The management of a blood donor bitten by a snake

The worldwide burden of snakebite is high and venomous snakes are found in many regions of the world and are a threat to public health. In Italy, for instance, viper bites are an infrequent but not negligible event. Although people who have been bitten by a snake rarely wish to donate blood within a "short" time, it is however important to evaluate their eligibility to donate blood or blood components as their donation could be a problem for donor management, especially if a specific policy is not in place. The aim of this manuscript is to summarise the worldwide existing donor deferral policy for snakebites and to provide some indications in order to facilitate decision-making and to guarantee maximum safety for the donors as well as for the recipients

Simboli della Repubblica alla prova della pandemia

Valore costituzionale dei simboli della Repubblica italian

Role of TGFβ1/Smads pathway in the pathogenesis of intestinal fibrosis in Crohn’s disease

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are characterized by an intestinal fibrosis that may lead to stenosis and obstruction (Burke et al., 2007) and by disfuntions of gastrointestinal (GI) motility associated with altered functions of enteric nerves, interstitial cells of Cajal or smooth muscle (Vetuschi et al., 2006). In experimental model TGFβ1/ Smad3 signalling plays a major role in tissue fibrogenesis (Latella et al, 2009). Aim of this study was to evaluate the potential role of the TGFβ1/Smads pathway in intestinal fibrosis and to explore the possible mechanisms by which fibrogenesis induces alterations of GI motility in patients affected by CD. Evaluation of TGFβ1, CTGF, collagen I-III, Smad3/7, PDGF, C-Kit, α-SMA, and a neuronal cocktail expression and a morphometrical analysis were performed in human CD terminal ileum samples; human smooth muscle cells (HSMC) were cultured for morphofuncional and mRNA expression (RT-PCR). Histo-morphometrical evaluation of stenotic fragments showed a significantly increase of a) both intestinal fibrosis and inflammation; b) mucosa, submucosa and muscle layer thickness and c) expression of TGFβ1, CTGF, collagen I-III, Smad3, PDGF, C-Kit and α-SMA staining. HSMC obtained from stenotic tracts showed an increase of PDGF-β and collagen I-III types mRNA and an inhibition in contractile response to acetylcholine compared to pre-stenotic tracts. These data support the hypothesis that TGFβ1/Smads pathway play a central role in development and differentiation of intestinal mesenchymal cells in sustaining intestinal fibrosis in CD and could be responsible for alteration of GI motility

Italian natural history museums on the verge of collapse?

The Italian natural history museums are facing a critical situation, due to the progressive loss of scientific relevance, decreasing economic investments, and scarcity of personnel. This is extremely alarming, especially for ensuring the long-term preservation of the precious collections they host. Moreover, a commitment in fieldwork to increase scientific collections and concurrent taxonomic research are rarely considered priorities, while most of the activities are addressed to public events with political payoffs, such as exhibits, didactic meetings, expositions, and talks. This is possibly due to the absence of a national museum that would have better steered research activities and overall concepts for collection management. We here propose that Italian natural history museums collaborate to instate a “metamuseum”, by establishing a reciprocal interaction network aimed at sharing budgetary and technical resources, which would assure better coordination of common long-term goals and scientific activities

SARS-CoV-2 and Skin: The Pathologist's Point of View

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has dramatically changed our lives and habits. In just a few months, the most advanced and efficient health systems in the world have been overwhelmed by an infectious disease that has caused 3.26 million deaths and more than 156 million cases worldwide. Although the lung is the most frequently affected organ, the skin has also resulted in being a target body district, so much so as to suggest it may be a real "sentinel" of COVID-19 disease. Here we present 17 cases of skin manifestations studied and analyzed in recent months in our Department; immunohistochemical investigations were carried out on samples for the S1 spike-protein of SARS-CoV-2, as well as electron microscopy investigations showing evidence of virions within the constituent cells of the eccrine sweat glands and the endothelium of small blood vessels. Finally, we conduct a brief review of the COVID-related skin manifestations, confirmed by immunohistochemistry and/or electron microscopy, described in the literature

"Delirium Day": a nationwide point prevalence study of delirium in older hospitalized patients using an easy standardized diagnostic tool

To date, delirium prevalence in adult acute hospital populations has been estimated generally from pooled findings of single-center studies and/or among specific patient populations. Furthermore, the number of participants in these studies has not exceeded a few hundred. To overcome these limitations, we have determined, in a multicenter study, the prevalence of delirium over a single day among a large population of patients admitted to acute and rehabilitation hospital wards in Italy