Publications by authors named "Giannini G"

Trimethylaminuria (TMAU) is a rare metabolic syndrome caused by the accumulation of trimethylamine in the body, causing odor emissions similar to rotten fish in affected patients. This condition is determined by both genetic and environmental factors, especially gut dysbiosis. The multifactorial nature of this syndrome makes for a complex and multi-level diagnosis.

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  • Autoantibodies against IFN-α (AAb-IFN-α) may be linked to less aggressive autoimmune behaviors in latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) compared to early-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D).
  • Researchers compared the presence of AAb-IFN-α in LADA (41 subjects) versus T1D (90 subjects) to determine its clinical significance.
  • Results indicated a higher positivity for AAb-IFN-α isoforms in LADA patients, suggesting a unique autoimmune profile that could inform future therapeutic approaches in autoimmune diseases.
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Background: The efficacy of subthalamic stimulation on axial signs of Parkinson's disease (PD) is debated in the literature. This study delves into the dynamic interplay of gait and posture, specifically probing their nuanced response to subthalamic stimulation and levodopa.

Methods: We used wearable sensor technology to examine alterations in the spatiotemporal parameters of gait and posture in individuals with PD before and 6 months after subthalamic deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) surgery.

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The transcription factor GLI1 is the main and final effector of the Hedgehog signaling pathway, which is involved in embryonic development, cell proliferation and stemness. Whether activated through canonical or non-canonical mechanisms, GLI1 aberrant activity is associated with Hedgehog-dependent cancers, including medulloblastoma, as well as other tumoral contexts. Notwithstanding a growing body of evidence, which have highlighted the potential role of post translational modifications of GLI1, the complex mechanisms modulating GLI1 stability and activity have not been fully elucidated.

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Background: Lu PSMA therapy is increasingly used for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treatment. However, data on its efficacy and safety in patients previously treated with Ra remain limited.

Methods: This retrospective, multicenter study evaluated 233 mCRPC patients treated with Lu PSMA at 5 European centers.

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The MYC oncogene is frequently overexpressed in tumors and inhibition of its translation is considered an attractive therapeutic opportunity. Despite numerous reports proposing an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) within the MYC Upstream Region (MYC UR) to sustain MYC translation during cellular stress or chemotherapy, conflicting evidence remains regarding the validity of such a mechanism. Through comprehensive investigations in MYC-driven Colorectal Cancer (CRC) and Burkitt Lymphoma (BL) cells, we demonstrate that MYC UR does not facilitate cap-independent translation, but instead orchestrates resistance to PI3K inhibitors.

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Purpose: Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a neurological syndrome defined by gait disturbance, cognitive impairment and urinary incontinence. However, its clinical presentation can vary widely due to overlapping syndromes and common comorbidities in older adults. This study aims to provide practical guidance to aid in the clinical suspicion and support the diagnostic and therapeutic processes for these patients.

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Background And Objectives: Frameless deep brain stimulation (DBS) offers advantages in terms of patient comfort and reduced operative time. However, the need for bony fiducial markers for localization remains a drawback due to the time-consuming and uncomfortable procedure. An alternative localization method involves the direct tracking of an intraoperative 3-dimensional scanner.

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Background And Objective: Patients diagnosed with grade group (GG) 1 prostate cancer (PCa) following treatment for benign disease ("incidental" PCa) are typically managed with active surveillance (AS). It is not known how their outcomes compare with those observed in patients diagnosed with GG1 on biopsy. We aimed at determining whether long-term oncologic outcomes of AS for patients with GG1 PCa differ according to the type of diagnosis: incidental versus biopsy detected.

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Temperature and humidity are studied in the context of seasonal infections in temperate and tropical zones, but the relationship between viral trends and climate variables in temperate subtropical zones remains underexplored. Our retrospective study analyzes respiratory pathogen incidence and its correlation with climate data in a subtropical zone. Retrospective observational study at Moinhos de Vento Hospital, South Brazil, aiming to assess seasonal trends in respiratory pathogens, correlating them with climate data.

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. Recent innovative neurostimulators allow recording local field potentials (LFPs) while performing motor tasks monitored by wearable sensors. Inertial sensors can provide quantitative measures of motor impairment in people with subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation.

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Background: Blood pressure control in Parkinson's disease (PD) under subthalamic deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is influenced by several intertwined aspects, including autonomic failure and levodopa treatment.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of chronic STN-DBS, levodopa, and their combination on cardiovascular autonomic functions in PD.

Methods: We performed cardiovascular reflex tests (CRTs) before and 6-months after STN-DBS surgery in 20 PD patients (pre-DBS vs.

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A stimuli-sensitive linker is one of the indispensable components of prodrugs for cancer therapy as it covalently binds the drug and releases it upon external stimulation at the tumour site. Quinone methide elimination has been widely used as the key transformation to release drugs based on their nucleofugacity. The usual approach is to bind the drug to the linker as a carbamate and release it as a free amine after a self-immolative 1,6-elimination.

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Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetic kidney disease are increasing. Hepatitis C infection (HCV) occurs in 1% of the world population and can induce several kidney diseases. DM prevalence is increased in individuals with HCV; however, kidney diseases in those with both DM and HCV have not been assessed.

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Evidence has been provided that circulating cancer-associated macrophage-like cell (CAM-L) numbers increase in response to chemotherapy, with an inverse trend compared to circulating tumor cells (CTCs). In the era of evolving cancer immunotherapy, whether CAM-Ls might have a potential role as predictive biomarkers of response has been unexplored. We evaluated whether a serial blood evaluation of CTC to CAM-L ratio might predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in a cohort of non-small-cell lung cancer patients.

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Prenatal alcohol exposure is responsible for increasing chronic disease risk in later life, including obesity and metabolic syndrome. Alcohol drinking may compromise endogenous antioxidant capacity, causing an increase in free radicals and reactive oxygen species in the newborn. Excessive reactive oxygen species could attack the cellular proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, leading to cellular dysfunction.

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Purpose: Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is associated with an increased prevalence of open-angle glaucoma, attributed to variations of the pressure gradient between intraocular and intracranial compartments at the level of the lamina cribrosa (LC). As ocular biomechanics influence the behavior of the LC, and a lower corneal hysteresis (CH) has been associated to a higher risk of glaucomatous optic nerve damage, in this study we compared ocular biomechanics of iNPH patients with healthy subjects.

Methods:  Twenty-four eyes of 24 non-shunted iNPH patients were prospectively recruited.

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Background: Increased prevalence of cardiovascular autonomic failure might play a key role on Parkinson's disease (PD) progression of glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA)-mutated patients, determining a malignant phenotype of disease in these patients.

Objective: To objectively characterize, for the first time, the cardiovascular autonomic profile of GBA-mutated patients compared to idiopathic PD patients by means of cardiovascular reflex tests (CRTs).

Methods: This is a case-control (1 : 2) study on PD patients belonging to well-characterized prospective cohorts.

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  • Two randomized trials have established that triplet therapy (androgen deprivation therapy, ARPI, and docetaxel) provides better survival rates compared to doublet therapy (ADT and docetaxel) for patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.
  • A real-world analysis involving 97 mHSPC patients from various Austrian centers was conducted, tracking treatment responses and clinical parameters, while certain guideline-based treatments were underutilized in a significant percentage of the patients.
  • Findings showed that patients who started ARPI after chemotherapy had better treatment responses, while 61.9% experienced adverse events, yet all patients had a notable decline in PSA levels, indicating treatment effectiveness.
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  • The Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) pathway is vital for embryonic development, and its disruption can lead to medulloblastoma (MB), the most common brain tumor in children.
  • Research shows that the transcription factor SALL4 is reactivated in SHH-MB, correlating with poorer survival outcomes for patients.
  • SALL4 interacts with the tumor suppressor REN and is regulated by the CRL3 complex, indicating that targeting SALL4 could be a potential therapeutic strategy for treating SHH-dependent cancers.
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Introduction: Natural Killer (NK) cells contribute to the protective effects of vaccine-induced antibodies thanks to the low affinity receptor for IgG, FcγRIIIA/CD16, whose aggregation leads to the killing of infected cells and IFNγ release, through which they potentiate adaptive immune responses.

Methods: Forty-seven healthy young individuals undergoing either homologous (ChAdOx1-S/ChAdOx1-S) or heterologous (ChAdOx1-S/BNT162B2) SARS-CoV-2 vaccination settings were recruited. Peripheral blood samples were collected immediately prior to vaccination and 8 weeks after the booster dose.

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  • Variants in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) can increase risk and impact outcomes, leading researchers to study the effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on these individuals in a large Italian cohort.
  • The study included 365 PD patients, finding that 20% had genetic variants; those with GBA mutations showed earlier onset and were younger at DBS compared to others, exhibiting more severe symptoms prior to the procedure.
  • While both variant and non-variant groups experienced significant improvements in motor symptoms post-DBS, cognitive decline was notably faster in GBA-PD patients, with higher rates of dementia by the 5-year follow-up.
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The present study aims to investigate the choroidal morphology and microvascular structure in eyes of patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) compared with the eyes of healthy age-matched individuals, and to assess the choroidal structure in eyes of iNPH patients before and after shunt surgery using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). The primary objective was to assess the choroidal morphology in eyes of iNPH patients before and after ventriculo-peritoneal (VP) surgery compared to age and sex-matched healthy individuals. The secondary objective was to compare the choroidal morphology of iNPH patients before and after a mean of 56 days from shunt surgery.

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Background And Purpose: Levodopa (LD) is the main treatment for parkinsonism, but its use may be limited by a potential hypotensive effect.

Methods: We evaluated the cardiovascular effect of LD performing head-up tilt test (HUTT) before and 60 min after 100/25 mg LD/dopa-decarboxylase inhibitor (pre-LD vs. post-LD HUTT) in 164 patients with parkinsonism on chronic LD treatment.

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An innovative and stable probiotic-containing mucoadhesive gel (AL0020), integrated with botanical extracts, has been developed to rebalance the dysbiosis associated with periodontal diseases. Tau-Marin gel, prepared with anhydrous ingredients to prevent the replication of bacteria and ensure good stability over time, was tested against some pathogenic bacteria, belonging to the so-called "red complex", recognized as the most important pathogens in plaque specimens, adherent to the epithelial lining of periodontal pockets. This lipogel was tested in vitro, in a physiological solution (PS) and in a simulated saliva (SS), for up to 8 h, to monitor its ability to release probiotics over time.

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