Doctor can I buy a new kidney? I've heard it isn't forbidden: What is the role of the nephrologist when dealing with a patient who wants to buy a kidney?

Organ trafficking is officially banned in several countries and by the main Nephrology Societies. However, this practice is widespread and is allowed or tolerated in many countries, hence, in the absence of a universal law, the caregiver may be asked for advice, placing him/her in a difficult balance between legal aspects, moral principles and ethical judgments. In spite of the Istanbul declaration, which is a widely shared position statement against organ trafficking, the controversy on mercenary organ donation is still open and some experts argue against taking a negative stance. In the absence of clear evidence showing the clinical disadvantages of mercenary transplantation compared to chronic dialysis, self-determination of the patient (and, with several caveats, of the donor) may conflict with other ethical principles, first of all non-maleficence. The present paper was drawn up with the participation of the students, as part of the ethics course at our medical school. It discusses the situation in which the physician acts as a counselor for the patient in the way of a sort of “reverse” informed consent, in which the patient asks advice regarding a complex personal decision, and includes a peculiar application of the four principles (beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and autonomy) to the donor and recipient parties

179. Helper-Dependent Adenovirus-Mediated Gene Transfer of an LDL Receptor/Transferrin Chimeric Protein Reduces Aortic Atherosclerosis in LDL Receptor-Deficient Mice

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a well-characterized genetic hyperlipidemia due in most of the cases to mutations in the LDL receptor (LDLR) gene; FH is characterized by elevated concentration of plasma LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) with consequent deposition of LDL-C in tendons, skin and arteries. Statins can lower cholesterol levels but are not effective in all patients whose prognosis is still quite poor. In the past, we have developed safe and effective gene-therapy strategies for hepatocytes transduction and consequent expression of anti-atherogenic proteins using PEGylated helper-dependent adenoviral (HD-Ad) vectors. We have recently devised a therapeutic strategy for reducing LDL using a secreted protein that can potentially be expressed in non-hepatic tissues used as bioreactors. At this aim, we developed an HD-Ad vector for the expression of the soluble form of the extracellular portion of the human LDLR fused with transferrin (LDLR/Tf). We evaluated the efficacy of LDLR/Tf in cellular models such as CHOldla7 in which we restored the cell ability to uptake of labeled LDL; subsequently, we administered intravenously 1X10E11 vp/kg of the HD-Ad vector expressing LDLR/Tf in LDLR-deficient mice and demonstrated the efficacy of the above-mentioned vector in reducing total and LDL cholesterol levels; in addition, expression of LDLR/Tf significantly reduced aortic atherosclerotic lesions in treated LDLR-deficient mice compared to controls 1.78±0.48 vs. 5.38±0.54 sq.mm.). We therefore demonstrated the efficacy of serum secretion of LDLR/Tf in reducing aortic atherosclerosis in FH mice. These results will allow the evaluation of HD-Ad vector-mediated expression of LDLR/Tf in non-hepatic tissues using alternative routes of administration in order to develop safer gene transfer protocol more compatible with clinical applications

Cross-sectional analysis of family factors associated with lifestyle habits in a sample of Italian Primary School Children : the I-MOVE Project

: The acquisition of healthy dietary and exercise habits during childhood is essential for maintaining these behaviors during adulthood. In early childhood, parents have a profound influence on a child's lifestyle pursuits, serving as both role models and decision-makers. The present study examines family factors as potential contributors to healthy lifestyle habits and their child's overall diet quality among a sample of primary school children. A secondary aim is to evaluate several aspects of diet quality using the Mediterranean adaptation of the Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I). This cross-sectional study involved 106 children enrolled in a primary school located in Imola, Italy. Data were collected from October to December 2019 using an interactive tool used to assess parent characteristics, children's lifestyle, food frequency (ZOOM-8 questionnaire), and actigraph accelerometers to capture children's physical activity and sedentary behavior. Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (expressed by KIDMED Index) was positively associated with fathers' educational level, parental sport participation, and the parent's overall nutritional knowledge. Higher mothers' educational level was inversely associated with children's leisure screen time. Parents' nutritional knowledge was positively related to children's average daily minutes of organized sport activities. The better score for DQI-I was for consumption adequacy, followed by variety and moderation. The lowest score was for overall balance. The present study reinforces the importance of family factors in young children's lifestyle choices, particularly their dietary, leisure time, and exercise habits

Типологія синтаксичних конструкцій в німецькій та українській мовах

Німецька та українська мови є односистемними мовами: обидві належать до індоєвропейської мовної сім’ї. Спільні корені та тривалий період ізольованого розвитку, вказують на те, що вказані мови мають характеристики подібності та відмінності в своій внутрішній будові. Німецька та українська належать до синтетичного типу флективних мов. Це означає, що граматичне значення слів у них виражається, здебільшого, за допомогою системи флексій і реалізується в межах одного графічного слова. Але флективна система німецької мови бідніша, ніж у слов’янських мовах.Немецкий и украинский языки являются односистемными языками: оба принадлежат к индоевропейской языковой семье. Общие корни и длительный период изолированного развития, указывают на то, что указанные языки имеют характеристики сходства и различия в своем внутреннем строении. Немецкий и украинский принадлежат к синтетическому типу флективных языков. Это означает, что грамматическое значение слов в них выражается, в основном, с помощью системы флексий и реализуется в пределах одного графического слова. Но флективная система немецкого языка беднее, чем в славянских языках.German and Ukrainian are single-system languages: both belong to the Indo-European language family. Common roots and a long period of isolated development, indicate that these languages ​​have characteristics of similarity and differences in their internal structure. German and Ukrainian belong to the synthetic type of inflectional languages. This means that the grammatical meaning of words in them is expressed, mainly, with the help of a system of inflexions and is realized within a single graphic word. But the inflectional system of the German language is poorer than in the Slavic languages

Enhanced thermoelectricity in metal−[60]fullerene−graphene molecular junctions

The thermoelectric properties of molecular junctions consisting of a metal Pt electrode contacting [60]fullerene derivatives covalently bound to a graphene electrode have been studied by using a conducting-probe atomic force microscope (c-AFM). The [60]fullerene derivatives are covalently linked to the graphene via two meta-connected phenyl rings, two para-connected phenyl rings, or a single phenyl ring. We find that the magnitude of the Seebeck coefficient is up to nine times larger than that of Au-C60-Pt molecular junctions. Moreover, the sign of the thermopower can be either positive or negative depending on the details of the binding geometry and on the local value of the Fermi energy. Our results demonstrate the potential of using graphene electrodes for controlling and enhancing the thermoelectric properties of molecular junctions and confirm the outstanding performance of [60]fullerene derivativesThis work has been supported by the European Commission through FP7 ITN MOLESCO (Project Number 606728), the (MAD2D-CM)-UCM1-MRR project and through the EC H2020 FET Open Project Grant Agreement Number 767187 “QuIET”. The authors acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation MCIN (Projects PID2020-114653RB-I00, PID2020-115120GB-I00, Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa SEV-2016-0686). L.R.-G. acknowledges support from Spanish MECD (Grant No. FPU14/03368) and, with N.A., funding from the Education and Research Council of the Comunidad de Madrid and the European Social Fund (ref. PEJD-2019-POST/IND-16353

Celiac disease-associated Neisseria flavescens decreases mitochondrial respiration in CaCo-2 epithelial cells: Impact of Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 on bacterial-induced cellular imbalance

: We previously identified a Neisseria flavescens strain in the duodenum of celiac disease (CD) patients that induced immune inflammation in ex vivo duodenal mucosal explants and in CaCo-2 cells. We also found that vesicular trafficking was delayed after the CD-immunogenic P31-43 gliadin peptide-entered CaCo-2 cells and that Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 (L. paracasei-CBA) supernatant reduced peptide entry. In this study, we evaluated if metabolism and trafficking was altered in CD-N. flavescens-infected CaCo-2 cells and if any alteration could be mitigated by pretreating cells with L. paracasei-CBA supernatant, despite the presence of P31-43. We measured CaCo-2 bioenergetics by an extracellular flux analyser, N. flavescens and P31-43 intracellular trafficking by immunofluorescence, cellular stress by TBARS assay, and ATP by bioluminescence. We found that CD-N. flavescens colocalised more than control N. flavescens with early endocytic vesicles and more escaped autophagy thereby surviving longer in infected cells. P31-43 increased colocalisation of N. flavescens with early vesicles. Mitochondrial respiration was lower (P < .05) in CD-N. flavescens-infected cells versus not-treated CaCo-2 cells, whereas pretreatment with L. paracasei-CBA reduced CD-N. flavescens viability and improved cell bioenergetics and trafficking. In conclusion, CD-N. flavescens induces metabolic imbalance in CaCo-2 cells, and the L. paracasei-CBA probiotic could be used to correct CD-associated dysbiosis

Intratumoral delivery of recombinant vaccinia virus encoding for ErbB2/Neu inhibits the growth of salivary gland carcinoma cells

The antitumor activity induced by intratumoral vaccination with poxvirus expressing a tumor antigen was shown to be superior to that induced by subcutaneous vaccination. Salivary gland carcinomas overexpress ErbB2. Trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody to ErbB2, was proposed for salivary gland tumors treatment. We explored the effectiveness of intratumoral vaccination with the recombinant vaccinia virus ErbB2/Neu (rV-neuT) vaccine in hampering the growth of transplanted Neu-overexpressing BALB-neuT salivary gland cancer cells (SALTO) in BALB-neuT mice

Behavioral, neuromorphological, and neurobiochemical effects induced by omega-3 fatty acids following basal forebrain cholinergic depletion in aged mice

Background: In recent years, mechanistic, epidemiologic, and interventional studies have indicated beneficial effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) against brain aging and age-related cognitive decline, with the most consistent effects against Alzheimer’s disease (AD) confined especially in the early or prodromal stages of the pathology. In the present study, we investigated the action of n-3 PUFA supplementation on behavioral performances and hippocampal neurogenesis, volume, and astrogliosis in aged mice subjected to a selective depletion of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons. Such a lesion represents a valuable model to mimic one of the most reliable hallmarks of early AD neuropathology. Methods: Aged mice first underwent mu-p75-saporin immunotoxin intraventricular lesions to obtain a massive cholinergic depletion and then were orally supplemented with n-3 PUFA or olive oil (as isocaloric control) for 8 weeks. Four weeks after the beginning of the dietary supplementation, anxiety levels as well as mnesic, social, and depressive-like behaviors were evaluated. Subsequently, hippocampal morphological and biochemical analyses and n-3 PUFA brain quantification were carried out. Results: The n-3 PUFA treatment regulated the anxiety alterations and reverted the novelty recognition memory impairment induced by the cholinergic depletion in aged mice. Moreover, n-3 PUFA preserved hippocampal volume, enhanced neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus, and reduced astrogliosis in the hippocampus. Brain levels of n-3 PUFA were positively related to mnesic abilities. Conclusions: The demonstration that n-3 PUFA are able to counteract behavioral deficits and hippocampal neurodegeneration in cholinergically depleted aged mice promotes their use as a low-cost, safe nutraceutical tool to improve life quality at old age, even in the presence of first stages of AD