovrapposizione dei dati. Scopo: Determinare sei il parenchima prostatico sano e patologico possano essere distinti utilizzanti il valore di ADC. Conclusioni: il valore di ADC permette di differenziare la normale ZP da quella patologica ma non permette la caratterizzazione di queste ultime richiedendo una corretta integrazione con le restanti informazioni fornite all'immagine RM e con i dati anamenstico-laboratoristici