Salivary cytokines as biomarkers for oral squamous cell carcinoma: A systematic review

The prognosis of patients with oral squamous carcinoma (OSCC) largely depends on the stage at diagnosis, the 5-year survival rate being approximately 30% for advanced tumors. Early diagnosis, including the detection of lesions at risk for malignant transformation, is crucial for limiting the need for extensive surgery and for improving disease-free survival. Saliva has gained popularity as a readily available source of biomarkers (including cytokines) useful for diagnosing specific oral and systemic conditions. Particularly, the close interaction between oral dysplastic/neoplastic cells and saliva makes such fluid an ideal candidate for the development of non-invasive and highly accurate diagnostic tests. The present review has been designed to answer the question: “Is there evidence to support the role of specific salivary cytokines in the diagnosis of OSCC?” We retrieved 27 observational studies satisfying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Among the most frequent cytokines investigated as candidates for OSCC biomarkers, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α are present at higher concentration in the saliva of OSCC patients than in healthy controls and may therefore serve as basis for the development of rapid tests for early diagnosis of oral cancer

Nutraceuticals in the Modulation of the Intestinal Microbiota: Current Status and Future Directions

Pharmaceutical interest in the human intestinal microbiota has increased considerably, because of the increasing number of studies linking the human intestinal microbial ecology to an increasing number of non-communicable diseases. Many efforts at modulating the gut microbiota have been made using probiotics, prebiotics and recently postbiotics. However, there are other, still little-explored opportunities from a pharmaceutical point of view, which appear promising to obtain modifications of the microbiota structure and functions. This review summarizes all in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies demonstrating the possibility to positively modulate the intestinal microbiota by using probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, essential oils, fungus and officinal plants. For the future, clinical studies investigating the ability to impact the intestinal microbiota especially by using fungus, officinal and aromatic plants or their extracts are required. This knowledge could lead to effective microbiome modulations that might support the pharmacological therapy of most non-communicable diseases in a near future

Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and microbial-modulating activities of essential oils: Implications in colonic pathophysiology

Essential oils (EOs) are a complex mixture of hydrophobic and volatile compounds synthesized from aromatic plants, most of them commonly used in the human diet. In recent years, many studies have analyzed their antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and anticancer properties in vitro and on experimentally induced animal models of colitis and colorectal cancer. However, there are still few clinical studies aimed to understand their role in the modulation of the intestinal pathophysiology. Many EOs and some of their molecules have demonstrated their efficacy in inhibiting bacterial, fungi and virus replication and in modulating the inflammatory and oxidative processes that take place in experimental colitis. In addition to this, their antitumor activity against colorectal cancer models makes them extremely interesting compounds for the modulation of the pathophysiology of the large bowel. The characterization of these EOs is made difficult by their complexity and by the different compositions present in the same oil having different geographical origins. This review tries to shift the focus from the EOs to their individual compounds, to expand their possible applications in modulating colon pathophysiology

Co-carcinogenic effects of vitamin E in prostate

A large number of basic researches and observational studies suggested the cancer preventive activity of vitamin E, but large-scale human intervention trials have yielded disappointing results and actually showed a higher incidence of prostate cancer although the mechanisms underlying the increased risk remain largely unknown. Here we show through in vitro and in vivo studies that vitamin E produces a marked inductive effect on carcinogen-bioactivating enzymes and a pro-oxidant status promoting both DNA damage and cell transformation frequency. First, we found that vitamin E in the human prostate epithelial RWPE-1 cell line has the remarkable ability to upregulate the expression of various phase-I activating cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, including activators of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), giving rise to supraphysiological levels of reactive oxygen species. Furthermore, our rat model confirmed that vitamin E in the prostate has a powerful booster effect on CYP enzymes associated with the generation of oxidative stress, thereby favoring lipid-derived electrophile spread that covalently modifies proteins. We show that vitamin E not only causes DNA damage but also promotes cell transformation frequency induced by the PAH-prototype benzo[a]pyrene. Our findings might explain why dietary supplementation with vitamin E increases the prostate cancer risk among healthy men

Acqua e agricoltori: il futuro dell’agricoltura irrigua

Il seminario illustra i primi risultati del progetto WADI, sul tema della sostenibilità dell’agricoltura irrigua europea. Il progetto esplora il futuro dell’agricoltura irrigua con particolare attenzione agli impatti della Direttiva Quadro sull’acqua (WFD) e della riforma della Politica Agricola Comune (PAC). Il seminario illustra la sostenibilità dell’agricoltura irrigua europea in particolare: • Le caratteristiche dell’agricoltura irrigua; • Scenari futuri sull’acqua e sull’irrigazione e le problematiche emergenti; • Analisi dei sistemi irrigui: redditività, lavoro e ambiente; • Impatto sull’irrigazione delle nuove politiche: PAC e WFD; • Effetti sugli agricoltori; • Implicazioni per la gestione delle politiche; • Casi di studio europei

Primary parapharyngeal tumours: a review of 21 cases

Abstract Background The diagnostic and therapeutic procedures per- formed in a series of patients with primary parapharyngeal space (PPS) tumours treated at the ENT Departments of San Giovanni Bosco Hospital, Turin, and of t he Pugliese-Ciaccio Hospital, Catanzaro, Italy, in the period 2001 – 2010 are evaluated. Materials and methods The retrospective review included 20 patients, 11 male and 9 female, average age of 41 years operated on for 21 primary PPS tumours. The most common tumours found were neurogenic neoplasms, while those of salivary origin were the next most common. Results There were 14 paragangliomas (7 originating from ca- rotid glomus, 5 from vagal and 2 from tympanicum), 1 sympa- thetic chain schwannoma and 6 pleomorphic adenomas. All the tumours were benign in nature and gave rise to few signs or symptoms. Patients underwent preoperative computed tomogra- phy (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or both. Most contrast-enhanced masses were submitted to some type of angiography. Most of the surgeries were planned through imag- ing alone, as preoperative fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy was performed only in six cases. Four different approaches were adopted for tumour removal: transcervical, transcervical/ transparotid, cervical-tran sparotid-transmandibular and infratemporal fossa approach. There was no operative mortality, though neurologic morbidity was significant. Follow-up, extend- ed to a maximum of 11 years, did not reveal any recurrences. In conclusion, neurogenic tumours may be the most common of PPS masses. Surgery is the mainstay treatment and external approaches offer the potential for satisfactory tumour resection. Of such external approaches, transcervical and cervical/ transparotid are the most often used in benign forms. Conclusion The number of perioperative complications en- countered in this series confirms the difficulty of performing surgery in this complex area, even in benign cases. The chances of avoiding vascular damage and saving the trunks or most of the nerve fibres involved depend not only on the skill and experience of the surgeon but also on the anatomy of the lesion, the type of connection between the tumour and the nerve from which it originates and the distribution of neural fibres in or around the tumour mass