Valutazione dell'impatto di nuove tecniche e tecnologie sull'efficacia e sicurezza del trattamento chirurgico miniinvasivo dell'incontinenza da sforzo femminile

Nel corso di questi anni abbiamo voluto investigare gli effetti della crescente mini-invasività dei dispositivi anti-incontinenza che si sono succeduti. In particolare, abbiamo focalizzato il nostro interesse sull’efficacia, sulla sicurezza e sulla riduzione dell’invasività di un dispositivo a singola incisione (TVT-Secur), effettuando uno studio retrospettivo con follow-up a 24 mesi. Successivamente, abbiamo voluto confrontare questo dispositivo a singola incisione con un dispositivo trans-otturatorio in-out (TVT-O), che può essere considerato ormai uno standard per la cura dell’incontinenza urinaria da sforzo femminile. Infine, abbiamo voluto prendere in considerazione uno dei maggiori svantaggi della via trans-otturatoria, ovvero il dolore post-operatorio alla radice delle cosce e, in un limitato numero di casi, il dolore cronico. L’origine del dolore post-operatorio dopo il posizionamento della TVT-O non è stato completamente chiarito, potendo essere associato o alla tecnica chirurgica (dissezione, inserimento degli introduttori) oppure al dispositivo stesso (passaggio attraverso le strutture muscolari, reazione da corpo estraneo). Nel tentativo di ridurre il dolore post-operatorio, è stata introdotta sul mercato una benderella di lunghezza notevolmente inferiore rispetto al dispositivo originale (TVT-Abbrevo), con il razionale di non attraversare più strati muscolari del necessario e ridurre quindi il dolore post-operatorio e quello cronico. Oltre alla riduzione di lunghezza della benderella (12 cm), anche la tecnica chirurgica originale è stata parzialmente modificata, adottando un minor scollamento dei tessuti ed un passaggio dell’introduttore e, quindi, della benderella più a stretto contatto con il ramo dell’osso pubico. L’associazione di queste due innovazioni (tecnica chirurgica modificata insieme all’ utilizzo di una benderella di lunghezza inferiore) ha fatto registrare una riduzione significativa del dolore post-operatorio rispetto alla TVT-O, pur mantenendo un efficacia sovrapponibile. Scopo delle nostre ulteriori ricerche in questo campo è stato quello di valutare l’impatto dell’applicazione delle modifiche alla tecnica operatoria utilizzando la benderella trans-otturatoria tradizionale sul dolore post-operatorio e se queste modifiche tecniche potessero in qualche modo ridurre l’efficacia terapeutica. In ultimo, abbiamo voluto verificare l’efficacia e la sicurezza di una bederella trans-otturatoria in-out di lunghezza ridotta (TVT-Abbrevo) in una popolazione normale e di pazienti sovrappeso

Inhibition of inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase expression by an acetonic extract from Feijoa sellowiana Berg. fruits.

Feijoa sellowiana Berg. fruits and especially the acetonic extract have been shown to possess biological activities, although the responsible compounds have never been identified. The present study was designed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of an acetonic extract from F. sellowiana Berg. fruits on the nitric oxide (NO) pathway, which plays an important role in inflammation. To this aim the J774 cell line, which expresses inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) following stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), has been utilized, and the effects of this extract and its fractions on NO production, iNOS protein expression, and signal pathways involved in its regulation have been evaluated. This study demonstrates that at least some part of the anti-inflammatory activity of the acetonic extract is due to the suppression of NO production by flavone and stearic acid. The mechanism of this inhibition seems to be related to an action on the expression of the enzyme iNOS through the attenuation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and/or mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation

GC and GC-–MS Analysis of Volatile Compounds From Ballota nigra subsp. uncinata Collected in Aeolian Islands, Sicily (Southern Italy)

In the present study, the chemical composition of the essential oils from aerial parts of Ballota nigra subsp. uncinata (Beg.) Patzak collected in Sicily was evaluated by gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry. The main components of the oil were (E)-phytol (20.0%), alpha-pinene (9.0%), hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (5.7%), and alpha-selinene (5.1%). Cluster analysis of the essential oil compositions of all the taxa belonging to B. nigra s.l. group was performed

Volatile components from aerial parts of Centaurea spinosociliata Seenus ssp. cristata (Bartl.) Dostál and Centaurea spinosociliata Seenus ssp. spinosociliata growing wild in Croatia

The paper reports on the volatile components oil from aerial parts of two Asteraceae growing wild in Croatia: Centaurea spinosociliata ssp. cristata (syn. Centaurea cristata Bartl. subsp. rabenhorstiana (Sch.Bip.) Nyman) (CSC) and C. spinosociliata ssp. spinosociliata (CSS). The volatile components were obtained by hydrodistillation from selected plants and were determined by the GC-MS system on two fused-silica capillary columns of different polarity. The oil content was 0.08 % (CSC) and 0.07 % (CSS) on a dry weight basis. Altogether 73 compounds were identified accounting for 90.8 % (CSC) and 92.8 % (CSS) of the total oil, that were characterized mainly by hydrocarbons (37.9 %; 30.4 %), sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (14.1 %; 29.1 %), oxygenated sesquiterpenes (22.2 %; 13.1 %). The major components of the samples were heptacosane (11.2 %; 12.6 %), cyclosativene (2.1 %; 6.4 %), caryophyllene oxide (10.2 %; 4.7 %). Monoterpenes, fatty acids and phenolic compounds were absent or present in low amount in both oils. The chemotaxonomy of the subgenus Acrolophus is briefly discussed

Analysis of essential oils from Scutellaria orientalis ssp. alpina and S. utriculata by GC and GC-MS.

The chemical composition of the essential oils obtained from aerial parts of Scutellaria orientalis L. ssp. alpina (Boiss.) O. Schwarz and S. utriculata Labill. growing wild in Lebanon, were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. In S. orientalis ssp. alpina, strongly characterized by sesquiterpenes (41.2%) and particularly sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (31.7%), hexahydrofarnesylacetone (11.7%) was recognized as the main constituent, together with hexadecanoic acid (7.6%), caryophyllene (7.4%), caryophyllene oxide (6.8%), 4-vinylguaiacol (5.4%) and germacrene D (5.4%). S. utriculata oil was instead constituted above all by monoterpenes (42.2%), particularly oxygen containing monoterpenes (39.9%), and in this oil the main compounds were linalool (20.1%), 4-vinyl guaiacol (15.5%), α-terpineol (8.9%), ( E)-nerolidol (8.9%) and geraniol (8.2%)

Cytotoxic properties of Marrubium globosum ssp. libanoticum and its bioactive components

Marrubium globosum Montbr. et Auch. ex Benth. ssp. libanoticum Boiss. (Lamiaceae) is a medicinal plant used in Lebanon for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, asthma, coughs and other pulmonary and urinary problems. The goal of our study was to assess the biological activity of M. globosum by testing different extracts of the aerial parts for their antiproliferative activity against human melanoma cells using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The chloroform fraction showed the greatest activity. The compounds isolated from the extracts were also tested: the mixture of (13 S)-9α,13α-epoxylabda-6β(19),16(15)-diol dilactone and (13 R)-9α,13α-epoxylabda-6β(19),16(15)-diol dilactone was the most active fraction, with an IC50 value of 29.2 ± 0.06 μg/mL

Volatile components from aerial parts of Centaurea spinosociliata Seenus ssp. cristata (Bartl.) Dostál and Centaurea spinosociliata Seenus ssp. spinosociliata growing wild in Croatia

The paper reports on the volatile components oil from aerial parts of two Asteraceae growing wild in Croatia: Centaurea spinosociliata ssp. cristata (syn. Centaurea cristata Bartl. subsp. rabenhorstiana (Sch.Bip.) Nyman) (CSC) and C. spinosociliata ssp. spinosociliata (CSS). The volatile components were obtained by hydrodistillation from selected plants and were determined by the GC-MS system on two fused-silica capillary columns of different polarity. The oil content was 0.08 % (CSC) and 0.07 % (CSS) on a dry weight basis. Altogether 73 compounds were identified accounting for 90.8 % (CSC) and 92.8 % (CSS) of the total oil, that were characterized mainly by hydrocarbons (37.9 %; 30.4 %), sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (14.1 %; 29.1 %), oxygenated sesquiterpenes (22.2 %; 13.1 %). The major components of the samples were heptacosane (11.2 %; 12.6 %), cyclosativene (2.1 %; 6.4 %), caryophyllene oxide (10.2 %; 4.7 %). Monoterpenes, fatty acids and phenolic compounds were absent or present in low amount in both oils. The chemotaxonomy of the subgenus Acrolophus is briefly discussed

Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil from Aerial Parts of Stachys palustris L. (Lamiaceae) Growing Wild in Southern Italy

The paper reports the composition of the essential oil from aerial parts of Stachys palustris L. (Lamiaceae) from Southern Italy. The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation from selected plants and its chemical composition was determined by the GC-MS system on two fused- silica capillary columns of different polarity. The mass fraction of oil was 0.21 % on a dry weight basis. Altogether, 92 compounds were identified accounting for 93.6 % of the total oil, which was characterized mainly by carbonylic compounds (25.4 %), fatty acids and their esters (24.2 %), along with sesquiterpenoidic compounds (16.0 %) and phenols (11.2 %). The major components of the sample were caryophyllene oxide (7.8 %), hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (7.4 %), hexadecanoic acid (6.8 %), (Z,Z,Z)-9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid (6.7 %), (Z)-phytol (6.4 %), thymol (5.8 %), p-methoxyacetophenone (5.1 %), 4-vinylguiacole (3. %), tetradecanoic acid (3.8 %), (E)-caryophyllene (3.6 %), b-ionone (3.3 %) and b-damascenone (3.0 %)

CDK 4/6 inhibitors as single agent in advanced solid tumors

Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors, namely abemaciclib, palbociclib, and ribociclib, interfere with cell cycle progression, induce cell senescence and might promote cancer cell disruption by a cytotoxic T cells-mediated effect. Phase III randomized clinical trials have proven that CDK4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) in combination with several endocrine agents improve treatment efficacy over endocrine agents alone for hormone receptor positive (HR+) HER2 negative (HER2-) metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Based on such results, these combinations have been approved for clinical use. Preclinical studies in cell cultures and mouse models proved that CDK4/6i are active against a broad spectrum of solid tumors other than breast cancer, including liposarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, non-small cell lung cancer, glioblastoma multiforme, esophageal cancer, and melanoma. The role of CDK4/6i in monotherapy in several solid tumors is currently under evaluation in phase I, II, and III trials. Nowadays, abemaciclib is the only of the three inhibitors that has received approval as single agent therapy for pretreated HR+ HER2- MBC. Here we review biological, preclinical and clinical data on the role of CDK4/6 inhibitors as single agents in advanced solid tumors