The long-term effects of probiotics in the therapy of ulcerative colitis: a clinical study

Aim. Intestinal dysbiosis seems to be the leading cause of inflammatory bowel diseases, and probiotics seems to represent the proper support against their occurrence. Actually, probiotic blends and anti-inflammatory drugs represent a weapon against inflammatory bowel diseases. The present study evaluates the long-term (2 years) effects of combination therapy (mesalazine plus a probiotic blend of Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidus strain BGN4) on ulcerative colitis activity. Method. Sixty patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis were enrolled: 30 of them were treated with a single daily oral administration of mesalazine 1200 mg; 30 patients received a single daily oral administration of mesalazine 1200 mg and a double daily administration of a probiotic blend of Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidus strain BGN4. The treatment was carried out for two years and the clinical response evaluated according to the Modified Mayo Disease Activity Index. Results. All patients treated with combination therapy showed better improvement compared to the controls. In particular, the beneficial effects of probiotics were evident even after two years of treatment. Conclusions. A long-term treatment modality of anti-inflammatory drugs and probiotics is viable and could be an alternative to corticosteroids in mild-to moderate ulcerative colitis

FCC Physics Opportunities: Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 1

We review the physics opportunities of the Future Circular Collider, covering its e+e-, pp, ep and heavy ion programmes. We describe the measurement capabilities of each FCC component, addressing the study of electroweak, Higgs and strong interactions, the top quark and flavour, as well as phenomena beyond the Standard Model. We highlight the synergy and complementarity of the different colliders, which will contribute to a uniquely coherent and ambitious research programme, providing an unmatchable combination of precision and sensitivity to new physics

SCAFFOLD SINTETICO DI PHEA-PLA-PCL BIOCOMPATIBILE E BIOFUNZIONALE. STUDI PRELIMINARI SU MODELLO ANIMALE. NUOVE PROSPETTIVE NELLA CHIRURGIA RIGENERATIVA DELLE VIE BILIARI

Introduzione: L’ingegneria tissutale ha sviluppato polimeri sintetici biocompatibili e biofunzionali, capaci di fornire una struttura tridimensionale che supporti la crescita di nuovo tessuto autologo, mediante la migrazione di cellule del ricevente. Obiettivo del nostro studio è stato valutare la resistenza di uno scaffold di PHEA-PLA-PCL ai succhi biliari di un modello animale, per determinarne l’applicabilità nella chirurgia rigenerativa delle vie biliari (VB). Metodologia: Abbiamo utilizzato 10 conigli New Zealand (n=10 )di 1,5 kg di peso. Si è proceduto all’impianto di un innesto di circa 1,5 cm2 di scaffold polimerico, costituito da polimeri di PHEA-PLA-PCL, all’interno di una colecisti di coniglio (n=8), fissato mediante punti di sutura alla parete, per valutare gli effetti litolitici della bile sulla sua struttura tridimensionale. Si è proceduto al sacrificio degli animali e all’analisi al microscopio elettronico (SEM) della colecisti a 15 (n=4) e a 90 giorni (n=4), utilizzando 2 animali come controllo rispettivamente. Risultati: Nessun animale ha presentato complicanze postprocedura. L’analisi al microscopio elettronico non ha evidenziato sostanziali differenze nella struttura fibrillare degli scaffold a 15 e 90 giorni. Le fibre dello scaffold hanno mantenuto le loro dimensioni e non si sono fuse tra di loro. L’azione litolitica della bile non ha compromesso la struttura tridimensionale degli scaffold. Conclusioni: La mancata azione degenerativa della bile sulla struttura dello scaffold suggerisce un suo potenziale uso nella chirurgia rigenerativa delle VB, soprattutto per quanto riguarda la chirurgia di banco della VB nel trapianto di fegato e il trattamento delle stenosi delle VB dopo trapianto di fegato

OneShot-M: A New Device for Close Laparoscopy Pneumoperitoneum

INTRODUCTION: The induction of pneumoperitoneum is the first and most critical phase of laparoscopy, due to the significant risk of serious vascular and visceral complications. The closed technique for the creation of pneumoperitoneum could lead to several surgical complications. The present study aimed to overcome the complications associated with the insertion of Veress needle, improving its use, and facilitating the rapid creation of pneumoperitoneum. METHODS: Thirty large white female pigs were enrolled in our study. A common plunger was modified in order to allow the passage of a 15-cm long Veress needle. This method was applied to 26 laparoscopic procedures (26 pigs) of several specialist branches. RESULTS: OneShot-M close laparoscopy pneumoperitoneum creation device allowed us to obtain pneumoperitoneum quickly in all attempts, without any intraoperative and postoperative complications related to the use of the Veress needle. CONCLUSION: The use of the proposed device showed an induction time as quick as the standard laparoscopic closed abdominal entry. The patented device is cheap and allows a safe abdominal entry. In addition, abdominal entry is much faster than the classic open technique

THE USE OF ARGENTUM-QUARTZ SOLUTION IN PRIMARY OR RECURRENT PERIANAL FISTULAS: FIRST EXPERIENCE ON THREE CASES

Primary perianal fistolous pathology represents a painful condition often noticeable in patients affected by Crohn's disease or Ulcerative Colitis. Ita causes difficult defecation and can evolve in perianal abscess that should be urgently ascertained and drained. The presenbt work aims to propose Argentum-Quartz as valid non surgical therapeutic treatment in order to reach a more confortable perianal fistula healing. In fact, our preliminary data allow us to consider Argentum Quartz ideally employable for treatment of perianal fisrtulas associated or not with IBDs, representing a reliable shincter-sparing solution

Ultrasound-guided port-a-cath positioning with the new one-shoot technique: thoracic complications

Port-a-cath catheterization is often required for those patients who need long-term therapies (malnutrition, neoplasm, renal failure, other severe diseases). The use of ports for a wide range of indications is not exempt from complications. Ultrasound-guided central venous catheterization (CVC) is a safe and fast technique for the introduction of the catheter inside a central vein. This retrospective study reports our experience with US-guided CVC in patient eligible for port-a-cath implantation

Obtaining Mesenchymal Stem Cells From Adipose Tissue Of Murin Origin: Experimental Study

The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize rat Adipose Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (AD-MSCs) in order to evaluate their proliferative potential and their ability to differentiate in different cell types. AD-MSCs and Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (BM-MSCs) have the same characteristics in terms of plasticity. The advantage of adipose tissue is that it is an easier accessible source and it offers a large amount of MSCs by less invasive surgical tecniques. MSCs were obtained from subcutaneous adipose tissue of Wistar rats. First of all microbiological controls were made to exclude the presence of bacteria or fungi in the tissue. Adipose tissue was mechanically and enzimatically fragmented and stomal cell fraction was seeded in adherent culture flasks in DMEM 20% FBS. After 48h the medium was replaced. Cells were characterized by evaluating: 1)their ability to adhere to the plastic; 2) the clonogenic potential by Colony Forming Unit (CFU) assay; 3) their ability to differentiate in 3 mesodermal lineages (adipocytes, osteocytes and chondrocytes). AD-MSCs are able to differentiate in adipocytes, osteocytes and chondrocytes as confirmed by Oil Red’O staining, von Kossa staining and histological analysis respectively. This first characterization is essential for the second part of our study in which we are planning to use AD-MSCs in vivo to restore renal function after an induced ischemic damage in experimental animals