4 research outputs found
β-Galactosylceramidase Deficiency Causes Bone Marrow Vascular Defects in an Animal Model of Krabbe Disease
Abstract: Krabbe disease (KD) is an autosomal recessive sphingolipidosis caused by the deficiency
of the lysosomal hydrolase β-galactosylceramidase (GALC). Oligodendroglia degeneration and
demyelination of the nervous system lead to neurological dysfunctions which are usually lethal by
two years of age. At present, the only clinical treatment with any proven efficacy is hematopoietic
stem-cell transplantation, which is more effective when administered in the neonatal period to
presymptomatic recipients. Bone marrow (BM) sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs) play a pivotal
role in stem cell engraftment and reconstitution of hematopoiesis. Previous observations had shown
significant alterations of microvascular endothelial cells in the brain of KD patients and in Galc mutant
twitcher mice, an authentic model of the disease. In the present study, we investigated the vascular
component of the BM in the femurs of symptomatic homozygous twitcher mice at postnatal day
P36. Histological, immunohistochemical, and two-photon microscopy imaging analyses revealed
the presence of significant alterations of the diaphyseal BM vasculature, characterized by enlarged,
discontinuous, and hemorrhagic SECs that express the endothelial marker vascular endothelial
growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR2) but lack platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (CD31)
expression. In addition, computer-aided image analysis indicates that twitcher CD31−/VEGFR2+ SECs
show a significant increase in lumen size and in the number and size of endothelial gaps compared
to BM SECs of wild type littermates. These results suggest that morphofunctional defects in the
BM vascular niche may contribute to the limited therapeutic efficacy of hematopoietic stem-cell
transplantation in KD patients at symptomatic stages of the disease
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Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7 , Rome / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Internet-Based Communication for Public Health: Systematic Review
Background: Communicating strategically is a key issue for health organizations. Over the past decade, health care communication via social media and websites has generated a great deal of studies examining different realities of communication strategies. However, when it comes to systematic reviews, there is fragmentary evidence on this type of communication.
Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence on web institutional health communication for public health authorities to evaluate possible aim-specific key points based on these existing studies.
Methods: Guided by the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement, we conducted a comprehensive review across 2 electronic databases (PubMed and Web of Science) from January 1, 2011, to October 7, 2021, searching for studies investigating institutional health communication. In total, 2 independent researchers (AN and SS) reviewed the articles for inclusion, and the assessment of methodological quality was based on the Kmet appraisal checklist.
Results: A total of 78 articles were selected. Most studies (35/78, 45%) targeted health promotion and disease prevention, followed by crisis communication (24/78, 31%), general health (13/78, 17%), and misinformation correction and health promotion (6/78, 8%). Engagement and message framing were the most analyzed aspects. Few studies (14/78, 18%) focused on campaign effectiveness. Only 23% (18/78) of the studies had an experimental design. The Kmet evaluation was used to distinguish studies presenting a solid structure from lacking studies. In particular, considering the 0.75-point threshold, 36% (28/78) of the studies were excluded. Studies above this threshold were used to identify a series of aim-specific and medium-specific suggestions as the communication strategies used differed greatly.
Conclusions: Overall, the findings suggest that no single strategy works best in the case of web-based health care communication. The extreme variability of outcomes and the lack of a unitary measure for assessing the end points of a specific campaign or study lead us to reconsider the tools we use to evaluate the efficacy of web-based health communication