The role of femoral head size in metal-on-metal hip arthroplasty: analysis of a cohort of 3813 patients with long term follow-up.

Metal-on-metal (MoM) large headed arthroplasties were suggested to decrease failure rates by means of reduced volumetric wear and enhanced implant stability. However, they caused high rates of revisions due to adverse reaction to metal debris, osteolysis, pseudotumor growth, and other issues. The study aims to present the long-term outcomes of MoM arthroplasties on a large cohort of patients, evaluating the impact of head sizes on survival rate.

Intraoperative complications during total hip arthroplasty: a very uncommon intraoperative femur fracture occurred in a malnourished osteoporotic patient.

Intraoperative femoral fracture is a rare but growing complication of primary total hip arthroplasty. We aimed to present an uncommon related case, assessing also the role of malnutrition and osteoporosis. We discuss the case of a 49 years old male patient, malnourished and osteoporotic, with an intertrochanteric, multifragmentary, inveterate fracture, that happened three months before.

Congenital hip dysplasia: The importance of early screening and treatment.

Congenital Hip Dysplasia (CHD) is characterized by a hip joint dislocation between the femoral head and the acetabulum, with a multifactorial etiology. This disorder can be an isolated condition or the manifestation of a syndromic condition, and it has been estimated with higher rates than registered, with a predominance in female sex and left side; risk factors are now defined. In Italy, the incidence rate is 3-4%, with significant regional differences: higher in Lombardy and lower in Sicily.

Survey on Endoparasites of Dairy Goats in North-Eastern Italy Using a Farm-Tailored Monitoring Approach.

With the spread of anthelmintic resistance (AR), endoparasite monitoring consolidates its role for a more sustainable targeting of treatments. A survey on endoparasites in dairy goat farms of north-eastern Italy was conducted to test a monitoring approach based on a farm-tailored sample size. Farm management and parasites control practices were investigated in 20 farms through a questionnaire survey.

An HGF-MSP chimera disassociates the trophic properties of scatter factors from their pro-invasive activity.

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and macrophage-stimulating protein (MSP) have an intrinsic dual nature: they are trophic cytokines preventing apoptosis on one side and scatter factors promoting invasion on the other. For therapeutic use, their anti-apoptotic activity must be separated from their pro-invasive activity. To this end, we engineered chimeric factors containing selected functional domains of HGF and/or MSP in different combinations, and tested their biological activity.

A dominant negative RAS-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor reverses neoplastic phenotype in K-ras transformed mouse fibroblasts.

Ras proteins are small GTPases playing a pivotal role in cell proliferation and differentiation. Their activation state depends on the competing action of GTPase Activating Proteins (GAP) and Guanine nucleotide Exchange Factors (GEF). A tryptophan residue (Trp1056 in CDC25Mm-GEF), conserved in all ras-specific GEFs identified so far has been previously shown to be essential for GEF activity.

Lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury in mice. II. Evaluation of functional damage in isolated parenchyma strips.

Pulmonary inflammatory diseases are characterized by changes in airway responsiveness. This phenomenon is commonly related to the action of inflammatory mediators produced by infiltrated leukocytes. The aim of this study was to investigate in an ex vivo experimental model the effect of acute instillation of lipopolysaccharide (bacterial endotoxin; LPS) on lung parenchyma contractility.

Lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury in mice. I. Concomitant evaluation of inflammatory cells and haemorrhagic lung damage.

Intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces an inflammatory response characterized by infiltration of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) into the extracellular matrix and by the release of mediators that play a fundamental role in lung damage. In the present study, we developed a mouse model which allows correlation of the inflammatory response and haemorrhagic tissue injury in the same animal. In particular, the different steps of the inflammatory response and tissue damage were evaluated by the analysis of three parameters: myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in the parenchyma, reflecting PMNs accumulation into the lung, inflammatory cells count in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), reflecting their extravasation, and total haemoglobin estimation in BALF, a marker of haemorrhagic tissue damage consequent to PMNs degranulation.

Synthesis, inhibitory activity towards human leukocyte elastase and molecular modelling studies of 1-carbamoyl-4-methyleneaminoxyazetidinones.

Some monocyclic beta-lactam derivatives of type 3 (MAOAs) in which the leaving group (LG) on the C(4) is a methyleneaminoxy moiety, were synthesised and tested in vitro and in vivo for their inhibitory activity towards human leukocyte elastase (HLE). Some compounds showed an appreciable in vitro inhibitory activity against this enzyme. Effects on the anti-HLE activity due to the nature of the substituents R and R(1) present on their LG were observed and rationalised by means of molecular modelling techniques.

Synthesis and in vitro and in vivo evaluation of the 2-(6'methoxy-3',4'-dihydro-1'-naphtyl)-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4- one as a new potent substrate inhibitor of human leukocyte elastase.

The title 2-vinyl-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-one has been synthesised and tested for inhibitory activity against human leukocyte elastase. The compound has shown activity both in vitro towards human sputum elastase and in vivo in an hemorrhagic assay.

Differential contribution of R and S isomers in ketoprofen anti-inflammatory activity: role of cytokine modulation.

Among nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), 2-arylpropionic acids exist as a racemic mixture of its enantiomeric forms, with S-enantiomers primarily responsible for inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis and of inflammatory events. The aim of this study was to compare the anti-inflammatory effects of R- and S-ketoprofen in vitro and in vivo. S-Ketoprofen efficiently inhibited carrageenan-induced edema formation, but it could also amplify the LPS-induced production of the inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-1 (IL-1), in close correlation with its ability to inhibit prostaglandin synthesis.

Effectiveness of carbocysteine lysine salt monohydrate on models of airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness.

We investigated the possible effects of the mucoactive drug Carbocysteine lysine salt monohydrate (CLS.H2O) on experimentally-induced airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness. CLS.