Mosquitoes of the Maculipennis complex in Northern Italy.

The correct identification of mosquito vectors is often hampered by the presence of morphologically indiscernible sibling species. The Maculipennis complex is one of these groups that include both malaria vectors of primary importance and species of low/negligible epidemiological relevance, of which distribution data in Italy are outdated. Our study was aimed at providing an updated distribution of Maculipennis complex in Northern Italy through the sampling and morphological/molecular identification of specimens from five regions.

Ticks infesting humans and associated pathogens: a cross-sectional study in a 3-year period (2017-2019) in northwest Italy.

Background: Tick-borne diseases are common throughout Europe. Ticks transmit pathogens to the host while feeding and together with mosquitoes, they are major vectors of infectious agents worldwide. In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the incidence of tick-bite events and tick-borne disease in northwest Italy, but information on the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in ticks removed from humans remains scarce.

First report of the invasive mosquito Aedes koreicus (Diptera: Culicidae) and of its establishment in Liguria, northwest Italy.

Background: Invasive mosquito species (IMS) of the genus Aedes are a cause of increasing concern in Europe owing to their ability to vector important human viral diseases. Entomological surveillance to early detect alien mosquito and flavivirus circulation in Liguria, northwest Italy, has been carried out since 2011.

Results: The invasive species Aedes koreicus was first detected in Genoa in September 2015, when a male specimen was caught near the international airport; species identity was confirmed by genetic analysis.

Red wine extract prevents neuronal apoptosis in vitro and reduces mortality of transgenic mice.

In this work, we have investigated the effects of nutritional antioxidants as antidegenerative agents on glutamate-induced apoptosis in primary cultures of cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs). Glutamate-induced apoptosis is also associated with intracellular [Ca(2+)]i overload, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), depression of cell energy metabolism, cytochrome c release, and increase in caspase-3 activity. Pretreatment (3 h) with red wine extract (5 microg/mL) and ascorbic acid (30 microM) blocks glutamate-induced apoptosis in CGNs.

Intercellular communication and human hepatocellular carcinoma.

We have previously reported that gap junction-mediated intercellular communication (GJIC) can be restored in junctionally deficient human prostate epithelial cells, also suggesting that GJIC activity is regulated by estrogen. In the present work, we report studies on sex steroid regulation of GJIC and proliferative activity in both nontumoral (Chang liver, CL) and malignant (HepG2, Huh7) human liver cells. Junctional activity and liver cell growth were measured using the scrape-loading/dye-transfer (SL/DT) and the MTS assay, respectively.

Tissue content of hydroxyestrogens in relation to survival of breast cancer patients.

Purpose: The main goal of our study was to assess estrogen contents of breast tumor tissues, having different estrogen receptor status, in relation to long-term follow-up of patients.

Experimental Design: Twenty-one breast cancer cases, all collected from January 1986 to January 1988 at the M. Ascoli Cancer Hospital Centre in Palermo, were included in the study and compared with 6 healthy women as a control group.

Altered androgen metabolism eventually leads hepatocellular carcinoma to an impaired hormone responsiveness.

Sex steroid hormones are thought, among several other risk factors, to play a role in liver malignancies. For example, from epidemiological studies in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a clear disadvantage for male sex is evident. In addition, elevated levels of serum testosterone (T) and increased T to Estradiol (E(2)) ratio have been reported to predict an increased risk of HCC for male cirrhotic patients.

Analysis of benzothiazole in Italian wines using headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Benzothiazoles are a part of the molecular structure of a large number of natural products, biocides, drugs, food flavors, and industrial chemicals. They also appear in the environment mainly as a result of their production and use as rubber vulcanization accelerators. A new headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) method for analysis of benzothiazole (BTH) in wine is described.

Endocrine end-points in rheumatoid arthritis.

Our previous studies are reviewed and at the same time preliminary experimental observation to the topic of endocrine end-points in autoimmune disease is introduced. To this end, we have used rheumatoid arthritis (RA), including synovial fluids and primary cultures of synovial macrophages, as a model system in order to investigate (a) expression and subcellular localization of high-affinity sites of steroid binding in immune effector cells; (b) steroid metabolic profiles in both male and female RA patients, as compared to healthy subjects; and (c) activities of key steroid enzymes that govern intratissue accumulation of sex hormones. In RA tissues and cells, the concurrent evidence for (1) androgen and/or estrogen receptors, (2) high concentrations of biologically active steroids, (3) key enzymes of steroid metabolism, and (4) significant changes of estrogen to androgen ratio, all strongly suggests that individual immune cells, including synovial macrophages, may behave as steroid-sensitive cells, namely, they may represent a target for sex steroids, supporting the hypothesis of a potential endocrine regulation of the immune response also in RA disease.

Modulation of haemostatic function and prevention of experimental thrombosis by red wine in rats: a role for increased nitric oxide production.

1. The effects of ethyl alcohol and wine (red and white) on haemostatic parameters and experimental thrombosis were studied in rats; NO was evaluated as a possible mediator of these effects. 2.

Molecular expression of 17 beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase types in relation to their activity in intact human prostate cancer cells.

In the present study we have inspected estrogen metabolism in cultured human prostate cancer cells (LNCaP, DU145, PC3), in relation to the expression of mRNAs for different 17 beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17 beta HSD) enzymes (from 1 to 4). Using an intact cell analysis, we have compared precursor degradation and product formation after incubation of cells with physiological amounts of radioactive E2 or estrone (E1) for 24-72 h and subsequent reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography analysis. The LNCaP and DU145 cells only partly converted E2 to E1 (26 and 13% at 72 h, respectively), giving rise to an appreciable production of E2 from E1 (nearly 20% in all cases).

Product of aromatase activity in intact LNCaP and MCF-7 human cancer cells.

We investigated conversion rates of androgens to estrogens in cultured, hormone-responsive prostate (LNCaP) and breast (MCF-7) human cancer cells. For this purpose, we adopted an intact cell analysis, whereby cells were incubated for different incubation times in the presence of close-to-physiological (1 nM) or supraphysiological (1 microM) concentrations of labelled androgen precursors, i.e.