Impact of hepatitis C virus infection on lifestyle.

AIM: To evaluate the impact of the diagnosis of hepatitis C infection on lifestyle habits such as smoking, drinking, sports activity and diet. METHODS: A self-administered, anonymous question-naire was offered to out-patients with HCV infection consecutively attending three clinical centres in Italy. RESULTS: Of the 275 respondents, 62.2% (171) were male. Mean age was 51 (range 20-80) years. Overall, after the diagnosis of hepatitis C, 74.5% of drinkers had modified (giving up or reducing) alcohol consumption, 21.3% of smokers had modified their habits and 32.3% of subjects who reported sports activity had either stopped or reduced frequency of activity or chose a less fatiguing sport. Sixty-four percent of the respondents reported having modified their diet, most of them on physician's advice. CONCLUSION: After the diagnosis of hepatitis C many patients correctly modified their alcohol consumption and a minority their smoking habits. The reason for reported changes in diet and physical activity needs further investigations

A case of dengue type 3 virus infection imported from Africa to Italy, October 2009.

In October 2009, a traveller returning from Africa to Italy was hospitalised with symptoms suggestive of a haemorrhagic fever of unknown origin. The patient was immediately placed in a special biocontainment unit until laboratory investigations confirmed the infection to be caused by a dengue serotype 3 virus. This case reasserts the importance of returning travellers as sentinels of unknown outbreaks occurring in other countries, and highlights how the initial symptoms of dengue fever resemble those of other haemorrhagic fevers, hence the importance of prompt isolation of patients until a final diagnosis is reached

The PROVENT-C19 registry: A study protocol for international multicenter SIAARTI registry on the use of prone positioning in mechanically ventilated patients with COVID-19 ARDS

Background The worldwide use of prone position (PP) for invasively ventilated patients with COVID-19 is progressively increasing from the first pandemic wave in everyday clinical practice. Among the suggested treatments for the management of ARDS patients, PP was recommended in the Surviving Sepsis Campaign COVID-19 guidelines as an adjuvant therapy for improving ventilation. In patients with severe classical ARDS, some authors reported that early application of prolonged PP sessions significantly decreases 28-day and 90-day mortality. Methods and analysis Since January 2021, the COVID19 Veneto ICU Network research group has developed and implemented nationally and internationally the "PROVENT-C19 Registry", endorsed by the Italian Society of Anesthesia Analgesia Resuscitation and Intensive Care. . .'(SIAARTI). The PROVENT-C19 Registry wishes to describe 1. The real clinical practice on the use of PP in COVID-19 patients during the pandemic at a National and International level; and 2. Potential baseline and clinical characteristics that identify subpopulations of invasively ventilated patients with COVID-19 that may improve daily from PP therapy. This web-based registry will provide relevant information on how the database research tools may improve our daily clinical practice. Conclusions This multicenter, prospective registry is the first to identify and characterize the role of PP on clinical outcome in COVID-19 patients. In recent years, data emerging from large registries have been increasingly used to provide real-world evidence on the effectiveness, quality, and safety of a clinical intervention. Indeed observation-based registries could be effective tools aimed at identifying specific clusters of patients within a large study population with widely heterogeneous clinical characteristics. Copyright

Acute rhabdomyolysis and delayed pericardial effusion in an Italian patient with Ebola virus disease : a case report

Background: During the 2013-2016 West Africa Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic, some EVD patients, mostly health care workers, were evacuated to Europe and the USA. Case presentation: In May 2015, a 37-year old male nurse contracted Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone. After Ebola virus detection in plasma, he was medically-evacuated to Italy. At admission, rhabdomyolysis was clinically and laboratory-diagnosed and was treated with aggressive hydration, oral favipiravir and intravenous investigational monoclonal antibodies against Ebola virus. The recovery clinical phase was complicated by a febrile thrombocytopenic syndrome with pericardial effusion treated with corticosteroids for 10days and indomethacin for 2months. No evidence of recurrence is reported. Conclusions: A febrile thrombocytopenic syndrome with pericardial effusion during the recovery phase of EVD appears to be uncommon. Clinical improvement with corticosteroid treatment suggests that an immune-mediated mechanism contributed to the pericardial effusion

The role of side chains in the interaction of new antitumor pyrimidoacridinetriones with DNA: Molecular dynamics simulations.

Pyrimidoacridinetriones (PATs) are a new group of highly active antitumor compounds. It seems reasonable to assume that, like for some other acridine derivatives, intercalation into DNA is a necessary, however not a sufficient condition for antitumor activity of these compounds. Rational design of new compounds of this chemotype requires knowledge about the structure of the intercalation complex, as well as about interactions responsible for its stability. Computer simulation techniques such as molecular dynamics (MD) may provide valuable information about these problems. The results of MD simulations performed for three rationally selected PATs are presented in this paper. The compounds differ in the number and position of side chains. Each of the compounds was simulated in two systems: i) in water, and ii) in the intercalation complex with the dodecamer duplex d(GCGCGCGCGCGC)2. The orientation of the side chain in relation to the ring system is determined by the position of its attachment. Orientation of the ring system inside the intercalation cavity depends on the number and position of side chain(s). The conformations of the side chain(s) of all PATs studied in the intercalation complex were found to be very similar to those observed in water

Characterization and dissolution studies of PEG 4000/fenofibrate solid dispersions

Solid dispersions of fenofibrate in PEG 4000 were prepared by the solvent and fusion methods. The binary systems are successively studied and characterized using differential scanning calorimetry. X-ray diffractometry and Fourie transform infrared spectroscopy. Dissolution studies of the solid dispersed powders were performed to verify the water solubility improvement of the fenofibrate present in the formulations

The ability to overcome multidrug resistance of tumor cell lines by novel acridine cytostatics with condensed heterocyclic rings.

Two recently synthesized groups of acridine cytostatics containing fused heterocyclic ring(s): pyrazoloacridines (PAC) and pyrazolopyrimidoacridines (PPAC) were tested in regard to their in vitro cytotoxic activity towards a panel of sensitive and resistant human tumor cell lines. The obtained results corroborate our earlier hypothesis on the essential role of heterocyclic ring fused to the acridine moiety in the ability of acridine cytostatics to overcome multidrug resistance of tumor cells. The presence, location and kind of substituents considerably influenced both the cytotoxic activity of the derivatives and their ability to overcome multidrug resistance. The same factors also affected the cytostatics ability to differentiate between tumor cell lines with various types of drug exporting pumps

Inclusion complexation of Fenofibrate with beta-cyclodextrin and hydroxypropyl beta-cyclodextrin. Evaluation of interactions in solution and solid complex characterization

Interactions between b-cyclodextrin or hydroxypropyl b-cyclodextrin, as well as the possibility of obtaining inclusion complexes, were evaluated by several methods: a phase solubility diagram, high-power liquid chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffractometry. Solid inclusion complexes were prepared by spray-drying, kneading and solid dispersion. The dissolution profiles of the obtained powders were studied in order to define the most appropriate cyclodextrin, preparation method and molar ratio to use in the production of a fenofibrate inclusion complex. Finally, tablets were prepared with the powder of the complex and characterized by dissolution studies

Rational Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Bis(pyrimido[5,6,1-de]acridines) and Bis(pyrazolo[3,4,5-kl]acridine-5-carboxamides) as New Anticancer Agents

The good results obtained with pyrimido[5,6,1-de]acridines 7 and with pyrazolo[3,4,5-kl]-acridinecarboxamides 8 prompted us to the synthesis of two new series of his acridine derivatives: the bis(pyrimidoacridines) 5 and the bis(pyrazoloacridinecarboxamides) 6. Compounds 5 can be regarded also as cyclized derivatives of bis(acridine-4-carboxamides) 3 and compounds 6 as cyclized derivatives of bis(acridine-4-carboxamides) 4. The noncovalent DNA-binding properties of these compounds have been examined using fluorometric techniques. The results indicate that (i) the target compounds are excellent DNA ligands; (ii) the his derivatives 5 and 6 are more DNA-affinic than corresponding monomers 7 and 8; (iii) the new bis 5 and 6 result always less efficient in binding than related bis(acridine-4-carboxamides) 3 and 4; and GO in both series 5 and 6 a clear, remarkable in some cases, preference for binding to AT rich duplexes can be noted. In vitro cytotoxic potency of these derivatives toward the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line (HT29) is described and compared to that of reference drugs. Structure- activity relationships are discussed. We could identify six very potent cytotoxic compounds for further in vitro studies: a cytotoxic screening against six human cancer cell lines and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) screening on 60 human tumor cell lines. Finally, compound 6a was selected for evaluation in a NCI in vivo hollow fiber assay

Synthesis and biological evaluation of mono- and bis-[(alkylamino)alkylamino] substituted thienopyridopyridazines, a new class of potential antitumor agents

A new class of potential antitumor agents, provided with thieno(2', 3': 5,6)pyrido(2,3-d) pyridazin-9(4H)-one nucleus as chromophore, was synthesized. Thus, the suitable amines were reacted, in different conditions, with 5,8-dichlorothieno((2', 3': 5,6)pyrido(2,3-d) pyridazin-9(4H)-one (5) to afford the 8-alkylamino derivatives 6a-f, the 5-alkylamino derivatives 7a-f, and the 5,8-bis-alkylamino derivatives 8a,b. Selected compounds were evaluated for cytotoxic potency in vitro against the uman colon adenocarcinoma HT 29 cell line and studied in DNA binding assays. The cytotoxic potency versus HT29 was also correlated with binding affinity for calf tymus DNA