First experimental release of the red-and-green macaw Ara chloropterus in Corrientes, Argentina

In 2015 seven captive-bred red-and-green macaws Ara chloropterus were experimentally released into the Iberá National Park, Corrientes, Argentina. After a month in a pre-release cage, they were hard released. Two birds were preyed upon, three flew beyond our detection range, one transmitter was recovered underwater, and one bird was recaptured. We identify ways in which future releases of captive-bred macaws could be improved.Fil: Volpe, Noelia Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Di Giacomo, Adrian Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Berkunsky, Igor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto Multidisciplinario sobre Ecosistemas y Desarrollo Sustentable. Grupo de Ecología Matemática; Argentin

Ferritin heavy chain Is the host factor responsible for HCV-Induced inhibition of apoB-100 production and is required for efficient viral infection

Hepatic fat export occurs by apolipoprotein B-100-containing lipoprotein production, whereas impaired production leads to liver steatosis. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated to dysregulation of apoB-100 secretion and steatosis; however, the molecular mechanism by which HCV affects the apoB-100 secretion is not understood. Here, combining quantitative proteomics and computational biology, we propose ferritin heavy chain (Fth) as being the cellular determinant of apoB-100 production inhibition. By means of molecular analyses, we found that HCV nonstructural proteins and NS5A appear to be sufficient for inducing Fth up-regulation. Fth in turn was found to inhibit apoB-100 secretion leading to increased intracellular degradation via proteasome. Notably, intracellular Fth down-regulation by siRNA restores apoB-100 secretion. The inverse correlation between ferritin and plasma apoB-100 concentrations was also found in JFH-1 HCV cell culture systems (HCVcc) and HCV-infected patients. Finally, Fth expression was found to be required for robust HCV infection. These observations provide a further molecular explanation for the onset of liver steatosis and allow for hypothesizing on new therapeutic and antiviral strategies

A new HPLC-UV method compared with HPLC-MS for daptomycin levels in human plasma samples

Application of a new HPLC-UV method on 122 plasma samples of patients from various AOUP wards, after analytical method settings, validation and comparison with a reference LC-MS/MS method. All research activities were performed according to the “Daptolin” protocol (approved by the Pisa University Hospital Ethics Committee, prot. num. 55945

Hepatitis C virus production requires apolipoprotein A-I and affects its association with nascent low-density lipoproteins

Background/aims The life cycle of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is intimately linked to the lipid metabolism of the host. In particular, HCV exploits the metabolic machinery of the lipoproteins in several steps of its life cycle such as circulation in the bloodstream, cell attachment and entry, assembly and release of viral particles. However, the details of how HCV interacts with and influences the metabolism of the host lipoproteins are not well understood. A study was undertaken to investigate whether HCV directly affects the protein composition of host circulating lipoproteins. Methods A proteomic analysis of circulating very low-, low- and high-density lipoproteins (VLDL, LDL and HDL), isolated from either in-treatment naive HCV-infected patients or healthy donors (HD), was performed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF). The results obtained were further investigated using in vitro models of HCV infection and replication. Results A decreased level of apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) was found in the LDL fractions of HCV-infected patients. This result was confirmed by western blot and ELISA analysis. HCV cellular models (JFH1 HCV cell culture system (HCVcc) and HCV subgenomic replicons) showed that the decreased apoA-I/LDL association originates from hepatic biogenesis rather than lipoprotein catabolism occurring in the circulation, and is not due to a downregulation of the apoA-I protein concentration. The sole non-structural viral proteins were sufficient to impair the apoA-I/LDL association. Functional evidence was obtained for involvement of apoA-I in the viral life cycle such as RNA replication and virion production. The specific siRNA-mediated downregulation of apoA-I led to a reduction in both HCV RNA and viral particle levels in culture. Conclusions This study shows that HCV induces lipoprotein structural modification and that its replication and production are linked to the host lipoprotein metabolism, suggesting apoA-I as a new possible target for antiviral therapy

Use of Nintendo Wii Balance Board for posturographic analysis of Multiple Sclerosis patients with minimal balance impairment

Background: The Wii Balance Board (WBB) has been proposed as an inexpensive alternative to laboratory-grade Force Plates (FP) for the instrumented assessment of balance. Previous studies have reported a good validity and reliability of the WBB for estimating the path length of the Center of Pressure. Here we extend this analysis to 18 balance related features extracted from healthy subjects (HS) and individuals affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with minimal balance impairment. Methods: Eighteen MS patients with minimal balance impairment (Berg Balance Scale 53.3 ± 3.1) and 18 age-matched HS were recruited in this study. All subjects underwent instrumented balance tests on the FP and WBB consisting of quiet standing with the eyes open and closed. Linear correlation analysis and Bland-Altman plots were used to assess relations between path lengths estimated using the WBB and the FP. 18 features were extracted from the instrumented balance tests. Statistical analysis was used to assess significant differences between the features estimated using the WBB and the FP and between HS and MS. The Spearman correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the validity and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient was used to assess the reliability of WBB measures with respect to the FP. Classifiers based on Support Vector Machines trained on the FP and WBB features were used to assess the ability of both devices to discriminate between HS and MS. Results: We found a significant linear relation between the path lengths calculated from the WBB and the FP indicating an overestimation of these parameters in the WBB. We observed significant differences in the path lengths between FP and WBB in most conditions. However, significant differences were not found for the majority of the other features. We observed the same significant differences between the HS and MS populations across the two measurement systems. Validity and reliability were moderate-to-high for all the analyzed features. Both the FP and WBB trained classifier showed similar classification performance (>80%) when discriminating between HS and MS. Conclusions: Our results support the observation that the WBB, although not suitable for obtaining absolute measures, could be successfully used in comparative analysis of different populations

High-Mobility Group Box 1 Protein in Human and Murine Skin: Involvement in Wound Healing

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An Italian survey of opioids misuse: Epidemiological and psychopathological aspects

© 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for the Study of Emerging Drugs. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Objective Opioid abuse is a worrying reality especially in the US. The increase in the prescription of opioids in Europe poses the risk of a possible increase in the number of abusers also in Italy. The aim of the study is to evaluate the abuse of opioids in the youth population and to evaluate possible correlations with some psychopathological aspects. Methods A survey, conducted from July 2019 to March 2020, about the use of opioids was spread to a group of subjects aged between 18 and 40 years. A socio-demographical investigation and psychometric scales evaluating internet game addiction, gaming online, quality of life and general psychometric features were administrated. Results Nine-hundred and thirteen subjects completed the survey. Seventeen-five subjects (8.21%) have used one opioid at least once in their lifetime. Weak correlations were found between codeine and morphine intensity of use and sleep disturbance, cigarette smoked per day, while codeine correlates with the number of coffees taken per day and somatization. Conclusion Although the data of this survey do not show high percentages of use in Italy (8.21% of the sample have used one of the listed opioids at least once in their lifetime), the correlations founded confirm the literature data already present highlighting the need for constant monitoring of this phenomenon.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Effectiveness of clinical scores in predicting coronary artery disease in familial hypercholesterolemia: a coronary computed tomography angiography study

PurposeOne of the major challenges in the management of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is the stratification of cardiovascular risk in asymptomatic subjects. Our purpose is to investigate the performance of clinical scoring systems, Montreal-FH-score (MFHS), SAFEHEART risk (SAFEHEART-RE) and FH risk score (FHRS) equations and Dutch Lipid Clinic Network (DLCN) diagnostic score, in predicting extent and severity of CAD at coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in asymptomatic FH.Material and methodsOne-hundred and thirty-nine asymptomatic FH subjects were prospectively enrolled to perform CCTA. MFHS, FHRS, SAFEHEART-RE and DLCN were assessed for each patient. Atherosclerotic burden scores at CCTA (Agatston score [AS], segment stenosis score [SSS]) and CAD-RADS score were calculated and compared to clinical indices.ResultsNon-obstructive CAD was found in 109 patients, while 30 patients had a CAD-RADS >= 3. Classifying the two groups according to AS, values varied significantly for MFHS (p < 0.001), FHRS (p < 0.001) and SAFEHEART-RE (p = 0.047), while according to SSS only MFHS and FHRS showed significant differences (p < 0.001). MFHS, FHRS and SAFEHEART-RE, but not DLCN, showed significant differences between the two CAD-RADS groups (p < .001).MFHS proved to have the best discriminatory power (AUC = 0.819; 0.703-0.937, p < 0.001) at ROC analysis, followed by FHRS (AUC = 0.795; 0.715-0.875, p < .0001) and SAFEHEART-RE (AUC = .725; .61-.843, p < .001).ConclusionsGreater values of MFHS, FHRS and SAFEHEART-RE are associated to higher risk of obstructive CAD and might help to select asymptomatic patients that should be referred to CCTA for secondary prevention

Angiogenic potential of human dental pulp stromal (stem) cells.

Dental pulp is a heterogeneous microenviroment where unipotent progenitor and pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells cohabit. In this study we investigated whether human Dental Pulp Stromal (Stem) Cells (DP-SCs) committed to the angiogenic fate. DP-SCs showed the specific mesenchymal immunophenotypical profile positive for CD29, CD44, CD73, CD105, CD166 and negative for CD14, CD34, CD45, in accordance with that reported for bone marrow-derived SCs. The Oct-4 expression in DP-SCs, evaluated through RT-PCR analysis, increased in relation with the number of the passages in cell culture and decreased after angiogenic induction. In agreement with their multipotency, DP-SCs differentiated toward osteogenic and adipogenic commitments. In angiogenic experiments, differentiation of DP-SCs, through Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) induction, was evaluated by in vitro matrigel assay and by cytometric analysis. Accordingly, endothelial-specific markers like Flt-1 and KDR were basally expressed and they increased after exposure to VEGF together with the occurrence of ICAM-1 and von Willebrand Factor positive cells. In addition, VEGF-induced DP-SCs maintained endothelial cell-like features when cultured in a 3-D fibrin mesh, displaying focal organization into capillary-like structures. The DP-SC angiogenic potential may prove a remarkable tool for novel approaches to developing tissue-engineered vascular grafts which are useful when vascularization of ischemic tissues is required

Genetic interaction of P2X7 receptor and VEGFR-2 polymorphisms identifies a favorable prognostic profile in prostate cancer patients

VEGFR-2 and P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) have been described to stimulate the angiogenesis and inflammatory processes of prostate cancer. The present study has been performed to investigate the genetic interactions among VEGFR-2 and P2X7R SNPs and their correlation with overall survival (OS) in a population of metastatic prostate cancer patients. Analyses were performed on germline DNA obtained from blood samples and SNPs were investigated by real-time PCR technique. The survival dimensionality reduction (SDR) methodology was applied to investigate the genetic interaction between SNPs. One hundred patients were enrolled. The SDR software provided two genetic interaction profiles consisting of the combination between specific VEGFR-2 (rs2071559, rs11133360) and P2X7R (rs3751143, rs208294) genotypes. The median OS was 126 months (95% CI, 115.94-152.96) and 65.65 months (95% CI, 52.95-76.53) for the favorable and the unfavorable genetic profile, respectively (p < 0.0001). The genetic statistical interaction between VEGFR-2 (rs2071559, rs11133360) and P2X7R (rs3751143, rs208294) genotypes may identify a population of prostate cancer patients with a better prognosis