Frailty, comorbidity, and multimorbidity and their relation with medications adherence in primary care older adults.

Purpose: To assess and compare, through a retrospective cohort study, the relationships between frailty, comorbidity, multimorbidity, and levels of adherence to lipid-lowering drugs (LLDs), antihypertensives and antidepressants.

Methods: In a primary care database, we selected a cohort of patients aged 60 or older on December 31, 2022. The date of the first prescription of the aforementioned medications was the study index date.

The Italian guideline on comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) for the older persons: a collaborative work of 25 Italian Scientific Societies and the National Institute of Health.

Background: The guideline was promoted by the Italian General Practitioners-Primary Care and Geriatrics Hospital-Community Societies and was carried out involving the National Institute of Health and an Expert Panel including representatives from 25 Scientific and Health-Professional Organizations. The aim of the Guideline was to develop evidence-based recommendations on the efficacy of CGA in older people across different clinical settings and the accuracy and utility of CGA-based tools to assess prognosis.

Methods: According to the methodological handbook of the Italian National System of Guidelines and NICE criteria (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in England), the Guideline was produced based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation.

How to support general practitioners to better detect sarcopenia among older adults: a nested case-control analysis.

Purpose: This study explores correlations of sarcopenia and its proxies, such as history of falls, asthenia, and ambulation issues, with frailty levels among older adults in primary care.

Methods: In a cohort of 546,590 patients aged 60 years or older, "definite" sarcopenia cases were operationally defined through the use of non-specific diagnostic codes coupled with inspection of free-texts. Proxies of sarcopenia, such as falls history, asthenia, and ambulation issues were considered as well.

Comprehensive geriatric assessment in older people: an umbrella review of health outcomes.

Background: Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) has been in use for the last three decades. However, some doubts remain regarding its clinical use. Therefore, we aimed to capture the breadth of outcomes reported and assess the strength of evidence of the use of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) for health outcomes in older persons.

Soft Hydrogel Environments that Facilitate Cell Spreading and Aggregation Preferentially Support Chondrogenesis of Adult Stem Cells.

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) represent a promising cell type for treating damaged synovial joints. The therapeutic potential of MSCs will be facilitated by the engineering of biomaterial environments capable of directing their fate. Here the interplay between matrix elasticity and cell morphology in regulating the chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs when seeded onto or encapsulated within hydrogels made of interpenetrating networks (IPN) of alginate and collagen type I is explored.

Modified WCRF/AICR Score and All-Cause, Digestive System, Cardiovascular, Cancer and Other-Cause-Related Mortality: A Competing Risk Analysis of Two Cohort Studies Conducted in Southern Italy.

Background: In real life, nutrition goes beyond purely biological domains. Primary prevention is the most efficient approach for reducing the risk of mortality. We aimed to study the association of lifestyle, as measured by a modified World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (mWCRF/AICR) scoring system with all-cause, digestive system disease-related (DSD-related), cardiovascular disease-related (CVD-related), cancer-related and other cause-related mortality using data from two population-based cohort studies conducted in Southern Italy.

Microbiological Evaluation and Sperm DNA Fragmentation in Semen Samples of Patients Undergoing Fertility Investigation.

Fifteen percent of male infertility is associated with urogenital infections; several pathogens are able to alter the testicular and accessory glands' microenvironment, resulting in the impairment of biofunctional sperm parameters. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of urogenital infections on the quality of 53 human semen samples through standard analysis, microbiological evaluation, and molecular characterization of sperm DNA damage. The results showed a significant correlation between infected status and semen volume, sperm concentration, and motility.

Hydrostatic Pressure Regulates the Volume, Aggregation and Chondrogenic Differentiation of Bone Marrow Derived Stromal Cells.

The limited ability of articular cartilage to self-repair has motivated the development of tissue engineering strategies that aim to harness the regenerative potential of mesenchymal stem/marrow stromal cells (MSCs). Understanding how environmental factors regulate the phenotype of MSCs will be central to unlocking their regenerative potential. The biophysical environment is known to regulate the phenotype of stem cells, with factors such as substrate stiffness and externally applied mechanical loads known to regulate chondrogenesis of MSCs.

An estimation of the number of children requiring pediatric palliative care in Italy.

Background: Pediatric palliative care (PPC) addresses the physical and psychological needs of children suffering from life-limiting diseases. To define prevention and educational plans and to properly allocate resources, a precise estimation of the PPC burden is required.

Objectives: To estimate the current number of children requiring PPC in Italy, useful to assist policy-makers and healthcare bodies in the organization and allocation of PPC resources.

Membranes for Guided Bone Regeneration: A Road from Bench to Bedside.

Bone resorption can negatively influence the osseointegration of dental implants. Barrier membranes for guided bone regeneration (GBR) are used to exclude nonosteogenic tissues from influencing the bone healing process. In addition to the existing barrier membranes available on the market, a growing variety of membranes for GBR with tailorable physicochemical properties are under preclinical evaluation.

Synthesis of cationic quaternized pullulan derivatives for miRNA delivery.

Pullulan is a natural polysaccharide of potential interest for biomedical applications due to its non-toxic, non-immunogenic and biodegradable properties. The aim of this work was to synthesize cationic pullulan derivatives able to form complexes with microRNAs (miRNAs) driven by electrostatic interaction (polyplexes). Quaternized ammonium groups were linked to pullulan backbone by adding the reactive glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTMAC).

The Path of Cicely Saunders: The "Peculiar Beauty" of Palliative Care.

This paper is aimed at focusing on the writings and the experience of the Hospice movement Founder, Dame Cicely Saunders. The in-depth analysis carried out had the objective of verifying if "the way" of Cicely to understand, live and propose palliative care was still current and "beautiful", so that we can nowadays refer to her fascinating "Original Palliative Care". With "beauty" we mean, on the one hand, a way able to allow a personal path of research of the meaning of the disease and of the care, both for those who care and for those who are cared for.

All that glitters is not gold: sacroiliitis.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of "rheumatic" and "non-rheumatic" changes of the sacro-iliac joints (SIJ).

Material And Methods: We performed MRI in 210 patients with suspected inflammatory low back pain. We sorted and analysed the characteristics of sacroiliac bone lesions in "rheumatic" and "non-rheumatic" patients and assessed the diagnostic values of their extent and location.

Decoration of RGD-mimetic porous scaffolds with engineered and devitalized extracellular matrix for adipose tissue regeneration.

Unlabelled: Fat grafting is emerging as a promising alternative to silicon implants in breast reconstruction surgery. Unfortunately, this approach does not provide a proper mechanical support and is affected by drawbacks such as tissue resorption and donor site morbidity. Synthetic scaffolds can offer a valuable alternative to address these challenges, but poorly recapitulate the biochemical stimuli needed for tissue regeneration.

Evaluation of bone marrow stem cell response to PLA scaffolds manufactured by 3D printing and coated with polydopamine and type I collagen.

The majority of synthetic polymers used in 3 D printing are not designed to promote specific cellular interactions and hence possess limited bioactivity. Most of the strategies proposed to overcome this limitation demand multiple and expensive processing steps. This study aimed to evaluate the surface modification of 3D-printed poly(lactic acid) (PLA) scaffolds with polydopamine (PDA) coating as an alternative strategy to enhance their bioactivity and to facilitate the immobilization of type I collagen (COL I) onto the implant surface.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging in degenerative disease of the lumbar spine: Fat Saturation technique and contrast medium.

Purpose: To examine both anterior and posterior elements of the lumbar spine in patients with low back pain using MRI T2-weighted sequences with Fat Saturation (FS) and contrast enhanced T1-weighted sequences with FS.

Materials And Methods: Two thousand eight hundred and twenty (2820) patients (1628 male, 1192 female, mean age 54) presenting low back pain underwent MRI standard examination (Sagittal T1w TSE and T2w TSE, axial T1 SE) with the addition of sagittal and axial T2w Fat Sat (FS) sequences. Among all the patients, 987 (35%) have been studied adding Contrast Enhanced (CE) T1w FS sequences after administration of contrast medium.

Computed Tomography and MR Imaging in Spondyloarthritis.

This article provides an overview of the computed tomography (CT) and MR imaging appearances suggestive of spondyloarthritis, with a specific emphasis on the MR imaging findings of vertebral and sacroiliac involvement, and presents relevant clinical features that assist early diagnosis. CT is a sensitive imaging modality for the assessment of structural bone changes, but its clinical utility is limited. MR imaging is the modality of choice for early diagnosis, because of its ability to depict inflammation long before structural bone damage occurs, for monitoring of disease activity, and for evaluating therapeutic response.

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitors: latest evidence and clinical implications.

Observational studies and meta-analyses have shown that the administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), especially when prescribed at high doses for long periods of time, can potentially increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The increased thrombotic risk related to the use of NSAIDs is mainly due to their cyclooxygenase 2 selectivity. The dosage use, the formulation selected and the duration of the therapy are other factors that can significantly impact on the cardiovascular risk.

Biologically and mechanically driven design of an RGD-mimetic macroporous foam for adipose tissue engineering applications.

Despite clinical treatments for adipose tissue defects, in particular breast tissue reconstruction, have certain grades of efficacy, many drawbacks are still affecting the long-term survival of new formed fat tissue. To overcome this problem, in the last decades, several scaffolding materials have been investigated in the field of adipose tissue engineering. However, a strategy able to recapitulate a suitable environment for adipose tissue reconstruction and maintenance is still missing.

Spinal pain.

The spinal pain, and expecially the low back pain (LBP), represents the second cause for a medical consultation in primary care setting and a leading cause of disability worldwide [1]. LBP is more often idiopathic. It has as most frequent cause the internal disc disruption (IDD) and is referred to as discogenic pain.

Muscle acellular scaffold as a biomaterial: effects on C2C12 cell differentiation and interaction with the murine host environment.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) of decellularized organs possesses the characteristics of the ideal tissue-engineering scaffold (i.e., histocompatibility, porosity, degradability, non-toxicity).