Prognostic value of cardiac troponin I assay in hospitalized elderly patients.

Background: Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) has been poorly studied in elderly inpatients.

Aim: This study wanted to assess factors influencing the increase in cTnI and its prognostic value in hospitalized elderly patients.

Methods: 354 elderly (mean age of 84.

Effect of restoring sinus rhythm in hypertensive patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing electrical cardioversion.

Introduction: Little is known about the effects of atrial fibrillation (AF) on blood pressure (BP) levels in hypertensive patients. Some studies suggest a role for rhythm control in managing such patients' BP, but the improvement observed in cardiac performance after restoring sinus rhythm (SR) may coincide with an increase in BP. The aim of this study was to apply ambulatory BP monitoring to analyze BP changes in hypertensive patients after electrical cardioversion for persistent AF.

Reliability of Oscillometric Blood Pressure Monitoring in Atrial Fibrillation Patients Admitted for Electric Cardioversion.

The reliability of automated oscillometric blood pressure (BP) monitors in atrial fibrillation (AF) has been poorly investigated, only comparing different patients with AF and sinus rhythm (SR), and is a method influenced by individual characteristics. This study compared the reliability of the oscillometric device A&D TM-2430 (A&D Company, Tokyo, Japan) with that of a mercury sphygmomanometer in AF patients whose SR was restored after electric cardioversion (ECV). Three consecutive BP measurements were obtained on the day before and about 30 days after ECV in stable treatment conditions.

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in elderly patients with chronic atrial fibrillation: is it absolutely contraindicated or a useful tool in clinical practice and research?

The aim of this study was to test whether ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is as feasible and reliable as ABPM is in patients with normal sinus rhythm (SR). Studies of ABPM in the elderly remain limited, and the use of this method in patients with AF remains controversial. The Italian SIIA 2008 guidelines consider ABPM 'absolutely contraindicated' for AF patients.

Intracellular NAD(H) levels control motility and invasion of glioma cells.

Oncogenic transformation involves reprogramming of cell metabolism, whereby steady-state levels of intracellular NAD(+) and NADH can undergo dramatic changes while ATP concentration is generally well maintained. Altered expression of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), the rate-limiting enzyme of NAD(+)-salvage, accompanies the changes in NAD(H) during tumorigenesis. Here, we show by genetic and pharmacological inhibition of NAMPT in glioma cells that fluctuation in intracellular [NAD(H)] differentially affects cell growth and morphodynamics, with motility/invasion capacity showing the highest sensitivity to [NAD(H)] decrease.

Cancer cell metabolism regulates extracellular matrix degradation by invadopodia.

Transformed cancer cells have an altered metabolism, characterized by a shift towards aerobic glycolysis, referred to as 'the Warburg phenotype'. A change in flux through mitochondrial OXPHOS and cytosolic pathways for ATP production and a gain of capacity for biomass production in order to sustain the needs for altered growth and morphodynamics are typically involved in this global rewiring of cancer cell metabolism. Characteristically, these changes in metabolism are accompanied by enhanced uptake of nutrients like glucose and glutamine.

Full penetrance of Morgagni-Stewart-Morel syndrome in a 75-year-old woman: case report and review of the literature.

Context: Morgagni-Stewart-Morel syndrome is defined as the presence of hyperostosis frontalis interna, variably associated with metabolic, endocrine, and neuropsychiatric disorders. The possible cause-effect relationship of these associations remains uncertain.

Case Presentation: A 75-year-old woman presented with severe frontal headache and a history of psychotic disorders.

Diabetes in a geriatric ward: efficacy and safety of new insulin analogs in very old inpatients.

Aims: 1) to evaluate the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in a geriatric ward; 2) to assess the efficacy and safety of insulin analogs in elderly inpatients over 65 years of age.

Methods: We analysed the medical records of 1851 elderly inpatients admitted to our geriatric clinic from March 2009 to September 2011, to identify patients with DM. The efficacy and safety of insulin analogs were measured in patients with a hospital stay of at least 9 days, by assessing the means of all glycemic sticks (4-7 sticks/day), number of hyperglycemic events (>250 mg/dL) and number of hypoglycemic events (<70 mg/dL) daily.

Outcome after acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in older patients: effects of age, neurological deficit severity and blood pressure (BP) variations.

The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between BP variations and neurological deficit outcome in old-old patients after AIS. Fifty-four patients (66-96 years), admitted consecutively for stroke were assessed, using a non-invasive BP monitoring (NIBPM), measuring mean systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure and their variation between days 1 and 7. Neurological assessment and cognitive function were evaluated using the NIH stroke Scale (NIHSS) and the short portable mental status Questionnaire (SPMSQ), respectively.

Novel invadopodia components revealed by differential proteomic analysis.

When highly invasive cancer cells are cultured on an extracellular matrix substrate, they extend proteolytically active membrane protrusions, termed invadopodia, from their ventral surface into the underlying matrix. Our understanding of the molecular composition of invadopodia has rapidly advanced in the last few years, but is far from complete. To accelerate component discovery, we resorted to a proteomics approach by applying DIfference Gel Electrophoresis (DIGE) to compare invadopodia-enriched sub-cellular fractions with cytosol and cell body membrane fractions and the whole cell lysate.

Lignin chemistry: biosynthetic study and structural characterisation of coniferyl alcohol oligomers formed in vitro in a micellar environment.

Model coniferyl alcohol lignin (the so-called dehydrogenative polymerisate, DHP) was produced in water under homogeneous conditions guaranteed by the presence of a micellised cationic surfactant. A complete study of the activity of the enzymatic system peroxidase/H(2)O(2) under our reaction conditions was reported and all the reaction products up to the pentamer were characterised by (1)H NMR spectroscopy and ESI mass spectrometry. Our system, and the molecules that have been generated in it, represent a closer mimicry of the natural microenvironment since an enzyme, under micellar conditions, reproduces the cell system better than in buffer alone.

Cell and molecular biology of invadopodia.

The controlled degradation of the extracellular matrix is crucial in physiological and pathological cell invasion alike. In vitro, degradation occurs at specific sites where invasive cells make contact with the extracellular matrix via specialized plasma membrane protrusions termed invadopodia. Considerable progress has been made in recent years toward understanding the basic molecular components and their ultrastructural features; generating substantial interest in invadopodia as a paradigm to study the complex interactions between the intracellular trafficking, signal transduction, and cytoskeleton regulation machineries.

Invadopodia biogenesis is regulated by caveolin-mediated modulation of membrane cholesterol levels.

Invadopodia are proteolytically active protrusions formed by invasive tumoural cells when grown on an extracellular matrix (ECM) substratum. Clearly, invadopodia are specialized membrane domains acting as sites of signal transduction and polarized delivery of components required for focalized ECM degradation. For these reasons, invadopodia are a model to study focal ECM degradation by tumour cells.

Faciogenital dysplasia protein Fgd1 regulates invadopodia biogenesis and extracellular matrix degradation and is up-regulated in prostate and breast cancer.

Invadopodia are proteolytically active membrane protrusions that extend from the ventral surface of invasive tumoral cells grown on an extracellular matrix (ECM). The core machinery controlling invadopodia biogenesis is regulated by the Rho GTPase Cdc42. To understand the upstream events regulating invadopodia biogenesis, we investigated the role of Fgd1, a Cdc42-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor.