Serenoa repens extracts: In vitro study of the 5α-reductase activity in a co-culture model for benign prostatic hyperplasia

Objectives. Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is a form of benign tumor that occurs in humans mainly with ageing. It affects more than 50% of over 50 years old males and it is characterized by an increased synthesis of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), due to the 5α-reductase activity. The BPH therapeutic approach mainly uses 5α-reductase inhibitors, such as the active compounds present in the extracts deriving from species Serenoa repens. Many lipidosterolic extracts are available on the market, which are obtained with different solvents, among them ethanol is recognized as non-toxic and has less handling risks than hexane. The purpose of the present experimental study was to investigate in-vitro the potency of an ethanol extract of S. repens comparing it with an n-hexane one. Materials and methods. Two different lipido-sterolic extracts of S. repens have been tested: ethanol extract and n-hexane extract, two batches for each one. The inhibitory action of the extract was evaluated estimating in-vitro the activity of enzyme 5α-reductase type I (5α-RI), which was mainly active under the experimental condition of pH 7.5. DHT amount, synthesized from testosterone (1 μM), was evaluated in a co-culture model of epithelial cells and fibroblasts resulting from prostatic biopsy of a patient with BPH.Results. The analysis of the resulting dose-response curves showed that the entire S. repens extracts inhibited the 5α-RI showing no difference between the two kinds of extract or between the batches. The resulting IC50 values were the following: 8.809 (95% CI = 5.133-15.56) and 9.464 (95% CI = 5.094- 18.27) for ethanol extracts; 11.08 (95% CI = 6.389-19.98) and 12.72 (95% CI = 7.758-21.53) for n-hexane extracts. Conclusions. The potency of ethanol extracts of S. repens was comparable with the one of n-hexane extracts

ECMO for COVID-19 patients in Europe and Israel

Since March 15th, 2020, 177 centres from Europe and Israel have joined the study, routinely reporting on the ECMO support they provide to COVID-19 patients. The mean annual number of cases treated with ECMO in the participating centres before the pandemic (2019) was 55. The number of COVID-19 patients has increased rapidly each week reaching 1531 treated patients as of September 14th. The greatest number of cases has been reported from France (n = 385), UK (n = 193), Germany (n = 176), Spain (n = 166), and Italy (n = 136) .The mean age of treated patients was 52.6 years (range 16–80), 79% were male. The ECMO configuration used was VV in 91% of cases, VA in 5% and other in 4%. The mean PaO2 before ECMO implantation was 65 mmHg. The mean duration of ECMO support thus far has been 18 days and the mean ICU length of stay of these patients was 33 days. As of the 14th September, overall 841 patients have been weaned from ECMO support, 601 died during ECMO support, 71 died after withdrawal of ECMO, 79 are still receiving ECMO support and for 10 patients status n.a. . Our preliminary data suggest that patients placed on ECMO with severe refractory respiratory or cardiac failure secondary to COVID-19 have a reasonable (55%) chance of survival. Further extensive data analysis is expected to provide invaluable information on the demographics, severity of illness, indications and different ECMO management strategies in these patients

Does ecological marginality reflect physiological marginality in plants?

In the absence of barriers to dispersal, species’ range limits should arise when physiological processes are compromised by unfavorable ecological conditions. This study aims to fill the knowledge gap on the role of physiology in determining plant species range limits. We developed the Physiological Marginality Hypothesis (PMH), a theoretical framework predicting that individuals in ecologically marginal populations are less physiologically efficient than those occurring at the ecological optimum. According to PMH, the probability to reach the optimal physiological efficiency is best shaped by a Gaussian function and curvilinear relationships should exist between physiological traits and ecological gradients. We conducted an analysis on plant physiology studies along altitudinal/latitudinal gradients to investigate which models best describe the relationship between the performance of a given physiological trait and the considered ecological gradients. Data from 54 cases (29 species) concerning photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, carbon isotope composition and photosynthetic water use efficiency were used. Overall, results support PMH in about 70% of cases, suggesting that ecologically marginal individuals can be physiologically less efficient than individuals occurring at the species ecological optimum. Physiology has an important causal role in shaping plant species distribution and further studies should focus on physiological processes at the ecological range edge

The effect of thinning and cue:density ratio on risk perception by Rana dalmatina tadpoles

The “risk assessment hypothesis” considers prey density as an important variable to properly assess the actual level of risk, and predicts that, when the ratio between predator cue concentration and prey density is constant, the level of risk perceived by prey is the same. All previous studies which tested this hypothesis with Anurans manipulated density by placing tadpoles into experimental tubs at fixed group sizes. As predation is a process that produces a progressive decrease in prey density, i.e. “thinning”, prey may respond to the rate of group size reduction rather than the absolute number of conspecifics in a given place at a given time. To test if Rana dalmatina tadpoles perceive the progressive decrease in population density due to predation and are able to use this information to fine-tune anti-predator responses, we combined thinning with a constant cue:density ratio and evaluated how these two types of information affected the level of activity of tadpoles. Our results showed no effect of density reduction on prey level of activity, and thinning did not interact with cue intensity to modify tadpoles’ behaviour. However, we observed no difference in tadpole behavioural responses between treatments with the same cue:density ratio

THE EFFECT OF COLOUR MORPH AND TEMPERATURE ON IMMUNE RESPONSE IN MALES AND FEMALES COMMON WALL LIZARD (Podarcis muralis) ASSESSED BY IN-VITRO EXPERIMENTS

Colour polymorphism is the coexistence in one interbreeding population of two or more distinct and genetically determined colour forms, the least abundant of which is present in numbers too great to be due solely to recurrent mutation. The persistence of different morphs in a species is generally associated with the coexistence of alternative reproductive strategies, which involve specific tradeoffs among behavioural, morphological, physiological, and other life history characteristics. However, most of evidence supporting this hypothesis is still correlative, and only few studies have checked it experimentally. The common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) is a small-sized lacertid, showing highly polymorphic coloration in belly and throat, with three main phenotypes (i.e., white, yellow and red). All these morphs can occur in both sexes and within the same population, and are characterized by different phenotypic traits (i.e., body size, immuno-competence and stamina, homing behaviour, diet, and stress responses). Here, we experimentally tested the hypothesis that morphs represent alternative physiological optima for immune response with respect to body temperature. We used in vitro phytohaemoagglutinin (PHA) stimulation of T-lymphocytes performed at two opposite thermal conditions, i.e. low (22°C) and high temperature (32°C). Cell cultures were prepared from blood samples, inoculated with PHA and incubated for three days. Lymphocyte proliferation was lower in females than in males, particularly at 32°C. Irrespective of temperature, yellow males were immunosuppressed with respect to other males, confirming previous results obtained by in-vivo experiments. More interestingly, lymphocyte proliferation in white and red females sensibly decreased from 22°C to 32°C, while yellow females resumed the immunosuppressive effects of both morph and temperature thus showing the lowest immune response at both temperatures. Overall, these results confirm that the immune response of males and females depend on temperature and this relationship is morph specific, thus supporting the hypothesis that colour morph in the common wall lizard represent different physiological optima

Effect of 8-week n-3 fatty-acid supplementation on oxidative stress and inflammation in middle- and long-distance running athletes: a pilot study

Background Long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), may alter oxidative status and immune function after exercise. The aim of this pilot study was to determine the probable association between n-3 supplementation and physical exercise, observing the variations in markers of oxidative stress and inflammation. Methods Thirty-nine subjects of both sexes aged 17–30 years were divided into two groups: 1) (n = 21) trained Athletes; 2) (n = 18) Sedentary subjects. All subjects were given about 4 g/day of n-3 supplementation, rich in EPA and DHA, for 8 weeks. Blood, saliva and urine samples were collected pre- (T0) and post- (T1) supplementation. Hematological parameters (tryglicerides, total cholesterol, HDL, CPK, LDH, HGH, IGF-1), oxidative markers (MDA, 8-OHdG, PCc), antioxidant parameters (GPx, SOD, CAT, DPPH scavenger), exercise-induced stress markers (testosterone and cortisol) and an inflammatory marker (TNF-α) were measured. All tests were two-sided and a p-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results The results showed that MDA and TNF-αmean values significantly decreased after supplementation in both Athletes and Sedentary subjects: variation was greater in Athletes than in Sedentary control subjects. Generally, our results suggested that supplementation with n-3 PUFAs created a synergic variation in the parameters from a baseline state (T0) to a treated state after supplementation (T1), in terms of size and modality, which was significantly different in Athletes compared to Sedentary subjects. Conclusion In conclusion, supplementation with about 4 g/day of n-3 PUFAs, rich in EPA and DHA, for 8 weeks, seemed to be effective in counteracting some parameters involved in oxidative stress and inflammation, induced by acute strenuous physical exercise

Chronic fatigue syndrome: features of a population of patients from northern italy

In this study we analyzed the clinical features of a population of Italian patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) diagnosed according to the CDC-1994 criteria. The aim was to investigate CFS patients and their relatives, in order to search for events related to the onset of the disease and to identify some correlation with other diseases. The analysis was carried out examining medical records belonging to 82 patients suffering from the syndrome. The documentation was collected between 2008 and 2011 and provided by the non-profit Italian organization AMCFS (Associazione Malati di CFS). The influence of the gender on the age of onset and the association with potential risk factors were investigated in patients and in their relatives. From the results a significant correlation between the age of onset and autoimmunity was observe

Effects of Different Temperatures on the Development of Dermestes Frischii and Dermestes Undulatus (Coleoptera, Dermestidae): Comparison Between Species

Dermestidae could be useful in forensic investigations to assess the PMI as adults and larvae colonize dried remains. We reared two species of Dermestidae (Dermestes frischii and Dermestes undulatus) to understand the effects of different temperatures on the length of their whole life cycle and on their immature stages. Both species were reared at 23°C 0.5, RH 75% and at 26°C 0.5, 75% RH. Our result shows that the temperature is the main factor that influences the development of those species; in fact, increasing temperature leads to a shorter development cycle (59.8 0.5 and 38.1 0.2 for D. frischii; 50.6 0.6 and 36.2 0.2 for D. undulatus). Furthermore, we found that the number of the molts before the pupa decreases from 5–7 to 5–6 for D. frischii and from 4–6 to 4–5 for D. undulatus, respectively, at 23°C and 26°C

Effects of Colour Morph and Temperature on Immunity in Males and Females of the Common Wall Lizard

Colour polymorphism in reptiles is generally associated with the coexistence of alternative reproductive strategies that involve specific trade-offs among different life history traits. Notably, body temperature trades off with immunocompetence: temperature has relevant effects on immune-response, but maintaining the optimal temperature increases both energetic costs and predatory risk. This trade-off gains complexity by sex, since males and females could optimize fitness by different strategies. Given that there is no single solution for trade-offs, different links among alternative evolutionary stable solutions and morphs might evolve independently in each sex. We tested this hypothesis in the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) by means of in vitro cultures of blood cells in order to examine the response of the immune-system to phytohemoagglutinin stimulation in male and female morphs at two different temperatures (i.e. 22 and 32 °C), corresponding to the thermal optima of the two sexes. We found (i) morph-specific immunity in both sexes, i.e. yellow lizards suffer immunosuppression with respect to the other morphs, and (ii) sex-specific immunity under hot conditions, i.e. females of all morphs were immunosuppressed with respect to males. Results support the hypothesis that morphs might differently invest in immunocompetence, according to different set-up for the trade-offs between immunity and other life-history traits, resulting in alternative strategies with different fitness optima