Publications by authors named "Damiano F"

Cannabinoids include both endogenous endocannabinoids and exogenous phytocannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD), and have potential as therapeutic agents in cancer treatment due to their selective anticancer activities. CBD exhibits both antioxidant and pro-oxidant effects depending on its concentration and cell types. These properties allow CBD to influence oxidative stress responses and potentially enhance the efficacy of antitumor therapies.

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  • This study investigates how N-methylpyridinium (NMP), an alkaloid found in coffee, affects lipid metabolism in liver cells influenced by Type 2 diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLDs).
  • NMP was tested in a diabetes cell model, showing that it reduces lipid droplet accumulation and regulates gene expression related to lipogenesis by improving cellular oxidative status and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response.
  • The findings indicate that NMP could be beneficial for managing Type 2 diabetes and NAFLD by enhancing lipid metabolism and restoring cellular homeostasis.
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  • CACT is an important protein that helps transport long-chain fatty acids into mitochondria for energy production, and this study focuses on how its gene regulation is affected by omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA).
  • In liver cells, EPA and DHA were found to increase the levels of CACT mRNA and protein, highlighting their role in promoting this gene's expression.
  • The research identified a specific region in the CACT promoter that responds to n-3 PUFAs, involving GABP proteins rather than PPARα, suggesting that GABP may play a key role in the activation of the CACT gene by these fatty acids.
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  • N-methylpyridinium (NMP) is created during coffee roasting from trigonelline and has potential health benefits due to its antioxidant properties.
  • Preliminary studies have shown that NMP may protect against LPS-induced neuroinflammation in human glioblastoma cells by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines and inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway.
  • This research suggests that drinking coffee, which contains NMP, could help protect against neuroinflammatory issues relevant to neurological disorders.
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The TMPRSS2 protease plays a key role in the entry of the SARS-CoV-2 into cells. The TMPRSS2 gene is highly polymorphic in humans, and some polymorphisms may affect the susceptibility to COVID-19 or disease severity. rs75603675 (c.

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Background: Psychological distress is recognised as the most common mental health difficulty in emerging adult (18-to-24-year-old) female academic students. This study aimed to test a novel model positing physical activity habits as a protective factor for psychological distress through the mediating role of physical and psychological parameters. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet and self-reported physical health status were included as physical parameters.

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The goal of regenerative medicine is to achieve tissue regeneration. In the past, commonly used techniques included autologous or allogeneic transplantation and stem cell therapy, which have limitations, such as a lack of donor sites in the case of autologous transplantation and the invasiveness of stem cell harvesting. In recent years, research has, therefore, focused on new and less invasive strategies to achieve tissue regeneration.

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Aortic stenosis (AS) is a dynamic degenerative process that shares many pathophysiological features with atherogenesis, from initial proinflammatory calcification and focal thickening of the valve leaflets to obstruction of left ventricular outflow due to superimposed of severe calcification and immobilization of the valve leaflets. As the prevalence increases with age, AS is expected to become one of the most common heart diseases worldwide. In both obese and nonobese patients, persistent thickening of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is associated with a shift in its normal metabolic functions toward a dysmetabolic and proatherogenic phenotype that may impair the physiology of adjacent coronary arteries and promote the occurrence of coronary atherosclerosis.

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We investigated the extent to which adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) in combination with Mediterranean lifestyle factors influenced students' perceptions of subjective well-being (SWB) and distress. 939 undergraduates completed a survey to assess sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics, including adherence to the MD, depression, anxiety, stress, and SWB. Data were analysed with correlation, logistic, and multiple linear regression models.

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The application of scaffolding materials together with stem cell technologies plays a key role in tissue regeneration. Therefore, in this study, CGF (concentrated growth factor), which represents an autologous and biocompatible blood-derived product rich in growth factors and multipotent stem cells, was used together with a hydroxyapatite and silicon (HA-Si) scaffold, which represents a very interesting material in the field of bone reconstructive surgery. The aim of this work was to evaluate the potential osteogenic differentiation of CGF primary cells induced by HA-Si scaffolds.

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Sea urchins have emerged as an important source of bioactive compounds with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties relevant to human health. Since inflammation is a crucial pathogenic process in the development and progression of atherosclerosis, we here assessed the potential anti-inflammatory and vasculoprotective effects of coelomic red-cell methanolic extract of the black sea urchin in an in vitro model of endothelial cell dysfunction. Human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1) were pretreated with red-cell extract (10 and 100 μg/mL) before exposure to the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α.

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Spiramycin is a 16-membered macrolide antibiotic currently used in therapy to treat infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria responsible for respiratory tract infections, and it is also effective against some Gram-negative bacteria and against spp. In contrast, , which is one of the pathogens of most concern globally, is intrinsically resistant to spiramycin. In this study we show that spiramycin inhibits the expression of virulence determinants in in the absence of any significant effect on bacterial multiplication.

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Edentulism is the condition of having lost natural teeth, and has serious social, psychological, and emotional consequences. The need for implant services in edentulous patients has dramatically increased during the last decades. In this study, the effects of concentrated growth factor (CGF), an autologous blood-derived biomaterial, in improving the process of osseointegration of dental implants have been evaluated.

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The heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (hnRNP A1) is the most abundant and ubiquitously expressed member of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins family (hnRNPs). hnRNP A1 is an RNA-binding protein associated with complexes active in diverse biological processes such as RNA splicing, transactivation of gene expression, and modulation of protein translation. It is overexpressed in several cancers, where it actively promotes the expression and translation of several key proteins and regulators associated with tumorigenesis and cancer progression.

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Background: Sarcopenia is associated with adverse outcomes in older people. Several tools are recommended to assess muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance, but are not always available in daily practice.

Objective: The aim of the present study is to evaluate if there is a correlation between the personal perception of physical performance (assessed through a question on personal functional status) and the effective presence of sarcopenia (according to the EWGSOP2 definition) using data from the Longevity Check-up 7 + project.

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The incidence of elderly patients who come to the emergency room is progressively increasing. The specialization of the physician units might not be adequate for the evaluation of this complexity. The present study aimed to present a standard procedure, called 'The Geriatric Frailty Network', operating at the Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS Foundation, which is configured specifically for the level II assessment of frail elderly patients.

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Time spent outdoors and physical activity (PA) promote mental health. To confirm this relationship in the aftermath of COVID-19 lockdowns, we explored individual levels of anxiety, depression, stress and subjective well-being (SWB) in a cohort of academic students and staff members and tested their association with sport practice, PA at leisure time and time spent outdoors. Our cross-sectional study collected data during the COVID-19 outbreak (April−May 2021) on 939 students and on 238 employees, who completed an online survey on sociodemographic and lifestyle features, depression, anxiety, stress, and SWB.

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Mitochondria are primarily involved in cell bioenergetics, regulation of redox homeostasis, and cell death/survival signaling. An immunostimulatory property of mitochondria has also been recognized which is deployed through the extracellular release of entire or portioned organelle and/or mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) unloading. Dynamic homo- and heterotypic interactions involving mitochondria have been described.

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Article Synopsis
  • Recent research highlights the important yet unclear role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in gene expression regulation, particularly in the organism Streptomyces ambofaciens, which produces spiramycin.
  • The study identified 45 small RNAs (sRNAs) and 119 antisense RNAs (asRNAs), many of which are new to Streptomyces, that target mRNAs linked to crucial cellular processes like transcription and differentiation.
  • By comparing ncRNA expression across different strains, the findings revealed a correlation between ncRNA levels and the strains' metabolic states, indicating potential new mechanisms related to the stringent response.
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Dysregulation of de novo lipogenesis (DNL) has recently gained strong attention as being one of the critical factors that contribute to the assessment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD is often diagnosed in patients with dyslipidemias and type 2 diabetes; thus, an interesting correlation can be deduced between high hematic free fatty acids and glucose excess in the DNL dysregulation. In the present study, we report that, in a cellular model of NAFLD, the coexistence of elevated glucose and FFA conditions caused the highest cellular lipid accumulation.

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Kidney transplant (KT) recipients with COVID-19 are at high risk of poor outcomes due to the high burden of comorbidities and immunosuppression. The effects of immunosuppressive therapy (IST) reduction are unclear in patients with COVID-19. A retrospective study on 45 KT recipients followed at the University Hospital of Modena (Italy) who tested positive for COVID-19 by RT-PCR analysis.

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The YjgF/YER057c/UK114 (Rid) is a protein family breadth conserved in all domains of life and includes the widely distributed archetypal RidA (YjgF) subfamily and seven other subfamilies (Rid1 to Rid7). Among these subfamilies, RidA is the only family to have been biochemically well characterized and is involved in the deamination of the reactive enamine/imine intermediates. In this study, we have characterized a protein of the Rid7 subfamily, named Rid7C, in Nonomuraea gerenzanensis, an actinomycete that is characterized by the presence of two types of RNA polymerases.

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Although coffee consumption has been historically associated with negative health outcomes, recent evidence suggests a lower risk of metabolic syndrome, obesity and diabetes among regular coffee drinkers. Among the plethora of minor organic compounds assessed as potential mediators of coffee health benefits, trigonelline and its pyrolysis product -methylpyridinium (NMP) were preliminary shown to promote glucose uptake and exert anti-adipogenic properties. Against this background, we aimed at characterizing the effects of trigonelline and NMP in inflamed and dysfunctional human adipocytes.

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