A pilot study on aesthetic treatments performed by qualified aesthetic practitioners: efficacy on health-related quality of life in breast cancer patients

Purpose: Cancer treatments often produce undesirable side-effects, such as skin toxicity, impacting on everyday functioning and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This experimental study sought to determine whether aesthetic products and treatments could significantly decrease perceived skin symptoms, psychological distress and improve skin-related QoL (SRQoL). Methods: An experimental group composed of 100 breast patients was enrolled for specialized aesthetic treatments at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) and compared to a control group of 70 breast patients who did not receive any aesthetic treatment. A measure of SRQoL (i.e., Skindex-16) and a distress thermometer were administered longitudinally at three time points: at baseline (T0), at 7 days from beginning of aesthetic treatment (T1) and at 28 days from beginning of aesthetic treatment (T2). Results: Results demonstrated the efficacy of aesthetic treatment in reducing distress and improving SRQoL: while the experimental group showed significant improvements in all HRQoL areas, the control group worsened. Specifically, at T1 and T2 there were significant improvements on distress and Skindex subscales in the experimental group, with an almost complete remission of perceived symptoms at T2. Moreover, all reported cutaneous reactions significantly improved after the specialized treatments, with no differences in SRQoL in skin reaction type. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that aesthetic treatments for side-effects of cancer therapies can alleviate perceived distress and improve skin symptoms and HRQoL

Symptomatic carotid atherosclerotic plaques are associated with increased infiltration of natural killer (NK) cells and higher serum levels of NK activating receptor ligands

A wide array of immune cells, including lymphocytes, is known to be present and to play a pathogenetic role in atherosclerotic lesions. However, limited information is currently available regarding the presence of Natural Killer (NF cell subsets within vessel plaque, and more in general, regarding their role in human atherosclerosis. We evaluated the distribution of NK cells in human carotid atherosclerotic plaques, dissecting asymptomatic and symptomatic patients (identified as affected by stroke, transient ischemic attack, or amaurosis fugax within 6 months) with the aim of shedding light on the putative contribution of NK cells to the pathogenic process that leads to plaque instability and subsequent clinical complications. We observed that carotid plaques were consistently infiltrated by NK cells and, among them, CD56(bright)perforin(low) NK cells were abundantly present and displayed different markers of tissue residency (i.e., CD103 CD69 and CD49a). Interestingly, carotid atherosclerotic plaques of symptomatic patients showed a higher content of NK cells and an increased ratio between CD56(bright)perforin(low) NK cells and their CD56(dim)perforin(high)counterpart. NK cells isolated from plaques of symptomatic patients were also stronger producers of IFN-gamma. Analysis of the expression of NK activating receptor ligands (including MICA/B, ULBP-3, and B7-H6) in atherosclerotic carotid plaques revealed that they were abundantly expressed by a HLA-DR(+)CD11c(+) myeloid cell population resident in the plaques. Remarkably, sera of symptomatic patients contained significant higher levels of soluble ligands for NK activating receptors. Our observations indicate that CD56(bright)( )NK cells accumulate within human atherosclerotic lesions and suggest a possible contribution of NK cells to the process determining plaque instability

Serum periostin levels in fibrous dysplasia: Its usefulness as disease biomarker. An exploratory study

Objective: Fibrous dysplasia (FD) is a rare, non-hereditary bone disease caused by a somatic mutation of GNAS gene. Periostin (Postn) is a new marker, linked to bone repair processes. We aimed to assess Postn sensitivity as disease activity marker of FD.Methods: An exploratory case-control study was led, with 15 FD patients, paired by age and gender with healthy subjects (controls). Postn serum levels were gauged in FD patients and controls, also according to clinical manifestation. In the same assay, with serum samples stored at -80°C, Postn was measured by the ELISA method (Sigma Aldrich; St. Louis, USA), [coefficient of variation (%CV) intra-assay <10% and interassay<12%]. Statistical analysis: an R Core Team 2018 processor wasused (https://www.R-project.org). A nonparametric test (MannWhitney)was used to compared Postn serum levels between the groups. ROC curves were used to find optimal cut-off points andanalyze Postn sensitivity (predictive value).Results: 15 FD patients (polyostotic 40%, monostotic 33% and McCune-Albright syndrome 27%), with an average age (X±DS) of 44.3±10 y. In our FD patient cohort, no statistically significantdifferences were observed between Postn and control group (FD: 51.1±10 ng/ml vs. control: 44.2±15 ng/ml; p=0.15) nor by FD clinical form (polyostotic: 51.8±9.1 ng/ml vs. monostotic:49.6±13 ng/ml; p=0.66). Figure 1 shows the ROC curve obtained and optimal cut-off points.Conclusion: Postn serum levels did not show statistically significant differences compared to control group or by clinical manifestation, showing low sensitivity as disease activity markerof FD.Funding: UBACYT 2018 (#0113).Fil: Mastaglia, Silvina Rosana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Inmunología, Genética y Metabolismo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Inmunología, Genética y Metabolismo; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: González, Diana. Mautalen Salud e Investigación ; ArgentinaFil: Tetzlaff, T. W.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Fisiopatología y Bioquímica Clínica; ArgentinaFil: Bonanno, Marina Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Inmunología, Genética y Metabolismo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Inmunología, Genética y Metabolismo; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Gianotti, G. R.. Mautalen Salud e Investigación ; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, F. C.. Mautalen Salud e Investigación ; ArgentinaFil: Gómez Glorioso, G. G. D.. Mautalen Salud e Investigación ; ArgentinaFil: Oliveri, María Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Inmunología, Genética y Metabolismo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Inmunología, Genética y Metabolismo; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaWorld Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal DiseasesBarcelonaEspañaInternational Osteoporosis FoundationEuropean Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Disease

Fundamental aspects of arm repair phase in two echinoderm models

Regeneration is a post-embryonic developmental process that ensures complete morphological and functional restoration of lost body parts. The repair phase is a key step for the effectiveness of the subsequent regenerative process: in vertebrates, efficient re-epithelialisation, rapid inflammatory/immune response and post-injury tissue remodelling are fundamental aspects for the success of this phase, their impairment leading to an inhibition or total prevention of regeneration. Among deuterostomes, echinoderms display a unique combination of striking regenerative abilities and diversity of useful experimental models, although still largely unexplored. Therefore, the brittle star Amphiura filiformis and the starfish Echinaster sepositus were here used to comparatively investigate the main repair phase events after injury as well as the presence and expression of immune system and extracellular matrix (i.e. collagen) molecules using both microscopy and molecular tools. Our results showed that emergency reaction and re-epithelialisation are similar in both echinoderm models, being faster and more effective than in mammals. Moreover, in comparison to the latter, both echinoderms showed delayed and less abundant collagen deposition at the wound site (absence of fibrosis). The gene expression patterns of molecules related to the immune response, such as Ese-fib-like (starfishes) and Afi-ficolin (brittle stars), were described for the first time during echinoderm regeneration providing promising starting points to investigate the immune system role in these regeneration models. Overall, the similarities in repair events and timing within the echinoderms and the differences with what has been reported in mammals suggest that effective repair processes in echinoderms play an important role for their subsequent ability to regenerate. Targeted molecular and functional analyses will shed light on the evolution of these abilities in the deuterostomian lineage

Health orientation, knowledge, and attitudes toward genetic testing and personalized genomic services : preliminary data from an Italian sample

Objective. The study aims at assessing personality tendencies and orientations that could be closely correlated with knowledge, awareness, and interest toward undergoing genetic testing. Methods. A sample of 145 subjects in Italy completed an online survey, investigating demographic data, health orientation, level of perceived knowledge about genetic risk, genetic screening, and personal attitudes toward direct to consumer genetic testing (DTCGT). Results. Results showed that respondents considered genetic assessment to be helpful for disease prevention, but they were concerned that results could affect their life planning with little clinical utility. Furthermore, a very high percentage of respondents (67%) had never heard about genetic testing directly available to the public. Data showed that personality tendencies, such as personal health consciousness, health internal control, health esteem, and confidence, motivation to avoid unhealthiness and motivation for healthiness affected the uptake of genetic information and the interest in undergoing genetic testing. Conclusions. Public knowledge and attitudes toward genetic risk and genetic testing among European countries, along with individual personality and psychological tendencies that could affect these attitudes, remain unexplored. The present study constitutes one of the first attempts to investigate how such personality tendencies could motivation to undergo genetic testing and engagement in lifestyle changes

Research studies on patients&#8217; illness experience using the Narrative Medicine approach: a systematic review

Objective: Since its birth about 30 years ago, Narrative Medicine approach has increased in popularity in the medical context as well as in other disciplines. This paper aims to review Narrative Medicine research studies on patients' and their caregivers' illness experience. Setting and participants: MEDLINE, Psycinfo, EBSCO Psychological and Behavioural Science, The Cochrane Library and CINAHL databases were searched to identify all the research studies which focused on the Narrative Medicine approach reported in the title, in the abstract and in the keywords the words 'Narrative Medicine' or 'Narrative-based Medicine'. Primary and secondary outcome measures: number of participants, type of disease, race and age of participants, type of study, dependent variables, intervention methods, assessment. Results: Of the 325 titles screened, we identified 10 research articles fitting the inclusion criteria. Our systematic review showed that research on Narrative Medicine has no common specific methodology: narrative in Medicine is used as an intervention protocol as well as an assessment tool. Patients' characteristics, types of disease and data analysis procedures differ among the screened studies. Conclusions: Narrative Medicine research in medical practice needs to find clear and specific protocols to deepen the impact of narrative on medical practice and on patients' lives