Potential Use of Superabsorbent Polymer on Drought-Stressed Processing Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in a Mediterranean Climate

Drought risk is significantly increasing as a consequence of climate change, and the Mediterranean basin will be among the most affected areas by water scarcity in Europe. The development of agronomic strategies enabling the reduction in drought stress in cultivated crops is, therefore, a crucial priority. Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) are soil amendments capable to retain water and release it when drought occurs. In the present study, the ability of a commercial SAP to improve the drought tolerance of processing tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) was assessed on a commercial farm located in northern Italy. A strip plot experimental design was adopted, where three irrigation treatments (IRR100, IRR75, and IRR50, respectively, restituting 100%, 75%, and 50% of crop evapotranspiration) were combined with the application of the SAP (control vs. soil amended with SAP). No significant interaction was observed between irrigation treatments and SAP application in yield and quality traits. SAP application allowed for an average increase in tomato yield (+16.4%) and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) (+15.8%), determined by a higher number of marketable fruits. The irrigation strategy IRR75 + SAP maintained the same yield and quality as the full irrigation control (IRR100), increasing the IWUE by about 37%. The experiment demonstrated that, for processing tomatoes grown in the Mediterranean, it is possible to reduce the water supply by 25% when SAP amendment is applied to the soil

Effetti cardiorespiratori degli sprint ripetuti in giovani calciatori

Scopo: Nel calcio la performance dipende da attività caratterizzate da sforzi di breve durata, talora ad alta intensità, con ridotti tempi di recupero. Questo tipo di sforzo può avere maggiore potenzialità aritmogena rispetto a sforzi, anche massimali, iniziati e terminati in modo graduale. Gli sprint ripetuti permettono di valutare la performance e lo stato di allenamento in giovani calciatori. Scopo del nostro lavoro è stato quello di valutare gli effetti degli sprint ripetuti sul sistema cardiorespiratorio in giovani calciatori delle rappresentative regionali siciliane della FIGC. Metodi: Sono stati esaminati 12 calciatori, di età media di 15±1 anni. Per valutare lo stato di fitness cardiorespiratoria sono stati determinati, al test da sforzo incrementale massimale al treadmill (SI), il VO2max in ml.Kg-1.min-1 (VO2maxSI) e la FCmax in bpm (FCmaxSI). Per valutare gli effetti cardiorespiratori degli sprint ripetuti, gli atleti hanno eseguito un test da sforzo al cicloergometro a freno meccanico (SR) che prevedeva 10 sprint massimali “all-out” di 6 sec, intervallati da 30 sec di recupero passivo. Nella serie dei 10 sprint, sono stati determinati il valore più elevato di VO2 in ml.Kg-1.min-1 (VO2maxSR) e di FC in bpm (FCmaxSR). Risultati: Il valore medio di VO2maxSI (56,22±3,93 ml.Kg-1.min-1) indica che i soggetti esaminati hanno un buon livello di potenza aerobica, raggiunta ad una FCmaxSI di 190±8 bpm. I dati di VO2maxSR rilevati al test degli sprint ripetuti evidenziano un valore medio di 42,67±5,57 ml.Kg-1.min-1 (70% del VO2maxSI), raggiunto ad una FCmaxSR di 175±11 bpm (92% della FCmaxSI). Conclusioni: I dati del nostro studio indicano che nei soggetti esaminati gli sprint ripetuti determinano incrementi della frequenza cardiaca rapidi, elevati e persistenti nella fase di recupero. Questo dato deve essere preso in considerazione non solo per la valutazione della performance ma anche nella formulazione dell’idoneità a praticare la disciplina sportiva del calcio

A GIANT ANEURYSM OF PROPER HEPATIC ARTERY IN A CRYOGLOBULINEMIC PATIENT ON HEMODIALYSIS: A CASE REPORT.

Introductrion. Hepatic artery aneurysms (HAAs) are unusual vascular lesions often associated with many different pathological conditions. Most of reported cases are described in association with connective tissue diseases, such as polyarteritis nodosa and systemic lupus erythematosus. Case report. We observed a 52-year-old man with hypertension and HCV-related cryoglobulinemia complicated by end stage renal disease on replacement therapy by hemodialysis. He was admitted to our hospital because of the worsening of blood pressure values (170/110 mmHg) associated to new onset abdominal pain. After an initial physical examination, that showed a periumbelical bruit associated to a pulsatile mass in right hypocondrium, an abdominal ultrasound was performed with evidence of aneurysms of both the right branch (diameter max 4,5 cm) and the left branch (diameter max 1.5 cm) of the hepatic artery. An abdominal CT study was also performed and it confirmed the diagnosis of right intrahepatic artery aneurysm with partially thrombosed area in its peripheral distal portion. Discussion. Many different factors can contribute to the aneurysm formation in this patient. Vasculitic involvement due to cryoglobulinemic disease, therapy with steroid drugs, inflammatory state associated to HCV-related hepatitis, chronic kidney disease and replacement therapy by hemodialysis may all be involved in the development of the aneurysmatic hepatic lesion

[OP.2D.05] RELATIONSHIP OF OXIDATIVE STRESS WITH CARDIAC HYPERTROPHY IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

OBJECTIVE: Left ventricular hypertrophy is common in hypertensive patients. In these subjects increased oxidative stress has been observed. Our aim was to evaluate the association of biomarkers of both oxidative stress and inflammation with markers of cardiovascular damage in a large group of hypertensives with different stages of renal function. DESIGN AND METHOD: In 517 hypertensives we analyzed left ventricular mass indexed for body surface area, and we assayed plasma levels of 8-isoprostaglandin F2alpha and high sensitivity C reactive protein. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis carried out considering left ventricular mass as dependent variable, and including 8-isoprostaglandin F2alpha, high sensitivity C reactive protein, age, sex, body mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, serum glucose, (log)triglycerides, hemoglobin, pulse pressure or systolic blood pressure, mean or diastolic blood pressure, and antihypertensive treatment showed that in hypertensives plasma levels of 8-isoprostaglandin F2alpha were correlated with left ventricular mass (beta=0.269, p\u200a<\u200a0.0001).The bivariate relationship of left ventricular mass with 8-isoprostaglandin F2alpha in hypertensives with estimated glomerular filtration rate higher and lower than 60\u200aml/min/1.73m2 was also calculated separately, demonstrating no significant differences in both correlations coefficients and slopes of the regression lines (r\u200a=\u200a0.254, p\u200a<\u200a0.001 and r\u200a=\u200a0.226, p\u200a<\u200a0.002; respectively).In the overall group, receiver operating characteristic curves showed that 8-isoprostaglandin F2alpha and high sensitivity C reactive protein were predictors of left ventricular hypertrophy, p\u200a<\u200a0.0001. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that in hypertensives oxidative stress is correlated to left ventricular hypertrophy independently of other confounding factors. Oxidative stress might participate in the development of hypertensive cardiac hypertrophy

INVERSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AORTIC ROOT DIAMETER AND RENAL FUNCTION IN HYPERTENSIVE SUBJECTS

Recent studies suggest that enlarged aortic root diameter (ARD) may predict cardiovascular events in absence of aneurysmatic alterations. Little is known about the influence of renal function on ARD. Our study was aimed to assess the relationships between glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and ARD in hypertensive subjects

Gender and the systemic hypertension-snoring association: a questionnaire-based case-control study.

Since the role of gender in the association between hypertension and snoring is unknown, we studied it while accounting for age and body mass index (BMI) as confounding variables. A questionnaire on snoring was administered to 90 hypertensive (HT) subjects (45 men and 45 women) and to 90 normotensive (NT) subjects matched for gender, age and BMI. As expected, snoring was more commonly reported by men than by women, but no significant difference was found between HT and NT men, irrespective of age. Conversely, heavy snoring was more frequently reported by HT than NT women; habitual snoring was more common among young (age50 years) HT than NT women; and heavy snoring was more common among older (age50 years) HT than NT women. These data suggest an effect of gender on the hypertension-snoring association: in men, snoring may be accounted for by age and BMI whether or not hypertension is present, whereas in women the natural history of snoring appears different and more severe in HT than in NT. Although the mechanism(s) responsible for the differences between men and women are obscure at present, gender may be an important variable in the systemic hypertension-snoring association

5.16 Left Ventricular Geometry In Chronic Kidney Disease

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Relationship between albumin excretion rate and aortic stiffness in untreated essential hypertensive patients

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate, in a group of nondiabetic essential hypertensive patients with normal renal function, the relationship between albumin excretion rate (AER) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), as an index of aortic stiffness. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Outpatient hypertension clinic. SUBJECTS: Seventy patients with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension, aged 42 +/- 8 years, never pharmacologically treated. All subjects underwent routine laboratory tests, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring, measurement of carotid-femoral PWV, by means of a computerized method, and AER. RESULTS: Microalbuminuric patients (AER > or = 20 microg min(-1); n = 19), when compared with normoalbuminuric subjects, showed more elevated 24-h BP (136/88 +/- 10/10 vs. 128/83 +/- 7/6 mmHg; P < 0.001 and P = 0.013, for systolic and diastolic BP respectively) and higher values of carotid-femoral PWV (10.4 +/- 2 m s(-1) vs. 9.2 +/- 1.3; P = 0.006). This latter difference remained statistically significant, even after correction by ancova for 24-h systolic and diastolic BP, and body mass index (BMI, P = 0.016). Univariate regression analysis disclosed a tight correlation between AER and carotid-femoral PWV (r = 0.42; P = 0.0003). This association was confirmed in a multiple regression model (beta = 0.35; P = 0.009) in which, as independent variables, besides PWV, 24-h BP, age, serum glucose values, smoking status, gender and BMI, were added. CONCLUSIONS: Our results seem to confirm that microalbuminuria may represent the early renal manifestation of a widespread vascular dysfunction, and therefore it is an integrated marker of cardiovascular risk

Influence of metabolic syndrome on hypertension-related target organ damage

OBJECTIVES: The aim of our study was to analyse, in a wide group of essential hypertensive patients without diabetes mellitus, the influence of metabolic syndrome (MS) (defined according to the criteria laid down in the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults) on markers of preclinical cardiac, renal and retinal damage. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Outpatient hypertension clinic. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 353 young and middle-aged hypertensives, free from cardiovascular and renal diseases (and 37% of whom had MS), underwent echocardiographic examination, microalbuminuria determination and non-mydriatic retinography. RESULTS: When compared with subjects without MS, hypertensive patients with MS exhibited more elevated left ventricular (LV) mass (either normalized by body surface area or by height elevated by a power of 2.7), higher myocardial relative wall thickness, albumin excretion rate (AER) and a greater prevalence of LV hypertrophy (57.7% vs. 25.1%; P < 0.00001), of microalbuminuria (36.2% vs. 19.3%; P = 0.002) and of hypertensive retinopathy (87.7% vs. 48.4%; P < 0.00001). These results held even after correction for age, 24-h blood pressures, duration of hypertension, previous antihypertensive therapy, and gender distribution. The independent relationships between LV mass and MS, and between AER and MS, were confirmed in multivariate regression models including MS together with its individual components. CONCLUSIONS: MS may amplify hypertension-related cardiac and renal changes, over and above the potential contribution of each single component of this syndrome. As these markers of target organ damage are well-known predictors of cardiovascular events, our results may partly explain the enhanced cardiovascular risk associated with MS

Short and middle term effects of hypocaloric low carbohydrate diet vs hypocaloric Mediterranean diet on endothelial function in obese subjects

Adequate nutritional treatment is required to address the problem of increasing prevalence of obesity in Western countries. The Mediterranean diet style is now acknowledged to have large scientific evidences in terms of cardiovascular prevention. However, many popular diets are diffusing also as self-prescribed treatments. Among those, the efficacy of low-carbohydrate diets (also known as Atkins’ diet in its most popular variety) has been addressed by some investigations. It is generally concluded that the low-carbohydrate diet is able to induce a greater weight loss, at least in the middle term, and a better serum lipid profile than the conventional diet. In this longitudinal, randomised, open study we compared the effects on endothelial function of a hypocaloric low-carbohydrate diet (according to the Atkins’ diet; AD) versus a similarly hypocaloric Mediterranean diet (MD). Overweight-obese (range of BMI: 27-34.9 Kg/m2; range of age: 30-50 years) otherwise healthy, normal glucose tolerant women were enrolled and randomly assigned to one of the two dietary treatments until reaching the final number of 10 women for each group of treatment. So, twenty-five women were enrolled and five of them (3 in the MD group and 2 in the AD group) were subsequently excluded from the study due to intercurrent diseases (1 subject) or declaration of inadequate compliance (2 subjects) or f voluntary drop out (2 subjects). Measurements were performed before (T0), 5-7 days (T5) and 2 months (T60) after starting the diet treatment. Endothelial function was investigated at each time of the study by measuring the brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD). Serum concentrations of insulin, adiponectin, interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and 8-iso-prostaglandin (8-iso-PG) F2α were also assessed at each time of the study. Urinary ketone bodies were observed at T5 only in AD group. Briefly, body weight was not significantly decreased at T5 in both groups; as expected, a higher body weight reduction was observed at T60 in AD group (change in body weight T60 – T0, mean ± sem, MD -4.9 ± 0.6 Kg vs AD -7.6 ± 0.8 Kg, p= 0.014). The FMD was significantly reduced at T5 in the AD group and increased at T60 until reaching the T0 values (T0: 12.2 ± 2.9; T5: 5.2 ± 0.8; T60: 11.0 ± 1.2 %; p< 0.05 T5 vs T0 and T60). On the contrary, the FMD increased significantly at T5 in the MD group and decreased until reaching values comparable to those of T0 at T60 (T0: 10.3 ± 2.3; T5: 14.5 ± 2.8; T60: 10.6 ± 1.9 %; p< 0.05 T5 vs T0 and T60). This trend of FMD change was observed in each subject. Insulin concentrations and HOMA-I decreased significantly at T5 and at T60 in both groups. Adiponectin and TNF-α concentrations remained unchanged in both groups throughout the study. Both IL-6 and 8-iso-PGF2α increased significantly at T5 in the AD group and decreased at T60 to values comparable to T0 (IL-6: T0 57.5 ± 9.0, T5 78.1 ± 10.9, T60 56.6 ± 6.8 pg/ml; T5 vs T0 p< 0,005, T5 vs T60 p< 0,02; 8-iso-PGF2α: T0 171.5 ± 30.6, T5 222.6 ± 35.1, T60 178.7 ± 25.8 pg/ml; T5 vs T0 p< 0,005, T5 vs T60 p< 0,02); no significant change was observed in the MD group. This study suggests that the hypocaloric low-carbohydrate diet induces a significant endothelial dysfunction in the short term (5-7 days) that is reverted in the middle term (2 months) as suggested by both the brachial artery FMD and serum markers of inflammation (IL-6) and oxidative stress (8-iso-PGF2α). On the contrary, the hypocaloric Mediterranean diet is able to improve the endothelial function at least in the short term. These effects are independent of body weight loss. Therefore, this study points out also the potential disadvantages of low-carbohydrate diets when prescribed (or self-prescribed) especially in subjects at high cardiovascular risk