Elicitation and accumulation of stilbene phytoalexins in grapevine berries infected by Botrytis cinerea

At three developmental stages berries of field-grown Castor (interspecific crossing) and Huxelrebe (V. vinifera L. crossing) were in vitro inoculated with two strains of Botrytis cinerea Pers. to investigate the response of berries to fungal infection With respect to the time course of phytoalexin (trans-resveratrol, ε-viniferin and pterostilbene) accumulation and Visual disease symptoms. In infected berries the amounts of ε-viniferin dominated over pterostilbene. The stilbene phytoalexin content decreased during berry development and sugar accumulation. Grape varieties reacted differently to B. cinerea strains with regard to stilbene response and Visual symptoms. Mechanical damage of the berry skin induced uninfected berries to synthesize low amounts of phytoalexins. It can be assumed that after extraction and degradation ε-viniferin of mature berries is a source of resveratrol in wine

In-vivo usefulness of optical coherence tomography in atrophic-erosive oral lichen planus: Comparison between histopathological and ultrastructural findings

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common premalignant chronic inflammatory disorder. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) provides a real-time, non-invasive, and in-situ optical signature using light of varying wavelengths to examine tissue. Aim of the present study was to assess the possible role of OCT as diagnostic tool for atrophic-erosive OLP by examining OCT scans of healthy buccal mucosa, and comparing their ultrastructural features with those of a buccal mucosa affected by atrophic-erosive OLP, using their histopathological counterparts as the gold standard. Through grayscale (enface scan) and an application in which the vascularization of the tissue is visible (dynamic scan), it was possible to distinguish the healthy from the lichenoid pattern from 20 controls (12 M; 8 F; mean age: 41.32 years) and 20 patients with histologically confirmed atrophic-erosive OLP (7 M; 13 F; mean age: 64.27 years). In detail, mean width of stratified squamous epithelium (EP) and lamina propria (LP) were evaluated. Among controls, EP and LP showed a mean width of 300 (±50) and of 600 (±50) μm respectively; among cases, disruption of membrane basement prevented from any measurement. Furthermore, a differential pattern of EP and LP emerged between the two groups: a light-grayish, hypo-reflective, homogeneous area of EP recurring in controls turned into a hyper-reflective, non-homogeneous area among cases. Dynamic scan showed a differential profile of LP vascularization, varying from a hypo-reflective red area with small blood vessels in the control group, to a hypo/hyper-reflective area, completely overrun by a denser, wider blood flow amid OLP cases. Although histopathological examination remains the gold standard for OLP diagnosis, OCT could be a potentially helpful tool for the clinician and the pathologist, since it allows analysis of the vascularization of the sample without adversely affecting histological processing