Potential protective effects of melatonin against UV-A irradiation on fibroblast cell line

The sun’s radiation that reaches Earth contains ultraviolet (UV) wavelights made up of a combination of UV-A (95%) and UV-B (5%) radiations. Chronic sun exposure is responsible for long term clinical skin changes such as photoaging, photodamage and photocancers. Moreover, inflammation is mostly due to UV-A which stimulates the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) inducing also photoaging (Mouchet et al., 2010; Marionnet et al., 2010). In order to protect themselves against oxidative stress, skin cells developed several defense systems, including ROS and metal ions scavengers and a battery of detoxifying and repair enzymes (Bickers and Athar, 2006). In addition, UV-A can also directly influence the structure of nucleic acids, breaking the chain or changing the nucleotide sequence. Altogether these perturbations of cells homeostasis advantages a significant up-regulation of oxidative and inflammatory responsive genes. In this study, we focused our attention on prevention of photodamage, choosing melatonin as antioxidant agent. Melatonin is a neuroendocrine mediator with pleiotropic bioactivities such as hormonal, neurotransmitter, immunomodulator and biological modifier actions. Its antioxidant activity is the result of two different but synergic actions: a direct, due to its ability to act as a free radical scavenger and an indirect due to the up-regulation of antioxidant enzymes (Fischer et al., 2008). The aim of the present study was to analyze the impact of pre-treatment of murine fibroblasts cells (NIH-3T3) with melatonin (10-3 M- kindly provided by Chronolife S.r.l., Roma, Italy) later irradiated by UV-A irradiation (15 J/ cm2) evaluating the changes of fibroblast microenvironment conditions. We observed that UV-A irradiation caused matrix restructuration and alteration, oxidative stress and inflammation; while melatonin pre-treatment suppresses UV-A induced photodamage. Collectively, these results suggest that melatonin provides relevant protective effects against UV-A irradiation. A new chapter of melatonin in dermato-endocrine research could be open

Pollutants monitoring and air quality evaluation in a confined environment: The ‘Majesty’ of Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the St. Augustine Church in Siena (Italy)

A monitoring campaign of the levels of some organic contaminants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), perfluoro alkylated substances (PFASs), chlorinated pesticides (4 isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane, hexachlorobenzene, 6 isomers and metabolites of DDT and dieldrin), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), in different matrices (dust taken from the floor and under a wall painting and fragments of the 'Majesty' wall painting by Ambrogio Lorenzetti), was conducted in the historical museum of St. Augustine's church in Siena (Italy). Instrumental analyses were made by gas chromatography and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The results showed the presence of some organic pollutants (PAHs and PBDEs), whose interaction with the surfaces of works of art are not yet fully elucidated. The study was complemented by monitoring the air quality inside and outside the church for the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); all the results showed low levels of air pollution. Copyright (C)2016 Turkish National Committee for Air Pollution Research and Control

NUTRITION IN IBD PATIENT'S: WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS?

Summary: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic disorder characterized by a relapsing-remitting course, which alternates between active and quiescent states, ultimately impairing a patients quality of life. The two main types of IBD are Crohn's disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC). In physiological conditions the gut is costantly exposed to various antigens, commensal microflora and pathogens and the inflammatory response is finely balanced. It is thought that a vast number of environmental risk factors may be implicated in the development of IBD, including smoking factors, dietary factors, psycological stress, use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and oral contraceptives, appendicectomy, breastfeeding, as well as infections. Nutritional support, as a primary therapy, has a crucial role in the management of patients with IBD. The gut microbiota is clearly manipulated by dietary components such as n-3 polyunsatured fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) and coniugated linoleic acid (CLA) which favorably reduce endotoxin load via shifts in the composition and metabolic activity of the microbial community. in particular, the beneficial effect of n-3 PUFAs and fermentable fiber, during the remission/quiescent phase of both CD and UC is Highlighted. In fact, PUFAs are associated with a less grade of inflammation since they are metabolized to 3-series prostagliandins and thromboxanes and 5-series leukotrienes and, in addition, exert antiinflammatory effects when compared with their n-6 PUFA counterparts. In similar action to dietary n-3 PUFA, coniugated linoleic acid (CLA) have been reported to ameliorate intestinal inflammation in animal models of IBD. Currently, is still unclear the role of the fibers in helping the remission of the disease. Data about the consumption of fiber are controversial. On one hand, dietary fibers can act as effective prebiotics by altering the intestinal microbial composition and promoting the growth of beneficial bacterial communities within the large intestine. On the other hand, fibers can promote diarrhea, pain and gas aggravating the clinical sate. Cocnclusion: We suggest that the consumption of fermentable fibers may have a good impact on patient's health

INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE AND PERIPHERAL ATRHITIS: MESALAZINA AND PROBIOTICS

The inflammaotory bowel disease (IBD) are a group of inflammatory pathologies of the digestive line with chronicity and recurrent characteristic. The IBDs mostly recognized are the ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease; they are more frequent in the industrialized countries and among the caucasian populations that among those africans or oriental. The secondary artropaties to IBD recognize a multifactorial genesis in subjects predisposed as a result genetically or environmental factors; a fundamental role of the intestinal dysbiosis they are hypothesized

Learning from humans how to grasp: a data-driven architecture for autonomous grasping with anthropomorphic soft hands

Soft hands are robotic systems that embed compliant elements in their mechanical design. This enables an effective adaptation with the items and the environment, and ultimately, an increase in their grasping performance. These hands come with clear advantages in terms of ease-to-use and robustness if compared with classic rigid hands, when operated by a human. However, their potential for autonomous grasping is still largely unexplored, due to the lack of suitable control strategies. To address this issue, in this letter, we propose an approach to enable soft hands to autonomously grasp objects, starting from the observations of human strategies. A classifier realized through a deep neural network takes as input the visual information on the object to be grasped, and predicts which action a human would perform to achieve the goal. This information is hence used to select one among a set of human-inspired primitives, which define the evolution of the soft hand posture as a combination of anticipatory action and touch-based reactive grasp. The architecture is completed by the hardware component, which consists of an RGB camera to look at the scene, a 7-DoF manipulator, and a soft hand. The latter is equipped with inertial measurement units at the fingernails for detecting contact with the object. We extensively tested the propose

Role of S128R polymorphism of E-selectin in colon metastasis formation

The extravasation of cancer cells is a key step of the metastatic cascade. Polymorphisms in genes encoding adhesion molecules can facilitate metastasis by increasing the strength of interaction between tumor and endothelial cells as well as impacting other properties of cancer cells. We investigated the Ser128Arg (a561c at the nucleotide level) polymorphism in the E-selectin gene in patients with metastatic colon cancer and its functional significance. Genotyping for a561c polymorphism was performed on 172 cancer patients and on an age-matched control population. The colon cancer group was divided into groups with (M(+)) and without observable metastasis (M(-)). For in vitro functional assays, Huvec transfected cells expressing wild-type (WT) or the S128R variant of E-selectin were established to study in vitro binding ability and signal transduction processes of T84 colon cancer cell line. Our results demonstrated that the Arginine(128) allele was more prevalent in the M(+) group than in the M(-) group or normal controls (p < 0.005; odds ratio, 1.56; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.16-1.92; p < 0.001, odds ratio = 1.65; CI = 1.24-1.99, respectively). In vitro, S128R E-selectin transfected Huvec cells, supported increased adhesion as well as increased cellular signaling of T84 cancer cells compared to WT E-selectin and mock-transfected Huvec cells. These findings suggest that the E-selectin S128R polymorphism can functionally affect tumor-endothelial interactions as well as motility and signaling properties of neoplastic cells that may modulate the metastatic phenotype

Infliximab treatment for steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease

Background and Objectives. Tumor necrosis factor \u3b1 is one of the principal cytokines involved in the pathogenesis of acute graft-versus-host- disease (GVHD). Infliximab is an antibody to this cytokine. Design and Methods. We performed a retrospective analysis to evaluate the activity of infliximab in 32 patients with severe steroid-refractory acute GVHD. The patients received a median of 3 weekly courses of infliximab. The main organs involved in the patients were skin (n=2) liver (n=1), bowel (n=19), liver and bowel at the same stage (n=10). Results. Nineteen out 32 patients (59%) responded to infliximab with 6 (19%) complete and 13 (40%) partial responses. Age younger than 35 years, intestinal involvement and a longer time between hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and infliximab administration were factors predicting a favorable response. Infective episodes developed in 23/32 (72%) patients. All the 13 unresponsive patients died of GVHD shortly after infliximab. Thirteen of 19 responsive patients were alive at a median follow-up of 449 days (range 155-842) after infliximab, with no signs of chronic GVHD (n=5), limited (n=5) or extensive involvement (n=3). Six patients who responded subsequently died, one of chronic lung GVHD, the others of vascular complications or infections (2 fungal diseases). Interpretation and Conclusions. We conclude that infliximab is active in the treatment of severe steroid-refractory acute GVHD, particularly when the intestine is involved. Infections commonly followed its administration. The clinical activity of infliximab and the possibility that it increases the risk of infections are worth investigating in prospective trials

Socio-economic disparities in the appropriateness of diabetes care in an Italian region: findings of AEQUITAS study

Background: To evaluate socio-economic disparities in diabetes prevalence and care in Marches (a region of central Italy) in 2003-2010 through a cross-sectional study. Methods: The databases of 52 general practitioners were mined for people with diabetes (age ≥20 years). These data were linked with records from other regional administrative databases. Healthcare disparities, specifically potentially preventable hospitalizations (PPH) related to diabetes and its complications, were analysed using participants’ gender, age, and education data and the Italian Deprivation Index. Crude, age-specific and gender-specific diabetes prevalence was estimated for each year of observation. A time-trend analysis was performed. Admissions that might have been prevented according to Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality criteria were used to calculate the PPH rate for each level of social condition indicators. Rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated with a multiple Poisson regression model. Results: The search found 6,494 participants with diabetes mellitus aged ≥20 years. Disease prevalence ranged from 5.4% (2003) to 7.8% (2010), with a significant 0.31% positive trend. Those aged ≤44 years were at significantly higher risk of PPH than older people. A significant PPH excess was found among people living in socio-economically disadvantaged areas. Education and gender did not significantly affect PPH. Conclusion. People with diabetes seem to use primary care services appropriately irrespective of socio-economic status. Outpatient services are not equally distributed on the regional territory; this may increase disease severity and/or the risk of diabetes complications and affect appropriateness of diabetes care

Characteristics of Patients Experiencing a Flare of Generalized Pustular Psoriasis: A Multicenter Observational Study

Background: Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a rare, severe inflammatory skin disease characterized by recurrent episodes of flares. Characteristics of patients experiencing a flare are hardly described in a real-life setting. The aim of the study is to investigate the clinical characteristics of patients experiencing a flare of GPP. Methods: Multicenter retrospective observational study on consecutive patients experiencing a flare of GPP between 2018 and 2022. Disease severity and quality of life were assessed by Generalized Pustular Psoriasis Area, Body Surface Area (BSA), and Severity Index (GPPASI), and Dermatology life quality index (DLQI) questionnaire, respectively. Visual analogue scale (VAS) of itch and pain, triggers, complications, comorbidities, pharmacological therapies, and outcome were collected. Results: A total of 66 patients, 45 (68.2%) females, mean age 58.1 ± 14.9 years, were included. The GPPASI, BSA, and DLQI were 22.9 ± 13.5 (mean ± standard deviation), 47.9 ± 29.1, and 21.0 ± 5.0, respectively. The VAS of itch and pain were 6.2 ± 3.3 and 6.2 ± 3.0, respectively. Fever (&gt;38 ◦C) and leukocytosis (WBC &gt; 12 × 109/L) were found in 26 (39.4%) and 39 (59.1%) patients, respectively. Precipitating triggers were identified in 24 (36.3%) and included infections (15.9%), drugs (10.6%), stressful life events (7.6%), and corticosteroids withdrawal (3.0%). Fourteen (21.2%) patients were hospitalized because of complications including infections in 9 (13.6%)leading to death in one case and hepatitis in 3 (4.5%). Conclusions: GPP flares can be severe and cause severe pain and itch with significant impact on the quality of life. In about one-third of patients the flare may have a persistent course and, with complications, lead to hospitalization