Epigenetic modulation of immune cells: Mechanisms and implications.

Epigenetic modulation of the immune response entails modifiable and inheritable modifications that do not modify the DNA sequence. While there have been many studies on epigenetic changes in tumor cells, there is now a growing focus on epigenetically mediated changes in immune cells of both the innate and adaptive systems. These changes have significant implications for both the body's response to tumors and the development of potential therapeutic vaccines.

Rapid monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern through high-resolution melt analysis.

The current global pandemic of COVID-19 is characterized by waves of infection due to the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants carrying mutations on the Spike (S) protein gene. Since autumn 2020 many Variants of Concern (VOC) have been reported: Alpha/B.1.

Effect of a lifestyle intervention program's on breast cancer survivors' cardiometabolic health: Two-year follow-up.

The purpose of this study is to assess the cardiometabolic responses of a lifestyle intervention (LI) conducted at home among breast cancer (BC) survivors during the two years of COVID-19 pandemic. A 3-month LI focused on diet and exercise was performed on thirty BC survivors (women; stages 0-II; non-metastatic; aged 53.6 ± 7.

The role of laboratory medicine in a value-based healthcare system: the example of heart failure patient management in the Italian context.

Objective: As of today, healthcare systems worldwide face severe challenges that undermine their sustainability. The value-based healthcare (VBHC) approach has been proposed as a strategic and methodological framework to ensure the delivery of the best patient outcomes with economic efficiency. Through the illustrative example of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP) for heart failure (HF) patient management in the context of the Italian National Healthcare system, this article explores the role that in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) can play in enabling value-based care models.

Circulating ACE2 level and zinc/albumin ratio as potential biomarkers for a precision medicine approach to COVID-19.

Highly mutable influenza is successfully countered based on individual susceptibility and similar precision-like medicine approach should be effective against SARS-COV-2. Among predictive markers to bring precision medicine to COVID-19, circulating ACE2 has potential features being upregulated in both severe COVID-19 and predisposing comorbidities. Spike SARS-CoVs were shown to induce ADAM17-mediated shedding of enzymatic active ACE2, thus accounting for its increased activity that has also been suggested to induce positive feedback loops leading to COVID-19-like manifestations.

Comparing Heterologous and Homologous COVID-19 Vaccination: A Longitudinal Study of Antibody Decay.

The humoral response after vaccination was evaluated in 1248 individuals who received different COVID-19 vaccine schedules. The study compared subjects primed with adenoviral ChAdOx1-S (ChAd) and boosted with BNT162b2 (BNT) mRNA vaccines (ChAd/BNT) to homologous dosing with BNT/BNT or ChAd/ChAd vaccines. Serum samples were collected at two, four and six months after vaccination, and anti-Spike IgG responses were determined.

Movement and health beyond care, MoviS: study protocol for a randomized clinical trial on nutrition and exercise educational programs for breast cancer survivors.

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common invasive cancer in women, and exercise can significantly improve the outcomes of BC survivors. MoviS (Movement and Health Beyond Care) is a randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate the potential health benefits of exercise and proper nutritional habits. This study aims to assess the efficacy of aerobic exercise training in improving quality of life (QoL) and health-related factors in high-risk BC.

Evaluation of Two-Month Antibody Levels after Heterologous ChAdOx1-S/BNT162b2 Vaccination Compared to Homologous ChAdOx1-S or BNT162b2 Vaccination.

We evaluated the post-vaccination humoral response of three real-world cohorts. Vaccinated subjects primed with ChAdOx1-S and boosted with BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine were compared to homologous dosing (BNT162b2/BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1-S/ChAdOx1-S). Serum samples were collected two months after vaccination from a total of 1248 subjects.

Which ones, when and why should renin-angiotensin system inhibitors work against COVID-19?

The article describes the possible pathophysiological origin of COVID-19 and the crucial role of renin-angiotensin system (RAS), providing several "converging" evidence in support of this hypothesis. SARS-CoV-2 has been shown to initially upregulate ACE2 systemic activity (early phase), which can subsequently induce compensatory responses leading to upregulation of both arms of the RAS (late phase) and consequently to critical, advanced and untreatable stages of COVID-19 disease. The main and initial actors of the process are ACE2 and ADAM17 zinc-metalloproteases, which, initially triggered by SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins, work together in increasing circulating Ang 1-7 and Ang 1-9 peptides and downstream (Mas and Angiotensin type 2 receptors) pathways with anti-inflammatory, hypotensive and antithrombotic activities.

A comprehensive UHPLC-MS/MS screening method for the analysis of 98 New Psychoactive Substances and related compounds in human hair.

In this study, a rapid liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method has been developed and validated for the targeted analysis of 98 New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) from the hair matrix. The monitored compounds included various chemical classes (7 phenethylamines, 10 tryptamines, 18 cathinones, 24 synthetic opioids, and 38 synthetic cannabinoids) with emphasis given to newly emerged NPS. The method employed a direct extraction process through the incubation of hair samples (25 mg) and internal standards with M3® reagent at 100 °C for 60 min, followed by extract purification through acid and basic liquid-liquid micro-extraction (LLME).

Effects of a Home-Based Lifestyle Intervention Program on Cardiometabolic Health in Breast Cancer Survivors during the COVID-19 Lockdown.

This study aimed to evaluate the cardiometabolic effects of a home-based lifestyle intervention (LI) in breast cancer survivors (BCSs) during the COVID-19 lockdown. In total, 30 BCSs (women; stages 0-II; non-metastatic; aged 53.5 ± 7.

Differences between Community - and Hospital - acquired urinary tract infections in a tertiary care hospital.

The aim of this retrospective study was to highlight the differences in antibiotic resistance between Hospital-acquired and Community-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs). Antimicrobial UTIs resistance data were collected from March 2011 to March 2018. Uropathogens were identified from 41,715 patients using routine laboratory methods.

A three-year study entailing molecular characterization and epidemiology of Clostridium difficile in an Italian tertiary care hospital.

In Italy, there are limited studies on the molecular epidemiology of Clostridium difficile, possibly due to insufficient laboratory diagnostic capacity, low awareness and lack of high-quality surveillance systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diffusion of C. difficile in a tertiary care hospital and to genotype all the collected strains in order for hospital staff to take corrective action.

A Real-World Setting Study: Which Glucose Meter Could Be the Best for POCT Use? An Easy and Applicable Protocol During the Hospital Routine.

The aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate the reliability and robustness of six glucose meters for point-of-care testing in our wards using a brand-new protocol. During a 30-days study period a total of 50 diabetes patients were subjected to venous blood sampling and glucose meter blood analysis. The results of six glucose meters were compared with our laboratory reference assay.

Retrospective analysis of nosocomial infections in an Italian tertiary care hospital.

Nosocomial infections are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Studies of their prevalence in single institutions can reveal trends over time and help to identify risk factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the nosocomial infections trend and identify the prevalence of predominant bacterial microorganisms and their drug resistance patterns in an Italian tertiary care hospital.

Listeria monocytogenes meningitis in an immunocompromised patient.

This report describes a case of meningitis caused by Listeria monocytogenes in a stem cell transplant recipient on immunosuppressive therapy for cutaneous chronic graft-versus host disease. A 59-year-old woman had undergone allogeneic stem cell transplantation (from a matched unrelated donor) 13 months previously for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She was on regular hematologic follow-up.

Kidney transplantation from living donors genetically related or unrelated to the recipients: a single-center analysis.

Living-donor programs have gradually become an attractive strategy to expand the donor pool for kidney transplantation (KT). Grafts from living-related donors (LRD) display superior function and longer survival than those obtained from cadaveric sources. Recent reports have shown that outcomes from living-unrelated donors (LUD) are not worse than those from LRD.

A study of HLA class I and class II 4-digit allele level in Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are represented by rare but life-threatening cutaneous adverse reactions to different drugs. Previous studies have found that in a Han Chinese population from Taiwan and other Asian Countries, a strong genetic association between HLA-class I alleles (B*15:02, B*58:01) and SJS and TEN was induced by carbamazepine and allopurinol, respectively. To identify genetic markers that covered the MHC region, we carried out a case-control association enrolling 20 Caucasian patients with SJS/TEN.

Application and validation of Cox regression models in a single-center series of double kidney transplantation.

A useful approach to reduce the number of discarded marginal kidneys and to increase the nephron mass is double kidney transplantation (DKT). In this study, we retrospectively evaluated the potential predictors for patient and graft survival in a single-center series of 59 DKT procedures performed between April 21, 1999, and September 21, 2008. The kidney recipients of mean age 63.

Cytokine polymorphisms and Alzheimer disease: possible associations.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a degenerative dementia characterized by typical, destructive alterations of neurons (neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques), and glial proliferation. Cytokine-driven inflammatory environment can contribute to the pathogenesis and/or progression of the disease. The aim of the study was to evaluate and compare genotypic and allelic polymorphisms of 13 cytokine genes in 19 Caucasoid AD patients with medium-high level of dementia (assessed by an MMSE < 24) and 20 normal controls affected by non inflammatory neuropsychiatric disease.

Co-existence of classical scrapie and Nor98 in a sheep from an Italian outbreak.

Nor98 is an atypical scrapie strain characterized by a molecular pattern and brain distribution of the pathological prion protein (PrP(Sc)) different from classical scrapie. In Italy, 69 atypical cases have been identified so far and all were characterized as Nor98 strain. In this paper we report an unusual case in a sheep which showed immunohistochemical and molecular features of PrP(Sc) different from the other atypical cases.

Genetic diversity of Streptococcus suis clinical isolates from pigs and humans in Italy (2003-2007).

Streptococcus suis, a major porcine pathogen, is emerging as a zoonotic agent capable of causing severe invasive disease in humans exposed to pigs or pork products. S. suis infection is rare in industrialised countries and usually arises as sporadic cases, with meningitis the most common clinical presentation in humans.

Interplay between 20S proteasomes and prion proteins in scrapie disease.

Scrapie is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy affecting the central nervous system in sheep. The key event in such neurodegeneration is the conversion of the normal prion protein (PrP(C)) into the pathological isoform (PrP(Sc)). Misfolded prion proteins are normally degraded by the proteasome.