Molecular analysis of Lepidopleurus cajetanus (Poli, 1791) (Polyplacophora, Leptochitonidae) from the Mediterranean and near Atlantic

In the present paper we used a molecular data set (including mitochondrial partial 16S rRNA and COI gene sequences) to examine the genetic structure of Lepidopleurus cajetanus (Poli, 1791) (Polyplacophora, Leptochitonidae) - a distinctive shallow water chiton and member of the basal branching Lepidopleurida, which is widespread in and adjacent to the Mediterranean. The analyses of the two mt-standard marker fragments resolved two main discrete clusters reported as L. cajetanus s.s. and L. aff. cajetanus, respectively. Lepidopleurus cajetanus s.s. is widespread throughout the area under study, while the second distinct lineage apparently co-occurs on the eastern Spanish mainland coast of the Balearic Sea. This result is discussed comparing our data with those reported, in 2014, by Fernández and colleagues who described L. cajetanus as exhibiting “a ‘chaotic patchiness’ pattern defined by a high genetic variability with locality-exclusive haplotypes, high genetic divergence, and a lack of geographic structure”. Although genetic data alone are not sufficient to draw any definitive conclusions, nevertheless we believe that present results shed new light on L. cajetanus which apparently shows more geographically patterned genetic structure than supposed so far

Pediatric visceral leishmaniasis in Western Sicily, Italy: a retrospective analysis of 111 cases

The clinical and epidemiological characteristics of 111 consecutive cases of visceral leishmaniasis identified from 1980 to 2000 in a Sicilian pediatric hospital were analyzed retrospectively. The mean age of the patients was 1.7 years. All children were HIV negative, but 15% were severely malnourished. Fever and splenomegaly were present in all cases and hepatomegaly in 101 (90.1%) cases. Thrombocytopenia and anemia were both observed in 78 (70.2%) cases and leukopenia in 47 (42.3%) cases. A bone marrow aspirate was obtained in all cases; Leishmania amastigotes were detected in 89 (80.2%) cases. Initial treatment consisted of meglumine antimoniate in 99 (89.2%) patients and amphotericin B in 12 (10.8%) patients. Only two children treated with meglumine antimoniate relapsed. The findings highlight the differences between the cases of visceral leishmaniasis observed in the Mediterranean basin and those observed in other regions. The use of the term "Mediterranean visceral leishmaniasis", rather than the term "kala-azar", is proposed for cases observed in the Mediterranean are

Cardiac remodeling according to the nocturnal fall of blood pressure in hypertensive subjects: The whole assessment of cardiac abnormalities in non-dipper subjects with arterial hypertension (wacanda) study

Objective: Several epidemiological studies suggest that the preservation of the physiological circadian rhythm of blood pressure or its disruption affects the extent of the organ damage developed by the patient. If we classify the circadian rhythm of blood pressure into four nocturnal profiles, significant differences emerge in terms of organ damage burden and prognosis: reverse dippers have the worst prognosis while dippers and mild dippers fall into an intermediate risk range. The risk profile of extreme dippers is still debated, and the available data are very conflicting and inconclusive. Starting from this gap of knowledge, we aimed to evaluate, retrospectively, in a cohort of hypertensive subjects, the degree of cardiac involvement in relation to the different nocturnal blood pressure profiles. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 900 patients with essential hypertension, of whom 510 met our study criteria. We graded the 510 patients in relation to the percentage of reduction in mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) at night-time compared with day-time, considering this as a continuous variable, and then compared the extreme quintiles with each other and with the middle quintile (considered as reference). Results: Patients with less (or no) reduction in nocturnal SBP (reverse dipper) showed a higher level of organ damage and comorbidities. With regard to echocardiographic indexes, patients with maximum nocturnal pressure reduction (extreme dipper) showed a lower level of remodeling and/or impairment of E/e’ ratio, Right Atrium Area, Basal Right Ventricular Diameter, Inferior Vena Cava Average Diameter, and Tricuspidal Anular Plane Systolic Excursion compared also with hypertensive patients with a physiological nocturnal pressure reduction, even after correction for the main confounders. Conclusions: These data suggest that extreme dippers may constitute the subgroup of hypertensive patients with the lowest 24-h pressure load and, therefore, less cardiac remodeling

Monocyte to lymphocyte blood ratio in tuberculosis and HIV patients: Comparative analysis, preliminary data

Recent data confirmed the hypothesis suggested by historical studies that the ratio of peripheral blood monocytes to lymphocytes (M/L) is associated with the risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease. We retrospectively analyzed the electronic health records of tuberculosis and HIV-positive patients who had followed day-care programs at the AIDS Center of the University of Palermo, Italy. 261 patients were recruited and divided into 6 groups as follows: healthy control group (HCG: 47 pts), latent HIV negative infected TB group (LIG, 43 pts), active HIV negative tuberculosis (TAG: 61 pts), treated tuberculosis HIV negative (TTG: 44 pts), HIV drug-naive patients tested TST and QFT-IT-negative with negative chest x-Ray (HIVnG: 44 pts), and HIV-tuberculosis coinfection (HIVTB-G: 22 pts). For each group, absolute lymphocyte (L), monocyte (M) and M/L ratio by peripheral blood was calculated. The mean value of monocytes in the TAG group was significant, the highest (0.70\uc2\ub10.37 1x103/\uce\ubcl) in comparison to HGC (0.70>0.44, p-value <0.05), HIVnG (0.70>0.40, p-value <0.05) and HIVTB-G (0.70>0.45, p-value<0.05). Monocyte to lymphocyte blood RATIO showed a significant difference between groups (p-value <0.001). In particular, the mean score of M/L ratio was higher in the TAG group compared to the HGC (0.49>0.27, p-value<0.05), LIG (0.49>0.29, p-value<0.05), TTG (0.49>0.32) and HIVTB-G groups (0.49>0.27, p-value<0.05). Our data confirm a significant difference in monocyte to lymphocyte blood ratio in tuberculosis disease. These data may be useful for monitoring and revising implementation plans for the different phases of tuberculosis disease (latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection versus TB active disease). Regarding HIV samples, the small sample size is somewhat offset by the need, fully satisfied in our sample, to enlist specific patients such as co-infected HIV/TBC who voluntarily submit to clinical trials in our geographical area

Early carotid atherosclerosis and cardiac diastolic abnormalities in hypertensive subjects

Despite the fact that it is known that hypertension may be associated to early atherosclerosis manifestations, few data are to date available on the relationship between early carotid abnormalities and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. To address this issue, 142 hypertensive patients (64 females and 78 males) younger than 55 years, at the first diagnosis of mild-to-moderate essential hypertension (WHO/ISH criteria), were selected from a database consisting of 3541 subjects referred to ultrasound cardiovascular laboratory in the last 5 years. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) was detected by high-resolution vascular ultrasound and left ventricular structure and function by the use of Doppler echocardiography. According to carotid IMT values, all patients were subgrouped into two groups consisting of 89 (62.6%) pts with IMT > or = 1 mm (A) and 53 (37.4%) pts with IMT < 1 mm (B). Our results show that isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT), deceleration time of E velocity (EDT) and left ventricular relative wall thickness (LV-RWT) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in group A (IVRT 112 +/- 8.9 ms; EDT 288 +/- 21.8 ms; LV-RWT 0.40 +/- 0.08) than in group B (IVRT 92.3 +/- 4.6 ms; EDT 203.3 +/- 27.01 ms; LV- RWT 0.37 +/- 0.06). Moreover, the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was significantly (P < 0.01) higher in group A (30/89; 33.7%) than in group B (8/53; 15%). A positive correlation (P < 0.001) between IMT, EDT and IVRT was found only in hypertensives without LVH. These results are consistent with the indication that IMT evaluation has to be recommended both in hypertensive patients with LVH and in those without LVH, but with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. This approach might improve the prognostic stratification of hypertensive subjects and it might be suitable to recognize the subset of patients at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease or events early

Atrial fibrillation in Mediterranean spotted fever

Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is a tick-borne acute febrile disease caused by Rickettsia conorii and characterized by fever, maculo-papular rash and a black eschar at the site of the tick bite ('tache noir'). We describe the case of a 58-year-old man affected by MSF who developed atrial fibrillation. The patient presented himself to the hospital after 7 days of fever, malaise and severe headache. Cardiac auscultation revealed a chaotic heart rhythm and an electrocardiogram confirmed atrial fibrillation with a fast ventricular response. Diagnosis of MSF was made after the appearance of a maculo-papular skin rash, and treatment with oral doxycycline was started. An immunofluorescence antibody test confirmed R. conorii infection. The patient recovered after 7 days of treatment. Cardiac arrhythmia is a rare complication of MSF. Inflammation may play a role in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation. R. conorii is an intracellular bacterium which could trigger atrial fibrillation. Our patient was previously healthy and had no reported history of cardiac disease. This suggests that heart function should be monitored in MSF patients even in the absence of underlying risk factors

Surveillance of enteric virus infections in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Objective. To investigate the epidemiology of neonatal viral gastroenteritis compared to the circulation of enteric viruses in children, 109 newborns in the NICU of Mother and Child Department and 214 children with enteritis admitted to the \u201cG. Di Cristina\u201d Children\u2019s Hospital in Palermo were monitored for Rotavirus, Adenovirus, Astrovirus and Norovirus infections. Methods. Stool samples were examined by EIA to detect viral antigens. Rotavirus strains were subjected to P- and G-typing. Results. A Norovirus strain was detected in one neonatal stool specimen whereas an astrovirus strain was dectected in two neonatal specimens. No Rotavirus or Adenovirus infection was identified among the newborn infants, while Rotavirus infections were detected in 24.8% of the symptomatic children. Type G4P[8] constituted 43.4% of the Rotavirus strains, followed by G2P[4] (18.9%), G3P[8] (17%), G1P[8] (13.2%) and G9P[8] (1.9%). Overall, Norovirus, Adenovirus and Astrovirus strains were responsible for 15.4% of infections in the paediatric population with diarrhoea. Conclusions. Viruses are diffuse agents of infection in children with enteritis. Virological tests have to be performed to diagnose enteric infections in the paediatric population. Maternal immunity to common Rotavirus strains combined with the limited circulation of the emerging G9 Rotavirus type among our population may account for the absence of Rotavirus infections in newborn infants

Misdiagnosis of familial Mediterranean fever in patients with Anderson-Fabry disease

Fabry disease (FD) is an underdiagnosed pathology due to its symptomatology that overlaps with various systemic and rheumatic disorders, including familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). We examined the Mediterranean fever (MEFV) and α-galactosidase A (GLA) genes, whose mutations are responsible for FMF and FD, respectively, in 42 unrelated patients diagnosed with FMF, which revealed significant ambiguity regarding some of the symptoms which are also present in FD. The objective of this study was to determine the spectrum of mutations present in these genes, in order to identify cases of mistaken diagnosis of FMF and/or missed diagnosis of FD. Ten out of 42 patients had one mutation in homozygosis or two different mutations in heterozygosis in the MEFV gene; 20/42 had a single heterozygous mutation, and 12/42 did not have genetic alterations in MEFV. The analysis of the GLA gene conducted on all the samples revealed that three subjects, and some members of their families, had two different exonic mutations associated with FD. Family studies allowed us to identify eight other cases of FD, bringing the total undiagnosed subjects to 11/53. Analyzing the MEFV and GLA genes in patients with clinical diagnoses of FMF proved to be fundamentally important for the reduction of diagnostic errors