The impact of combined nutraceutical supplementation on work-related stress, mood and eating disorders during the menopausal transition: A pilot study

Objectives: Menopause represents a "window of vulnerability" in women's life. This transition comprehends many changes: Physical, metabolical and psychological. It could, also, cause difficulties at work and the most problematic symptoms are poor concentration and memory, tiredness, feeling depressed and lowered confidence. Moreover food becomes, often, a practical, easy and fast solution to manage negative emotions. The aims of this pilot study were: To analyze the existence of a possible link between menopausal transition, mood, eating behavior and well-being perception on the workplace and to verify the possible influence of nutraceutical supplementation on the above mentioned factors. Method: 40 women, with mean age 52 years old and mean BMI 33.27 were enrolled and divided into two groups: Diet + behavioral advices (D), or diet + behavioral advices and a nutraceutical compound (D+N) (Assist Forte Retard\uae 1 cp in the evening) for four months. The following psychological questionnaires were administrated at the beginning and after four months: Zung depression scale, (ZDS); Binge Eating Scale (BES); Job Content Questionnaire ( JCQ) used to measure the investigate job related stress. After the test, each woman had an individual psychological interview aimed to investigate her personal experiences, related to what come out from the results. Results: After four months: women (D+N) achieved a statistically significant improvement in both tests (ZDS p <0.0001 Bes p <0.0083). The women (D) had no statistically significant changes in BES, even if there was better management of feeding behavior, and ZDS did not show an improvement in mood. JCQ analysis showed: women (D+N) had a moderate increase of decision-making capacity (DL 64 to 66) compared with an unchanged workload ( JD 33 to 33.5); social-support perception (SS ) showed a slight improvement even if it remained below the median line of the reference sample. In the (D) group we observed a slight increase of the workload , accompanied by a reduction of the decision-making capacity (DL 74 to 69) and by a tiny lowering of the perception of the social support (SS). Conclusions: The combination of a diet program, behavioural advice and nutraceuticals, compared to the sole diet, made it possible to relieve the emotional and eating disturbs related to the menopause and to improve the perception of a satisfactory work

Lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation in patients affected by Hodgkin's lymphoma.

A dysregulation of the redox homoeostasis has been reported in various neoplastic disorders. Malondialdehyde/4-hydroxy-2,3-nonenal (MDA/HNE) and protein carbonyl groups represent in vivo indexes of lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation, respectively, suitable to investigate radical-mediated physio-pathological conditions. We evaluated MDA/HNE and protein carbonyl groups in sera of untreated Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) patients in advanced disease stages, in order to quantify the oxidative stress. HL patients displayed significantly higher levels of both MDA/HNE and protein carbonyl groups as compared with healthy controls. This is the first evidence that a strong increase in HL is one of the most common haematological malignancies, representing approximately 30% of all lymphomas in the circulating protein carbonyl content in HL. These findings may contribute to a better definition of the redox homoeostasis dysregulation in HL

Protein carbonyl group content in patients affected by familiar chronic nail candidiasis.

Familiar chronic nail candidiasis (FCNC) is a rare disorder characterized by early-onset infections caused by different species of Candida, restricted to the nail of the hands and feet, and associated with a low serum concentration of intercellular adhesion molecule 1. Host defense mechanisms against candidiasis require the cooperation of many immune cells through several candidacidal mechanisms, including oxygen-dependent killing mechanisms, mediated by a superoxide anion radical myeloperoxidase--H2O2--halide system, and reactive nitrogen intermediates. We analyzed protein carbonyl groups (considered a useful marker of oxidative stress) in the serum of patients belonging to a five-generation Italian family with an isolated form of FCNC. Serum protein carbonyl groups in FCNC patients were significantly lower than those measured in healthy donors. Also, if this hypothesis is merely speculative, we could suggest that the decreased circulating level of protein carbonyl groups in these patients is not a marker of a lower oxidative stress condition, but might be linked to a lower protease activity

Updating the mediterranean diet pyramid towards sustainability: focus on environmental concerns

Background: Nowadays the food production, supply and consumption chain represent a major cause of ecological pressure on the natural environment, and diet links worldwide human health with environmental sustainability. Food policy, dietary guidelines and food security strategies need to evolve from the limited historical approach, mainly focused on nutrients and health, to a new one considering the environmental, socio-economic and cultural impact—and thus the sustainability—of diets. Objective: To present an updated version of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid (MDP) to reflect multiple environmental concerns. Methods: We performed a revision and restructuring of the MDP to incorporate more recent findings on the sustainability and environmental impact of the Mediterranean Diet pattern, as well as its associations with nutrition and health. For each level of the MDP we provided a third dimension featuring the corresponding environmental aspects related to it. Conclusions: The new environmental dimension of the MDP enhances food intake recommendations addressing both health and environmental issues. Compared to the previous 2011 version, it emphasizes more strongly a lower consumption of red meat and bovine dairy products, and a higher consumption of legumes and locally grown eco-friendly plant foods as much as possible

Proteome Serological Determination of Tumor-Associated Antigens in Melanoma

Proteome serology may complement expression library-based approaches as strategy utilizing the patients' immune responses for the identification pathogenesis factors and potential targets for therapy and markers for diagnosis. Melanoma is a relatively immunogenic tumor and antigens recognized by melanoma-specific T cells have been extensively studied. The specificities of antibody responses to this malignancy have been analyzed to some extent by molecular genetic but not proteomics approaches. We screened sera of 94 melanoma patients for anti-melanoma reactivity and detected seropositivity in two-thirds of the patients with 2–6 antigens per case detected by 1D and an average of 2.3 per case by 2D Western blot analysis. For identification, antigen spots in Western blots were aligned with proteins in 2-DE and analyzed by mass spectrometry. 18 antigens were identified, 17 of which for the first time for melanoma. One of these antigens, galectin-3, has been related to various oncogenic processes including metastasis formation and invasiveness. Similarly, enolase has been found deregulated in different cancers. With at least 2 of 18 identified proteins implicated in oncogenic processes, the work confirms the potential of proteome-based antigen discovery to identify pathologically relevant proteins

Rare Variants in APP, PSEN1 and PSEN2 Increase Risk for AD in Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Families

Pathogenic mutations in APP, PSEN1, PSEN2, MAPT and GRN have previously been linked to familial early onset forms of dementia. Mutation screening in these genes has been performed in either very small series or in single families with late onset AD (LOAD). Similarly, studies in single families have reported mutations in MAPT and GRN associated with clinical AD but no systematic screen of a large dataset has been performed to determine how frequently this occurs. We report sequence data for 439 probands from late-onset AD families with a history of four or more affected individuals. Sixty sequenced individuals (13.7%) carried a novel or pathogenic mutation. Eight pathogenic variants, (one each in APP and MAPT, two in PSEN1 and four in GRN) three of which are novel, were found in 14 samples. Thirteen additional variants, present in 23 families, did not segregate with disease, but the frequency of these variants is higher in AD cases than controls, indicating that these variants may also modify risk for disease. The frequency of rare variants in these genes in this series is significantly higher than in the 1,000 genome project (p = 5.09×10−5; OR = 2.21; 95%CI = 1.49–3.28) or an unselected population of 12,481 samples (p = 6.82×10−5; OR = 2.19; 95%CI = 1.347–3.26). Rare coding variants in APP, PSEN1 and PSEN2, increase risk for or cause late onset AD. The presence of variants in these genes in LOAD and early-onset AD demonstrates that factors other than the mutation can impact the age at onset and penetrance of at least some variants associated with AD. MAPT and GRN mutations can be found in clinical series of AD most likely due to misdiagnosis. This study clearly demonstrates that rare variants in these genes could explain an important proportion of genetic heritability of AD, which is not detected by GWAS

Ulnar-sided wrist pain. II. Clinical imaging and treatment

Pain at the ulnar aspect of the wrist is a diagnostic challenge for hand surgeons and radiologists due to the small and complex anatomical structures involved. In this article, imaging modalities including radiography, arthrography, ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), CT arthrography, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and MR arthrography are compared with regard to differential diagnosis. Clinical imaging findings are reviewed for a more comprehensive understanding of this disorder. Treatments for the common diseases that cause the ulnar-sided wrist pain including extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU) tendonitis, flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU) tendonitis, pisotriquetral arthritis, triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) lesions, ulnar impaction, lunotriquetral (LT) instability, and distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) instability are reviewed

The Current State of Proteomics in GI Oncology

Proteomics refers to the study of the entire set of proteins in a given cell or tissue. With the extensive development of protein separation, mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics technologies, clinical proteomics has shown its potential as a powerful approach for biomarker discovery, particularly in the area of oncology. More than 130 exploratory studies have defined candidate markers in serum, gastrointestinal (GI) fluids, or cancer tissue. In this article, we introduce the commonly adopted proteomic technologies and describe results of a comprehensive review of studies that have applied these technologies to GI oncology, with a particular emphasis on developments in the last 3 years. We discuss reasons why the more than 130 studies to date have had little discernible clinical impact, and we outline steps that may allow proteomics to realize its promise for early detection of disease, monitoring of disease recurrence, and identification of targets for individualized therapy