Levels of plasma homocysteine in pseudoexfoliation glaucoma.

BACKGROUND: To examine levels of serum homocysteine (Hcy), vitamin B12 and folic acid in patients with pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEXG), primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), and healthy control subjects. METHODS: This study included 36 patients with PEXG, 40 with POAG, and 40 age-matched healthy subjects. Fasting plasma Hcy concentrations and levels of serum vitamin B12 and folic acid were measured using competitive chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay; values exceeding 14 μm/l were considered elevated. RESULTS: Mean plasma Hcy was significantly higher in PEXG (16.55 ± 7.23 μm/l) compared with POAG (13.91 ± 3.61 μm/l) and controls (13.12 ± 5.13 μm/l) (p = 0.03 and p = 0.0007 respectively). There were no statistical differences in serum vitamin B12 and folic acid levels among PEXG, POAG and control subjects (p > 0.05). A moderate, although statistically significant, relationship between Hcy and folic acid levels was found in the PEXG group (R(2) = 0.23, p = 0.003). Hcy levels were found not to be related with folic acid or vitamin B12 in either POAG or control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, plasma Hcy is significantly higher in PEXG group than the POAG and control groups. Hyper-Hcy might play a role in the pathogenesis of PEXG. Hyper-Hcy may be an independent factor stressing vasculopathy in addition to pseudoexfoliation, so might be a modifiable risk factor for PEXG

HLA allele frequencies and susceptibility to COVID-19 in a group of 99 Italian patients

With the aim to individuate alleles that may reflect a higher susceptibility to the disease, in the present study we analyzed the HLA allele frequency distribution in a group of 99 Italian patients affected by a severe or extremely severe form of COVID-19. After the application of Bonferroni's correction for multiple tests, a significant association was found for HLA-DRB1*15:01, -DQB1*06:02 and -B*27:07, after comparing the results to a reference group of 1017 Italian individuals, previously typed in our laboratory. The increased frequencies observed may contribute to identify potential markers of susceptibility to the disease, although controversial results on the role of single HLA alleles in COVID-19 patients have been recently reported

Relationships between paraoxon and 2-coumaranone hydrolytic activities in sera genotyped for PON1 Q192R polymorphism.

OBJECTIVES: To set-up a method for a direct evaluation in human serum of paraoxonase enzymatic activities, establishing a possible correlation with Q192R genotype polymorphism. DESIGN AND METHODS: 101 different human serum samples were genotyped for paraoxonase Q192R polymorphism by PCR restriction analysis, and evaluated spectrophotometrically with regard to paraoxon and 2-coumaranone hydrolytic activities. Both activities of paraoxonase were assayed, quantified through normalization by arylesterase activity, and compared with the data concerning Q/R genetic polymorphism. RESULTS: The mean normalized paraoxonase activity was found to be significantly higher in RR than in QQ human sera (3.99+/-0.6 versus 1.32+/-0.44; P<0.0001); instead, the 2-coumaranone hydrolysis showed an opposite trend (0.10+/-0.02 versus 0.23+/-0.04, in RR and QQ sera respectively; P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: These methods were successfully applied to the whole serum, suggesting a possible use of this approach for a clinically relevant phenotypic characterization

Stromelysin gene promoter polymorphism and common carotid geometry in diabetic subjects.

AIM: Stromelysin (MMP3), through its action on collagen and other matrix metalloproteinases, influences arterial wall remodeling. In healthy subjects, the 5A/6A polymorphism located in the promoter of the MMP3 gene is associated with common carotid remodeling, 6A/6A subjects having increased arterial diameter, wall thickness (intima-media thickness, IMT) and decreased wall shear stress (WSS). In the present study, we have investigated the influence of the 5A/6A polymorphism on common carotid remodeling in subjects with diabetes mellitus. METHODS: Diabetic subjects (N.=136) and age-matched healthy male controls (N.=101) have been studied. Common carotid diameter, IMT and flow velocity have been measured by echo-Doppler. Blood viscosity has been measured by a cone/plate viscometer. WSS has been calculated. RESULTS: Diabetic patients had increased common carotid diameter, IMT, and decreased flow velocity and WSS (all P<0.05), compared with controls. In controls, subjects homozygous for the 6A allele had increased diameter, IMT and decreased WSS. In diabetics, no difference was observed in vascular parameters among the three genotypes. CONCLUSION: The 5A/6A polymorphism of the MMP3 gene influences arterial remodeling of the common carotid artery in healthy subjects, but not in patients with diabetes mellitus. Therefore, the significance of the 5A/6A polymorphism as a marker of risk in this high cardiovascular risk population seems to be somehow blunted

Carta Turistico - Ambientale della Riserva Naturale Regionale delle Salse di Nirano

La Carta Turistico-Ambientale della Riserva Naturale delle Salse di Nirano \ue8 una carta tematica, pieghevole, stampata fronte/retro, con note illustrative sintetiche in italiano ed in inglese. Gli elementi caratterizzanti della Carta Turistico-Ambientale sono una Carta Geoturistica, che coniuga la rappresentazione dei pi\uf9 evidenti aspetti geologici e geomorfologici (rocce affioranti, idrografia, salse a cono e salse a polla, calanchi, frane, elementi dell\u2019antropizzazione, ecc..) con le indicazioni turistiche fondamentali (percorsi escursionistici e didattici, Centro Visite ed Ecomuseo, parcheggi, luoghi di ristoro e/o pernottamento, aree di sosta attrezzata, ecc.) e una immagine 3 D della Riserva, ottenuta dal Modello Digitale del Terreno rivestito con Ortofoto Digitali, per rendere evidente la morfologia del territorio. Le note illustrative riguardano la Carta Geoturistica, il Fenomeno delle salse (vulcani di fango) e la Riserva Naturale, l\u2019Immagine 3D della Riserva, Flora e vegetazione, Fauna, Il Centro Visite e l\u2019Ecomuseo, le Attrazioni turistiche dei dintorni ed altre informazioni di carattere logistico

The influence of PON1 192 polymorphism on endothelial function in diabetic subjects with or without hypertension.

Hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) cause endothelial dysfunction probably through increased oxidant stress. Paraoxonase (PON1) is an high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-linked anti-oxidant enzyme whose capacity is influenced by a genetic polymorphism at codon 192. In the present study we have investigated the role of PON1 polymorphism on endothelial function in subjects with T2DM with or without hypertension. Three groups of male subjects were enrolled: 65 healthy control subjects without T2DM or hypertension (CON), 51 with only T2DM (DM), and 67 with both hypertension and T2DM (HYP+DM). The PON1 Gln192Arg polymorphism was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and restriction analysis. Endothelial function was evaluated as flow-mediated vasodilatation (FMD) of the brachial artery after forearm ischemia. Data were analyzed according to the presence or absence of the Arg allele. Subjects with T2DM had markedly impaired FMD, compared with those of the CON group. In the CON and HYP+DM groups no difference was observed in FMD between subjects homozygous for the Gln allele and those carrying the Arg allele. In the DM group FMD was lower among those carrying the Arg allele compared with Gln/Gln homozygotes (2.1+/-2.4% vs. 6.2+/-5.2%, p=0.002). In conclusion, the present findings demonstrated that FMD was less impaired in normotensive diabetic subjects homozygous for the Gln allele, consistent with the notion that this isoform has a more effective antioxidant action that serves to protect circulating low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Hypertension seems to abolish the protective effect of the Gln isoform. These findings, however, warrant further investigation to clarify their clinical import