Peripartum patient with epigastric pain

A 44-year-old female, gravida 2, para 1, abortus 1, presented to the emergency department with epigastric pain, vomiting and nosebleed at 36 weeks gestation. She had right upper quadrant tenderness and was hypertensive at 138/90 mmHg. Laboratory studies demonstrated decreased platelets of 122 k/mcL, Hb of 11.2 g/dL and RBC of 3.48 M/mcL, elevated AST of 371 U/L and ALT of 522 U/L, and proteinuria of 13 mg/dL

Protective effects of melatonin in inflamed intestinal epithelium are associated with reduced NF-κB activation and changes in DNA methylation status

Melatonin is the main product of the pineal gland but is also released in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Production of melatonin at GIT is independent of the photoperiod and contributes almost completely to plasma melatonin concentration during daylight hours. The physiological role of melatonin at GIT is poorly characterized but recently anti-inflammatory effects have been reported. In this study, we evaluated the effect of Melatonin in intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) stimulated by Interleukin-1β. Our results clearly show that melatonin at micromolar concentrations inhibits the inflammatory response in IEC. The protective effect is expressed through a marked decrease in release and expression of inflammatory mediators, inhibition of DNA damage, and reduced activation of the NF-κB. Moreover, our results provide evidence that local inhibitor effect of Melatonin can involve an epigenetic mechanism also. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the intake of small amounts of melatonin, comparable with those found in pharmaceutical preparations used for sleep disorders, can also exert beneficial effects to the gastrointestinal physiology

Il management dell’ipersensibilità dentinale: dalla ricerca alla clinica

Obiettivi. Scopo di questo lavoro è presentare le più recenti acquisizioni in tema di epidemiologia, diagnosi, eziopatogenesi e management clinico dell’ipersensibilità dentinale. Vengono inoltre descritti i prodotti disponibili per il suo trattamento e gli studi sperimentali e clinici condotti per valutarne l’efficacia. Materiali e metodi. Attraverso la banca dati Medline/Pubmed sono stati selezionati i lavori originali, le revisioni della letteratura e le linee guida pubblicate in lingua inglese e in italiano sull’argomento dal 2009 al 2013. Altre fonti sono state selezionate dai riferimenti bibliografici individuati. Risultati e conclusioni. Il management dell’ipersensibilità prevede il controllo dei fattori causali e l’applicazione domiciliare/professionale di prodotti contenenti agenti occludenti. Gli studi in vitro non possono riprodurre del tutto i comportamenti quotidiani dei pazienti e le variabili ecologiche del cavo orale. L’efficacia di tali prodotti pertanto deve essere valutata mediante studi clinici randomizzati e controllati. Il complesso arginina-carbonato di calcio ha dato prova di efficacia nell’indurre sollievo immediato e duraturo. Sono necessari ulteriori trial clinici, randomizzati e controllati, per confermare i risultati relativi al fosfosilicato di calcio-sodio e all’acetato di stronzio.Objectives: The aim of this paper is to present an overview on the current state of knowledge of the epidemiology, aetiology/risk factors, pain mechanisms, diagnosis and management of dentin hypersensitivity. Available products for treatment of dentin hypersensitivity are presented and the scientific and clinical research validating their efficacy is reviewed. Material and methods: Original papers, reviews and guidelines on this subject, published in English form 2009 to 2013, were retrieved from Medline/Pubmed database. Additional publications were obtained by searching the reference list of retrieved works. Results and conclusions: The management of dentin hypersensitivity is based on the control of causal factors and the application, at-home or in-office, of various products which are aimed to occlude patent tubules. In vitro methods suffer from some limitations to mimicking the “real-life” individual behaviours and the ecological variables of the oral environment, then randomized and controlled clinical trials are considered the gold standard to evaluate the efficacy of these products. The arginine-calcium carbonate complex has demonstrated to be efficacious in providing instant and long-lasting relief. Further randomized and controlled clinical studies are needed to confirm the results of amorphous sodium calcium phosphosilicate and strontium acetate

Addition of arterial spin-labelled MR perfusion to conventional brain MRI: clinical experience in a retrospective cohort study

ObjectiveThe usage of arterial spin labelling (ASL) perfusion has exponentially increased due to improved and faster acquisition time and ease of postprocessing. We aimed to report potential additional findings obtained by adding ASL to routine unenhanced brain MRI for patients being scanned in a hospital setting for various neurological indications.DesignRetrospective.SettingLarge tertiary hospital.Participants676 patients.Primary outcomeAdditional findings from ASL sequence compared with conventional MRI.ResultsOur patient cohorts consisted of 676 patients with 257 with acute infarcts and 419 without an infarct. Additional findings from ASL were observed in 13.9% (94/676) of patients. In the non-infarct group, additional findings from ASL were observed in 7.4% (31/419) of patients, whereas in patients with an acute infarct, supplemental information was obtained in 24.5% (63/257) of patients.ConclusionThe addition of an ASL sequence to routine brain MRI in a hospital setting provides additional findings compared with conventional brain MRI in about 7.4% of patients with additional supplementary information in 24.5% of patients with acute infarct

Tolerability of vortioxetine compared to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in older adults with major depressive disorder (VESPA): a randomised, assessor-blinded and statistician-blinded, multicentre, superiority trialResearch in context

Summary: Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is prevalent and disabling among older adults. Standing on its tolerability profile, vortioxetine might be a promising alternative to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in such a vulnerable population. Methods: We conducted a randomised, assessor- and statistician-blinded, superiority trial including older adults with MDD. The study was conducted between 02/02/2019 and 02/22/2023 in 11 Italian Psychiatric Services. Participants were randomised to vortioxetine or one of the SSRIs, selected according to common practice. Treatment discontinuation due to adverse events after six months was the primary outcome, for which we aimed to detect a 12% difference in favour of vortioxetine. The study was registered in the online repository clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03779789). Findings: The intention-to-treat population included 179 individuals randomised to vortioxetine and 178 to SSRIs. Mean age was 73.7 years (standard deviation 6.1), and 264 participants (69%) were female. Of those on vortioxetine, 78 (44%) discontinued the treatment due to adverse events at six months, compared to 59 (33%) of those on SSRIs (odds ratio 1.56; 95% confidence interval 1.01–2.39). Adjusted and per-protocol analyses confirmed point estimates in favour of SSRIs, but without a significant difference. With the exception of the unadjusted survival analysis showing SSRIs to outperform vortioxetine, secondary outcomes provided results consistent with a lack of substantial safety and tolerability differences between the two arms. Overall, no significant differences emerged in terms of response rates, depressive symptoms and quality of life, while SSRIs outperformed vortioxetine in terms of cognitive performance. Interpretation: As opposed to what was previously hypothesised, vortioxetine did not show a better tolerability profile compared to SSRIs in older adults with MDD in this study. Additionally, hypothetical advantages of vortioxetine on depression-related cognitive symptoms might be questioned. The study's statistical power and highly pragmatic design allow for generalisability to real-world practice. Funding: The study was funded by the Italian Medicines Agency within the “2016 Call for Independent Drug Research”