Star formation inside a galactic outflow.

Recent observations have revealed massive galactic molecular outflows that may have the physical conditions (high gas densities) required to form stars. Indeed, several recent models predict that such massive outflows may ignite star formation within the outflow itself. This star-formation mode, in which stars form with high radial velocities, could contribute to the morphological evolution of galaxies, to the evolution in size and velocity dispersion of the spheroidal component of galaxies, and would contribute to the population of high-velocity stars, which could even escape the galaxy.

Suppressing star formation in quiescent galaxies with supermassive black hole winds.

Quiescent galaxies with little or no ongoing star formation dominate the population of galaxies with masses above 2 × 10(10) times that of the Sun; the number of quiescent galaxies has increased by a factor of about 25 over the past ten billion years (refs 1-4). Once star formation has been shut down, perhaps during the quasar phase of rapid accretion onto a supermassive black hole, an unknown mechanism must remove or heat the gas that is subsequently accreted from either stellar mass loss or mergers and that would otherwise cool to form stars. Energy output from a black hole accreting at a low rate has been proposed, but observational evidence for this in the form of expanding hot gas shells is indirect and limited to radio galaxies at the centres of clusters, which are too rare to explain the vast majority of the quiescent population.

HLA-E gene polymorphism associates with ankylosing spondylitis in Sardinia.

Introduction: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a severe, chronic inflammatory disease strongly associated with HLA-B27. The presence of additional HLA risk factors has been suggested by several studies. The aim of the current study is to assess the occurrence of an additional HLA susceptibility locus in the region between HLA-E and HLA-C in the Sardinian population.

Age-dependent association of idiopathic achalasia with vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor 1 gene.

Idiopathic achalasia is a rare disorder of the oesophagus of unknown aetio-pathogenesis characterized by a myenteric inflammation, aperistalsis and insufficient lower oesophageal sphincter relaxation. Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), present in the myenteric plexus, is involved in smooth muscle relaxation and acts as an anti-inflammatory cytokine. The human VIP receptor 1 gene (VIPR1) is highly polymorphic and may play a role in idiopathic achalasia.

A functional polymorphism of the vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor 1 gene correlates with the presence of HLA-B*2705 in Sardinia.

The association of HLA-B27 with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is the strongest among all inflammatory diseases. However, the exact role of these molecules in disease pathogenesis is still unknown. The existence of HLA-B27 variants rarely found in patients introduces a further level of complexity.

Identification of previously unrecognized predisposing factors for ankylosing spondylitis from analysis of HLA-B27 extended haplotypes in Sardinia.

Objective: To define the contribution of HLA genes other than HLA-B27 in conferring susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis (AS), through analysis of HLA-B27 haplotypes in Sardinian subjects.

Methods: Ninety-eight patients with AS, 133 HLA-B27-positive controls (of whom 33 were positive for HLA-B*2709), and 190 randomly selected controls were genotyped for microsatellites and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) spanning the HLA region.

Results: Haplotypes carrying either the B*2705 or the B*2709 allele were found to share a conserved region downstream of the HLA-B gene and a functional polymorphism in the HLA-E gene (R128G), while differing in all other markers.

Animal and human tissue Na,K-ATPase in normal and insulin-resistant states: regulation, behaviour and interpretative hypothesis on NEFA effects.

The sodium(Na)- and potassium(K)-activated adenosine-triphosphatase (Na,K-ATPase) is a membrane enzyme that energizes the Na-pump by hydrolysing adenosine triphosphate and wasting energy as heat, so playing a role in thermogenesis and energy balance. Na,K-ATPase regulation by insulin is controversial; in tissue of hyperglycemic-hyperinsulinemic ob/ob mice, we reported a reduction, whereas in streptozotocin-treated hypoinsulinemic-diabetic Swiss and ob/ob mice we found an increased activity, which is against a genetic defect and suggests a regulation by hyperinsulinemia. In human adipose tissue from obese patients, Na,K-ATPase activity was reduced and negatively correlated with body mass index, oral glucose tolerance test-insulinemic area and blood pressure.

Low-dose enalapril in the treatment of surgical cutaneous hypertrophic scar and keloid--two case reports and literature review.

Hypertrophic scars and keloids are 2 forms of excessive cutaneous scarring that occur in predisposed individuals. The healing process varies greatly among patients, and the risk of a bad scar evolution is unpredictable. Keloids create disfiguring scars with associated erythema and pain or pruritus or restricted range of motion, and are a major cause of morbidity.

Animal and human tissue Na,K-ATPase in obesity and diabetes: A new proposed enzyme regulation.

Background: Na,K-ATPase is a membrane enzyme that energizes the Na-pump, hydrolyzing ATP and wasting energy as heat. It may play a role in thermogenesis, energy balance, and obesity development. Regulation of the enzyme by insulin is controversial.

Effect of in vitro glucose and diabetic hyperglycemia on mouse kidney protein synthesis: relevance to diabetic microangiopathy.

To test the possible roles of diabetic hyperglycemia, we studied the in vitro effect of increasing glucose concentrations (5.0-27.5 mmol/L) on protein synthesis (PS) of the kidneys from "adult" male albino Swiss mice.

A mild form of Alstrom disease associated with metabolic syndrome and very high fasting serum free fatty acids: two cases diagnosed in adult age.

Alstrom syndrome (ALMS) is a very rare genetic autosomal recessive disease, characterized by early-onset severe abdominal obesity, impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes with insulin resistance, acanthosis nigricans, hyperlipidemia, childhood progressive retinal degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa and neurosensory hearing loss or deafness, cardiomyopathy, and other endocrine disorders. Genetic studies locate the ALMS gene on chromosome 2p12-13. The aim of this paper is to describe and discuss two unrelated cases of a mild ALMS form diagnosed after the age of 40 and 60, respectively, in adult fertile female patients.

Effects of short-term metformin treatment on insulin sensitivity of blood glucose and free fatty acids.

Aim: Based on the known effect of metformin (MET) in improving insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes, with the scope to focus the effects on glycaemic and free fatty acids (FFA) levels, we studied the effects of a short-term treatment with this drug in obese subjects and obese patients with diabetes or family history of diabetes (FHD). We used a method to allow us to evaluate the possible difference of insulin sensibility with regard to the insulin action on glycaemia and blood FFA, both in the basal state and during oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).

Methods: Insulin sensitivity was investigated before and after MET treatment (850 mg bid for 10 days) in seven obese subjects with normal glucose tolerance and without FHD and 13 obese patients with diabetes (n=7) or FHD (n=6).

Low fasting serum triglyceride level as a precocious marker of autoimmune disorders.

The authors recently reported the occurrence of low fasting serum triglyceride (TG) and high free fatty acid (FFA) levels in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. TG estimation in diverse groups of patients with autoimmune disease or hyperactive immune response confirmed the occurrence of a similar decrease of TG. In some patients, serum FFA level was also evaluated.

A clinical variant of familial Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome.

Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) is an autosomal recessive inherited disease consisting of (1) partial oculocutaneous albinism (with nystagmus, strabism, and visual acuity loss), (2) platelet storage pool deficiency (with bleeding diathesis), and (3) disorder of "ceroid" metabolism with a multisystem tissue lysosomal ceroid deposition. HPS is less uncommon in Puerto Rico, where the most important studies have been performed, but is a very rare disease in Europe. HPS basic defect remains unknown, even if an HPS-causing gene was identified in chromosome segment 10q23-q23.

Low fasting serum triglyceride and high free fatty acid levels in pulmonary fibrosis: a previously unreported finding.

Objective: The authors describe here the occurrence of low fasting serum triglyceride (TG) and high free fatty acid (FFA) levels in pulmonary fibrosis, a finding that has never been reported before.

Patients And Methods: TGs were measured in: (a) 44 patients (3 male and 41 female; mean age SEM: 63.06 +/- 4.

A review of the literature of Bardet-Biedl disease and report of three cases associated with metabolic syndrome and diagnosed after the age of fifty.

Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a genetic autosomal-recessive disease (formerly grouped with Laurence-Moon-Biedl syndrome but considered today as a separate entity) characterized by abdominal obesity, mental retardation, dysphormic extremities (syndactyly, brachydactyly or polydactyly), retinal dystrophy or pigmentary retinopathy, hypogonadism or hypogenitalism (limited to male patients) and kidney structural abnormalities or functional impairment. The expression and severity of the various clinical BBS features show inter- and intrafamilial variability. This study focuses on three cases of familial BBS--two sisters and one brother (66, 64 and 51 years of age, respectively)--with the main cardinal findings of the disease plus a classic 'metabolic syndrome' (characterized by abdominal obesity, atherogenic dyslipidaemia, raised blood pressure, insulin resistance with or without glucose intolerance, and prothrombotic risk and proinflammatory states).

Rheumatoid syndrome associated with lung interstitial disorder in a dental technician exposed to ceramic silica dust. A case report and critical literature review.

Exposure to silica minerals is associated with silicosis and autoimmune disorders, especially systemic scleroderma. Evidence of this association has been increasingly reported in the last decade. The aim of this paper is to discuss, on the basis of a literature review, the case of a 28-year-old female dental technician who suffered from episodes of weakness, arthralgia, pain, swelling and stiffness of the fingers, dyspnoea with cough, a positive Waaler-Rose reaction, increased rheumatoid factor and normal ESR.

Hypomagnesemia. A review of pathophysiological, clinical and therapeutical aspects.

The aim of this paper is to discuss, on the basis of an extensive literature review, the role of magnesium (Mg) in health and disease. Mg is an essential cation playing a crucial role in many enzyme systems. Quantitative Mg body stores are regulated by metabolic and hormonal effects on gastrointestinal absorption and renal excretion.

Multiple factor indices of protection or risk towards disease.

In order to combine several factors entailing protection or risk towards disease and to calculate a Protection Multiple Factor Index (PMFI) or, conversely, a Risk Multiple Factor Index (RMFI), we propose the following formulae: (1) PMFI = 2/[(mF)2 + 1] and (2) RMFI = 2/[(imF)2 + 1], where mF is the mean value of the factors considered and imF is the inverse (or reciprocal) of mF. In calculating mF, the value of each 'risk factor' observed in the patient under study (Vp) is expressed by taking the mean normal value (Vmn) as the unit, i.e.

[Hyperkeratotic Kaposi sarcoma with leg lymphoedema after prolonged corticosteroid therapy for SLE. Case report and review of the literature].

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a malignant vascular neoplasia with a viral etiology, characterized by development of multiple hyperpigmentate lesions, primarily at cutaneous level with associated edema and ulcerations, but frequently involving also the mucous membranes and/or visceral organs. In this study, we describe (in the light of the relevant literature) the clinical case of an elderly (78 yrs-old) woman, who developed red-blues multiple hyperkeratotic nodules in the right leg and foot with marked lymphoedema, blushing and pain, after a long period of a low-dose corticosteroid therapy for LES (at least 10 years of continuous treatment). The diagnosis of KS was made on the basis of histologic findings.

Insulin sensitivity of blood glucose versus insulin sensitivity of blood free fatty acids in normal, obese, and obese-diabetic subjects.

We calculated insulin sensitivity indices (ISI) concerning the insulin effect on both glycemia and blood free fatty acids (FFA), named ISI(gly) and ISI(ffa), respectively, in 34 normal, 27 obese, and 11 obese-diabetic subjects by using the following formulas: ISI(gly)= 2/[(INSp x GLYp) +1], and ISI(ffa)= 2/[(INSp x FFAp)+1], in which INSp, GLYp, and FFAp = insulinemic, glycemic, and FFA areas during oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) (75 g glucose, suggested sampling time: 0, 1, and 2 hours) of the person studied. A slight modification of these formulas allows the calculation of insulin resistance indices (IRI), ie, IRI(gly) and IRI(ffa). ISI and IRI are complementary, as their sum is always equal to 2, so that IRI can be deduced from ISI and vice versa.

[Psoriasis complicated with severe mutilating psoriatic osteoarthropathy. Clinical case and review of the literature].

Aim of this paper is to discuss, on the basis of an extensive critical review of the recent literature, the case of a 56-yr-old male patient who suffered from cutaneous psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis mutilans (PA) (polyarticular, symmetric, destruent and erosive) with involvement of the hands, feet and spine, associated with android obesity and mild type 2 diabetes mellitus. HLA typing of the patient showed the HLA-A3-Ax, B14-B63 and Cw4-Cw6 haplotypes, some of which are associated or correlated with susceptibility to PA. Cutaneous psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory dermatitis, with onset at any age and affecting approximately 2% of the western populations.

[Bilateral sclerosing lipogranuloma of the gluteal region with calcification. Report of a clinical case and review of the literature].

A rare case of large bilateral sclerosing lipogranuloma with multiple calcifications of gluteal region is described in an old female patient affected by a cerebrovascular disease. The lesions appeared as firm, nontender, plaques, 9-10 cm in diameter, covered with hyperpigmented skin. This uncommon disorder is discussed on the basis of data obtained from an extensive literature review.