In vivo and in vitro characterization of a new recreational drug: Benzydamine

Drugs misuse is a complex phenomenon that does not appear to have declined significantly in last decades, despite great efforts in terms of repression and therapeutic approaches. Interestingly, the Internet is now playing a key role in shaping how drugs are sold, changing the classic classification of new versus old drugs. Indeed, a growing number of new drugs are now available on the internet drug market, including prescription drugs with psychoactive properties that are easier to obtain than illegal drugs. Among the prescription drugs whose recreational use is on the rise there is Benzydamine (BZY), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug also abused as a club drug. BZY abuse was first identified in Brazilian teenagers, and then spread to Poland and Romania, and other European countries (Opaleye et al, 2009; Mota et al, 2010; Babalan et al, 2013; Doksat et al, 2009; Settimi et al, 2012). Today, BZY abuse has become the object of increasing concern in public health also in Italy. It is used because, when taken systemically at high doses, it produces euphoria, excitation, hallucinations, and delirium. According to online forums, BZY causes a long-lasting 'brain-flying' effect similar to LSD. It seems that BZY is often taken in conjunction with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and alcohol to obtain an amplified effect. The main goal of the present dissertation is to characterize the reinforcing properties of BZY using the intravenous drug self-administration in the rat and then to investigate the ability of BZY to induce neuroplastic changes in the cortico-accumbens glutamatergic synapses, using slice electrophysiology

Isolated congenital coronary fistula in adult population: discussion a clinical case and review of current literature

We describe a case of a 56 year-old man with a history of chest pain. No evidence of myocardial ischemia or arrhytmias was observed. Echocardiographic examination in Emergency Department evidenced aortic root dilatation. Angio CT excluded aortic dissection. Trans esophageous Echocardiography (TEE) correctly identified an arterial fistula between the right coronary artery and superior vena cava, confirmed by angio CT 3-D reconstruction and coronarography. The definitive diagnosis was made after integrated approach (using TTE, TEE, CT, coronarography). The anatomic features of the fistula and the aortic root were examinated. Actually the patient is being followed with serial clinical and echocardiography examination for monitoring hemodynamic overload by fistula and size of aortic root for potential surgical correction. Current literature for incidence, diagnosis and the treatment of coronary fistulas is discussed

Optogenetic Activation of Striatopallidal Neurons Reveals Altered HCN Gating in DYT1 Dystonia

Summary: Firing activity of external globus pallidus (GPe) is crucial for motor control and is severely perturbed in dystonia, a movement disorder characterized by involuntary, repetitive muscle contractions. Here, we show that GPe projection neurons exhibit a reduction of firing frequency and an irregular pattern in a DYT1 dystonia model. Optogenetic activation of the striatopallidal pathway fails to reset pacemaking activity of GPe neurons in mutant mice. Abnormal firing is paralleled by alterations in motor learning. We find that loss of dopamine D2 receptor-dependent inhibition causes increased GABA input at striatopallidal synapses, with subsequent downregulation of hyperpolarization-activated, cyclic nucleotide-gated cation (HCN) channels. Accordingly, enhancing in vivo HCN channel activity or blocking GABA release restores both the ability of striatopallidal inputs to pause ongoing GPe activity and motor coordination deficits. Our findings demonstrate an impaired striatopallidal connectivity, supporting the central role of GPe in motor control and, more importantly, identifying potential pharmacological targets for dystonia

Gli studenti portano la scienza nello Spazio

Il progetto XenoGRISS ha vinto il bando dell’Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) YiSS - Youth ISS Science 2019 ed è stato condotto sulla Stazione Spaziale Internazionale (ISS) dall’astronauta Luca Parmitano nel dicembre 2019 durante la missione "Beyond". XenoGRISS, che ha scopi sia scientifici che educativi, è stato progettato e presentato congiuntamente da ricercatori delle Università degli Studi di Milano e Firenze, da un gruppo di 9 studenti dell’ITIS A. Meucci di Firenze e da tre insegnanti dello stesso Istituto. Gli studenti sono stati coinvolti nello studio della crescita e della rigenerazione dei girini di Xenopus laevis in assenza di gravità e hanno affrontato sia gli aspetti scientifico-biologici dell'esperimento sia quelli tecnologici relativi all’hardware necessario al mantenimento dei girini per 30 giorni nello Spazio e alle rilevazioni scientifiche

Clinical Aggressiveness and Long-Term Outcome in Patients with Papillary Thyroid Cancer and Circulating Anti-Thyroglobulin Autoantibodies

Objective: The association between papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis is widely recognized, but less is known about the possible link between circulating anti-thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) titers and PTC aggressiveness. To shed light on this issue, we retrospectively examined a large series of PTC patients with and without positive TgAb. Methods: Data on 220 TgAb-positive PTC patients (study cohort) were retrospectively collected in 10 hospital-based referral centers. All the patients had undergone near-total thyroidectomy with or without radioiodine remnant ablation. Tumor characteristics and long-term outcomes (follow-up range: 2.5-24.8 years) were compared with those recently reported in 1020 TgAb-negative PTC patients with similar demographic characteristics. We also assessed the impact on clinical outcome of early titer disappearance in the TgAb-positive group. Results: At baseline, the study cohort (mean age 45.9 years, range 12.5-84.1 years; 85% female) had a significantly higher prevalence of high-risk patients (6.9% vs. 3.2%, p < 0.05) and extrathyroidal tumor extension (28.2% vs. 24%; p < 0.0001) than TgAb-negative controls. Study cohort patients were also more likely than controls to have persistent disease at the 1-year visit (13.6% vs. 7.0%, p = 0.001) or recurrence during subsequent follow-up (5.8% vs. 1.4%, p = 0.0001). At the final follow-up visit, the percentage of patients with either persistent or recurrent disease in the two cohorts was significantly different (6.4% of TgAb-positive patients vs. 1.7% in the TgAb-negative group, p < 0.0001). At the 1-year visit, titer normalization was observed in 85 of the 220 TgAb-positive individuals. These patients had a significantly lower rate of persistent disease than those who were still TgAb positive (8.2% vs. 17.3%. p = 0.05), and no relapses were observed among patients with no evidence of disease during subsequent follow-up. Conclusions: PTC patients with positive serum TgAb titer during the first year after primary treatment were more likely to have persistent/recurrent disease than those who were consistently TgAb-negative. Negative titers at 1 year may be associated with more favorable outcomes

Contextual influences on Italian university students during the COVID-19 lockdown: Emotional responses, coping strategies and resilience

Based on an ecological perspective on the COVID-19 lockdown experience, this study describes psychological responses among Italian university students. Our study considers three zones of the country that have differed in the intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this research explores whether differences in pandemic conditions can account for their divergent psychological outcomes. The participants were 792 university students from seven different Italian universities. Students were asked to express their emotions and describe meaningful events during the lockdown in writing. Based on the grounded theory approach, this study conducted qualitative data analysis using ATLAS.ti 8.0. The core emerged categories are emotions, emotional moods and state of mind, coping strategies, and resilience. The results describing these emergent factors in relation to environmental variables highlight differences in the feeling of anxiety among individuals: anxiety was more self-focused in zones that were more affected by the lockdown, while such anxiety was more related to family and friends in less-affected zones. In addition to identifying the negative repercussions that this emergency has had, this study describes some positive outcomes, such as the elaboration of new personal perspectives that help foster individual growth and allow individuals to gain new awareness of themselves and others. The confinement due to the COVID-19 emergency measures has been a very unique experience for people, and further research is needed to understand the long-term effects of the different coping responses activated by participants during and after the lockdown

Nutrizione iodica globale nel 2020

n/

Heroin versus cocaine: opposite choice as a function of context but not of drug history in the rat

Rationale Previous studies have shown that rats trained to self-administer heroin and cocaine exhibit opposite preferences, as a function of setting, when tested in a choice paradigm. Rats tested at home prefer heroin to cocaine whereas rats tested outside the home prefer cocaine to heroin. Here we investigated whether drug history would influence subsequent drug preference in distinct settings. Based on a theoretical model of drug-setting interaction, we predicted that regardless of drug history rats would prefer heroin at home and cocaine outside the home. Methods Rats with double-lumen catheters were first trained to self-administer either heroin (25 μg/kg) or cocaine (400 μg/kg) for 12 consecutive sessions. Twenty-six rats were housed in the self-administration chambers (thus, they were tested at home) whereas 30 rats lived in distinct home cages and were transferred to self-administration chambers only for the self-administration session (thus, they were tested outside the home). The rats were then allowed to choose repeatedly between heroin and cocaine within the same session for 7 sessions. Results Regardless of the training drug, the rats tested outside the home preferred cocaine to heroin whereas the rats tested at home preferred heroin to cocaine. There was no correlation between drug preference and drug intake during the training phase. Conclusion Drug preferences were powerfully influenced by the setting but, quite surprisingly, not by drug history. This suggests that, under certain conditions, associative learning processes and drug-induced neuroplastic adaptations play a minor role in shaping individual preferences for one drug or the other