Platelet activation is associated with myocardial infarction in patients with pneumonia

BACKGROUND: Troponins may be elevated in patients with pneumonia, but associations with myocardial infarction (MI) and with platelet activation are still undefined.OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between troponin elevation and in vivo markers of platelet activation in the early phase of hospitalization of patients affected by community-acquired pneumonia.METHODS: A total of 278 consecutive patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia, who were followed up until discharge, were included. At admission, platelet activation markers such as plasma soluble P-selectin, soluble CD40 ligand, and serum thromboxane B2 (TxB2) were measured. Serum high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T levels and electrocardiograms were obtained every 12 and 24 h, respectively.RESULTS: Among 144 patients with elevated high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T, 31 had signs of MI and 113 did not. Baseline plasma levels of soluble P-selectin and soluble CD40 ligand and serum TxB2 were significantly higher in patients who developed signs of MI. Logistic regression analysis showed plasma soluble CD40 ligand (p < 0.001) and soluble P-selectin (p < 0.001), serum TxB2 (p = 0.030), mean platelet volume (p = 0.037), Pneumonia Severity Index score (p = 0.030), and ejection fraction (p = 0.001) to be independent predictors of MI. There were no significant differences in MI rate between the 123 patients (45%) taking aspirin (100 mg/day) and those who were not aspirin treated (12% vs. 10%; p = 0.649). Aspirin-treated patients with MIs had higher serum TxB2 compared with those without MIs (p = 0.005).CONCLUSIONS: MI is an early complication of pneumonia and is associated with in vivo platelet activation and serum TxB2 overproduction; aspirin 100 mg/day seems insufficient to inhibit thromboxane biosynthesis. (MACCE in Hospitalized Patients With Community-acquired Pneumonia; NCT01773863)

Mycorrhizal dependency of micropropagated argan tree (Argania spinosa) :II. Mineral nutrition

International audienc

Severe diarrhoea due to Cystoisospora belli infection in a Good syndrome patient

We have read with great interest the article “Uncommon and fatal case of cystoisosporiasis in a non-HIV-immunosuppressed patient from a non-endemic country” [1] appeared in the February 2018 issue of Parasitology International. Lucie Post and colleagues reported a fatal case of severe diarrhoea due to Cystoisospora belli in a patient affected by rheumatoid arthritis on corticosteroid and immunosuppressive therapy. They concluded that unusual parasitic infections should be considered in non-HIV im- munocompromised individuals presenting with severe chronic diar- rhoea. We strongly agree with this observation and we wish to report the case of a Good syndrome patient suffering from severe diarrhoea due to Cystoisospora belli

Gender differences in chronic HBsAg carriers in Italy: Evidence for the independent role of male sex in severity of liver disease

It has been shown that sexual hormones have an opposite effect on hepatic fibrosis progression and hepatocellular carcinoma development. Sex differences among 2,762 chronic HBsAg carriers consecutively referring Italian hospitals in 2001 and in 2007 have been evaluated, particularly focusing on the role of gender on severity of liver disease. The overall sex ratio (males/females) was 2.6. Females were more likely born abroad and new diagnosis cases; but less likely HIV coinfected. No sex difference was observed regarding coinfection with other hepatitis viruses. The sex ratio linearly increased with increasing severity of liver disease, being 1.3 in normal ALT, 2.8 in chronic hepatitis, 3.6 in liver cirrhosis, and 6.8 in hepatocellular carcinoma. Adjustment by multiple logistic regression analysis for the confounding effect of age, alcohol intake, HDV infection, HCV infection, and BMI shows that male gender is an independent predictor of the likelihood of more severe liver disease (O.R. 1.7; C.I. 95%=1.3-2.1). HBV-DNA levels resulted not associated with the outcome of chronic HBV infection. Despite some potential risk factors associated with liver disease, such as HBV genotype or mutations, not having been controlled for due to lack of availability, the observed sex disparity in the outcome of chronic HBV infection may support biological obervation that HBV infection could be considered a sex hormone-responsive virus

Vitamin D deficiency and health-related quality of life in chronic hepatitis C

abstract non presente perch\ue9 short communicatio

HCV cirrhotic patients treated with direct-acting antivirals: Detection of tubular dysfunction and resolution after viral clearance

Background/Aims: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been identified in tubular epithelial cells of infected patients; however, the presence of tubular dysfunction, which is a risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD), has never been examined in vivo. The present prospective longitudinal study aimed to estimate the prevalence of tubular dysfunction alone or with glomerular damage and its evolution after HCV clearance in cirrhotic patients. Methods: One hundred and thirty-five consecutive Child-Pugh A cirrhotic patients were evaluated before antiviral treatment and 6 months after the end of therapy. Tubular dysfunction was evaluated by urinary alpha1-microglobulin to creatinine ratio (\u3b11-MCR), and glomerular damage was assessed by urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR). Results: Almost all the patients (93.3%) showed a normal or mildly decreased e-GFR (KDIGO-G1/G2-categories). Tubular dysfunction was found in 23.7% (32/135) of patients, co-occurring with glomerular damage in 37.5% (12/32) of cases, while glomerular damage was found in 16.3% (22/135) of patients. In multiple logistic regression, glomerular damage and the concomitant presence of diabetes and hypertension were the only predictors significantly associated with tubular dysfunction. After HCV clearance, patients experienced a significant reduction of \u3b11-MCR levels (21.0 vs 10.5 \u3bcg/mg, P =.009) and tubular dysfunction resolved in 57.1% of subjects. Conclusions: Tubular dysfunction is an unrecognized feature of HCV-related kidney disease in cirrhotic patients and its presence should be primarily investigated in subjects with glomerular damage, diabetes and hypertension, despite normal e-GFR. Tubular dysfunction resolves in the majority of cases after HCV clearance; however, it may persist after antiviral treatment and further studies should evaluate its long-term impact on kidney function

The role of prefixes in the formation of aspectuality. Issues of grammaticalization

Gli studi raccolti nella presente miscellanea si inseriscono nell\u2019ambito delle ricerche tipologiche sull\u2019aspetto verbale e sulla sua grammaticalizzazione e, in particolare, sul ruolo della prefissazione in questo processo. Le lingue pi\uf9 studiate e considerate, in un certo senso \u201cle pi\uf9 prototipiche\u201d per quanto riguarda questa categoria linguistica sono le lingue slave nelle quali i prefissi inizialmente hanno svolto la funzione di concretizzare dal punto di vista spaziale o azionale il verbo, ma successivamente, nel processo diacronico di grammaticalizzazione, hanno acquisito significati pi\uf9 astratti, primo tra i quali la terminativit\ue0 dell\u2019azione, che \ue8 alla base della perfettivit\ue0. Analoghi sviluppi hanno caratterizzato anche altre lingue (non slave, appartenenti al ceppo indo-europeo, ma non solo), pure caratterizzate dalla presenza dei preverbi nel loro sistema verbale ma senza che questo portasse allo sviluppo della categoria dell\u2019aspetto verbale di tipo slavo. Tra gli autori dei contributi si possono annoverare studiosi italiani e stranieri di fama internazionale come P. Arkadiev, R. Benacchio, W. Breu, S.M. Dickey, F. Esvan, J. Kamphuiis, E.V. Petruchina, V. Plungjan, B. Wiemer