Antioxidant and Antiradical Activities of Manihot esculenta Crantz (Euphorbiaceae) Leaves and Other Selected Tropical Green Vegetables Investigated on Lipoperoxidation and Phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) Activated Monocytes

Abelmoschus esculentus (Malvaceae), Hibiscus acetosella (Malvaceae), Manihot esculenta Crantz (Euphorbiaceae) and Pteridium aquilinum (Dennstaedtiaceae) leaves are currently consumed as vegetables by migrants from sub-Saharan Africa living in Western Europe and by the people in the origin countries, where these plants are also used in the folk medicine. Manihot leaves are also eaten in Latin America and some Asian countries. This work investigated the capacity of aqueous extracts prepared from those vegetables to inhibit the peroxidation of a linoleic acid emulsion. Short chain, volatile C-compounds as markers of advanced lipid peroxidation were measured by gas chromatography by following the ethylene production. The generation of lipid hydroperoxides, was monitored by spectroscopy using N-N′-dimethyl-p-phenylene-diamine (DMPD). The formation of intermediate peroxyl, and other free radicals, at the initiation of the lipid peroxidation was investigated by electron spin resonance, using α-(4-pyridyl-1-oxide)-N-tert-butylnitrone as spin trap agent. The ability of the extracts to decrease the cellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in “inflammation like” conditions was studied by fluorescence technique using 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescine-diacetate as fluorogenic probe, in a cell model of human monocytes (HL-60 cells) activated with phorbol ester. Overall the extracts displayed efficient concentration-dependent inhibitory effects. Their total polyphenol and flavonoid content was determined by classic colorimetric methods. An HPLC-UV/DAD analysis has clearly identified the presence of some polyphenolic compounds, which explains at least partially the inhibitions observed in our models. The role of these plants in the folk medicine by sub-Saharan peoples as well as in the prevention of oxidative stress and ROS related diseases requires further consideration

Polyphenol Content and Modulatory Activities of Some Tropical Dietary Plant Extracts on the Oxidant Activities of Neutrophils and Myeloperoxidase

Young leaves of Manihot esculenta Crantz (Euphorbiaceae), Abelmoschus esculentus (Malvaceae), Hibiscus acetosella (Malvaceae) and Pteridium aquilinum (Dennstaedtiaceae) are currently consumed as green vegetables by peoples in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Asia and their migrants living in Western Europe. Sub-Saharan peoples use Manihot, Abelmoschus and Hibiscus also in the folk medicine to alleviate fever and pain, in the treatment of conjunctivitis, rheumatism, hemorrhoid, abscesses, ... The present study investigates the effects of aqueous extracts of those plants on the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the release of myeloperoxidase (MPO) by equine neutrophils activated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). The ROS production was measured by lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL), and the release of total MPO by an ELISA method. The study also investigates the effect of the extracts on the activity of MPO by studying its nitration activity on tyrosine and by using a new technique called SIEFED (Specific Immunological Extraction Followed by Enzymatic Detection) that allows studying the direct interaction of compounds with the enzyme. In all experiments, the aqueous extracts of the plants developed concentration-dependent inhibitory effects. A moderate heat treatment did not significantly modify the inhibitory capacity of the extracts in comparison to not heated ones. Total polyphenol and flavonoid contents were determined with an HPLC-UV/DAD analysis and a spectroscopic method using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. Some polyphenols with well-known antioxidant activities (caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, hyperoside, rosmarinic acid and rutin) were found in the extracts and may partly explain the inhibitory activities observed. The role of those dietary and medicinal plants in the treatment of ROS-dependent inflammatory diseases could have new considerations for health

Il miraggio dell'Oriente. L'Italia e gli accordi di San Giovanni di Moriana

Il saggio vuole ricostruire il negoziato diplomatico diretto alla soluzione del problema del Mediterraneo orientale, conclusosi con la firma degli accordi di San Giovanni di Moriana, in realtà uno scambio di note intercorso con Londra e con Parigi, rispettivamente il 18 e il 21-22 agosto 1917, dopo una conferenza, che si era tenuta a san Giovanni di Moriana, il 19 aprile precedente. Alla conferenza parteciparono i rappresentanti dei governi di Francia, Gran Bretagna e Italia. Gli accordi di San Giovanni di Moriana costituiscono, da un punto di vista storico-diplomatico, una logica conseguenza del patto di Londra del 26 aprile 1915, rappresentando un tentativo di portare a soluzione, dopo la questione adriatica, anche l’assillante problema del Mediterraneo orientale, dove l’Italia aveva cospicui interessi economici ed espansionistici, specialmente nella regione di Adalia

La Puglia e la diplomazia italiana nella "Grande ritirata" dell'esercito serbo in Albania

Il saggio analizza il ruolo della Puglia in quella complessa operazione diplomatica, militare e di soccorso che fu la ritirata dell’esercito serbo attraverso l’Albania. Le relazioni tra Italia e Serbia, nell’autunno del 1915, furono piuttosto complesse e movimentate da una serie di questioni e incomprensioni, che rivelavano le aspirazioni dei due paesi nello scacchiere balcanico. Il dibattito governativo e diplomatico su queste questioni fu spezzato improvvisamente dalla capitolazione serba, seguita all'attacco congiunto degli eserciti austriaco, tedesco e bulgaro, iniziato nell'ottobre 1915. I governi e le diplomazie delle potenze dell'Intesa dovettero mettere in campo mezzi e capacità organizzative notevoli per soccorrere e portare in salvo un numero enorme di profughi militari e civili serbi, che, dopo una lunga ed estenuante marcia attraverso un territorio impervio, cercavano salvezza lungo le coste albanesi. Tali operazioni di salvataggio videro impegnate le marine militari di Italia, Francia e Gran Bretagna e furono rese complicate dalle scorribande austriache, che giunsero ad affondare diverse navi miliari e civili. Brindisi fu scelta come porto di raccolta dei rifornimenti, mentre Durazzo e San Giovanni di Medua erano i centri di raccolta. I soldati e i civili serbi e montenegrini furono tratti in salvo grazie a 248 missioni, di cui 151 condotte con navi italiane.The paper discusses the position of Italy during the retreat of the Serbian Army through Albania. Relations between Italy and Serbia in the autumn of 1915 were quite complex and rife with distrust and misunderstandings. Italy and Serbia both had territorial claims to the Eastern coast of Adriatic Sea. The military situation in Serbia led the diplomats of the Entente to put pressure on Italy to open a front in Albania. As Austria-Hungary and Germany announced their intentions to annihilate both Montenegro and Albania in order to crush Serbian resistance, pressure on Italy grew stronger and in December 1915 an Italian expeditionary force arrived in Durrës. From that moment, the Entente naval force was tasked with helping Serbian soldiers and civilians. Brindisi was chosen as the port for the shipment of materials, Durrës/Durazzo and Shëngjin/San Giovanni di Medua as collection centers. Serbian and Montenegrin soldiers and civilian refugees were evacuated in 248 trips, of which 151 were made by Italian ships

Ciano, Stojadinović e il riavvicinamento italo-jugoslavo. Galeazzo Ciano ministro degli Esteri e la Jugoslavia (1936-1939)

The subject of this paper is the analysis of the political and diplomatic action of the Italian Foreign Minister, Galeazzo Ciano, towards Yugoslavia and, more generally, the Balkan region, between 1936 and 1939. Contrary to the perception and the expectations of Mussolini, who, after the conquest of Ethiopia in 1936, believed that Italy had become a leading power in the European and in the world theatre, the years ranging from the end of the Ethiopian conflict to the Italian entry into World War II were characterized by a notable decline in Italian influence in Eastern Europe. The Italian ambitions of exclusive hegemony over the Balkan region were replaced, starting from the second half of the 1930s, with the more modest idea of an Italian-German condominium. This prompted Mussolini and Ciano to start improving rela-tions with Yugoslavia, which reached its peak with the signing of the agreements of March 25, 1937. The beginning of the Second World War, in September 1939, occurred at the end of a process of progressive downsizing of the Italian influence in the Balkans to the advantage of the German one. Mussolini and Ciano’s response to the increasing German activism in that region consisted in the preparation and implementation of their plans for expansion in the Western Balkans. This choice was, however, on the Italian side, a sign of growing weakness: Italy, in fact, had to defend its Balkan sphere of influence not from the Western powers but from the German ally

Il miraggio dell'Oriente. L'Italia e gli accordi di San Giovanni di Moriana

ItIl saggio intende analizzare il processo politico e diplomatico che portò alla conclusione degli accordi di San Giovanni di Moriana tra l'Italia, la Francia e la Gran Bretagna. Tali accordi furono conclusi dai tre alleati dell'Intesa attraverso uno scambio di note, rispettivamente a Londra e a Parigi, tra il 18 e il 21-22 agosto 1917, e presero il nome dal luogo dove si era svolta, il 19 aprile precedente, una conferenza interalleata che ne aveva definito le linee-guida. Costituiscono, da un punto di vista storico-diplomatico, una logica conseguenza del patto di Londra del 26 aprile 1915, rappresentando un tentativo di portare a soluzione, dopo la questione adriatica, anche l'assillante problema del Mediterraneo orientale. Il saggio intende ricostruire, quindi, la posizione del governo di Roma nei confronti dell'Impero ottomano negli anni del primo conflitto mondiale, in relazione alle ambizioni che l'Italia aveva nel Mediterraneo orientale e su cui dovette confrontarsi con gli interessi, spesso contrastanti, delle altre potenze dell'Intesa. In questo senso, il ministro degli Esteri italiano, Sidney Sonnino, cercò di colmare i limiti nella condotta militare dell'Italia in quell'area con gli strumenti della diplomazia, che risultarono, però, velleitari. Le aspirazioni italiane furono travolte, infatti, dagli eventi dell'immediato dopoguerra, che portarono alla fine dell'Impero ottomano e alla nascita della Turchia moderna.EnThe essay intends to analyze the political and diplomatic process that led to the conclusion of the agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne between Italy, France and Great Britain. This agreement was signed by the three allies of the Entente through an exchange of notes, respectively in London and Paris, between 18 and 21-22 August 1917, but it took the name from the place where, on 19 April, an inter-allied conference, that defined the guidelines, was held. It was, from a historical and diplomatic point of view, a logical consequence of the London Pact of 26 April 1915, representing an attempt to bring to a solution, after the Adriatic question, also the insistent problem of the Eastern Mediterranean. The essay intends to rebuild, therefore, the relations between the government of Rome and the Ottoman Empire in the years of the First World War, in relation to the ambitions that Italy had in the Eastern Mediterranean. These ambitions brought to conflicting interests with the other powers of the Entente. In this sense, the Italian Foreign Minister, Sidney Sonnino, tried to fill the limits in Italy's military conduct in that area with the instruments of diplomacy, which proved, however, unrealistic. The Italian aspirations were overwhelmed, in fact, by the events of the immediate post-war period, which led to the end of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of modern Turkey

Il proclama di Argirocastro e il fronte interno. Alcune riflessioni

Il presente contributo affronta il tema della questione Albanese nella politica italiana nel corso della Prima guerra mondiale, in particolare con riferimento alla partecipazione italiana alle operazioni belliche in Albania e in Macedonia, dunque, in riferimento alla presa di posizione del governo di Roma per mezzo del generale Giacinto Ferrero in occasione del proclama di Argirocastro del 1917

Storia delle relazioni internazionali (1492-1918). Dall’ascesa dell’Europa alla prima guerra mondiale

Ricostruzione della storia politica mondiale dal 1492 al 191

Europa e Medio Oriente 1973-1993

Obiettivo del volume è compiere un'analisi approfondita e documentata dei problemi internazionali e delle relazioni fra Stati europei e mediorientali fra il 1973 e il 199

Storia delle relazioni internazionali (1919-2021). Tra Stati nazionali, potenze continentali e organizzazioni sovranazionali

Storia della politica internazionale dal 1919 al 202