Fatty Liver as Potential Biomarker of Atherosclerotic Damage in Familial Combined Hyperlipidemia.

Familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCH) is a very common inherited lipid disorder, characterized by a high risk of developing cardiovascular (CV) disease and metabolic complications, including insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increased in FCH patients, especially in those with IR or T2DM. However, it is unknown how precociously metabolic and cardiovascular complications appear in FCH patients.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Onset During Secukinumab Treatment: Real Concern or Just an Expression of Dysregulated Immune Response?

Background: Up to December 2018, eight cases of new-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were reported in the literature in patients being treated with secukinumab, an interleukin-17A antagonist prescribed for dermatologic or rheumatologic indications. The duration of secukinumab treatment ranged from a single administration to 12 months of treatment.

Objective: The aim of our investigation was to estimate the cumulative incidence of new-onset IBD in patients treated with secukinumab for either dermatologic or rheumatologic indications.

Sealing the broken barrier in IBD: intestinal permeability, epithelial cells and junctions.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are considered barrier diseases. After misleading initial results, the pathogenic importance of a disturbed mucosa is now widely accepted, largely because a certain percentage of first-degree relatives of patients with IBD do have permeability alterations, as assessed by oral markers. In the presence of a normal appearing gut mucosa, functional alterations of the highly dynamic inter-enterocyte tight junctions have to be considered to be responsible for the observed alterations.

Thiopurine treatment in inflammatory bowel disease: response predictors, safety, and withdrawal in follow-up.

Background And Aims: Thiopurines represent the mainstay of immunosuppressive therapy in inflammatory bowel diseases. Since it is likely that response to therapy and adverse events depends on the genetic background of patients our study aimed to evaluate retrospectively response to therapy and safety in a mixed IBD population in Southern Europe.

Methods: We evaluated demographic and clinical data of our patients treated with thiopurines.

Effects of bio-compatible metal ions on rufloxacin photochemistry, photophysics and photosensitization: copper(II).

The presence of copper(II) in the micromolar range modulates the photodegradation rate of the fluoroquinolone Rufloxacin (RFX), both under air and in nitrogen saturated aqueous solution. The photodegradation rate of RFX under aerobic conditions decreases in the presence of metal ions, and no change in the nature of the photoproducts is observed. In anaerobic media, RFX photodegradation rate increases with increasing copper(II) concentration and the photoproducts distribution changes.

Rufloxacin induced photosensitization in bio-models of increasing complexity.

Rufloxacin belongs to the class of fluoroquinolones that act mainly as specific inhibitors of bacterial Topoisomerase II. These drugs are widely known to be involved in various diseases ranging from cutaneous reactions to aging. The type II photosensitizing activity of Rufloxacin has been already demonstrated on calf thymus DNA and free nucleosides.

Photosensitizing effect of some nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs on natural and artificial membranes: dependence on phospholipid composition.

Previous studies have clarified the molecular mechanism of photosensitization on red blood cell membranes induced by some drugs belonging to the class of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs: ketoprofen, naproxen, and diflunisal. This process involves the participation of photodegradation products, free radicals, and reactive oxygen species. The aim of the present paper is to investigate the photohemolytic process using red blood cells of mammalian species, with different membrane phospholipid compositions.

Photochemical properties of ofloxacin involved in oxidative DNA damage: a comparison with rufloxacin.

Photodegradation of ofloxacin (OFX) under aerobic conditions gives rise to N-demethylation, mainly involving coupling of radical cation OFX(*)(+ )()with superoxide radical anion. Although H(2)O(2) is produced as a byproduct, oxidative damage to DNA to give 8-OH-dGuo is associated with a type II mechanism. When the photosensitizing potentials of OFX and rufloxacin (RFX) are compared under the same conditions, the latter is shown to produce a much higher degree of DNA oxidation despite the close structural similarity.

Photoinduced N-demethylation of rufloxacin and its methyl ester under aerobic conditions.

Irradiation of rufloxacin (RF) under aerobic conditions gives rise to N-demethylation of the piperazinyl ring, which is enhanced in aerated D2O. Two primary processes seem to be involved in RF N-demethylation: photoionization from 1RF and singlet oxygen generation from 3RF. Both processes may lead to the same key intermediates, namely, RF*+ and superoxide radical anion; coupling of these intermediates explains N-demethylation of RF via an iminium cation.

Type II guanine oxidation photoinduced by the antibacterial fluoroquinolone Rufloxacin in isolated DNA and in 2'-deoxyguanosine.

The role played by type I (radical) and type II (singlet oxygen) mechanisms in the Rufloxacin (RFX)-photoinduced production of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in DNA has been evaluated. This fluoroquinolone drug has been shown to be able to photoinduce increased levels of some DNA base oxidation products, such as 8-OH-dGuo, that are indicative of mutagenic and carcinogenic events, with probable implications in aging processes. The relative weight of the two photosensitization mechanisms was obtained via determination of two different photoproducts of 2'-deoxyguanosine (dGuo), which are diagnostic of the two different pathways, namely, (4R)- and (4S)-4,8-dihydro-4-hydroxy-8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine and 2,2-diamino-4-[(2-deoxy-beta-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)amino]-2,5-dihydrooxazol-5-one.