Prevention of quercetin precipitation in red wines: a promising enzymatic solution

Flavonols are known for causing undesirable deposits in both red and white wines. Among flavonols, quercetin is widely considered the principal factor determining this phenomenon. One of the most accredited hypotheses claims that glycosylated derivatives of quercetin undergo hydrolysis of the glycosylic bond during the fermentation and the wine ageing, releasing quercetin aglycone, which is much less soluble in water solution and causes the precipitation. Our work describes the dynamics of quercetin-derived deposition in Chianti wines and purposes a new method, based on the enzymatic quercetin glycoside hydrolysis of the glycosidic bond, to prevent the unpleasant deposit formation during the wine ageing. In our study, forty-four monovarietal wines obtained from 7 different Italian grape varieties were compared in the content of total quercetin-3-glycosides (rutin, quercetin-3-glucuronide, quercetin-3-glucoside) and quercetin aglycone. The data confirmed the literature revealing Sangiovese as the richest in quercetin. We tested then, in a Sangiovese wine, four fining agents (PVPP, PVPP/PVI, bentonite and a vegetal protein) for quercetin removal, showing that only the PVPP had a modest aglycone removal activity. Then, the kinetics of deposit formation was studied in three Chianti wines which differed in the initial content of quercetin aglycone. This investigation highlighted that the chemical equilibrium of quercetin changes over time as the turbidity slowly increases, as previously documented. The comparison of the three dynamics also permitted us to conclude that different wines show a different ability to keep in solution quercetin. Finally, a new approach for deposit prevention was studied by a precocious Chianti wine treatment with a pectolytic enzyme having secondary glycosidase activity. This enzyme significantly accelerated the hydrolysis of glycosylated quercetins into their aglycone, which could enhance the deposition before bottling, without serious wine colour depletion. Our study represents the first evidence of the promising potential of using the pectolytic enzyme with secondary glycosidase activity to prevent quercetin deposit during Chianti ageing, in a way that is compatible with organic wine production

Operationalizing mild cognitive impairment criteria in small vessel disease: The VMCI-Tuscany Study

Introduction Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) prodromic of vascular dementia is expected to have a multidomain profile. Methods In a sample of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) patients, we assessed MCI subtypes distributions according to different operationalization of Winblad criteria and compared the neuroimaging features of single versus multidomain MCI. We applied three MCI diagnostic scenarios in which the cutoffs for objective impairment and the number of considered neuropsychological tests varied. Results Passing from a liberal to more conservative diagnostic scenarios, of 153 patients, 5% were no longer classified as MCI, amnestic multidomain frequency decreased, and nonamnestic single domain increased. Considering neuroimaging features, severe medial temporal lobe atrophy was more frequent in multidomain compared with single domain. Discussion Operationalizing MCI criteria changes the relative frequency of MCI subtypes. Nonamnestic single domain MCI may be a previously nonrecognized type of MCI associated with SVD

Studio dell'empatia in una popolazione normativa e nei soggetti con anoressia nervosa

Lo studio si propone di confrontare due poplazioni :una normativa ,selezionato nelle scuole medie inferiri e superiori del territorio della città di Livorno con una ètà compresa tra gli 11 e 18 anni e un campione di pazienti con Distubo dell'alimentazione proveniente dall'istituto IRCS Stella Maris con ètà compresa tra gli 11 e 18 anni.E' stata utilizzata una batteria di test di valutazione dei comportamenti giovanili, abitudini alimentari, empatia e quoziente autistico

The impact of internalizing symptoms on autistic traits in adolescents with restrictive anorexia nervosa

Background: Although previous studies indicated a positive association between restrictive anorexia-nervosa (AN-R) and autistic traits, the potential interference of psychiatric internalizing comorbidity on this association is not yet fully investigated. Materials and methods: The aim of this study was to explore autistic traits and internalizing psychopathology in adolescents (age range: 11.7–17.2 years) with AN-R. Twenty-five patients referred to two tertiary-care hospitals were compared to a large control group (N=170) with no differences in age and sex. AN-R patients and controls filled out instruments assessing autistic traits (autism spectrum quotient [AQ]), psychopathology (youth self-report [YSR] 11–18), and eating patterns (eating attitude test [EAT]). In order to disentangle the possible mediating role of internalizing symptoms on autistic traits, two separate control groups (called True and False healthy control, both composed of 25 eating-problem-free participants) were derived from the whole control group on the basis of the presence or absence of internalizing problems in the YSR. Results: AN-R patients scored significantly higher on AQ compared to the whole control group and to controls without internalizing problems (True HC), but these differences disappeared when only controls with internalizing problems (False HC) were considered. Conclusion: Autistic traits in AN-R individuals may have been overestimated and may partly be due to comorbid internalizing symptoms in investigated patients

HPV sensitizes OPSCC cells to cisplatin-induced apoptosis by inhibiting autophagy through E7-mediated degradation of AMBRA1

Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is an increasing world health problem with a more favorable prognosis for patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive tumors compared to those with HPV-negative OPSCC. How HPV confers a less aggressive phenotype, however, remains undefined. We demonstrated that HPV-positive OPSCC cells display reduced macroautophagy/autophagy activity, mediated by the ability of HPV-E7 to interact with AMBRA1, to compete with its binding to BECN1 and to trigger its calpain-dependent degradation. Moreover, we have shown that AMBRA1 downregulation and pharmacological inhibition of autophagy sensitized HPV-negative OPSCC cells to the cytotoxic effects of cisplatin. Importantly, semi-quantitative immunohistochemical analysis in primary OPSCCs confirmed that AMBRA1 expression is reduced in HPV-positive compared to HPV-negative tumors. Collectively, these data identify AMBRA1 as a key target of HPV to impair autophagy and propose the targeting of autophagy as a viable therapeutic strategy to improve treatment response of HPV-negative OPSCC.Abbreviations: AMBRA1: autophagy and beclin 1 regulator 1; CDDP: cisplatin (CDDP); FFPE: formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE); HNC: head and neck cancers (HNC); HPV: human papillomavirus (HPV); hrHPV: high risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV); OCSCC: oral cavity squamous carcinomas (OCSSC); OPSCC: oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC); OS: overall survival (OS); qPCR: quantitative polymerase chain reaction; RB1: RB transcriptional corepressor 1; ROC: receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC)

The burden of microstructural damage modulates cortical activation in elderly subjects with MCI and leuko-araiosis. A DTI and fMRI study

The term leuko-araiosis (LA) describes a common chronic affection of the cerebral white matter (WM) in the elderly due to small vessel disease with variable clinical correlates. To explore whether severity of LA entails some adaptive reorganization in the cerebral cortex we evaluated with functional MRI (fMRI) the cortical activation pattern during a simple motor task in 60 subjects with mild cognitive impairment and moderate or severe (moderate-to-severe LA group, n = 46) and mild (mild LA group, n = 14) LA extension on visual rating. The microstructural damage associated with LA was measured on diffusion tensor data by computation of the mean diffusivity (MD) of the cerebral WM and by applying tract based spatial statistics (TBSS). Subjects were examined with fMRI during continuous tapping of the right dominant hand with task performance measurement. Moderate-to-severe LA group showed hyperactivation of left primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1) and right cerebellum. Regression analyses using the individual median of WM MD as explanatory variable revealed a posterior shift of activation within the left SM1 and hyperactivation of the left SMA and paracentral lobule and of the bilateral cerebellar crus. These data indicate that brain activation is modulated by increasing severity of LA with a local remapping within the SM1 and increased activity in ipsilateral nonprimary sensorimotor cortex and bilateral cerebellum. These potentially adaptive changes as well lack of contralateral cerebral hemisphere hyperactivation are in line with sparing of the U fibers and brainstem and cerebellar WM tracts and the emerging microstructual damage of the corpus callosum revealed by TBSS with increasing severity of LA. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Development and psychometric properties of a neuropsychological battery for mild cognitive impairment with small vessel disease: The VMCI-tuscany study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Vascular cognitive impairment may have a selective neuropsychological profile. We developed a battery for assessing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in patients with small vessel disease (SVD), its applicability, and psychometric properties. METHODS: Among those proposed by the 2006 NINDS-CSN Consensus Conference, we selected tests for which norms based on healthy Italians and equivalent scores methodology were available. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to ascertain the fit of the theoretically assumed dimensions to empirical data and to derive each cognitive dimension compound measures. RESULTS: The entire battery was applied to 146 out of a cohort of 201 patients with MCI and SVD. Most tests showed good applicability. Fifty-five patients, who were older and cognitively more impaired, proved unable to complete the Trail Making Test part B, the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure, and the Stroop test, and were excluded from the analysis. Among the remaining patients, Mini-Mental State Examination proved largely normal, while Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure, Symbol digit modalities test, and Trail Making Test part B were most frequently abnormal. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of the 4-factor theoretical model to empirical data. Praxis domain resulted in the highest percentage of abnormal performance (65%), followed by Memory and Attention/EF domains (19% and 15%), and Language (8%). CONCLUSIONS: Our battery proved to be comprehensive, robust, and applicable. Attention-executive dysfunction and impaired memory and visuo-constructional abilities, were the prominent features. The assessment of the Consensus Conference, that included Trial Making Test, looks poorly applicable to older and cognitively impaired patients

The instruments used by the Italian centres for cognitive disorders and dementia to diagnose mild cognitive impairment (MCI)

Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the tools used in Italy to diagnose mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: In collaboration with the Luigi Amaducci Research Consortium, the Italian Network of Alzheimer Evaluation Units prepared a questionnaire to describe how MCI is diagnosed in the Italian Centres for cognitive disorders and dementia (CCDD). Results: Most of the ninety-two CCDDs participating in the survey were located in hospitals (54.7%); large percentages were coordinated by neurologists (50.8%) and geriatricians (44.6%). Almost all (98.5%) used the Mini Mental State Examination to diagnose MCI; the Clock Drawing Test was also frequently used (83.9%). Other neuropsychological, imaging and biomarker tests were utilized less frequently and a wide diversity in the instruments used was noted. Conclusions: According to the results, diagnoses of MCI are based on a multitude of instruments, with major differences in the clinical assessment of geriatricians and neurologists. Standardized testing protocols, validated instruments and cut-off points need to be identified and adopted by the CCDDs for assessing MCI