261 research outputs found
Krill oil, vitamin D and Lactobacillus reuteri cooperate to reduce gut inflammation
Current research into original therapies to treat intestinal inflammation is focusing on no-drug therapies. KLD is a mixture of krill oil (KO), probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri (LR), and vitamin D (VitD3). The aim of this study was to assess in vitro and in vivo the potential cooperative effects of KLD in reducing gut inflammation. Colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines, CACO2 and HT29, and C57BL/6 mice were used for in vitro and in vivo analyses, respectively. Cells were exposed to cytomix (interferon gamma + tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a)) to induce inflammation or co-exposed to cytomix and KO, LR and VitD3 alone or to cytomix and KLD. Animals were treated for 7 days with dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) to induce colitis or with DSS and KLD. In vitro assays: F-actin expression was analysed by immunofluorescence; scratch test and trans-epithelial electric resistance test were performed to measure wound healing; adhesion/invasion assays of adhesive and invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) bacteria were made; mRNA expression of TNF-α, interleukin (IL)-8 and vitamin D receptor (VDR) was detected by quantitative PCR. In vivo assays: body weight, clinical score, histological score and large intestine weight and length were estimated; mRNA expression of TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-10 by quantitative PCR; VDR expression was detected by quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry. In vitro: KLD restores epithelial cell-cell adhesion and mucosal healing during inflammation, while decreases the adhesiveness and invasiveness of AIEC bacteria and TNF-α and IL-8 mRNA expression and increases VDR expression. In vivo: KLD significantly improves body weight, clinical score, histological score and large intestine length of mice with DSS-induced colitis and reduces TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6 mRNA levels, while increases IL-10 mRNA and VDR levels. KLD has significant effects on the intestinal mucosa, strongly decreasing inflammation, increasing epithelial restitution and reducing pathogenicity of harmful commensal bacteria
Alcohol dehydrogenase and hydrogenase transcript fluctuations during a day/night cycle in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: the role of anoxia
Analysis of the variability of nursing care by pathology in a sample of nine Belgian hospitals
info:eu-repo/semantics/published27th Patient Classification Systems International (PCSI) Working Conference, Montreal, Canada, October 201
Factors Affecting Blood Pressure Variability: Lessons Learned from Two Systematic Reviews of Randomized Controlled Trials
Systematic reviews can often reveal much more than the original objective of the work. The objectives of this retrospective analysis were to answer three basic questions about blood pressure variability: 1) Does blood pressure entry criterion have an effect on baseline blood pressure variability? 2) Do thiazide diuretics have a significant effect on blood pressure variability? and 3) Does systolic blood pressure vary to the same degree as diastolic blood pressure? This analysis of blood pressure variability is based on resting standardized research setting BP readings from two systematic reviews evaluating blood pressure lowering efficacy of thiazide diuretics from double blind randomized controlled trials in 33,611 patients with primary hypertension. The standard deviation reported in trials was the focus of the research and the unit of analysis. When a threshold systolic or diastolic blood pressure value is used to determine entry into a trial, baseline variability is significantly decreased, systolic from 14.0 to 9.3 mmHg and diastolic from 8.4 to 5.3 mmHg. Thiazides do not change BP variability as the standard deviation and coefficient of variation of systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure did not differ between thiazide and placebo groups at end of treatment. The coefficient of variation of systolic blood pressure was significantly greater than the coefficient of variation of diastolic blood pressure. Entry criterion decreases the baseline blood pressure variability. Treatment with a thiazide diuretic does not affect blood pressure variability. Systolic blood pressure varies to a greater degree than diastolic blood pressure
Negative MR4·0 chronic myeloid leukaemia and its possible implications for treatment-free remission
© 2019 British Society for Haematology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) have dramatically improved the outcome for chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patients, resulting in a life expectancy that approaches that of the general population. Nevertheless, lifelong TKI therapy may have consequences, including chronic adverse events that can substantially impact patients’ quality of life, adherence to therapy and treatment success. Recently, several clinical discontinuation trials have demonstrated that 40–60% of chronic phase CML patients (CP-CML) who have achieved a stable deep molecular response (DMR) can stop therapy without relapsing (Breccia & Foà , 2018). Laboratory recommendations for scoring DMR were previously defined as MR4·0 [either detectable disease ⩽0·01% BCR-ABLIS (MR4·0 positive) or undetectable disease in cDNA with 10 000–31 999 ABL1 transcripts or 24 000–76 999 GUSB transcripts (MR4·0 negative)], MR4·5 [either detectable disease ⩽0·0032% BCR-ABLIS (MR4·5 positive) or undetectable disease in cDNA with 32 000–99 999 ABL1 transcripts or 77 000–239 999 GUSB transcripts (MR4·5 negative)], and MR5·0 [either detectable disease ⩽0·001% BCR-ABLIS (MR5·0 positive) or undetectable disease in cDNA with ⩾100 000 ABL1 transcripts or ⩾240 000 GUSB transcripts (MR5·0 negative)] (Cross et al, 2015).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Predictors of Mortality and Cardiovascular Outcome at 6 Months after Hospitalization for COVID-19
Clinical outcome data of patients discharged after Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are limited and no study has evaluated predictors of cardiovascular prognosis in this setting. Our aim was to assess short-term mortality and cardiovascular outcome after hospitalization for COVID-19. A prospective cohort of 296 consecutive patients discharged after COVID-19 from two Italian institutions during the first wave of the pandemic and followed up to 6 months was included. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. The co-primary endpoint was the incidence of the composite outcome of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE: cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, pulmonary embolism, acute heart failure, or hospitalization for cardiovascular causes). The mean follow-up duration was 6 ± 2 months. The incidence of all-cause death was 4.7%. At multivariate analysis, age was the only independent predictor of mortality (aHR 1.08, 95% CI 1.01–1.16). MACCE occurred in 7.2% of patients. After adjustment, female sex (aHR 2.6, 95% CI 1.05–6.52), in-hospital acute heart failure during index hospitalization (aHR 3.45, 95% CI 1.19–10), and prevalent atrial fibrillation (aHR 3.05, 95% CI 1.13–8.24) significantly predicted the incident risk of MACCE. These findings may help to identify patients for whom a closer and more accurate surveillance after discharge for COVID-19 should be considered
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Circulating Cancer Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles as a Novel Biomarker for Clinical Outcome Evaluation.
The recent introduction of the "precision medicine" concept in oncology pushed cancer research to focus on dynamic measurable biomarkers able to predict responses to novel anticancer therapies in order to improve clinical outcomes. Recently, the involvement of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in cancer pathophysiology has been described, and given their release from all cell types under specific stimuli, EVs have also been proposed as potential biomarkers in cancer. Among the techniques used to study EVs, flow cytometry has a high clinical potential. Here, we have applied a recently developed and simplified flow cytometry method for circulating EV enumeration, subtyping, and isolation from a large cohort of metastatic and locally advanced nonhaematological cancer patients (N = 106); samples from gender- and age-matched healthy volunteers were also analysed. A large spectrum of cancer-related markers was used to analyse differences in terms of peripheral blood circulating EV phenotypes between patients and healthy volunteers, as well as their correlation to clinical outcomes. Finally, EVs from patients and controls were isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, and their protein cargoes were analysed by proteomics. Results demonstrated that EV counts were significantly higher in cancer patients than in healthy volunteers, as previously reported. More interestingly, results also demonstrated that cancer patients presented higher concentrations of circulating CD31+ endothelial-derived and tumour cancer stem cell-derived CD133 + CD326- EVs, when compared to healthy volunteers. Furthermore, higher levels of CD133 + CD326- EVs showed a significant correlation with a poor overall survival. Additionally, proteomics analysis of EV cargoes demonstrated disparities in terms of protein content and function between circulating EVs in cancer patients and healthy controls. Overall, our data strongly suggest that blood circulating cancer stem cell-derived EVs may have a role as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in cancer
Corrigendum to “Circulating Cancer Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles as a Novel Biomarker for Clinical Outcome Evaluation”
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2019/5879616.].Peer Reviewe
Effetti dell’inquinamento da plastiche sui foraminiferi bentonici
Le plastiche sono divenuti contaminanti ubiquitari negli ecosistemi marini, d’acqua dolce e terrestri
che producono rilevanti impatti sulle specie che in essi vivono. Dal 1950 ad oggi sono stati accumulati
nell’ambiente circa 5 miliardi di tonnellate di plastica (Geyer et al., 2017). I meccanismi di interazione tra
microplastiche e biosfera nonché gli effetti biochimici delle molecole sintetiche, specialmente sugli organismi
eucariotici unicellulari marini, sono scarsamente studiati. In particolare, i foraminiferi bentonici costituiscono
una componente fondamentale delle comunitĂ marine e svolgono un ruolo chiave nel funzionamento
dell’ecosistema e nei cicli biogeochimici. La loro sensibilità e la rapida risposta allo stress ambientale li
rendono efficienti indicatori dei cambiamenti climatici e ambientali attuali e del passato (Schönfeld et al.,
2012).Per comprendere meglio l’effetto delle plastiche negli oceani e negli organismi marini, abbiamo valutato
l’incorporazione di (bio)polimeri e microplastiche in foraminiferi bentonici utilizzando tecniche di spettromicroscopia
ad infrarossi in trasformata di Fourier (ÎĽFTIR).
In questo studio, abbiamo raccolto ed analizzato spettri ed immagini ÎĽFTIR dauna selezione di specie
di foraminiferi bentonici: Rosalina globularis cresciuta in colture inquinate con la plastica e Cibicidoides
lobatulus, Rosalina bradyi e Textularia bocki raccolti su un frammento di plastica trovato sepolto in un
sedimento del fondale del Mar Mediterraneo. In particolare, i foraminiferi provenienti dalle colture sono stati
intossicati con molecola di di-2-etilesilftalato (DEHP) allo scopo di valutarne l’incorporazione nel citoplasma.
Questo studio ha permesso di documentare: (1) la presenza di microplastiche nel citoplasma e nel guscio
agglutinante di T. bocki; (2) segnali di stress ossidativo e di aggregazione proteica nella componente cellulare di
C. lobatulus, R. bradyi e T. bocki, ancorati alla busta di plastica; (3) l’incorporazione del DEHP nel citoplasma
di R. globularis.
Questo studio ha confermato il ruolo chiave svolto dai foraminiferi bentonici come proxy per la valutazione
degli effetti dell’inquinamento da microplastiche sia a livello cellulare che di biomineralizzazione confermando
l’ingresso delle microplastiche e DEHP nei cicli biogeochimici.
Questa indagine ha inoltre dimostrato che la microscopia FTIR è uno strumento efficace per studiare,
senza l’utilizzo di marcatori specifici, l’interazione su scala molecolare tra plastica, citoplasma e guscio dei
foraminiferi
Geohazard features of the Tyrrhenian Calabria
This paper accompanies the Maps of Geohazard features of the Cilento and the Calabro-Tyrrhenian continental margin in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy). The main geohazard-related features were derived from extensive seafloor mapping through the collection of high-resolution multibeam data acquired during several oceanographic cruises. They encompass many fluids seepage features, fault scarps, landslides scars, gullies, channels, and canyons. Hazards related to coastal landslides and shelf-indenting canyons are very high in these sectors (especially in southern Calabria) due to active seismicity coupled with rapid uplift, high sedimentation rates and narrow or totally absent continental shelf, thus promoting a direct connection between steep slopes and coastal areas. In this setting, mass-wasting features can directly impact coastal or submarine infrastructures or indirectly create local tsunami waves, as observed in historical times. Moreover, this physiographic setting of the margin facilitates the transfer of marine litter toward deep-sea areas
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