Cryotolerance of equine spermatozoa correlates with specific fatty acid pattern: A pilot study

Sperm cryopreservation represents a powerful tool for horse breeding. To improve the efficiency of artificial insemination in the horse using cryopreserved spermatozoa, an adequate understanding of the underlying biophysical properties that affect sperm cryosurvival needs to be reached yet. In this pilot study, we described isolation and analysis of the main fatty acids from sperms of stallions classified as good and poor freezers (7 GF and 5 PF, according to sperm motility and viability, before and after cryopreservation). Fatty acid profiles were only assessed in pre-thaw sperms. Eight main fatty acids were identified, using gas chromatography, and their contents were expressed as percentage of the total lipid content. We found that lauric, myristic and oleic acid (C12:0, C14:0 and C18:1n9c) turned out to be about 2-fold more abundant in the sperm cells of the GFs compared with PFs. Moreover, we described for the first time the presence of a very high amount of a trans geometrical isomer of linoleic acid, linolelaidic acid (C18:2n6t), in pre-thaw PF spermatozoa. Notably, we found in fresh sperms of PF stallions a ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids which was twice that of those of GF group, suggesting a positive effect of a high saturated-to-unsaturated fatty acid ratio for the “freezability” of equine spermatozoa. Finally, principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed the relationships between specific fatty acids and cryotolerance of equine spermatozoa, also providing a graphical classification and additional information about the dominant variables governing the classification process

Association between Mediterranean lifestyle and perception of well-being and distress in a sample population of university Italian students

We investigated the extent to which adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) in combination with Mediterranean lifestyle factors influenced students’ perceptions of subjective well-being (SWB) and distress. 939 undergraduates completed a survey to assess sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics, including adherence to the MD, depression, anxiety, stress, and SWB. Data were analysed with correlation, logistic, and multiple linear regression models. Higher adherence to MD correlated with better SWB. Fruit, red meat, sweet and caffeinated beverages contributed significantly. However, it was the combination of adherence to MD with other factors, including quality of social relationships, income, smoking, sleep, and physical activity that better predicted SWB. Our results confirm the positive influence of MD on SWB. However, they also suggest the need to consider perceptions of well-being by a more holistic approach that considers physical and social factors simultaneously to improve the development of more effective educational and motivational programmes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Analysis of CGF biomolecules, structure and cell population: Characterization of the stemness features of CGF cells and osteogenic potential

Concentrated Growth Factors (CGF) represent new autologous (blood-derived biomaterial), attracting growing interest in the field of regenerative medicine. In this study, the chemical, structural, and biological characterization of CGF was carried out. CGF molecular characterization was performed by GC/MS to quantify small metabolites and by ELISA to measure growth factors and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) release; structural CGF characterization was carried out by SEM analysis and immunohistochemistry; CGF has been cultured, and its primary cells were isolated for the identification of their surface markers by flow cytometry, Western blot, and real-time PCR; finally, the osteogenic differentiation of CGF primary cells was evaluated through matrix mineralization by alizarin red staining and through mRNA quantification of osteogenic differentiation markers by real-time PCR. We found that CGF has a complex inner structure capable of influencing the release of growth factors, metabolites, and cells. These cells, which could regulate the production and release of the CGF growth factors, show stem features and are able to differentiate into osteoblasts producing a mineralized matrix. These data, taken together, highlight interesting new perspectives for the use of CGF in regenerative medicine

Ochratoxin A affects oocyte maturation and subsequent embryo developmental dynamics in the juvenile sheep model

The genotoxic and nephrotoxic mycotoxin Ochratoxin A (OTA) has also been reported to have adverse effects on oocyte maturation and embryo development. Previous studies on the effects of OTA on female fertility have used micromolar concentrations, but no information is available to date on effects in a more relevant nanomolar range. This study used a juvenile sheep model to evaluate the effects of oocyte exposure to low levels of OTA on maturation, fertilization, and embryo development. Further, it was investigated whether different mechanisms of action of OTA could be responsible for varying toxic effects at different levels of exposure. Cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COCs) were exposed to 10 μmol/L–0.1 nmol/L OTA during in vitro maturation and evaluated for cumulus viability, oocyte maturation, and bioenergetic/oxidative status. COCs were subjected to in vitro fertilization, embryo culture, and embryo quality assessment via morphology, viability, bioenergetic/oxidative status, and time-lapse monitoring. At micromolar concentrations, OTA induced cytotoxic effects, by reducing cumulus expansion and oocyte maturation. OTA altered temporospatial dynamics of zygote pronuclear formation and embryo morphokinetics. Blastocysts, even morphologically normal, were found to undergo collapse events, which were probably related to boosted blastocyst mitochondrial activity. At nanomolar concentrations, OTA did not affect COC morpho-functional parameters, but impaired oocyte ability to prevent polyspermy and increased blastocyst apoptosis. In conclusion, in the female germ cell, cytotoxic nonspecific effects characterize OTA-induced toxicity at high exposure levels, whereas fine tuning-mode effects, not associated with altered cell viability and integrity, characterize OTA toxic action at low levels

A new search-and-rescue service in the Mediterranean Sea: a demonstration of the operational capability and an evaluation of its performance using real case scenarios

Abstract. A new web-based and mobile decision support system (DSS) for search-and-rescue (SAR) at sea is presented, and its performance is evaluated using real case scenarios. The system, named OCEAN-SAR, is accessible via the website http://www.ocean-sar.com. In addition to the website, dedicated applications for iOS and Android have been created to optimise the user experience on mobile devices. OCEAN-SAR simulates drifting objects at sea, using as input ocean currents and wind data provided, respectively, by the CMEMS and ECMWF. The modelling of the drifting objects is based on the leeway model, which parameterises the wind drag of an object using a series of coefficients. These coefficients have been measured in field experiments for different types of objects, ranging from a person in the water to a coastal freighter adrift. OCEAN-SAR provides the user with an intuitive interface to run simulations and to visualise their results using Google Maps. The performance of the service is evaluated by comparing simulations to data from the Italian Coast Guard pertaining to actual incidents in the Mediterranean Sea

The secretome derived from mesenchymal stromal cells cultured in a xeno-free medium promotes human cartilage recovery in vitro

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disabling joint disorder causing articular cartilage degeneration. Currently, the treatments are mainly aimed to pain and symptoms relief, rather than disease amelioration. Human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) have emerged as a promising paracrine mechanism-based tool for OA treatment. Here, we investigate the therapeutic potential of conditioned media (CM) and extracellular vesicles (EVs) isolated from hBMSC and grown in a xeno-free culture system (XFS) compared to the conventional fetal bovine serum-culture system (FBS) in an in vitro model of OA. First, we observed that XFS promoted growth and viability of hBMSCs compared to FBS-containing medium while preserving their typical phenotype. The biological effects of the CM derived from hBMSC cultivated in XFS-and FBS-based medium were tested on IL-1α treated human chondrocytes, to mimic the OA enviroment. Treatment with CM derived from XFS-cultured hBMSC inhibited IL-1α-induced expression of IL-6, IL-8, and COX-2 by hACs compared to FBS-based condition. Furthermore, we observed that hBMSCs grown in XFS produced a higher amount of EVs compared to FBS-culture. The hBMSC-EVs not only inhibit the adverse effects of IL-1α-induced inflammation, but play a significant in vitro chondroprotective effect. In conclusion, the XFS medium was found to be suitable for isolation and expansion of hBMSCs with increased safety profile and intended for ready-to-use clinical therapies

The Impact of Graft CD3 Cell/Regulatory T Cell Ratio on Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease and Post-Transplantation Outcome: A Prospective Multicenter Study of Patients with Acute Leukemia Undergoing Allogeneic Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation

Although it is well known that tumor site- or bone marrow-infiltrating regulatory T cells (Tregs) might be correlated with worse outcomes in solid tumors and acute leukemias by promoting immune surveillance escape, their contribution to the immediate post-allogeneic transplantation phase by peripheral blood (PB) allografts remains unclear. Moreover, the Treg content in stem cells harvested from PB has been suggested to be correlated with acute graft versus-host-disease (aGVHD) and immunologic recovery after allogeneic PB stem cell transplantation (allo-PBSCT). This study aimed to investigate the impact of the graft content of Tregs, as graft CD3+/Tregs ratio (gCD3/TregsR), on acute GVHD and post-allo-PBSCT outcomes. We prospectively enrolled 94 consecutive patients at 9 Italian centers of the Gruppo Italiano Trapianto di Midollo Osseo (GITMO) with acute myelogenous (n = 71; 75%) or lymphoblastic (n = 23; 25%) leukemia in complete remission who underwent matched related donor (n = 35; 37%) or unrelated donor (n = 59; 63%) allo-PBSCT. The median graft CD3+ cell, Treg, and gCD3/TregsR values were 196 × 106/kg body weight (range, 17 to 666 × 106/kg), 3 × 106/kg (range, 0.1 to 35 × 106/kg), and 71 (range, 1 to 1883), respectively. The discriminatory power of the gCD3/TregsR value to predict grade ≥II aGVHD was assessed by estimating the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). Any grade and grade ≥II aGVHD occurred in 24 (26%) and 17 (18%) allo-PBSCT recipients, respectively. By ROC analysis, AUC (0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.608 to 0.866; P =.002) identified 70 as the optimal gCD3/TregsR cutoff value predicting the appearance of grade ≥II aGVHD with 76% sensitivity and 71% specificity. Patients were subdivided into a high (ROC curve value ≥70) gCD3/TregsR group (HR; n = 48) and a low (ROC curve value <70) gCD3/TregsR group (LR; n = 46). The incidence of grade II-IV aGVHD was lower in the LR group compared with the HR group (9% [4 of 46] versus 27% [13 of 48]) in both univariate analysis (odds ratio [OR], 4.8; 95% CI, 1.44 to 16.17; P =.015) and multivariate analysis (OR, 5.0; 95% CI, 1.34 to 18.93; P =.017), whereas no differences were documented taking into account aGVHD of any grade. The overall survival, disease-free survival, nonrelapse mortality, and relapse rates at 2 and 3 years were 61% and 54%, 62% and 55%, 15% and 23%, and 27% and 30%, respectively. Of note, gCD3/TregsR did not significantly correlate with relapse (P =.135). Taken together, our data from this prospective multicenter study confirm the value of Tregs in preventing aGVHD while maintaining the graft-versus-leukemia effect. © 2021 American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc

S100B protein as a therapeutic target in multiple sclerosis: The S100B inhibitor arundic acid protects from chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

S100B is an astrocytic protein behaving at high concentration as a damage-associated molecular pattern molecule. A direct correlation between the increased amount of S100B and inflammatory processes has been demonstrated, and in particular, the inhibitor of S100B activity pentamidine has been shown to ameliorate clinical scores and neuropathologic-biomolecular parameters in the relapsing-remitting experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mouse model of multiple sclerosis. This study investigates the effect of arundic acid (AA), a known inhibitor of astrocytic S100B synthesis, in the chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, which is another mouse model of multiple sclerosis usually studied. By the daily evaluation of clinical scores and neuropathologic-molecular analysis performed in the spinal cord, we observed that the AA-treated group showed lower severity compared to the vehicle-treated mice, particularly in the early phase of disease onset. We also observed a significant reduction of astrocytosis, demyelination, immune infiltrates, proinflammatory cytokines expression and enzymatic oxidative reactivity in the AA-treated group. Overall, our results reinforce the involvement of S100B in the development of animal models of multiple sclerosis and propose AA targeting the S100B protein as a focused potential drug to be considered for multiple sclerosis treatment

Characteristics, treatment, and outcomes of newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation patients with heart failure: GARFIELD-AF.

AIMS: Heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) may coexist and influence each other. However, characteristics, anticoagulant treatment, and outcomes of contemporary AF patients with concurrent HF are ill-defined. This study analyses characteristics, treatment, and 2 year outcomes in newly diagnosed Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) patients with vs. without HF. METHODS AND RESULTS: GARFIELD-AF is the world's largest observational AF patient study. At enrolment, 11 758 of 52 072 patients (22.6%) had HF; 76.3% were New York Heart Association class II-III. Patients with HF had comparable demographics, blood pressure, and heart rate but more likely had permanent (15.6% vs. 11.9%) or persistent AF (18.9% vs. 13.8%), acute coronary syndromes (16.7% vs. 8.9%), vascular disease (40.8% vs. 20.2%), and moderate-to-severe chronic kidney disease (14.6% vs. 9.0%) than those without. Anticoagulant prescription was similar between the two groups. At 2 year follow-up, patients with HF showed a greater risk of all-cause mortality [hazard ratio (HR), 2.06; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.91-2.21; P < 0.0001], cardiovascular mortality (HR, 2.91; 95% CI, 2.58-3.29; P < 0.0001), acute coronary syndromes (HR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.02-1.52; P = 0.03), and stroke/systemic embolism (HR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.07-1.43; P = 0.0044). Major bleeding rate was comparable (adjusted HR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.84-1.18; P = 0.968). Among patients without HF at baseline, incidence of new HF was low [0.69 (95% CI, 0.63-0.75) per 100 person-years], whereas propensity to develop worsening HF was higher in those with HF [1.62 (95% CI, 1.45-1.80) per 100 person-years]. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with AF and HF have a high risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and stroke/systemic embolism and may develop worsening HF