Obstructive Sleep Apnea Is Associated with Liver Damage and Atherosclerosis in Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

We assessed whether obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and nocturnal hypoxemia are associated with severity of liver fibrosis and carotid atherosclerosis in patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD and low prevalence of morbid obesity. Secondary aim was to explore the association of OSA and hypoxemia with NASH and severity of liver pathological changes

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Bioactive compounds in tomatoes: effect of organic vs conventional management in Parma in 2006

External and internal factors such as variety, season, location, ripening, growing conditions, technological and domestic processes could affect the content of bioactive compounds in food. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of different agronomical practices (organic vs conventional) on the nutritional quality of tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes (cv. Perfectpeel), cultivated under organic and conventional practices were analysed for vitamin C, lycopene, -carotene, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, coumaric acid, naringenin, rutin, quercetin, Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) and Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma (FRAP). CaCO2 monolayer cell cultures were used for testing membrane damage by Trans Epithelial Electrical Resistance(TEER). Results showed that for lycopene, naringenin and rutin no significant differences were observed. For -carotene and coumaric acid significantly higher values were found in organic samples. Values of vitamin C, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, quercetin and TAC were significantly higher in conventional tomato, but the FRAP values were significantly higher in organic tomato. The observed TEER values were not significant different between organic and conventional tomato