Biomarkers of therapeutic responses in chronic Chagas disease: state of the art and future perspectives

The definition of a biomarker provided by the World Health Organization is any substance, structure, or process that can be measured in the body, or its products and influence, or predict the incidence or outcome of disease. Currently, the lack of prognosis and progression markers for chronic Chagas disease has posed limitations for testing new drugs to treat this neglected disease. Several molecules and techniques to detect biomarkers in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected patients have been proposed to assess whether specific treatment with benznidazole or nifurtimox is effective. Isolated proteins or protein groups from different T. cruzi stages and parasite-derived glycoproteins and synthetic neoglycoconjugates have been demonstrated to be useful for this purpose, as have nucleic acid amplification techniques. The amplification of T. cruzi DNA using the real-time polymerase chain reaction method is the leading test for assessing responses to treatment in a short period of time. Biochemical biomarkers have been tested early after specific treatment. Cytokines and surface markers represent promising molecules for the characterisation of host cellular responses, but need to be further assessed.RICET RD12/0018/0010. RICET RD12/0018/0021. AGAUR 2014SGR26. Plan Nacional de I+D+I SAF2012-35777. Plan Nacional de I+D+I SAF2013-48527-R. NIMHD/NIH 2G12MD007592. Financial support: CRESIB and IPBLN research members were partially supported by the RICET (RD12/0018/0010, RD12/0018/0021), M-JP and JG received research funds from AGAUR (2014SGR26) and Fundación Mundo Sano, M-CT and M-CL were supported by Plan Nacional de I+D+I (MINECO-Spain) (SAF2012-35777, SAF2013-48527-R and FEDER), ICA was partially supported by NIMHD/NIH (2G12MD007592). Financial support: CRESIB and IPBLN research members were partially supported by the RICET (RD12/0018/0010, RD12/0018/0021), M-JP and JG received research funds from AGAUR (2014SGR26) and Fundación Mundo Sano, M-CT and M-CL were supported by Plan Nacional de I+D+I (MINECO-Spain) (SAF2012-35777, SAF2013-48527-R and FEDER), ICA was partially supported by NIMHD/NIH (2G12MD007592).Peer reviewe

Former Soviet Union Migration to Italy: Characteristics and Determinants of Women Condition in the Italian Labour Market

Adult women from former Soviet Union countries, play an increasingly central role in Italian labour market. They are occupied mainly in home care services and they support Italian elderly and vulnerable population. However, there is a lack of studies on migrants from these countries to Italy and on their labour market position, especially in the case of quantitative approaches. This chapter explores whether there are specific migratory models of former Soviet Union women citizens. The determinants of being employed, overeducated and employed in care services are deepened through a multidimensional analysis using the Heckman two-step procedure. Results based on the quarterly Labour Force Survey conducted in Italy by Italian national statistical institute (ISTAT), indicate that they present typical demographic characteristics and migratory strategies, although some differences emerge within specific nationalities. Former Soviet Union citizens are mostly women aged 40 years and over, often they experienced the end of a previous union and one out of four have graduated from university. Overall, while their occupational status is higher than for other nationalities, our results show their high risks of becoming “trapped” in over-educated and sectorial employment

ESICM LIVES 2016: part two : Milan, Italy. 1-5 October 2016.

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