25-Hydroxy Vitamin D Detection Using Different Analytic Methods in Patients with Migraine.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of different analytic methods, such as liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (EIA), and chemiluminescence immunoassays (CLIA), in order to highlight whether or not there is relative superiority amongst the assays. We analyzed two groups of subjects suffering from headache and two groups of healthy subjects.

Design And Methods: We performed a prospective, single-blind single-center control-group study on 220 subjects with migraine.

Conventional and New Antiepileptic Drugs on Vitamin D and Bone Health: What We Know to Date?

The treatment with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), in particular conventional drugs, induces an increased risk of fractures in women and in epileptic patients in treatment with AEDs for more than 12 years. A supplementation with calcium and vitamin D is suggested in patients chronically treated with some AEDs and there are recommendations to do so. The lack of significant conclusive evidence about the effects of conventional and newer AEDs on bone metabolism needs for more clinical studies in order to perform an appropriate use of calcium and vitamin D supplementation in young and ederly epileptic patients.

Different Omega-3 Formulations Yield to Diverse Clinical Response: A Case-Report.

Treatment guidelines recommend omega-3 with Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) and Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) content not above 85% in patients with high plasma levels of triglycerides. Since the different up to date formulation of omega-3 available in commerce must be similar to clinical efficacy and safety, herein, we report the case a 52-year-old woman who presented clinical inefficacy using Olevia(®) omega-3 treatment. Clinical evaluation excluded the presence of intestinal or systemic diseases able to reduce the drug absorption.

Recognizing Severe Adverse Drug Reactions: Two Case Reports After Switching Therapies to the Same Generic Company.

Generic formulations represent a way to reduce the costs of brand compounds when their patent is expired. While, the bio-equivalence in generic drugs is guaranteed, some excipients as well as dyes could be different and this could reduce the drug safety. Herein, we report the development of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) in two patients after the switch from brand to generic formulations.

Properties of a putative cambialistic superoxide dismutase from the aerotolerant bacterium Streptococcus thermophilus strain LMG 18311.

The aerotolerance of the lactic - fermentative bacterium Streptococcus thermophilus is mainly based on the key antioxidant function of superoxide dismutase (StSOD). In this work, the comparison of recombinant StSOD (rStSOD) forms obtained from two different initiation triplets indicated that the enzyme from S. thermophilus strain LMG 18311 spans 201 residues.

Rat mitochondrial manganese superoxide dismutase: amino acid positions involved in covalent modifications, activity, and heat stability.

The role of three amino acid residues (Q143, Y34, S82) of rat mitochondrial superoxide dismutase (ratSOD2) in the enzymatic activity, thermostability, and post-translational modification of the enzyme was investigated through site-directed mutagenesis studies. Six recombinant forms of the enzyme were produced, carrying the Q143 or H143 residue with or without the Y34F or S82A replacement. All proteins bound manganese as active cofactor and were organized as homotetramers.

Clinical evolution of autoimmune thyroiditis in children and adolescents.

Background: Few studies have addressed the clinical evolution of autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) occurring in childhood and scant data are available on the role of thyroid ultrasonography. We aimed to evaluate the natural history of AIT diagnosed in children and adolescents and to assess the possible prognostic role of ultrasonography.

Methods: Retrospective case series prospectively followed up for a further 3-year period.

Glutathionylation of the iron superoxide dismutase from the psychrophilic eubacterium Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis.

Our previous work showed that the adduct between beta-mercaptoethanol and the single cysteine residue (Cys57) in superoxide dismutase from the psychrophilic eubacterium Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis (PhSOD) reduces the enzyme inactivation by peroxynitrite. In this work, immunoblotting experiments prove that peroxynitrite inactivation of PhSOD involves formation of nitrotyrosine residue(s). In order to study the role of Cys57 as a redox-sensor residue modifiable by cellular thiols, a recombinant PhSOD and two Cys57 mutants were produced and characterized.

EDTA is essential to recover lead from dried blood spots on filter paper.

Background: Residual dried blood spots (DBSs) on filter paper from neonatal screening have been proposed as samples for population survey of lead contamination. We have investigated the EDTA effect on lead release in the eluting solution.

Methods: Furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry has been used for lead measurements.