Does Occupational Exposure to Chemicals/Carcinogens Affect the Hematological Parameters of Workers?

Chemical and carcinogenic risk in workplace are linked to an increase of the incidence of cancer in exposed workers. The aim of this observational study was to identify an association between exposure to chemical risk and changes in hematochemical parameters of workers exposed. The study examined blood count parameters performed on 4523 employees of Sapienza University of Rome from September 2019 to February 2020.

Evaluation of a Post-Operative Rehabilitation Program in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Colorectal Cancer Surgery: A Pilot Study.

This pilot study explores the effects of a post-operative physical exercise program on the quality of life (QoL) and functional and nutritional parameters of patients that underwent laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery, compared to usual care alone. The intervention group (IG) attended a 2-month-long supervised and combined exercise-training program during the post-operative period. Both IG and control group (CG) participated in the QoL, functional, and nutritional assessments before exercise training (T0), 2 months after the beginning of the exercise (end of treatment) (T1), and 2 (T2) and 4 (T3) months from the end of treatment.

Hyaluronic Acid (HA), Platelet-Rich Plasm and Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) promote human chondrocyte regeneration in vitro and ESWT-mediated increase of CD44 expression enhances their susceptibility to HA treatment.

Novel strategies have been proposed for articular cartilage damage occurring during osteoarthritis (OA) and -among these- Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT), intra-articular injections of Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) or Hyaluronic Acid (HA) revealed encouraging results. To investigate the possible mechanisms responsible for those clinical benefits, we established primary cultures of human chondrocytes derived from cartilage explants and measured the in vitro effects of ESW, PRP and HA therapies. After molecular/morphological cell characterization, we assessed those effects on the functional activities of the chondrocyte cell cultures, at the protein and molecular levels.

Clinical and Antitumor Immune Responses in Relapsed/Refractory Follicular Lymphoma Patients after Intranodal Injections of IFNα-Dendritic Cells and Rituximab: a Phase I Clinical Trial.

Purpose: This study was aimed at evaluating the feasibility, safety, immunologic and clinical responses in patients with follicular lymphoma treated with monocyte-derived dendritic cells generated in the presence of IFNα and GM-CSF (IFN-DC) in combination with low doses of rituximab.

Patients And Methods: Firstly, we analyzed and the immunologic properties of IFN-DC against follicular lymphoma. Thus, we performed a phase I trial in 8 patients with refractory and relapsed follicular lymphoma based on sequential intranodal injections of low-dose of rituximab and unloaded IFN-DC and report the safety, clinical, and immunologic results of the enrolled patients.

Body Image and Eating Disorders are Common among Professional and Amateur Athletes Using Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The use of performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) is not uncommon in athletes and appears to be associated with several psychopathological disorders of unclear prevalence. In this multicenter, cross-sectional study, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of body image disorders (BIDs) and eating disorders (EDs) in PIED-using athletes vs. PIED nonusers.

Conservative treatment for Insertional Achilles Tendinopathy: platelet-rich plasma and focused shock waves. A retrospective study.

Background: Insertional Achilles tendinopathy (IAT) represents a serious challenge for both physiatrists and surgeons. Here we analyse the results obtained by two conservative treatments [platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections and focused extracorporeal shock-wave therapy (ESWT)] in physically active patients with IAT.

Methods: During two consecutive periods, 45 consecutive patients with IAT were treated with 3 sessions of ESWT (2400 impulses at 0.

Intratumoral injection of IFN-alpha dendritic cells after dacarbazine activates anti-tumor immunity: results from a phase I trial in advanced melanoma.

Background: Advanced melanoma patients have an extremely poor long term prognosis and are in strong need of new therapies. The recently developed targeted therapies have resulted in a marked antitumor effect, but most responses are partial and some degree of toxicity remain the major concerns. Dendritic cells play a key role in the activation of the immune system and have been typically used as ex vivo antigen-loaded cell drugs for cancer immunotherapy.

Experimental studies on the biological effects of extracorporeal shock wave therapy on tendon models. A review of the literature.

Encouraging results using extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for treating chronic tendinopathies were recently obtained, although the specific mechanisms by which it induces therapeutic effects remain largely unknown. In order to provide possible explications of such clinical efficacy, several reports have investigated the effects of ESWT on animal models and different kind of cultured cells. Our contribute in establishing the potential outcome of ESWT on human primary cultured tenocytes, derived from healthy compared to ruptured tendons, have supported the growing evidence that shock waves may supply faster post-injury recovery.

Platelet-rich plasma versus focused shock waves in the treatment of jumper's knee in athletes.

Background: Tendinopathies represent a serious challenge for orthopaedic surgeons involved in treatment of athletes.

Purpose: To compare the effectiveness and safety of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections and focused extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) in athletes with jumper's knee.

Study Design: Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1.

Vasculogenic mimicry of human ovarian cancer cells: role of CD147.

The term vasculogenic mimicry (VM) indicates the process by which aggressive tumor cells are able to generate in vitro non-endothelial cell-lined channels delimited by extracellular matrix. Although VM has been described in several human malignancies, the molecular basis of this phenomenon is not entirely understood. In the present study, we examined VM in two ovarian cancer cell lines with different invasion capability (CABA I, low invasion activity; SKOV3, high invasion activity).

Identification of an optimal concentration of platelet gel for promoting angiogenesis in human endothelial cells.

Background: Numerous studies have supported the use of topical blood components to improve wound healing and tissue regeneration. Platelet gel (PG), a hemocomponent obtained from mix of activated platelets (PLTs) and cryoprecipitate, is currently being used clinically in an attempt to improve tissue healing. The present study sought to define the most effective PG concentration to promote angiogenesis in vitro.

Enhancement drugs and the athlete.

This article considers the health risks associated with the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in sport. After an overview on the evolution of doping substances and methods and on the current international organization of the antidoping tests, the potential risks correlated with abuse of PEDs are presented. Specific problems of drug associations, designer steroids, and nutritional supplements also are discussed.

Platelet gel-released supernatant modulates the angiogenic capability of human endothelial cells.

Background: Platelet gel is used to facilitate wound healing in virtue of the growth factors released from activated platelets at the site of lesion, but little is known about the specific mechanisms underlying cellular repair.

Aims: To evaluate, in vitro, cellular effects of different concentrations of platelet gel -released supernatant on endothelial cells.

Material And Methods: Platelet concentrate was produced at the Service of Immunohaematology and Transfusion of San Salvatore Hospital of L'Aquila, using multiple bags.

Cathepsin B mediates the pH-dependent proinvasive activity of tumor-shed microvesicles.

Vesicles shed by cancer cells are known to mediate several tumor-host interactions. Tumor microenvironment may, in turn, influence the release and the activity of tumor-shed microvesicles. In this study, we investigated the molecular mediators of the pH-dependent proinvasive activity of tumor-shed vesicles.

Therapeutic targeting of the stem cell niche in experimental hindlimb ischemia.

Background: The custom microenvironment 'vascular niche' is a potential therapeutic target for several pathophysiological conditions. Osteoblasts regulate the hematopoietic stem cell niche, and activation of the parathyroid hormone (PTH) receptor can increase the number of cells mobilized into the bloodstream.

Methods: C57Bl/6 mice were randomly assigned treatment with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), PTH, G-CSF plus PTH or saline.

Enhancement drugs and the athlete.

This article considers the health risks associated with the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in sport. After an overview on the evolution of doping substances and methods and on the current international organization of the antidoping tests, the potential risks correlated with abuse of PEDs are presented. Specific problems of drug associations, designer steroids, and nutritional supplements also are discussed.

Tumor vesicle-associated CD147 modulates the angiogenic capability of endothelial cells.

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) degradation of extracellular matrix is thought to play an important role in invasion, angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis. Several studies have demonstrated that CD147/extracellular MMP inducer, a membrane-spanning molecule highly expressed in tumor cells, may be involved in the progression of malignancies by regulating expression of MMP in peritumoral stromal cells. In the present study we show that CD147 is expressed in microvesicles derived from epithelial ovarian cancer cells and that CD147-positive vesicles may promote an angiogenic phenotype in endothelial cells in vitro.

Detrimental effects of anabolic steroids on human endothelial cells.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects in vitro induced by androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS) (testosterone, nandrolone, androstenedione, norandrostenedione, and norandrostenediol) used illicitly in sport competitions, on the proliferation ability, apoptosis and the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), selected as a prototype of a biological target system whose structure and function can be affected by steroids. For this purpose, we evaluated the proliferation inhibition by cytotoxic assay expressed as the concentration of drug inducing a 50% decrease in growth (IC50). The IC50 was reached for testosterone at 100 microM, androstenedione at 375 microM, nandrolone at 9 microM, norandrostenedione at 500 microM.

Bioavailability of VEGF in tumor-shed vesicles depends on vesicle burst induced by acidic pH.

Tumor angiogenesis is regulated by a dynamic cross-talk between tumor cells and the host microenvironment. Because membrane vesicles shed by tumor cells are known to mediate several tumor-host interactions, we determined whether vesicles might also stimulate angiogenesis. Vesicles shed by human ovarian carcinoma cell lines CABA I and A2780 stimulated the motility and invasiveness of endothelial cells in vitro.

Osteoblast-conditioned media stimulate membrane vesicle shedding in prostate cancer cells.

Although it has been shown that the cross-talk between osteoblasts and tumor cells stimulates proliferation and invasion of prostate carcinoma (PCa) cells, the molecular mechanisms underlying this event are largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that the PCa cells, PC3, derived from bone metastasis, undergo changes of their invasive capability if grown in the presence of osteoblast-derived conditioned media (OBCM). Specifically, they were able to organize tridimensional structures in Matrigel, such as large branching colonies, tube-like structures and clusters of proliferating cells, after treatment.

Lack of ceramide generation and altered sphingolipid composition are associated with drug resistance in human ovarian carcinoma cells.

PTX (Paclitaxel) is an antimitotic agent used in the treatment of a number of major solid tumours, particularly in breast and ovarian cancer. This study was undertaken to gain insight into the molecular alterations producing PTX resistance in ovarian cancer. PTX treatment is able to induce apoptosis in the human ovarian carcinoma cell line, CABA I.

Alterations of choline phospholipid metabolism in ovarian tumor progression.

Recent characterization of abnormal phosphatidylcholine metabolism in tumor cells by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has identified novel fingerprints of tumor progression that are potentially useful as clinical diagnostic indicators. In the present study, we analyzed the concentrations of phosphatidylcholine metabolites, activities of phosphocholine-producing enzymes, and uptake of [methyl-14C]choline in human epithelial ovarian carcinoma cell lines (EOC) compared with normal or immortalized ovary epithelial cells (EONT). Quantification of phosphatidylcholine metabolites contributing to the 1H NMR total choline resonance (3.

GnRH antagonist in IVF poor-responder patients: results of a randomized trial.

The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the efficacy of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist (GnRH) in comparison with the standard long protocol in poor-responder patients. Sixty patients with poor ovarian response in previous treatment cycles were randomized into two groups: group A (n = 30) was stimulated with a standard long protocol, and group B (n = 30) received GnRH antagonist. Vaginal ultrasound was performed to evaluate ovarian response.

Intrafollicular expression of matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors in normally ovulating women compared with patients undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment.

Objective: To assess possible differences in the activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), MMP-2 and MMP-9, and their inhibitors, the tissue inhibitors of MMPs, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2, in follicular fluid (FF) of women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment and of normally ovulating women.

Design: Prospective study.

Methods: MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity was analyzed by gelatin zymography and MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-2, TIMP-1 and 17beta-estradiol levels were measured in FF by ELISA.

Prosaposin: a new player in cell death prevention of U937 monocytic cells.

We report that prosaposin binds to U937 and is active as a protective factor on tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha)-induced cell death. The prosaposin-derived saposin C binds to U937 cells in a concentration-dependent manner, suggesting that prosaposin behaves similarly. Prosaposin binding induces U937 cell death prevention, reducing both necrosis and apoptosis.