Oral fluids and auxiliary diagnostic techniques in autoimmune and neuropathic disorders of the oral cavity. Local and systemic implications. Fluidi orali e tecniche ausiliarie diagnostiche nei disordini autoimmuni e neuropatici del cavo orale. Implicazioni locali e sistemiche.

In this dissertation different features of oral fluids were analyzed in order to verify whether saliva and/or the crevicular fluid may be helpful in diagnosing underlying pathologies, monitorizing systemic diseases activity or contributing to a better understanding of idiopathic oral pathologies. - In the first study, saliva was quantitatively analyzed through the spitting method in a group of patients affected by the most common idiopathic psychosomatic disorder of the oral cavity, known as Burning Mouth Syndrome. This study showed how saliva is a complex fluid, and that the central nervous system and emotional attitudes are very strong influencing agents on the oral health. - In the second study, 35 patients affected by Oral Lichen Planus, an autoimmune disorder, were recruite. Salivary fluid and crevicular fluid samples were collected to measure the presence of Human f2-defensin, an antimicrobial peptide involved in immunomodulatory functions. It was observed that HBD-2 could become a very important index to measure the disease\u2019s activity and its evolution in the future. - In the third study it was demonstrated that periodontal pockets and saliva contain Helicobacter pylori and that oral hygiene is useful in preventing the formation of a reservoir of microorganisms involved in gastritis and gastric cancer. - In the fourth study, a total group of 34 patients affected by Rheumatoid Arthritis were examined and several links between rheumatic factors and periodontal indices were found. In the end, a total number of 240 patients were recruited in this experimental work and each study contributed to new topics in the research on saliva and crevicular fluid as potential diagnostic tools for oral pathologies and systemic diseases

Oral fluids and auxiliary diagnostic techniques in autoimmune and neuropathic disorders of the oral cavity. Local and systemic implications. Fluidi orali e tecniche ausiliarie diagnostiche nei disordini autoimmuni e neuropatici del cavo orale. Implicazioni locali e sistemiche.

In this dissertation different features of oral fluids were analyzed in order to verify whether saliva and/or the crevicular fluid may be helpful in diagnosing underlying pathologies, monitorizing systemic diseases activity or contributing to a better understanding of idiopathic oral pathologies. - In the first study, saliva was quantitatively analyzed through the spitting method in a group of patients affected by the most common idiopathic psychosomatic disorder of the oral cavity, known as Burning Mouth Syndrome. This study showed how saliva is a complex fluid, and that the central nervous system and emotional attitudes are very strong influencing agents on the oral health. - In the second study, 35 patients affected by Oral Lichen Planus, an autoimmune disorder, were recruite. Salivary fluid and crevicular fluid samples were collected to measure the presence of Human ß2-defensin, an antimicrobial peptide involved in immunomodulatory functions. It was observed that HBD-2 could become a very important index to measure the disease’s activity and its evolution in the future. - In the third study it was demonstrated that periodontal pockets and saliva contain Helicobacter pylori and that oral hygiene is useful in preventing the formation of a reservoir of microorganisms involved in gastritis and gastric cancer. - In the fourth study, a total group of 34 patients affected by Rheumatoid Arthritis were examined and several links between rheumatic factors and periodontal indices were found. In the end, a total number of 240 patients were recruited in this experimental work and each study contributed to new topics in the research on saliva and crevicular fluid as potential diagnostic tools for oral pathologies and systemic diseases

Macular Holes: Main Clinical Presentations, Diagnosis, and Therapies

Macular holes are a spectrum of retinal diseases that comprehends full-thickness macular holes (FTMHs), refractory/recurrent macular holes, lamellar macular holes (LMHs), myopic macular holes (MMHs), traumatic macular holes, and macular holes secondary to other retinal pathologies or injuries. There are various classifications of the subtypes of macular hole, and only in recent times researchers defined a common nomenclature, especially thanks to the evolution in retinal imaging, offered by new instruments like the swept-source OCT. The proposed therapies for macular holes are different and range from a "wait-and-see" approach to the vitrectomy, with different results in each subtype of macular hole. This narrative review has the purpose to investigate the available evidence in literature to give a summary of the knowledge about these retinal pathologies

Az égő száj szindrómáról. Diagnózis és etiológia

A dolgozat célja az „égő száj szindrómával” (Burning Mouth Syndrome – BMS) kapcsolatos nemzetközi irodalom legfontosabb megállapításainak összegzése és áttekintése. Az eltelt évtizedek alatt számos kutató gyakorlatban és elméletben is foglalkozott ezzel a különös betegséggel. Ennek ellenére sem világos teljesen a szindróma etiológiája és pathogenezise. A szerzők az etiopathogenezissel kapcsolatos eddigi irodalmi adatokat analizálva nem találtak egyetértést sem a BMS klasszifikációja, sem a diagnózis tekintetében. Ezért egy úgynevezett „Gold Standard” osztályozást tartanak szükségesnek a betegség jobb megértése érdekében, melynek első lépéseit megtették

Performance Assessment of the LIAISON\uae SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Assay On Nasopharyngeal Swabs

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is ongoing worldwide, causing prolonged pressure on molecular diagnostics. Viral antigen (Ag) assays have several advantages, ranging from lower cost to shorter turnaround time to detection. Given the rare occurrence of low-load viremia, antigen assays for SARS-CoV-2 have focused on nasopharyngeal swab and saliva as biological matrices, but their effectiveness must be validated. We assayed here the performances of the novel quantitative Liaison\uae SARS-CoV-2 Ag assay on 119 nasopharyngeal swabs and obtained results were compared with Hologic Panther and Abbott m2000 RT-qPCR. The Ag assay demonstrated a good correlation with viral load, shorter turnaround time, and favorable economics. The best performance was obtained in the acute phase of disease

Anxiety and depression in keratotic oral lichen planus: a multicentric study from the SIPMO

Objectives: Oral lichen planus with exclusive keratotic reticular, papular, and/or plaque-like lesions (K-OLP) is a clinical pattern of OLP that may be associated with a complex symptomatology and psychological alteration. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety (A) and depression (D) in patients with K-OLP, analyzing the potential predictors which can affect mental health status. Methods: Three hundred K-OLP patients versus 300 healthy controls (HC) were recruited in 15 Italian universities. The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Total Pain Rating Index (T-PRI), and Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression and for Anxiety (HAM-D and HAM-A) were administered. Results: The K-OLP patients showed statistically higher scores in the NRS, T-PRI, HAM-D, and HAM-A compared with the HC (p-value < 0.001**). A and D were found in 158 (52.7%) and 148 (49.3%) K-OLP patients. Strong linear correlations were identified between HAM-A, HAM-D, NRS, T-PRI, and employment status and between HAM-D, HAM-A, NRS, T-PRI, employment status, and female gender. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that HAM-D and HAM-A showed the greatest increase in the R2 value for A and D in the K-OLP patients, respectively (DR2 = 55.5% p-value < 0.001**; DR2 = 56.5% p-value < 0.001**). Conclusions: The prevalence of A and D is higher in the K-OLP patients compared with the HC, also found in K-OLP subjects without pain, suggesting that the processing of pain may be in a certain way independent of the processing of mood. Clinical relevance: Mood disorders and pain assessment should be carefully performed in relation to K-OLP to obtain a complete analysis of the patients

Search for the Higgs boson in events with missing transverse energy and b quark jets produced in proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV

We search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with an electroweak vector boson in events with no identified charged leptons, large imbalance in transverse momentum, and two jets where at least one contains a secondary vertex consistent with the decay of b hadrons. We use ~1 fb-1 integrated luminosity of proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV recorded by the CDF II experiment at the Tevatron. We find 268 (16) single (double) b-tagged candidate events, where 248 +/- 43 (14.4 +/- 2.7) are expected from standard model background processes. We place 95% confidence level upper limits on the Higgs boson production cross section for several Higgs boson masses ranging from 110 GeV/c2 to 140 GeV/c2. For a mass of 115 GeV/c2 the observed (expected) limit is 20.4 (14.2) times the standard model prediction.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Observation of Orbitally Excited B_s Mesons

We report the first observation of two narrow resonances consistent with states of orbitally excited (L=1) B_s mesons using 1 fb^{-1} of ppbar collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. We use two-body decays into K^- and B^+ mesons reconstructed as B^+ \to J/\psi K^+, J/\psi \to \mu^+ \mu^- or B^+ \to \bar{D}^0 \pi^+, \bar{D}^0 \to K^+ \pi^-. We deduce the masses of the two states to be m(B_{s1}) = 5829.4 +- 0.7 MeV/c^2 and m(B_{s2}^*) = 5839.7 +- 0.7 MeV/c^2.Comment: Version accepted and published by Phys. Rev. Let

Measurement of Lifetime and Decay-Width Difference in B0s -> J/psi phi Decays

We measure the mean lifetime, tau=2/(Gamma_L+Gamma_H), and the width difference, DeltaGamma=Gamma_L-Gamma_H, of the light and heavy mass eigenstates of the B0s meson, B0sL and B0sH, in B0s -> J/psi phi decays using 1.7 fb^-1 of data collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron ppbar collider. Assuming CP conservation, a good approximation for the B0s system in the Standard Model, we obtain DeltaGamma = 0.076^+0.059_-0.063 (stat.) +- 0.006 (syst.) ps^-1 and tau = 1.52 +- 0.04 (stat.) +- 0.02 (syst.) ps, the most precise measurements to date. Our constraints on the weak phase and DeltaGamma are consistent with CP conservation. Dedicated to the memory of our dear friend and colleague, Michael P. Schmid