Cellular and biochemical alterations induced by diesel oil in the brown alga Sargassum cymosum var. stenophyllum cultured in vitro.

The effect of the in vitro acute exposure to diesel oil (0.001%, 0.01%, 0.

Exposure to respirable silica contributes to lower airway inflammation in asthmatic horses.

Background: Respirable mineral particles can induce lower airway inflammation, but the role they play in asthma of horses is unknown.

Objectives: Respirable mineral particles, particularly respirable silica, are an overlooked determinant of chronic lung inflammation (asthma) in horses.

Animals: Twenty-three horses from an equine hospital population: 11 moderately affected (MEA), 7 severely asthmatic (SEA), and 5 control horses free from respiratory clinical signs.

Emission of 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations stimulated by antiparkinsonian dopaminomimetic drugs in hemiparkinsonian rats is associated with neuronal activation in subcortical regions that regulate the affective state.

Dopamine replacement therapy (DRT) of Parkinson's disease (PD) may trigger non-motor complications, some of which affect hedonic homeostatic regulation. Management of iatrogenic alterations in the affective state in PD is unsatisfactory, partly because of the limitations in the experimental models that are used in the preclinical investigation of the neurobiology and therapy of these alterations. In this connection, we recently employed a new experimental approach consisting in measuring the emission of 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), a marker of positive affect, in hemiparkinsonian rats treated with drugs used in the DRT of PD.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement with corevalve self-expanding bioprosthesis: Clinical and durability data up to 12 years.

Background And Aims: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) determined a paradigm shift in the treatment of patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis but data on very long-term durability are lacking. We sought to evaluate the clinical and hemodynamic outcomes of the CoreValve porcine pericardial self-expanding bioprosthesis at 12-year follow-up.

Methods: 882 inoperable or high-risk patients were treated with the CoreValve bioprosthesis in 8 Italian high-volume centers between 2007 and 2011.

Divergent Acute and Enduring Changes in 50-kHz Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Rats Repeatedly Treated With Amphetamine and Dopaminergic Antagonists: New Insights on the Role of Dopamine in Calling Behavior.

Background: Rats emit 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in response to nonpharmacological and pharmacological stimuli, with addictive psychostimulants being the most effective drugs that elicit calling behavior in rats. Earlier investigations found that dopamine D1-like and D2-like receptors modulate the emission of 50-kHz USVs stimulated in rats by the acute administration of addictive psychostimulants. Conversely, information is lacking on how dopamine D1-like and D2-like receptors modulate calling behavior in rats that are repeatedly treated with addictive psychostimulants.

Evolutionary modelling indicates that mosquito metabolism shapes the life-history strategies of Plasmodium parasites.

Within-host survival and between-host transmission are key life-history traits of single-celled malaria parasites. Understanding the evolutionary forces that shape these traits is crucial to predict malaria epidemiology, drug resistance, and virulence. However, very little is known about how Plasmodium parasites adapt to their mosquito vectors.

Evolving Paradigms in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Results from a High-Volume, Single Center Experience.

Given the expanding indications toward younger patients at lower surgical risk, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) simplification and streamlining are gaining increasing importance. Patients who underwent TAVR from the year 2015 to 2020 were prospectively enrolled. The patients were divided in time tertiles according to the date of intervention.

Impact of Pacemaker Implantation After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement on Long-Term Survival in Patients With Bicuspid Aortic Valve.

Limited data are available about the impact of permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation on long-term survival in patients with a bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and severe aortic stenosis (AS) treated with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). We aimed to evaluate the long-term clinical outcomes of patients with BAV with AS who underwent periprocedural PPM implantation after TAVR with a self-expandable prosthesis. Data from patients with BAV and severe AS who underwent TAVR between April 2009 and January 2022 and followed in the framework of the One Hospital ClinicalService-CoreValve Project were collected.

Haemodynamic and metabolic phenotyping of patients with aortic stenosis and preserved ejection fraction: A specific phenotype of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction?

Aims: Degenerative aortic valve stenosis with preserved ejection fraction (ASpEF) and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) display intriguing similarities. This study aimed to provide a non-invasive, comparative analysis of ASpEF versus HFpEF at rest and during exercise.

Methods And Results: We prospectively enrolled 148 patients with HFpEF and 150 patients with degenerative moderate-to-severe ASpEF, together with 66 age- and sex-matched healthy controls.

Outcomes of Patients With Very Severe Aortic Stenosis Treated With Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.

Symptoms of aortic stenosis (AS) are not proportional to its severity and patients with very severe AS (VSAS) remain asymptomatic for a long time. The appropriate time for intervention in patients with VSAS and the effects of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) on left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) remain debated. Our aim was to compare the procedural and 30-day outcomes of TAVI between patients with VSAS and patients with severe AS (SAS) and the changes in LVH.

Molecular and functional properties of human Plasmodium falciparum CSP C-terminus antibodies.

Human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the central repeat and junction domain of Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (PfCSP) have been studied extensively to guide malaria vaccine design compared to antibodies against the PfCSP C terminus. Here, we describe the molecular characteristics and protective potential of 73 germline and mutated human mAbs against the highly immunogenic PfCSP C-terminal domain. Two mAbs recognized linear epitopes in the C-terminal linker with sequence similarity to repeat and junction motifs, whereas all others targeted conformational epitopes in the α-thrombospondin repeat (α-TSR) domain.

Glycosylated nanoparticle-based PfCSP vaccine confers long-lasting antibody responses and sterile protection in mouse malaria model.

The development of an effective and durable vaccine remains a central goal in the fight against malaria. Circumsporozoite protein (CSP) is the major surface protein of sporozoites and the target of the only licensed Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) malaria vaccine, RTS,S/AS01. However, vaccine efficacy is low and short-lived, highlighting the need for a second-generation vaccine with superior efficacy and durability.

Withania somnifera influences MDMA-induced hyperthermic, cognitive, neurotoxic and neuroinflammatory effects in mice.

Withania somnifera (WS) is utilized in Ayurvedic medicine owing to its central and peripheral beneficial properties. Several studies have accrued indicating that the recreational amphetamine-related drug (+/-)- 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; Ecstasy) targets the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system in mice, inducing neurodegeneration and gliosis, causing acute hyperthermia and cognitive impairment. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a standardized extract of W.

Prenatal and postnatal drug exposure: focus on persistent central effects.

Clinical studies indicate significant use of prescription, nonprescription and social/recreational drugs by women during pregnancy; however, limited knowledge exists about the detrimental effects that this practice may have on the developing central nervous system of the fetus. Importantly, few experimental and clinical data are available on how gestational exposure could exacerbate the effects of the same or a different drug consumed by the offspring later in life. The present review summarizes recent findings on the central toxicity elicited by several classes of drugs, administered prenatally and postnatally in experimental animals and humans, focusing on prescription and nonprescription analgesics, anti-inflammatory agents, alcohol and nicotine.

Non-continuous mobile electrocardiogram monitoring for post-transcatheter aortic valve replacement delayed conduction disorders put to the test.

Aims: Permanent pacemaker implantation (PPM-I) remains nowadays the most important drawback of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure and the optimal strategy of delayed conduction disturbances (CDs) in these patients is unclear. The study aimed to validate an ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring through a 30 s spot ambulatory digital mobile ECG (AeECG), by using KardiaMobile-6L device in a 30-day period after TAVR procedure.

Methods And Results: Between March 2021 and February 2022, we consecutively enrolled all patients undergoing TAVR procedure, except pacemaker (PM) carriers.