A Single Centre Retrospective Evaluation of Laparoscopic Rectal Resection with TME for Rectal Cancer: 5-Year Cancer-Specific Survival

Laparoscopic colon resection has established its role as a minimally invasive approach to colorectal diseases. Better long-term survival rate is suggested to be achievable with this approach in colon cancer patients, whereas some doubts were raised about its safety in rectal cancer. Here we report on our single centre experience of rectal laparoscopic resections for cancer focusing on short- and long-term oncological outcomes. In the last 13 years, 248 patients underwent minimally invasive approach for rectal cancer at our centre. We focused on 99 stage I, II, and III patients with a minimum follow-up period of 5 years. Of them 43 had a middle and 56 lower rectal tumor. Laparoscopic anterior rectal resection was performed in 71 patients whereas laparoscopic abdomino-perineal resection in 28. The overall mortality rate was 1%; the overall morbidity rate was 29%. The 5-year disease-free survival rate was 69.7%, The 5-year overall survival rate was 78.8%

Label-Free Intracellular Multi-Specificity in Yeast Cells by Phase-Contrast Tomographic Flow Cytometry

: In-flow phase-contrast tomography provides a 3D refractive index of label-free cells in cytometry systems. Its major limitation, as with any quantitative phase imaging approach, is the lack of specificity compared to fluorescence microscopy, thus restraining its huge potentialities in single-cell analysis and diagnostics. Remarkable results in introducing specificity are obtained through artificial intelligence (AI), but only for adherent cells. However, accessing the 3D fluorescence ground truth and obtaining accurate voxel-level co-registration of image pairs for AI training is not viable for high-throughput cytometry. The recent statistical inference approach is a significant step forward for label-free specificity but remains limited to cells' nuclei. Here, a generalized computational strategy based on a self-consistent statistical inference to achieve intracellular multi-specificity is shown. Various subcellular compartments (i.e., nuclei, cytoplasmic vacuoles, the peri-vacuolar membrane area, cytoplasm, vacuole-nucleus contact site) can be identified and characterized quantitatively at different phases of the cells life cycle by using yeast cells as a biological model. Moreover, for the first time, virtual reality is introduced for handling the information content of multi-specificity in single cells. Full fruition is proofed for exploring and interacting with 3D quantitative biophysical parameters of the identified compartments on demand, thus opening the route to a metaverse for 3D microscopy

Neuroinflammation in Aged Brain: Impact of the Oral Administration of Ellagic Acid Microdispersion

The immune system and the central nervous system message each other to preserving central homeostasis. Both systems undergo changes during aging that determine central age-related defects. Ellagic acid (EA) is a natural product which is beneficial in both peripheral and central diseases, including aging. We analyzed the impact of the oral administration of a new oral ellagic acid micro-dispersion (EAm), that largely increased the EA solubility, in young and old mice. Oral EAm did not modify animal weight and behavioral skills in young and old mice, but significantly recovered changes in "ex-vivo, in vitro" parameters in old animals. Cortical noradrenaline exocytosis decreased in aged mice. EAm administration did not modify noradrenaline overflow in young animals, but recovered it in old mice. Furthermore, GFAP staining was increased in the cortex of aged mice, while IBA-1 and CD45 immunopositivities were unchanged when compared to young ones. EAm treatment significantly reduced CD45 signal in both young and old cortical lysates; it diminished GFAP immunopositivity in young mice, but failed to affect IBA-1 expression in both young and old animals. Finally, EAm treatment significantly reduced IL1beta expression in old mice. These results suggest that EAm is beneficial to aging and represents a nutraceutical ingredient for elders

miRNA deregulation and relationship with metabolic parameters after Mediterranean dietary intervention in BRCA-mutated women

BackgroundBreast cancer onset is determined by a genetics-environment interaction. BRCA1/2 gene alterations are often genetically shared in familial context, but also food intake and hormonal assessment seem to influence the lifetime risk of developing this neoplasia. We previously showed the relationship between a six-months Mediterranean dietary intervention and insulin, glucose and estradiol levels in BRCA1/2 carrier subjects. The aim of the present study was to evidence the eventual influence of this dietary intervention on the relationship between circulating miRNA expression and metabolic parameters in presence of BRCA1/2 loss of function variants.MethodsPlasma samples of BRCA-women have been collected at the baseline and at the end of the dietary intervention. Moreover, subjects have been randomized in two groups: dietary intervention and placebo. miRNA profiling and subsequent ddPCR validation have been performed in all the subjects at both time points.ResultsddPCR analysis confirmed that five (miR-185-5p, miR-498, miR-3910, miR-4423 and miR-4445) of seven miRNAs, deregulated in the training cohort, were significantly up-regulated in subjects after dietary intervention compared with the baseline measurement. Interestingly, when we focused on variation of miRNA levels in the two timepoints, it could be observed that miR-4423, miR-4445 and miR-3910 expressions are positively correlated with variation in vitaminD level; whilst miR-185-5p difference in expression is related to HDL cholesterol variation.ConclusionsWe highlighted the synergistic effect of a healthy lifestyle and epigenetic regulation in BC through the modulation of specific miRNAs. Different miRNAs have been reported involved in the tumor onset acting as tumor suppressors by targeting tumor-associated genes that are often downregulated

Scan role in diagnosing acute appendicitis

Acute appendicitis is one of the commonest surgical diseases. It can rapidly progress to severe complications, like perforation and peritonitis. Consequently, surgeons often prefer to operate as soon as there is, clinically, a probable diagnosis, even if such a decision results in the ablation of up to 30% of normal appendixes. Many diagnostic methods have been proposed with the aim of decreasing the number of appendectomies in patients without appendicitis: ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, laparoscopy. In particular, ultrasonography has the advantage of being less expensive, widely available, and non-invasive; furthermore, it has demonstrated a diagnostic accuracy of 70-95%. However, its use needs further evaluation with respect to the best way to integrate it with clinical and laboratory data, in order to correctly identify a patient with suspected acute appendicitis. The aim of our study is to show our experience with ultrasonographic diagnosis of acute appendicitis, acquired by surgeons with specific sonographic expertise

Acute and recurring pericarditis. a singular case of overlap syndrome with autoimmune diseases

Autoimmune disorders are responsible for a substantial amount of disability and morbidity. Most of the identified autoantibodies are shared among multiple autoimmune diseases. The pattern of these antibodies’ association with autoimmune phenotypes varies, suggesting that certain subgroups of autoimmune diseases are likely to share etiological similarities and underlying mechanisms of disease. In this article, we present a clinical case of acute and recurring pericarditis and we propose an overlap phenotype with Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with interesting implications in clinical management of patient

Management of chronic myeloid leukaemia patients treated with ponatinib in a real-life setting: A retrospective analysis from the monitoring registries of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA)

Real-world data on daily practice management, treatment modifications and outcome of a large cohort of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patients treated with ponatinib was performed through monitoring Registries of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA). Overall, 666 CML subjects were included in the ponatinib registry from February 2015 to December 2020 and were eligible for analysis: 515 in chronic phase (CP), 50 in accelerated phase (AP) and 101 in blast crisis (BC). Median age at baseline was 58.7 years with a predominance of male subjects (57.1\%). The median time from diagnosis to start of ponatinib was 2.35 years: 259 (38.9\%) subjects had received two previous lines of treatment, 260 (39.0\%) three lines and 147 (22.1\%) four or more lines. A molecular response {[}from major molecular response (MMR) to a score of <= 0.01\% on the international reporting scale (IS)] was reported for 59\% of patients out of 593 patients analysed. With a median follow-up of 14.4 months, 136 subjects (20.4\%) required at least one dose reduction due to adverse events (AEs), whereas 309 patients (46.4\%) required dose reduction in the absence of any evidence of side effects. Treatment discontinuation occurred in 261 patients (39\%). This real-life analysis shows that dose reductions were made primarily as a precaution rather than due to the occurrence of adverse reactions