Acute renal failure in patients treated with dronedarone or amiodarone: a large population-based cohort study in Italy.

Purpose: Causes of ARF are numerous including drugs. In 2012, spontaneous reporting showed a possible association between dronedarone and ARF. To further investigate such association, a retrospective cohort study on health-service claim databases was performed taking amiodarone as comparison.

MeCP2 Affects Skeletal Muscle Growth and Morphology through Non Cell-Autonomous Mechanisms.

Rett syndrome (RTT) is an autism spectrum disorder mainly caused by mutations in the X-linked MECP2 gene and affecting roughly 1 out of 10.000 born girls. Symptoms range in severity and include stereotypical movement, lack of spoken language, seizures, ataxia and severe intellectual disability.

Impact of an Innovative Educational Strategy on Medication Appropriate Use and Length of Stay in Elderly Patients.

Unlabelled: To evaluate the impact of an educational strategy on potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and length of stay in hospitalized elderly patients.

Design: An open study, with two cross-sectional surveys interspersed with an educational program (PRE phase and POST phase), has been performed in order to compare the PIMs number before and after the introduction of an educational strategy. The study included 2 phases: PRE, in which patients were enrolled as control group; POST, in which an educational strategy on the PIMs use was introduced among physicians, and patients were enrolled as intervention group.

A versatile clearing agent for multi-modal brain imaging.

Extensive mapping of neuronal connections in the central nervous system requires high-throughput µm-scale imaging of large volumes. In recent years, different approaches have been developed to overcome the limitations due to tissue light scattering. These methods are generally developed to improve the performance of a specific imaging modality, thus limiting comprehensive neuroanatomical exploration by multi-modal optical techniques.

Antipsychotic drug exposure and risk of pulmonary embolism: a population-based, nested case-control study.

Background: Only three observational studies investigated whether exposure to antipsychotics is associated with an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, with conflicting results. This study was therefore carried out to establish the risk of pulmonary embolism associated with antipsychotic drugs, and to ascertain the risk associated with first- and second-generation antipsychotic drugs, and with exposure to individual drugs.

Methods: We identified 84,253 adult individuals who began antipsychotic treatment in a large Italian health care system.

Preparation and application of an innovative thrombocyte/leukocyte-enriched plasma to promote tissue repair in chelonians.

Platelet concentrates are widely used in mammalian regenerative medicine to improve tissue healing. Chelonians (Testudines) would benefit from the application of thrombocyte preparations to regenerate damaged tissues, since traumatic injuries are leading causes of morbidity and mortality for both wild-living and domesticated animals. The aim of this study was to establish a protocol that optimized the recovery of the thrombocytes from blood samples and to show the efficacy of thrombocyte-enriched plasma in chelonians.

Aging-related changes in oxidative stress response of human endothelial cells.

Background: Oxidative stress is strongly associated with aging and age-related diseases and plays a crucial role in endothelial dysfunction development.

Aim: To better understand the molecular mechanisms of aging and stress response in humans, we examined changes to young and older human endothelial cells over time (72, 96 and 120 h), before and after H2O2-induced stress.

Methods: We measured the expression of the deacetylase Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) and its transcriptional target Forkhead box O3a (Foxo3a); TBARS, a well-known marker of overall oxidative stress, and catalase activity as index of antioxidation.

Gluten-Free Diet and Lipid Profile in Children With Celiac Disease: Comparison With General Population Standards.

Objectives: A gluten-free diet (GFD) may carry high energy and fat load. We verified lipid profile and dietary indicators cross-sectionally and prospectively in patients with celiac disease (CD).

Methods: In any consecutive child receiving a GFD (group 1) or newly diagnosed as having CD (group 2), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, blood pressure (BP), anthropometric data, physical activity, and a 24-hour food diary were collected during follow-up visits (yearly in group 1 and during the first year of GFD in group 2).

High prevalence of gluten sensitivity in a cohort of patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate if co-morbid conditions as hepatitis C virus infection and celiac disease may be associated to undifferentiated connective tissue disease.

Methods: We studied retrospectively and prospectively 52 patients with diagnosis of undifferentiated connective tissue disease, subdivided, according to Vaz criteria, in systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis and Sjögren's syndrome-like subgroups. Serological markers of celiac disease as anti-gliadin, anti-endomysium and anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies were investigated.

Nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy with paroxysmal arousals due to CHRNA2 loss of function.

Objective: We assessed the mutation frequency in nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits CHRNA4, CHRNB2, and CHRNA2 in a cohort including autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (ADNFLE) and sporadic nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (NFLE). Upon finding a novel mutation in CHRNA2 in a large family, we tested in vitro its functional effects.

Methods: We sequenced all the coding exons and their flanking intronic regions in 150 probands (73 NFLE, 77 ADNFLE), in most of whom diagnosis had been validated by EEG recording of seizures.

A polymorphism at the translation start site of the vitamin D receptor gene is associated with the response to anti-osteoporotic therapy in postmenopausal women from southern Italy.

The present study investigated the effect of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene, rs1544410 A/G and rs2228570 C/T, in modulating bone mineral density (BMD) and the response to treatment with bisphosphonates or strontium ranelate in postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO). Four hundred eighteen postmenopausal women from Southern Italy treated with bisphosphonates or strontium ranelate for three years were enrolled and stratified according to their genotype. Changes in BMD were expressed as the delta t-score (Δt-score).

A Prospective Screening of HLA-B*57.01 Allelic Variant for Preventing the Hypersensivity Reaction to Abacavir: Experience from the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of the Infectious Diseases Division at the University Hospital of Salerno.

Abacavir is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor largely used as part of the antiretroviral therapy in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected patients. Some individuals (2-9%) who start an abacavir treatment show an immunologic reaction indicated as hypersensitivity reaction syndrome (HSR) that is often responsible for therapy discontinuation and could represent a life-threatening event. Some studies demonstrated a correlation between this adverse reaction and the class I of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) allele, HLA-B*57.

Adherence to generic v. brand antidepressant treatment and the key role of health system factors.

One of the major challenges with antidepressant (AD) use is poor adherence and early treatment discontinuation. In addition to socio-demographic and clinical variables, treatment discontinuation may also be related to the capacity of the health system to assure and maintain continuity and intensity of care. Among health system factors that may interfere with adherence to pharmacological treatment, use of generic drugs may play a key role.

Seriousness, preventability, and burden impact of reported adverse drug reactions in Lombardy emergency departments: a retrospective 2-year characterization.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reported in emergency departments (EDs) and carry out a thorough characterization of these to assess preventability, seriousness that required hospitalization, subsequent 30-day mortality, and economic burden.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of data from an active pharmacovigilance project at 32 EDs in the Lombardy region collected between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2011. Demographic, clinical, and pharmacological data on patients admitted to EDs were collected by trained and qualified monitors, and deterministic record linkage was performed to estimate hospitalizations.

Right ventricular systolic dysfunction is related to exercise intolerance in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of right ventricular dysfunction on exercise tolerance and potential changes resulting from exercise training in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation.

Methods: Subjects were 44 patients with a history of symptomatic (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease classes 2-4) COPD attending a 4-week aerobic exercise training program. Right ventricle dysfunction was evaluated by echocardiography at admission using tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE).

Atrial fibrillation in the acute, hypercapnic exacerbations of COPD.

Objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been associated with a high frequency of arrhythmias. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common arrhythmias and causes substantial morbidity and mortality. Emerging risk factors for the development of AF include a variety of breathing disorders like COPD.

Paroxysmal Sympathetic Hyperactivity in Pediatric Rehabilitation: Clinical Factors and Acute Pharmacological Management.

Objective: Paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity (PSH) is widely described as occurring during intensive care, but in a number of patients it may last longer into the rehabilitation phase. Furthermore, drug therapy has been based on isolated observations. In this study, our aims are to describe a group of 26 pediatric rehabilitation patients with PSH and to quantify the effect of several drugs used to suppress PSH episodes.

Adverse cardiovascular events associated with triptans and ergotamines for treatment of migraine: systematic review of observational studies.

Background: Apart from the underlying cardiovascular (CV) risk associated with migraine, both triptans and ergotamines can induce vasoconstriction and potentially increase the risk of serious ischemic events. Because of the low frequency of such events in eligible patients, randomized controlled trials are not exhaustive to assess the drug-related CV risk. Observational studies are, therefore, an essential source of information to clarify this matter of concern.

Comparative safety profiles of intravitreal bevacizumab, ranibizumab and pegaptanib: the analysis of the WHO database of adverse drug reactions.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with intravitreal bevacizumab, ranibizumab and pegaptanib in the WHO database in order to have a real-life information on these drugs, which now is only based on data coming from clinical trials.

Methods: ADR reports for intravitreal use of bevacizumab, ranibizumab and pegaptanib from January 2002 to December 2012 were selected from the WHO-VigiBase. Reporting odds ratio (ROR) with confidence interval of 95 % and p value was calculated.

Focal dysplasia of the cerebral cortex and infantile spasms associated with somatic 1q21.1-q44 duplication including the AKT3 gene.

Somatic and germline duplications or activating mutations of AKT3 have been reported in patients with hemimegalencephaly and megalencephaly. We performed array comparative genomic hybridization on brain tissue and blood in 16 consecutive patients with symptomatic epilepsy due to focal or multilobar malformations of cortical development who underwent surgical treatment of epilepsy. One patient with infantile spasms and a dysplastic left frontal lobe harboured a somatic trisomy of the 1q21.

Ethnic differences in the utilization of mental health services in Lombardy (Italy): an epidemiological analysis.

Purpose: To analyze the differences in mental health service utilization by immigrant and native populations of Lombardy, an Italian region that hosts one-fourth of the immigrants living in Italy.

Method: The data are drawn from the regional mental health information system (based on the case register model), which supplies information on the users and mental health activities of the Departments of Mental Health, Lombardy, a region of about 10 million people; 139,775 adult users were treated in mental health services in 2010.

Results: Mental health services are used by 11.