29 research outputs found

    Synergistic association of valproate and resveratrol reduces brain injury in ischemic stroke

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    Histone deacetylation, together with altered acetylation of NF-ÎșB/RelA, encompassing the K310 residue acetylation, occur during brain ischemia. By restoring the normal acetylation condition, we previously reported that sub-threshold doses of resveratrol and entinostat (MS-275), respectively, an activator of the AMP-activated kinase (AMPK)-sirtuin 1 pathway and an inhibitor of class I histone deacetylases (HDACs), synergistically elicited neuroprotection in a mouse model of ischemic stroke. To improve the translational power of this approach, we investigated the efficacy of MS-275 replacement with valproate, the antiepileptic drug also reported to be a class I HDAC blocker. In cortical neurons previously exposed to oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD), valproate elicited neuroprotection at 100 nmol/mL concentration when used alone and at 1 nmol/mL concentration when associated with resveratrol (3 nmol/mL). Resveratrol and valproate restored the acetylation of histone H3 (K9/18), and they reduced the RelA(K310) acetylation and the Bim level in neurons exposed to OGD. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis showed that the synergistic drug association impaired the RelA binding to the Bim promoter, as well as the promoter-specific H3 (K9/18) acetylation. In mice subjected to 60 min of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), the association of resveratrol 680 ”g/kg and valproate 200 ”g/kg significantly reduced the infarct volume as well as the neurological deficits. The present study suggests that valproate and resveratrol may represent a promising ready-to-use strategy to treat post-ischemic brain damage

    Myomectomy in infertile women: More harm than good?

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    Adhesion formation following gynecological surgery remains a challenge. The adoption of minimally invasive surgical approaches, such as conventional or robotic-assisted laparoscopy combined with meticulous microsurgical principles and the application of adhesion–reducing substances, is able to reduce the risk of de novo adhesion formation but do not eliminate it entirely. Myomectomy is the most adhesiogenic surgical procedure and postoperative adhesions can have a significant impact on the ability to conceive. Therefore, when surgery is performed as infertility treatment, attention should be paid to whether the benefits outweigh the risks. Among several factors, the size and the location of fibroids are the most accountable factors in terms of adhesion development and post surgical infertility; therefore, the search for effective strategies against adhesion formation in this setting is of paramount importance. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the incidence and factors of adhesion formation and the best preventive measures current available

    Medical and Surgical Strategies in Vulvar Paget Disease: Let’s Throw Some Light!

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    Background: Vulvar Paget’s disease (VPD) is defined as a neoplasm of epithelial origin, mostly in postmenopausal women. Due to the extreme rarity of VPD, limited data about recommended treatment options are available. Surgical excision has been the treatment of choice although in the recent decade medical treatments have been proposed. Methods: A systematic computerized search of the literature was performed in the main electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, PubMed, and Cochrane Library), from 2003 to September 2022, in order to analyze all medical and surgical strategies used for the treatment of VPD. Results: Thirty-four articles were included in this review with findings as follows: 390 patients were treated with medical or other conservative treatment while 2802 patients were treated surgically; 235/434 (54%) patients had a complete response, 67/434 (15%) a partial response, 10/434 (2.3%) a stable disease, 3/434 (0.7%) disease progress, 3/434 (0.7%) died of the disease, 55/434 (13%) died of other causes during follow up while 7/434 (1.6%) had to stop topical treatments with 5% imiquimod cream because of side effects; 239/434 patients (55%) had a recurrence and 11/434 (2.5%) were lost to follow-up. The length of follow-up was variable, according to the different studies analyzed. Conclusion: VPD is a chronic disease with a high recurrence rate and low mortality. There are no significant differences in recurrence rates in patients who undergo surgery and those who do not and the margin status at the time of primary surgery and recurrence. Several surgical and medical approaches providing both local control of the disease and minimal tissue damage have been developed. Clock mapping, a recent preoperative vulvo-vaginal workup tool, can predict the invasiveness and the extension of VPD. However, to date, due to the different treatment options available and in the absence of a global consensus, it is critical to tailor treatments to individual patient characteristics and biopsy histopathologic findings, to ensure the best type of therapy

    Successful management of a third-trimester pregnancy complicated by pheochromocytoma: case report

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    Pheochromocytoma (PH) is a tumor that arises from chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla. Though being this benign neoplasm very rare in pregnancies, lack of treatment nevertheless causes high mortality rates for both the mother and the fetus. Classic symptoms related to PH are hypertension, abdominal pain, diaphoresis, and headache; but it can be easily misdiagnosed as gestational hypertension or preeclampsia. Its appearance is sporadic, but there are some genetic disorders that favor its onset (e.g. MEN 2A and 2B). Individual management is needed, because no single protocol is suitable in such a complex and rare condition. In this paper we describe our experience in the clinical and surgical management of a young pregnant patient affected by PH, and in particular the specific and unique pharmacological treatment with doxazosin, the use of corticosteroids and a close monitoring of fetal well-being, which proved being an effective approach

    Activity restriction for women with arrested preterm labor: a randomized controlled trial

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    Objective: This study aimed to test the hypothesis that in women with singleton pregnancy and arrested preterm labor, activity restriction would reduce the rate of preterm birth at <37 weeks of gestation. Study design: This was a parallel-group nonblinded randomized trial conducted at a single center in Italy. Eligible patients were those with a diagnosis of arrested preterm labor, defined as not delivering after 48 hours of hospitalization for threatened preterm labor, with transvaginal ultrasound cervical length ≀25 mm, no other symptoms of possible uterine contractions, and cervical dilatation <3 cm at pelvic examination. Inclusion criteria were singleton pregnancies between 24 0/7 and 33 6/7 weeks of gestation. Participants were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either activity restriction at the time of discharge or no activity restriction. Women in the intervention group were recommended activity restriction, defined as the following: pelvic rest, prohibition of sexual activity, and reduction of work and/or nonwork activity. The primary endpoint was preterm birth at <37 weeks of gestation. Results: A total of 120 participants were included in the trial; 60 patients were enrolled in the activity restriction group and 60 in the control group. Preterm birth at <37 weeks of gestation occurred in 15 of 60 women (25.0%) in the activity restriction group and 23 of 60 women (38.3%) in the control group (relative risk, 0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.38-1.12). There was no significant between-group difference in the incidence of preterm birth at <32 weeks and in neonatal outcomes, but the trial was not powered for these outcomes. Conclusion: In singleton gestations with arrested preterm labor, activity restriction, including pelvic rest, prohibition of sexual activity, and reduction of work and/or nonwork activity, does not result in a lower rate of preterm birth at <37 weeks. Given the evidence on the lack of benefits, use of activity restriction in this population should be discouraged

    FAM46C Is an Interferon-Stimulated Gene That Inhibits Lentiviral Particle Production by Modulating Autophagy

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    ABSTRACT FAM46C is a multiple myeloma (MM) tumor suppressor whose function is only starting to be elucidated. We recently showed that in MM cells FAM46C triggers apoptosis by inhibiting autophagy and altering intracellular trafficking and protein secretion. To date, both a physiological characterization of FAM46C role and an assessment of FAM46C-induced phenotypes outside of MM are lacking. Preliminary reports suggested an involvement of FAM46C with regulation of viral replication, but this was never confirmed. Here, we show that FAM46C is an interferon-stimulated gene and that the expression of wild-type FAM46C in HEK-293T cells, but not of its most frequently found mutant variants, inhibits the production of both HIV-1-derived and HIV-1 lentiviruses. We demonstrate that this effect does not require transcriptional regulation and does not depend on inhibition of either global or virus-specific translation but rather mostly relies on FAM46C-induced deregulation of autophagy, a pathway that we show to be required for efficient lentiviral particle production. These studies not only provide new insights on the physiological role of the FAM46C protein but also could help in implementing more efficient antiviral strategies on one side and lentiviral particle production approaches on the other. IMPORTANCE FAM46C role has been thoroughly investigated in MM, but studies characterizing its role outside of the tumoral environment are still lacking. Despite the success of antiretroviral therapy in suppressing HIV load to undetectable levels, there is currently no HIV cure, and treatment is lifelong. Indeed, HIV continues to be a major global public health issue. Here, we show that FAM46C expression in HEK-293T cells inhibits the production of both HIV and HIV-derived lentiviruses. We also demonstrate that such inhibitory effect relies, at least in part, on the well-established regulatory role that FAM46C exerts on autophagy. Deciphering the molecular mechanism underlying this regulation will not only facilitate the understanding of FAM46C physiological role but also give new insights on the interplay between HIV and the cellular environment

    Pregnant women perspectives on SARS-COV-2 vaccine

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    Background: Since COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed, a debate has raised on whether pregnant women should get the vaccine. No available data exist so far regarding safety, efficacy and toxicology of these vaccines when administered during pregnancy. Most of the Obstetrics and Gynecology societies suggested that pregnant could agree to be vaccinated, after a thorough counseling of risks and benefits with their gynecologists, thus leading to an autonomous decision. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the attitude to COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant and breastfeeding women in Italy. Study design: A survey was made at University of Naples Federico II and University of Rome Tor Vergata Ospedale Cristo Re on pregnant and breastfeeding women asking their perspectives on the available vaccines after reading the recommendations issued by our national Obstetrics, Gynecology and Neonatology societies. The questionnaire included 12 items finalized to evaluate general features of the women and 6 items specifically correlated to their attitudes towards the SARS-COV-2 vaccination. Chi square (χ2) or Fisher exact tests were used to compare group differences of categorical variables and Wilcoxon signed rank or Mann Whitney U test for continuous variables. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Boards of the University of Naples Federico II (ref. no. 409/2020), and University of Rome Tor Vergata Ospedale Cristo Re (ref. #Ost4-2020). Results: Most of the included women did not agree to eventually receive SARS-COV-2 vaccine during pregnancy (40, 28.2% vs 102, 71.8%). Being pregnant was considered a determinant factor to refuse the vaccine prophylaxis (99, 69.7% vs 43, 30.3%; χ2= 24.187, p<0.001), even if a very large percentage declared to be generally in favor of vaccines (128, 90.1% vs 14, 9.9%; χ2= 6.091, p=0.014) and most of them confirmed they received or would receive other recommended vaccines during pregnancy (75, 52.8% vs 67, 47.2%; χ2= 10.996, p=0.001). Conclusion: Urgent data are needed on safety, efficacy and toxicology of SARS-COV-2 vaccines during pregnancy to modify this trend and to help obstetricians during the counselling. Furthermore, pregnant women should be included in future vaccine development trials to not incur again in such uncertainty

    Synergistic association of valproate and resveratrol reduces brain injury in ischemic stroke.

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    Different studies demonstrated that histone deacetylation and modification of NF-kB/RelA acetylation occur during brain ischemia. We previously demonstrated that, sub-threshold doses of resveratrol, a sirtuin 1 activator, and MS-275, a class I HDAC inhibitor, elicited neuroprotection in a mouse model of MCAO. In the present work, we replace MS-275 with valproate, an antiepileptic drug also reported as a class I HDACs inhibitor. In cortical neurons exposed to 3h of OGD, 24h of treatment with 100 ”M valproate resulted neuroprotective per se, while in association with resveratrol it was active at 1”M. In mice subjected to 60 minutes of MCAO the association of resveratrol 680 ”g/kg and valproate 200 ”g/kg significantly reduced the infarct volume as well as the neurological deficits. Single treatments at the same doses had no effects, while at the higher doses, resveratrol 6,8 mg/kg or valproate 20 mg/kg limited the infarct volume but did not reduce the neurological deficits. In accordance with the effect observed by combining resveratrol and MS-275, the association of resveratrol and VPA restored the acetylation levels of histone H3 (K9/18) reduced after OGD exposure. Moreover, the application of resveratrol and VPA reversed the OGD-mediated increase in the RelA(K310) acetylation. Finally, ChIP assays in cortical neurons exposed to OGD demonstrated that the addition of resveratrol (3 ÎŒM) and valproate (1 ÎŒM), totally impaired the RelA binding at the Bim promoter as well as the promoter–specific H3 (K9/18) acetylation. We can conclude that valproate and resveratrol may represent a promising ready-to-use strategy for the therapy of post-ischemic brain damage
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