Gluten Related Disorders: People Shall not Live on Bread Alone

Once upon a time, gluten was not part of the human diet, and therefore, there were no gluten-related disorders. With the advent of agriculture 10,000 years ago, the introduction of gluten-containing grains in the human diet created conditions for human diseases related to gluten exposure. These diseases, including celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and wheat allergy, have distinct pathophysiological mechanisms, serological markers, and long-term treatments, but similar, often overlapping clinical presentations. Though current research strives to clarify the boundaries between these entities, their differences can be difficult to distinguish. For a very long time, awareness of these disorders has been limited and, therefore, the epidemiology of gluten-related disorders has been a “work in progress”. New epidemiological studies have revealed that gluten-related disorders are not limited to European regions; rather, they are present worldwide. After centuries of neglected attention to celiac disease and other forms of gluten reaction, now we are observing another interesting phenomenon that is generating great confusion among health care professionals. Nearly 25% of Americans (many more than the projected 3 million celiac disease (CD) patients in the U.S.) are reducing or cutting gluten from their diets. This remarkable trend in the general population reflects the misconception that gluten can be harmful for everybody and, therefore, should be avoided to stay healthy, to lose weight, or even to prevent severe diseases. This Special Issue Book of Nutrients contains contributions from leading experts in the field of gluten-related disorders that will help dissipate this confusion by sharing their evidence-based science, which will help the reader to distinguish facts from fantasies

Current approaches to diagnosis and treatment of celiac disease: An evolving spectrum

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EFFECT OF POLYPLOIDIZATION ON THE TRASCIPTOME AND METABOLOME IN SINTETHIC POLYPLOIDS OF SOLANUM spp

Polyploidy is very common within angiosperms. Extensive studies are available only in synthetic allopolyploids. By contrast, less is known about the consequences of autopolyploidization. Our research aimed to assess the occurrence and extent of transcriptional and metabolomic changes occurring after oryzaline-induced polyploidization of Solanum commersonii and S. bulbocastanum, two diploid (2n=2×=24) potato species widely used in breeding programmes. Whole-genome expression profiling of diploid and the synthetic tetraploids they derived from were studied in both species to identify the genes exhibiting ploidy-dependent expression changes. Using a Combimatrix CustomArray 90K chip we found about 10% of all the transcriptome. Most of responses to polyploidization were species- and genotype-dependent. Comparing 4x versus 2x, it was clear that in S. commersonii a higher number of differentially expressed genes than in S. bulbocastanum, was observed. Interestingly, we found three genes whose expression changed in both species in a ploidy linked way. Bioinformatics analyses allowed to identify changes in expression “carbohydrates metabolism” and “stress response” genes in S. bulbocastanum and S. commersonii polyploids. A “global” metabolomics profiling was carried out on 170 targeted molecules by LC-ESI(+)-MS analysis. We observed a surprising metabolome alteration in the tetraploids of both species, in disagreement with previous studied reporting only few metabolic alterations associated to genome doubling. A major qualitative and quantitative impact was found in S. commersonii tetraploids. By contrast, in S. bulbocastanum lower changes occurred in important metabolite classes (glycoalkaloids, sugars). In particular, the anthocyanin pathway in tetraploids versus diploids comparisons was significantly affected, in both species. Therefore, a deeper investigation on the molecular causes beyond such accumulation was carried out. We studied the expression of R2R3 MYB an1 transcriptional factor, ans and dfr genes. In S. bulbocastanum our results on gene expression analyses were consistent with the down-accumulation found in tetraploids respect to diploid parent. By contrast, in S. commersonii polyploids the gene expression profiles were not consistent with the drastic accumulation of anthocyanins observed. Further investigations are required, but we believe that answering to this question may produce an important scientific finding with practical breeding applications

SHIP LOGISTICS AND MANAGEMENT

Seminario sulle tendenze della gestione della nave e della logistica navale diretto dall’ ing. Luigi Vitiello Comitato tecnico-scientifico: ing. Luigi Vitiello, Prof. Carlo Bertorello (DII), ing. Dario Bocchetti (Grimaldi S.p.A.), C.V. Claudio Campana (MMI), ing. Umberto d’Amato, Prof. Ernesto Fasano (DII), Ing. Giuseppe Longobardi (Augustea Technoservices Ltd)

Effects of a psychomotor education program on Body Mass index (BMI) in a group of school- aged Italian children

Many studies report that a corrected and systematic motor activity may represent a valid and therapeutic approach for preventing and treating overweight and obesity in pre-pubertal children [1]. In this context a psychomotor activity, aimed mainly to improve the functional pre-requisites [2], could play a key role, in particular in helping to perceive properly the own body image often misrepresented among obese children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a psychomotor education program (focused on the training of global and segmentary coordination, static and dynamic equilibrium, as well as spatio-temporal cognition) for a period of two years, on body mass index (BMI) an anthropometric parameter easily obtainable from weight and height and commonly utilized as index of obesity [3], in a group of 489 eight year- old children living in Florence (Italy).Comparing the BMI values recorded in children before and after the psycomothor activity we found a significant decrease of weight excess (approximately 17.6% vs 27.6%). Moreover we also found that the mean increase of BMI was less than that of the Italian population of the same age (approximately 0.55 vs 1.2), suggesting a beneficial effects of the psychomotor activity

Genotype-specific changes associated to early synthesis of autotetraploids in wild potato species

Polyploidy is an important factor in plant evolution that may trigger drastic genome reorganization and phenotypic differentiation. In the last decade, extensive studies have been carried to understand the consequences of allopolyploidization, where the effects of ploidy change may be confounded by interspecific hybridization. By contrast, less is known on autopolyploidization, which only involves doubling of homologous chromosomes. This study was undertaken to assess leaf anatomical modifications and gene expression changes occurring after doubling the somatic chromosome complement of diploid (2n = 2x = 24) potato species Solanum commersonii Dunal and S. bulbocastanum Dunal. Polyploidization did not induce qualitative changes in leaf structure and, for several leaf traits, anatomic modifications were stochastic. In addition, in both species a diploid superiority was generally observed, suggesting the occurrence of a high-ploidy syndrome. Expression change study was carried out on eight important cell cycle-regulatory genes in plant. It revealed a strong alteration of the expression patterns in the 4x genotypes with respect to the 2x parents. Changes often exceed the twofold, with no consistent trend towards up- or down regulation when comparing 2x vis-à-vis 4x. We discuss the possible relevance of epigenetic changes in controlling the expression of duplicated genes

High AN1 variability and interaction with basic helix-loop-helix co-factors related to anthocyanin biosynthesis in potato leaves

AN1 is a regulatory gene that promotes anthocyanin biosynthesis in potato tubers and encodes a R2R3 MYB transcription factor. However, no clear evidence implicates AN1 in anthocyanin production in leaves, where these pigments might enhance environmental stress tolerance. In our study we found that AN1 displays intraspecific sequence variability in both coding/non-coding regions and in the promoter, and that its expression is associated with high anthocyanin content in leaves of commercial potatoes. Expression analysis provided evidence that leaf pigmentation is associated to AN1 expression and that StJAF13 acts as putative AN1 co-regulator for anthocyanin gene expression in leaves of the red leaf variety "Magenta Love", while a concomitant expression of StbHLH1 may contribute to anthocyanin accumulation in leaves of "Double Fun". Yeast two-hybrid experiments confirmed that AN1 interacts with StbHLH1 and StJAF13 and the latter interaction was verified and localized in the cell nucleus by bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. In addition, transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) overexpressing a combination of either AN1 with StJAF13 or AN1 with StbHLH1 showed deeper purple pigmentation with respect to AN1 alone. This further confirmed AN1/StJAF13 and AN1/StbHLH1 interactions. Our findings demonstrate that the classical loci identified for potato leaf anthocyanin accumulation correspond to AN1 and may represent an important step to expand our knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying anthocyanin biosynthesis in different plant tissues. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Antibiotics or No Antibiotics, That Is the Question: An Update on Efficient and Effective Use of Antibiotics in Dental Practice

The antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenomenon is an emerging global problem and is induced by overuse and misuse of antibiotics in medical practice. In total, 10% of antibiotic prescriptions are from dentists, usually to manage oro-dental pains and avoid postsurgical complications. Recent research and clinical evaluations highlight new therapeutical approaches with a reduction in dosages and number of antibiotic prescriptions and recommend focusing on an accurate diagnosis and improvement of oral health before dental treatments and in patients' daily lives. In this article, the most common clinical and operative situations in dental practice, such as endodontics, management of acute alveolar abscesses, extractive oral surgery, parodontology and implantology, are recognized and summarized, suggesting possible guidelines to reduce antibiotic prescription and consumption, maintaining high success rates and low complications rates. Additionally, the categories of patients requiring antibiotic administration for pre-existing conditions are recapitulated. To reduce AMR threat, it is important to establish protocols for treatment with antibiotics, to be used only in specific situations. Recent reviews demonstrate that, in dentistry, it is possible to minimize the use of antibiotics, thoroughly assessing patient's conditions and type of intervention, thus improving their efficacy and reducing the adverse effects and enhancing the modern concept of personalized medicine

Characterization of a rare variant (c.2635-2A>G) of the MSH2 gene in a family with Lynch syndrome

Abstract Introduction: Lynch syndrome is caused by germline mutations in one of the mismatch repair genes (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2) or in the EPCAM gene. Lynch syndrome is defined on the basis of clinical, pathological, and genetic findings. Accordingly, the identification of predisposing genes allows for accurate risk assessment and tailored screening protocols. Case Description: Here, we report a family case with three family members manifesting the Lynch syndrome phenotype, all of which harbor the rare variant c.2635-2A>G affecting the splice site consensus sequence of intron 15 of the MSH2 gene. This mutation was previously described only in one family with Lynch syndrome, in which mismatch repair protein expression in tumor tissues was not assessed. In this study, we report for the first time the molecular characterization of the MSH2 c.2635-2A>G variant through in silico prediction analysis, microsatellite instability, and mismatch repair protein expression experiments on tumor tissues of Lynch syndrome patients. The potential effect of the splice site variant was revealed by three splicing prediction bioinformatics tools, which suggested the generation of a new cryptic splicing site. The potential pathogenic role of this variant was also revealed by the presence of microsatellite instability and the absence of MSH2/MSH6 heterodimer protein expression in the tumor cells of cancer tissues of the affected family members. Conclusions: We provide compelling evidence in favor of the pathogenic role of the MSH2 variant c.2635-2A>G, which could induce an alteration of the canonical splice site and consequently an aberrant form of the protein product (MSH2)