Spa therapy induces clinical improvement and protein changes in patients with chronic back pain

This study is primarily aimed at assessing serum changes on a large panel of proteins in patients with chronic back pain following spa therapy, as well as evaluating different spa therapy regimens as a preliminary exploratory clinical study. Sixty-six patients with chronic back pain secondary to osteoarthritis were randomly enrolled and treated with daily mud packs and bicarbonate-alkaline mineral water baths, or a thermal hydrotherapy rehabilitation scheme, the combination of the two regimens or usual medication only (control group), for two weeks. Clinical variables were evaluated at baseline, after 2 and 12 weeks. One thousand serum proteins were tested before and after a two-week mud bath therapy. All spa treatment groups showed clinical benefit as determined by improvements in VAS pain, Roland Morris disability questionnaire and neck disability index at both time points. The following serum proteins were found greatly increased (≥2.5 fold) after spa treatment: inhibin beta A subunit (INHBA), activin A receptor type 2B (ACVR2B), angiopoietin-1 (ANGPT1), beta-2-microglobulin (B2M), growth differentiation factor 10 (GDF10), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CXCL5), fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), fibroblast growth factor 12 (FGF12), oxidized low density lipoprotein receptor 1 (OLR1), matrix metallopeptidase 13 (MMP13). Three proteins were found greatly decreased (≤0.65 fold): apolipoprotein C-III (Apoc3), interleukin 23 alpha subunit p19 (IL23A) and syndecan-1 (SDC1). Spa therapy was confirmed as beneficial for chronic back pain and proved to induce changes in proteins involved in functions such as gene expression modulation, differentiation, angiogenesis, tissue repair, acute and chronic inflammatory response

Determination of the human salivary peptides, histatins 1, 3, 5 and statherin by high-performance liquid chromatography and by diode-array detection

NO ABSTRAC

Materiali e Tecnologie Odontostomatologiche per Igienista Dentale

libro per studenti universitar

Thalassaemia is paradoxically associated with a reduced risk of in-hospital complications and mortality in COVID-19: Data from an international registry

Although numerous patient-specific co-factors have been shown to be associated with worse outcomes in COVID-19, the prognostic value of thalassaemic syndromes in COVID-19 patients remains poorly understood. We studied the outcomes of 137 COVID-19 patients with a history of transfusion-dependent thalassaemia (TDT) and transfusion independent thalassaemia (TIT) extracted from a large international cohort and compared them with the outcomes from a matched cohort of COVID-19 patients with no history of thalassaemia. The mean age of thalassaemia patients included in our study was 41 +/- 16 years (48.9% male). Almost 81% of these patients suffered from TDT requiring blood transfusions on a regular basis. 38.7% of patients were blood group O. Cardiac iron overload was documented in 6.8% of study patients, whereas liver iron overload was documented in 35% of study patients. 40% of thalassaemia patients had a history of splenectomy. 27.7% of study patients required hospitalization due to COVID-19 infection. Amongst the hospitalized patients, one patient died (0.7%) and one patient required intubation. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was required in almost 5% of study patients. After adjustment for age-, sex- and other known risk factors (cardiac disease, kidney disease and pulmonary disease), the rate of in-hospital complications (supplemental oxygen use, admission to an intensive care unit for CPAP therapy or intubation) and all-cause mortality was significantly lower in the thalassaemia group compared to the matched cohort with no history of thalassaemia. Amongst thalassaemia patients in general, the TIT group exhibited a higher rate of hospitalization compared to the TDT group (p = 0.001). In addition, the rate of complications such as acute kidney injury and need for supplemental oxygen was significantly higher in the TIT group compared to the TDT group. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, age and history of heart or kidney disease were all found to be independent risk factors for increased in-hospital, all-cause mortality, whereas the presence of thalassaemia (either TDT or TIT) was found to be independently associated with reduced all-cause mortality. The presence of thalassaemia in COVID-19 patients was independently associated with lower in-hospital, all-cause mortality and few in-hospital complications in our study. The pathophysiology of this is unclear and needs to be studied in vitro and in animal models

Materiali e tecnologie odontostomatologiche

Questa terza edizione nasce per rispondere alle crescenti esigenze, dopo l’ottima ricezione, da parte degli studenti e cultori della materia. È dedicata alla Prof.ssa Elettra Dorigo De Stefano, primo docente di Materiali Dentari, Past President del Collegio dei Docenti di Odontoiatria, sotto il cui patrocinio è iniziato il nostro progetto; i suoi consigli sono stati fondamentali per la sua produzione collegiale. Il carisma e la dedizione della prof.ssa Dorigo nei confronti della disciplina sono di esempio per tutte le generazioni future che intendono intraprendere la carriera accademica. Ventuno sedi universitarie, oggi ventisette, hanno aderito a questo progetto; tutte hanno collaborato attivamente fornendo il proprio materiale didattico. Il risultato è questo volume, che rimane sotto il Patrocinio del presidente del Collegio dei Docenti, oggi il prof. Roberto di Lenarda, a cui va il mio ringraziamento. La nuova edizione è stata implementata con nuovi argomenti quali: materiali per l’ingegneria cranio-facciale, per l’igiene orale, per lo sbiancamento, per lo studio e il trattamento dell’alitosi e dispositivi LED in odontoiatria. Inoltre è stato inserito un capitolo apposito per quanto riguarda la ricerca ed analisi al microscopio. Includendo questi nuovi argomenti si creano i fondamenti e si fornisce il know-how agli studenti sia di Odontoiatria che di Igiene Dentale per mettere in dialogo i professionisti del “dentale”. L’indice di questo testo riflette i programmi condivisi dai docenti di disciplina, senza entrare nelle tematiche specialistiche in modo approfondito, per lasciare così al singolo docente spazio per gli approfondimenti che riterrà necessari. Inoltre, per facilitare la comprensione del testo, i diversi argomenti sono stati raggruppati per aree tematiche, caratterizzate da diversi colori. Sono personalmente convinto che molto è ancora da fare e da correggere e pertanto spero, con l’arrivo di suggerimenti, di poter migliorare e aggiornare il testo. Giuseppe Spoto Coordinatore dei Docenti di questo Lavoro Collegiale già Referente della Disciplina “Materiali Dentari e Tecnologie Protesiche di Laboratorio” già Professore ordinario di Materiali Dentari, Prof. inc. di Chimica Medica, Referente Nazionale della sede di Chieti per il Collegio dei Docenti di Odontoiatria, Università “G. d’Annunzio” di Chieti, Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Orali e Biotecnologiche (via dei Vestini 31, Chieti)