Contribution to the floristic knowledge of Velino and Aterno valleys (Lazio-Abruzzo, central Italy)

The inventory of the taxa collected during the annual field trip of the working group for Floristics, Systematics and Evolution of the Italian Botanical Society is reported. The field trip was held in 2016 along the Velino and Aterno valleys located between Lazio and Abruzzo administrative regions (central Italy). The flora documented for the studied area amounts to 629 specific and subspecific taxa (including two hybrids) belonging to 300 genera and 69 families. Thirty-eight taxa are endemic to Italy, and only 16 alien taxa were detected. Thirty-eight taxa are included in the IUCN Red List of the Italian Flora. Twenty-four taxa have to be considered as floristic novelties because either new or confirmed for the regional flora of Lazio or Abruzzo. In particular, 15 taxa are new and 6 are confirmed for Lazio. Regarding Abruzzo, 2 taxa are new for the regional flora and one is confirmed. Furthermore, the alien status in Lazio has been updated for one taxon

Impaired flow-mediated dilation in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia

Background Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is complicated by cardiovascular events as myocardial infarction and stroke but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. We hypothesized that endothelial dysfunction may be implicated and that endotoxemia may have a role. Methods Fifty patients with CAP and 50 controls were enrolled. At admission and at discharge, flow-mediated dilation (FMD), serum levels of endotoxins and oxidative stress, as assessed by serum levels of nitrite/nitrate (NOx) and isoprostanes, were studied. Results At admission, a significant difference between patients with CAP and controls was observed for FMD (2.1 ± 0.3 vs 4.0 ± 0.3%, p < 0.001), serum endotoxins (157.8 ± 7.6 vs 33.1 ± 4.8 pg/ml), serum isoprostanes (341 ± 14 vs 286 ± 10 pM, p = 0.009) and NOx (24.3 ± 1.1 vs 29.7 ± 2.2 μM). Simple linear correlation analysis showed that serum endotoxins significantly correlated with Pneumonia Severity Index score (Rs = 0.386, p = 0.006). Compared to baseline, at discharge CAP patients showed a significant increase of FMD and NOx (from 2.1 ± 0.3 to 4.6 ± 0.4%, p < 0.001 and from 24.3 ± 1.1 to 31.1 ± 1.5 μM, p < 0.001, respectively) and a significant decrease of serum endotoxins and isoprostanes (from 157.8 ± 7.6 to 55.5 ± 2.3 pg/ml, p < 0.001, and from 341 ± 14 to 312 ± 14 pM, p < 0.001, respectively). Conversely, no changes for FMD, NOx, serum endotoxins and isoprostanes were observed in controls between baseline and discharge. Changes of FMD significantly correlated with changes of serum endotoxins (Rs = − 0.315; p = 0.001). Conclusions The study provides the first evidence that CAP is characterized by impaired FMD with a mechanism potentially involving endotoxin production and oxidative stress