A Nutraceutical Composition Decreases CPK Levels in Saos-2 Cells and in Patients with Elevated Serum Levels of This Enzyme.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effects of a nutraceutical composition on the expression of some genes involved in muscle cells and functioning in osteoblast cells. The effects of nutraceutical composition have been compared to the effects of atorvastatin, which induces muscle pain and elevated creatine phosphokinase (CPK) serum level when administered to patients. In particular, we analyzed the MyoD-1 gene, which is responsible for modulation of the CPK gene, which is a marker of muscle pain and damage.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator programming and electrical storm: Results of the OBSERVational registry On long-term outcome of ICD patients (OBSERVO-ICD).

Background: Electrical storm (ES) is defined as 3 or more episodes of ventricular fibrillation (VF) or ventricular tachycardia (VT) within 24 hours and is associated with increased cardiac and all-cause mortality.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test whether aggressive implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) programming can be associated with ES.

Methods: The OBSERVational registry On long-term outcome of ICD patients (OBSERVO-ICD) is a multicenter, retrospective registry enrolling all consecutive patients undergoing ICD implantation from 2010 to 2012 in 5 Italian high-volume arrhythmia centers.

Nuclear localization of Formyl-Peptide Receptor 2 in human cancer cells.

Current models of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) signaling describe binding of external agonists to cell surface receptors which, in turn, trigger several biological responses. New paradigms indicate that GPCRs localize to and signal at the nucleus, thus regulating distinct signaling cascades. The formyl-peptide receptor FPR2 belongs to the GPCR super-family and is coupled to PTX-sensitive Gi proteins.

Allergy and Uterine Leiomyomas: Cooperative Interaction with ACP1 Genetic Polymorphism.

Background: The possible association between allergy and neoplastic disorders has been the subject of many investigations but no general relationship has been determined. Little attention, however, has been paid to the possible role of allergy in the clinical manifestations of these diseases. In this study, the role of allergy in the susceptibility to uterine leiomyomas and in their growth was investigated.

Tumour-associated macrophages correlate with microvascular bed extension in colorectal cancer patients.

Tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) represent pivotal components of tumour microenvironment promoting angiogenesis, tumour progression and invasion. In colorectal cancer (CRC), there are no conclusive data about the role of TAMs in angiogenesis-mediated tumour progression. In this study, we aimed to evaluate a correlation between TAMs, TAM immunostained area (TAMIA) microvascular density (MVD), endothelial area (EA) and cancer cells positive to VEGF-A (CCP-VEGF-A) in primary tumour tissue of locally advanced CRC patients undergone to radical surgery.

Device Longevity in a Contemporary Cohort of ICD/CRT-D Patients Undergoing Device Replacement.

Introduction: The longevity of defibrillators (ICD) is extremely important from both a clinical and economic perspective. We studied the reasons for device replacement, the longevity of removed ICD, and the existence of possible factors associated with shorter service life.

Methods And Results: Consecutive patients who underwent ICD replacement from March 2013 to May 2015 in 36 Italian centers were included in this analysis.

Salmonella Typhimurium infection primes a nutriprive mechanism in piglets.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) is an important cause of acute food- borne zoonoses worldwide, typically carried by pigs. It is well known that Salmonella has evolved a wide array of strategies enabling it to invade the host, but little information is available on the specific host responses to Salmonella infections.

Resminostat plus sorafenib as second-line therapy of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma - The SHELTER study.

Background & Aims: No established therapies for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and progression on first-line sorafenib treatment currently exist. This phase I/II trial investigated safety, pharmacokinetics and potential biomarkers of the histone deacetylase inhibitor resminostat and a combination therapy with resminostat and sorafenib.

Methods: Patients with HCC and radiologically confirmed progression on sorafenib were treated in an exploratory, multi-center, open-label, uncontrolled, non-randomized, parallel group phase I/II study.

Effect of fixed-rate vs. rate-RESPONSIve pacing on exercise capacity in patients with permanent, refractory atrial fibrillation and left ventricular dysfunction treated with atrioventricular junction aBLation and bivEntricular pacing (RESPONSIBLE): a prospective, multicentre, randomized, single-blind study.

Aims: Atrioventricular junction (AVJ) ablation followed by biventricular pacing is an established strategy for improving symptoms and morbidity in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation (AF), reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and uncontrolled ventricular rate. There is no clear evidence that such patients benefit from rate-responsive (RR) pacing.

Methods And Results: This prospective, randomized, single-blind, multicentre study was designed as an intra-patient comparison and enrolled 60 patients (age 69.

Genetic variability within Adenosine Deaminase gene and uterine leiomyomas.

Objective: The recent observation of an association of colon cancer with two polymorphic sites within the Adenosine Deaminase (ADA) gene suggests an involvement of these polymorphisms in the development of solid tumors. This prompted us to search for a similar association in uterine leiomyomas.

Study Design: We have studied 181 women admitted to the hospital for leiomyomas requiring surgical intervention and 248 women of comparable age without clinical signs of leiomyomas.

Mast cells positive to tryptase and tumour-associated macrophages correlate with angiogenesis in locally advanced colorectal cancer patients undergone to surgery.

Objective: The density of mast cells positive to tryptase (MCDPT) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) were evaluated in a series of 87 patients with stage B and C colorectal cancer who had undergone radical surgery.

Methods: MCDPT, TAMs, microvascular density (MVD), endothelial area (EA) and CD8(+) tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (CD8(+) TILs) were evaluated in tumor tissue samples by immunohistochemistry and image analysis. Each of the above parameters was correlated with the others and with the main clinico-pathological features.

Management of large hepatocellular carcinoma by sequential transarterial chemoembolization and portal vein embolization: a systematic review of the literature.

Introduction: Currently, the treatment of HCC is multidisciplinary. Surgery remains the gold standard although the management of large hepatocellular carcinoma remains challenging. Hepatic resection is increasingly performed with ever-expanding indications.

Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Exploits Inflammation to Modify Swine Intestinal Microbiota.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is an important zoonotic gastrointestinal pathogen responsible for foodborne disease worldwide. It is a successful enteric pathogen because it has developed virulence strategies allowing it to survive in a highly inflamed intestinal environment exploiting inflammation to overcome colonization resistance provided by intestinal microbiota. In this study, we used piglets featuring an intact microbiota, which naturally develop gastroenteritis, as model for salmonellosis.

[Are antidepressants really effective?].

Antidepressants are widely used for a long time and it is estimated that about 10 % of the belgian population is taking some of them each year. However, there are important controversies about their real efficacy. We review successively arguments for and against their efficacy.

[Are we able to measure depression?].

Etiologically and symptomatically, depression is a profoundly heterogeneous disorder. Symptoms may be classified as either emotional or cognitive. Fear, seeking and panic/grief primary emotional circuits are involved at variable intensities.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium growth is inhibited by the concomitant binding of Zn(II) and a pyrrolyl-hydroxamate to ZnuA, the soluble component of the ZnuABC transporter.

Background: Under conditions of Zn(II) deficiency, the most relevant high affinity Zn(II) transport system synthesized by many Gram-negative bacteria is the ZnuABC transporter. ZnuABC is absent in eukaryotes and plays an important role in bacterial virulence. Consequently, ZnuA, the periplasmic component of the transporter, appeared as a good target candidate to find new compounds able to contrast bacterial growth by interfering with Zn(II) uptake.

Microvascular density and endothelial area correlate with Ki-67 proliferative index in surgically-treated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients.

Previous experimental and clinical data have indicated that tumour cell proliferation is associated with angiogenesis; in addition, an increased microvascular density (MVD) of tumours has been associated with poor prognosis in solid and haematological malignancies. However, limited data exists regarding the association between tumour cell proliferation and angiogenesis in primary tumour tissue from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients; therefore, the present study aimed to investigate this association. A series of 31 PDAC patients with stage Tumour (T) Node (N) Metastasis (M) were recruited into the present study and subsequently underwent surgery.

Chronic hepatitis C viral infection subverts vaccine-induced T-cell immunity in humans.

Unlabelled: Adenoviral vectors encoding hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural (NS) proteins induce multispecific, high-magnitude, durable CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell responses in healthy volunteers. We assessed the capacity of these vaccines to induce functional HCV-specific immune responses and determine T-cell cross-reactivity to endogenous virus in patients with chronic HCV infection. HCV genotype 1-infected patients were vaccinated using heterologous adenoviral vectors (ChAd3-NSmut and Ad6-NSmut) encoding HCV NS proteins in a dose escalation, prime-boost regimen, with and without concomitant pegylated interferon-α/ribavirin therapy.

Targeting mast cells in gastric cancer with special reference to bone metastases.

Bone metastases from gastric cancer (GC) are considered a relatively uncommon finding; however, they are related to poorer prognosis. Both primary GC and its metastatic progression rely on angiogenesis. Several lines of evidence from GC patients strongly support the involvement of mast cells (MCs) positive to tryptase (MCPT) in primary gastric tumor angiogenesis.

Classical and non-classical proangiogenic factors as a target of antiangiogenic therapy in tumor microenvironment.

Angiogenesis is sustained by classical and non-classical proangiogenic factors (PFs) acting in tumor microenvironment and these factors are also potential targets of antiangiogenic therapies. All PFs induce the overexpression of several signaling pathways that lead to migration and proliferation of endothelial cells contributing to tumor angiogenesis and survival of cancer cells. In this review, we have analyzed each PF with its specific receptor/s and we have summarized the available antiangiogenic drugs (e.

The effect of ACP1, ADA6 and PTPN22 genetic polymorphisms on the association between p53 codon 72 polymorphism and endometriosis.

Purpose: Association between p53 codon 72 and endometriosis has been observed in populations of East Asia but not in those of European descent. Genetic polymorphisms could interact with p53 codon 72 influencing its association with endometriosis, thus explaining these differences among populations.

Methods: 130 women hospitalized for endometriosis and a sample of 250 women without endometriosis have been studied.

Attenuated mutant strain of Salmonella Typhimurium lacking the ZnuABC transporter contrasts tumor growth promoting anti-cancer immune response.

Salmonella Typhimurium has been shown to be highly effective as antitumor agent. The aim of this study was to investigate the tumor targeting efficacy and the mechanism of action of a specific attenuated mutant strain of Salmonella Typhimurium (STM) devoid of the whole operon coding for the high-affinity zinc transporter ZnuABC, which is required for bacterial growth in environments poor in zinc and for conferring full virulence to different Gram-negative pathogens.We showed that STM is able to penetrate and replicate into tumor cells in in vitro and in vivo models.

Vascular endothelial growth factor and tryptase changes after chemoembolization in hepatocarcinoma patients.

Aim: To evaluate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and tryptase in hepatocellular cancer (HCC) before and after trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Methods: VEGF and tryptase serum concentrations were assessed from 71 unresectable HCC patients before and after hepatic TACE performed by binding DC-Beads(®) to doxorubicin. VEGF levels were examined for each serum sample using the Quantikine Human VEGF-enzyme-linked immuno-absorbent assay (ELISA), whereas tryptase serum concentrations were assessed for each serum sample by means of fluoro-enzyme immunoassay (FEIA) using the Uni-CAP100 tool.

Mucosal delivery of a vectored RSV vaccine is safe and elicits protective immunity in rodents and nonhuman primates.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a leading cause of severe respiratory disease in infants and the elderly. No vaccine is presently available to address this major unmet medical need. We generated a new genetic vaccine based on chimpanzee Adenovirus (PanAd3-RSV) and Modified Vaccinia Ankara RSV (MVA-RSV) encoding the F, N, and M2-1 proteins of RSV, for the induction of neutralizing antibodies and broad cellular immunity.

Longevity of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators for cardiac resynchronization therapy in current clinical practice: an analysis according to influencing factors, device generation, and manufacturer.

Aims: Device replacement at the time of battery depletion of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) may carry a considerable risk of complications and engenders costs for healthcare systems. Therefore, ICD device longevity is extremely important both from a clinical and economic standpoint. Cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-D) battery longevity is shorter than ICDs.