CLUSTERS DI MRSA IN TERAPIA INTENSIVA NEONATALE

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Phytochemical profiling, antibacterial and antioxidant properties of Crocus sativus flower: A comparison between tepals and stigmas

Several studies have demonstrated that stigmas of Crocus sativus contain several bioactive compounds with potential health-promoting properties. However, during the processing of stigmas, large amounts of floral bio-residues are normally discarded as by-products. In this study, using untargeted metabolomics, the comprehensive phytochemical composition of C. sativus stigma and tepals was investigated. Moreover, the antibacterial and anti-biofilm properties of the extracts of C. sativus stigmas and tepals were compared. The study was carried out using two methicillin-resistant staphylococcal reference strains (i.e., Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 43300 and Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 35984), representing important Gram-positive biofilm-forming human pathogens. The antibacterial properties were correlated with total polyphenol content, total terpenoid content, and in vitro antioxidant properties of tepals and stigmas. The results demonstrated that stigma and tepal extracts, at the sub-toxic concentrations, were able to interfere with biofilm formation by ATCC 43300 and ATCC 35984. Besides, the higher antibacterial activity of tepals than stigmas was associated with higher levels of phycompounds. Therefore, our results demonstrated that C. sativus stigmas and bio-residues, such as tepals, are potential antioxidant sources and good candidates as antibacterial agents to prevent biofilm formation. Taken together, these findings showed that C. sativus could be used as functional ingredient by the food and pharmaceutical industries

Urine Proteome Analysis May Allow Noninvasive Differential Diagnosis of Diabetic Nephropathy

AbstractObjective: Chronic renal insufficiency and/or proteinuria in type 2 diabetes may stem from chronic renal diseases (CKD) other than classic diabetic nephropathy (DN) in over one third of cases. We interrogated urine proteomic profiles generated by SELDI-TOF/MS with the aim to isolate a set of biomarkers able to reliably identify biopsy-proven DN and to establish a stringent correlation with the different patterns of renal injury. Research design and methods: Ten mug urine proteins from 190 subjects [20 healthy subjects (HS), 20 normoalbuminuric (NAD) and 18 microalbuminuric (MICRO) diabetic patients, and 132 patients with biopsy-proven nephropathy (65 DN, 10 diabetics with non-diabetic CKD (nd-CKD) and 57 non-diabetic patients with CKD)] were run by CM10 ProteinChip array and analysed by supervised learning methods (CART analysis). Results: The classification model correctly identified 75% NAD, 87.5% MICRO and 87.5% DN when applied to a blinded testing set. Most importantly, it was able to reliably differentiate DN from nd-CKD in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Among the best predictors of the classification model, we identified and validated 2 proteins, ubiquitin and ss2-microglobulin. Conclusions: Our data suggest the presence of a specific urine proteomic signature able to reliably identify type 2 diabetic patients with diabetic glomerulosclerosis

Beyond the Visible and Below the Peel: How UV-B Radiation Influences the Phenolic Profile in the Pulp of Peach Fruit. A Biochemical and Molecular Study

In the last decades, UV-B radiation has attracted attention due to its potential to increase nutraceutical values of fruit and vegetables, especially by inducing the accumulation of phenolics in a structure-dependent way. However, most current studies have investigated the UV-B-driven changes only in the peel or focusing on individual phenolic classes. Adopting an \u201c-omics\u201d approach, this work aimed to deepen the knowledge about the effects of UV-B radiation on the phenolic profile in the pulp of peach fruit. Based on these considerations, melting flesh yellow peaches (Prunus persica L., cv. Fairtime) were subjected to either a 10- or 60-min UV-B treatment (1.39 and 8.33 kJ m\u20132, respectively), and sampled at different time points from the exposure. A UHPLC-ESI/QTOF-MS analysis coupled with a phenolics-specific database for the annotation of compounds and a multivariate discriminant analysis revealed a marked effect of UV-B radiation on the phenolic profiles of peach pulp. Particularly, a general, transient increase was observed after 24 h from the irradiation, especially for flavanols, flavonols, and flavones. Such behavior diverges from what was observed in the peel, where an overall increase of phenolics was observed after 36 h from the irradiation. Concerning the flavonols in the pulp, UV-B exposure stimulated a specific accumulation of isorhamnetin and kaempferol derivatives, with variations imposed by the different sugar moiety bound. Anthocyanins, which were the second most abundant flavonoid group after flavonols, displayed a general decrease after 36 h that was not attributable to specific molecules. The UV-B treatments also increased the glycoside/aglycone ratio of flavonols and anthocyanins after 24 h, by increasing the glycoside concentration of both, flavonols and anthocyanins, and decreasing the aglycone concentration of anthocyanins. In support of the biochemical results, targeted gene expression analysis by RT-qPCR revealed an UV-B-induced activation of many genes involved in the flavonoid pathway, e.g., CHS, F3H, F3\u2032H, DFR, as well as some MYB transcription factors and few genes involved in the UV-B perception. Generally, all the flavonoid-related and MYB genes showed a transient UV-B dose-dependent activation after 6 h from the irradiation, similarly to what was observed in the peel

Suicide risk in medically ill inpatients referred to consultation-liaison psychiatric services: A multicenter study

Background: The aim of this multicenter study was to investigate the suicide risk in medically ill patients admitted to six Italian hospitals for whom a consultation-liaison intervention was requested. Methods: Participants completed socio-demographic and clinical report forms and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire. Suicidality was assessed using the P4 screener that investigates the presence of Past suicide attempts, Plans to commit a suicide, Probability of completing suicide, and Preventive factors. Participants were categorized as being at no, low or high suicide risk. Univariate and multivariable associations of categorical and continuous variables with suicide risk were investigated using multinomial logistic regression. Results: Of the 641 inpatients, with mean age 60 years (SD = 16.9) and 49.2 % male, 13.2 % were at high suicidal risk (HR), 7.6 % low risk (LR) and 79.2 % no risk. Contacts with psychiatrists in the previous six months were associated with LR and HR (OR = 2.159 and 2.634, respectively), ongoing benzodiazepine use was associated with a threefold likelihood of LR (OR = 3.005), and the experienced intensity of illness symptoms was associated with LR and HR (OR = 1.257 and OR = 1.248, respectively). CL psychiatrists prescribed appropriate psychotropic drugs and activated liaison interventions and psychological support for the level of suicidal risk. Limitations: The use of self-report measures bears the risk of recall bias. Conclusions: Our findings based on psychiatric consultations in the general hospital underscore the need to include suicide risk in the routine assessment of inpatients referred to CL psychiatric services and to plan an appropriate management of suicidal risk after discharge

Interaction of dietary polyphenols and gut microbiota: Microbial metabolism of polyphenols, influence on the gut microbiota, and implications on host health

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Linoleic acid induces metabolic stress in the intestinal microorganism Bifidobacterium breve DSM 20213

Despite clinical and research interest in the health implications of the conjugation of linoleic acid (LA) by bifidobacteria, the detailed metabolic pathway and physiological reasons underlying the process remain unclear. This research aimed to investigate, at the molecular level, how LA affects the metabolism of Bifidobacterium breve DSM 20213 as a model for the well-known LA conjugation phenotype of this species. The mechanisms involved and the meaning of the metabolic changes caused by LA to B. breve DSM 20213 are unclear due to the lack of comprehensive information regarding the responses of B. breve DSM 20213 under different environmental conditions. Therefore, for the first time, an untargeted metabolomics-based approach was used to depict the main changes in the metabolic profiles of B. breve DSM 20213. Both supervised and unsupervised statistical methods applied to the untargeted metabolomic data allowed confirming the metabolic changes of B. breve DSM 20213 when exposed to LA. In particular, alterations to the amino-acid, carbohydrate and fatty-acid biosynthetic pathways were observed at the stationary phase of growth curve. Among others, significant up-regulation trends were detected for aromatic (such as tyrosine and tryptophan) and sulfur amino acids (i.e., methionine and cysteine). Besides confirming the conjugation of LA, metabolomics suggested a metabolic reprogramming during the whole growth curve and an imbalance in redox status following LA exposure. Such redox stress resulted in the down-accumulation of peroxide scavengers such as low-molecular-weight thiols (glutathione- and mycothiol-related compounds) and ascorbate precursors, together with the up-accumulation of oxidized (hydroxy- and epoxy-derivatives) forms of fatty acids. Consistently, growth was reduced and the levels of the oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde were higher in LA-exposed B. breve DSM 20213 than in the control

Distilled grape pomace as a functional ingredient in vegan muffins: effect on physicochemical, nutritional, rheological and sensory aspects

Wheat-based vegan muffins were formulated with increasing levels (0, 5 and 10 g per 100 g substitutes to flour) of dried grape pomace powder obtained after distillation (DGPP). The DGPP-muffins showed a greater (P < 0.05) total dietary fibre and a lower (P < 0.05) total starch content to the control. The inclusion of DGPP influenced (P < 0.05) both the batter's rheological properties and the baked muffins' technological characteristics, including the baking loss, the volume, the firmness, the spread ratio and the colour. The in vitro antioxidant activity and the phenolic content increased (P < 0.05) following DGPP inclusion. The untargeted phenolic profiling by UHPLC-HRMS revealed an (P < 0.05) increase of several phenolic classes (i.e. free and bound fractions) following the inclusion of DGPP in the recipe. Flavonoids, mainly anthocyanins, were the most abundant compounds. A quantitative descriptive sensory analysis detected the DGPP-vegan muffins showed good sensory acceptability. The vegan muffin with 5 g per 100 g of DGPP obtained the highest overall acceptability score by the panellists

Recurrent NF1 gene variants and their genotype/phenotype correlations in patients with Neurofibromatosis type I

Neurofibromatosis type I, a genetic condition due to pathogenic variants in the NF1 gene, is burdened by a high rate of complications, including neoplasms, which increase morbidity and mortality for the disease. We retrospectively re-evaluated the NF1 gene variants found in the period 2000\u20132019 and we studied for genotype/phenotype correlations of disease complications and neoplasms 34 variants, which were shared by at least two unrelated families (range 2\u201311) for a total 141 of probands and 21 relatives affected by Neurofibromatosis type I. Recurrent variants could be ascribed to the most common mutational mechanisms (C to T transition, microsatellite slippage, non-homologous recombination). In genotype/phenotype correlations, the variants p.Arg440*, p.Tyr489Cys, and p.Arg1947*, together with the gross gene deletions, displayed the highest rates of complications. When considering neoplasms, carriers of variants falling in the extradomain region at the 5\u2032 end of NF1 had a lower age-related cancer frequency than the rest of the gene sequence, showing a borderline significance (p = 0.045), which was not conserved after correction with covariates. We conclude that (1) hotspots in NF1 occur via different mutational mechanisms, (2) several variants are associated with high rates of complications and cancers, and (3) there is an initial evidence toward a lower cancer risk for carriers of variants in the 5\u2032 end of the NF1 gene although not significant at the multivariate analysis