Metabolic syndrome and idiopathic sudden sensori-neural hearing loss

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between the presence of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL) and the impact of MetS on recovery of patients with ISSHL. 39 Patients with ISSHL and 44 controls were enrolled in this study. Demographic, clinical characteristics and hearing recovery were evaluated. MetS was defined according to the diagnostic criteria of International Diabetes Federation (IDF) consensus definition. Patients affected by ISSHL presented a body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist hip ratio (WHR), fasting glucose and blood pressure significantly higher compared to controls. Considering patients with central obesity, 5 controls and 15 ISSHL patients met the criteria of MetS. According to Siegel criteria, a complete or partial recovery was observed in 60% of patients with MetS and in 91,66% of patients without MetS. MetS was associated with ISSHL and this association negatively influenced the hearing recovery of these patients

Oxytocin plus antibiotics: A synergism of potentiation to enhance bovine uterine contractility

This in vitro study investigates the modulatory effect of three antibiotics (amoxicillin, enrofloxacin, and rifaximin) on contractility of the bovine uterine tissue, in follicular and luteal phases. The evaluation of the effects of these antibiotics (104 M) was performed on oxytocin-induced contractility. The decision to test these antibiotics with the oxytocin (106 M) comes from the reported ability of these combinations of hinder the antibiotic resistance and the formation of bacterial biofilms. The procedures were carried out in isolated organ bath, and the contractile functionality of the strip throughout the experiment was evaluated after a dose of carbachol (105 M). The results demonstrate the different modulatory activity of these antibiotics, on the plateau of contraction induced by oxytocin, in both phases of the estrus cycle. The differing individual antibiotic effects of our testing made it possible to identify, only in some cases. Rifaximin in the follicular phase and enrofloxacin in both phases of the estrous cycle, induced a synergistic enhancement (potentiation) of uterine strip contraction induced by oxytocin. This result is thought important because these associations might enable, in vivo, a simultaneous increase of uterine cleaning and the antimicrobial action on bacteria in planktonic form and of those organized in biofilms

Differential Expression of the Demosponge (Suberites domuncula) Carotenoid Oxygenases in Response to Light: Protection Mechanism Against the Self-Produced Toxic Protein (Suberitine)

The demosponge Suberites domuncula has been described to contain high levels of a proteinaceous toxin, Suberitine, that displays haemolytic activityIn the present study this 7–8 kDa polypeptide has been isolated and was shown to exhibit also cytotoxic effects on cells of the same species. Addition of retinal, a recently identified metabolite of β-carotene that is abundantly present in S. domuncula was found to reduce both the haemolytic and the cell toxic activity of Suberitine at a molar ratio of 1:1. Spectroscopic analyses revealed that the interaction between β-carotene and Suberitine can be ascribed to a reversible energy transfer reaction. The enzyme that synthesises retinal in the sponge system is the β,β-carotene-15,15′-dioxygenase [carotene dioxygenase]. In order to clarify if this enzyme is the only β-carotene-metabolizing enzyme a further oxygenase had been identified and cloned, the (related) carotenoid oxygenase. In contrast to the dioxygenase, the carotenoid oxygenase could not degrade β-carotene or lycopene in Escherichia coli strains that produced these two carotenoids; therefore it had been termed related-carotenoid oxygenase. Exposure of primmorphs to light of different wavelengths from the visible spectrum resulted after 3 days in a strong upregulation of the dioxygenase in those 3D-cell aggregates that had been incubated with β-carotene. The strongest effect is seen with blue light at a maximum around 490 nm. It is concluded that the toxin Suberitine is non-covalently modified by retinal, the cleavage product from β-carotene via the enzyme carotene dioxygenase, a light inducible oxygenase. Hence, this study highlights that in S. domuncula the bioactive metabolite, retinal, has the property to detoxify its homologous toxin

Volatile compared with total intravenous anaesthesia in patients undergoing high-risk cardiac surgery: a randomized multicentre study

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Adhesion of platelets to colon cancer cells is necessary to promote tumor development in xenograft, genetic and inflammation models

Platelets represent the linkage between tissue damage and inflammatory response with a putative role in tumorigenesis. Given the importance of the microenvironment in colon cancer development, we elucidated the eventual role of platelets‐cancer cells crosstalk in in vivo colon cancer models. To evaluate the involvement of platelets in intestinal tumorigenesis, we first analyzed if the ablation of β‐integrin P‐selectin that drives platelets‐cell adhesion, would contribute to platelets‐colon cancer cell interaction and drive cancer progression. In a xenograft tumor model, we observed that when tumors are inoculated with platelets, the ablation of P‐selectin significantly reduced tumor growth compared to control platelets. Furthermore, in genetic models, as well as in chronic colitis‐associated colorectal carcinogenesis, P‐selectin ablated mice displayed a significant reduction in tumor number and size compared to control mice. Taken together, our data highlights the importance of platelets in the tumor microenvironment for intestinal tumorigenesis. These results support the hypothesis that a strategy aimed to inhibit platelets adhesion to tumor cells are able to block tumor growth and could represent a novel therapeutic approach to colon cancer treatment