Special Attention to Physical Activity in Breast Cancer Patients during the First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: The DianaWeb Cohort

Recent evidence highlights that physical activity (PA) is associated with decreased recurrence risk, improved survival and quality of life for breast cancer (BC) patients. Our study aimed to explore patterns of increased/decreased PA, and sedentary behaviors among BC women of the DianaWeb cohort during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, and examined the association with residential locations, work changes, different modality used to increase PA, and quality of life. The study analyzed the questionnaires completed by the 781 BC women (age 54.68 ± 8.75 years on both December 2019 and June 2020. Results showed a decrease of 22%, 57%, and 26% for walking activity, vigorous activity, and total PA, respectively. Sitting/lying time increased up to 54.2% of the subjects recruited. High quality of life was associated with lower odds of being sedentary (p = 0.003). Our findings suggest that innovative health management fostering compliance with current guidelines for PA and active behavior should be implemented, especially in unpredictable emergency conditions

In vitro testing for genotoxicity of indigo naturalis assessed by micronucleus test.

In the field of cosmetic dyes, used for coloring the hair and skin, there is a clear tendency to replace the widely used synthetic dyes by natural colorants, such as henna and mixtures of henna with indigo. The aim of this study was to estimate the genotoxicity of water and DMSO solutions of indigo naturalis (prepared from Indigofera tinctoria leaves) using the cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus (CBMN) assay in the human metabolically active HepG2 cell line. The cytotoxic effects of indigo solutions were first assessed by propidium iodide and fluorescein-diacetate simultaneous staining. For both solutions, cytotoxicity was always under 10%. Data obtained in the CBMN assay (for all concentrations tested) indicated that the frequency of MN (micronuclei) in exposed cells was no higher than the control. Both the water and DMSO solutions showed the same behavior. These results indicate that indigo naturalis exhibits neither cytotoxicity, nor genotoxicity for all concentrations tested, which may justify excluding indigofera and its components from the list of carcinogenic agents

Cardiovascular diseases and hard drinking waters: implications from a systematic review with meta-analysis of case-control studies

This systematic review with meta-analysis, performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines, aims at evaluating the potential correlation between magnesium and calcium concentration in drinking waters and the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which impose a considerable burden in high-income countries. Included studies were of the case-control studies type. From an initial list of 643 potentially eligible articles, seven studies were finally retained in the quantitative analysis. Since each one of them assessed different ion concentrations, subjects exposed to the highest concentration versus those exposed to the lowest concentration were compared. By including an overall figure of 44,000 subjects, the result suggests a protective effect of the ions on CVD prevention, with an effect-size (ES) of 0.82 (95% confidence interval CI = [0.70–0.95], p-value = 0.008) for calcium, and ES = 0.75 (95% CI = [0.66–0.86], p-value = 0.000) for magnesium. Hard water consumption seems to be protective against CVD. However, the high heterogeneity (I2 = 75.24, p-value = 0.001 for calcium; I2 = 72.96, p-value = 0.0024 for magnesium) and the existence of publication bias limits the robustness and generalizability of these findings. Further high-quality studies are needed to reproduce and confirm these results

Biological effect monitoring in peripheral blood lymphocytes from subjects occupationally exposed to antineoplastic drugs: assessment of micronuclei frequency.

Biological Effect Monitoring in Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes from Subjects Occupationally Exposed to Antineoplastic Drugs: Assessment of Micronuclei Frequency: Milena VILLARINI, et al. Department of Medical‐Surgical Specialties and Public Health (Section of Public Health), University of Perugia, Italy—ObjectivesAntineoplastic drugs (ANPDs) are widely used in the treatment of cancer and some nonneoplastic diseases. However, most if not all of these chemical agents are generally nonselective and, along with tumor cells, normal cells may undergo cytotoxic/genotoxic damage. Italian pharmacists and nurses occupationally exposed to ANPDs during their normal work routines were monitored to evaluate biological effects (i.e., cytogenetic damage) eventually associated with exposure. The subjects were also monitored for primary, oxidative and excision repaired DNA damage as evaluated by comet assay (published data). In the present paper, we present the results obtained with the cytokinesis‐block micronucleus (CBMN) test.MethodsThe CBMN test in peripheral blood lymphocytes was applied because of its ability to detect both clastogenic and aneugenic effects, and because it has recently been reported that micronuclei (MNs) are predictive of cancer risk in human populations. In this study, the evaluation of MN frequency was carried out using the CBMN test in the absence or in the presence of the DNA repair inhibitor Ara‐C (cytosine arabinoside).ResultsNo significant difference was observed for MN frequency comparing nurses handling ANPDs (exposed subjects) and controls; no correlations were found between job seniority, age, smoking habits and MN rates.ConclusionsConcerning the aim of this study to evaluate the genotoxic risk arising from occupational exposure to ANPDs, statistically significant differences in MN rates in the subjects under study could not be determined

In Vitro Safety/Protection Assessment of Resveratrol and Pterostilbene in a Human Hepatoma Cell Line (HepG2).

The aim of this work was to evaluate in vitro the genotoxic and/or antigenotoxic effects of resveratrol (RESV) and pterostilbene (PTER) on HepG2 cells. Moreover, additional tests were performed to evaluate early and late apoptosis events induced by the tested stilbenes. RESV and PTER did not show any genotoxic activity. As regards antigenotoxicity testing, RESV and PTER showed a typical, U-shaped hormetic dose-response relationship characterized by a biphasic trend with small quantities having opposite effects to large ones. HepG2 cells treated with PTER exhibited a marked increase in early apoptosis (40.1 %) at 250 μM; whereas, the highest concentration tested for both RESV and PTER significantly increased the proportion of HepG2 cells undergoing late apoptosis (32.5 and 51.2 %, respectively). The observed pro-apoptotic activity could, at least in part, explain the hormetic response observed when the compounds were tested for antigenotoxicity ( i.e., in the presence of induced DNA damage)

Design and validation of a self-administered questionnaire to assess knowledge, attitudes and behaviours about Zika virus infection among general population in Italy

  Background Zika (ZIKV), a flavivirus firstly identified in rhesus monkeys in Zika Forest of Uganda, in 1947, is an emerging virus  transmitted mainly by mosquitoes bites. Due to ZIKV adaptation to humans, that can maintain a mosquito-human-mosquito transmission cycle, it is essential to know the attitudes, knowledge and behaviours of general population regarding ZIKV prevention. Our main study aims were to develop and validate a questionnaire administered to the general population, in order to assess attitudes, knowledge and behaviours around prevention and control of Zika infection. Methods A questionnaire was developed based on a comprehensive review of the extant literature, pre-existing questionnaires and experts focus groups. Results The final, validation version of the questionnaire comprised 8 items, with good psychometric properties (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.81). Overall test/re-test concordance was 0.86, ranging from 0.76 to 0.94 according to each item. Conclusion In conclusion, the questionnaire seems to be an appropriate and useful tool to detect cognitive gaps concerning behaviours responsible for possible transmissions of the disease, even in a non-endemic country such as Italy. Future analysis will explore the factorial structure of the questionnaire as well as knowledge, beliefs and attitudes concerning ZIKV among Italian general population

“PErCEIVE in Umbria”: Evaluation of anti-influenza vaccination's perception among Umbrian Pharmacists

Vaccines recommendations are available for both healthcare professionals and the general public, but although the vaccination is the most effective method to prevent infectious diseases, the coverage is still behind the recommended rate.  In Italy, according to a recent study, the anti-flu vaccination rate among healthcare worker range between 9% to 30%. The aim of our study was to identify knowledge, attitude and behaviours regarding influenza vaccination among community pharmacists in order to increase the coverage rate among healthcare professional. “PErCEIVE (Pharmacist pERCEption on Influenza VaccinE) in Umbria” was a cross sectional survey among community pharmacists in Umbria conducted between 16th November 2015 to 29th February 2016. The questionnaire was anonymous, on-line self-administered survey.Statistical analysis were performed using STATA/SE 12 software. The response rate was 28.91% (n= 72/249). Among the studied population 76.39% (n=55) had never performed influenza vaccine during the previous 5 years. Regarding source of information, only 15.28% of the subjects (n=11) consulted the scientific publications, vs 52.78% (n=38) who did not show any kind of interest upon the influenza vaccine. Our results show a low attitude to be vaccinated among pharmacists together with a low grade of awareness regarding the important role that pharmacists might play in order to reduce influenza burden, to promote health literacy among their patients and to decrease the risk of patients infection. Pharmacists might be crucial healthcare workers involved in health promotion, in vaccines’ uptake and practices progression.

Genotoxicity of source, treated and distributed water from four drinking water treatment plants supplied by surface water in Sardinia, Italy

n/

Air pollution: a study of citizen's attitudes and behaviors using different information sources

Background: From November 2015 to January 2016, the routine air monitoring showed a peak of air pollution (in particular of PM10) that caused alarm in many Italian cities and was widely reported by mass media. After some weeks from this alarm, we tried to evaluate the citizen awareness and interest towards air pollution together with their positive behaviors, using different information sources. Methods: From September 2015 to March 2016, in parallel with the number of exceedances of the PM10 in Italy we evaluated the press coverage, the average monthly searches on Google and the interest on Twitter. Moreover, a qualitative content analysis on daily newspapers was conducted and a self-compiled questionnaire on the attitudes and behaviors about environmental issues and their determinants was administered to 598 parents involved in the project MAPEC_LIFE (LIFE12 ENV/IT/00614). Results: The media coverage of the theme of air pollution was very high from the end of 2015 to the beginning of 2016, as well as internet searches and twitter messages. Our qualitative analysis highlighted that only a small portion of articles included information about positive behaviors and environmental awareness. Despite the high media coverage and the satisfactory self-perceived knowledge, the majority of respondents judged negatively the received information (as untrue and incomplete) and declared a limited adoption of pro-environmental behaviors.  Conclusion: The parallel study of mass media information and people’s attitudes and behaviors seem to indicate that the high media coverage was not followed by a very high motivation towards pro-environmental behaviors