The trace element content of top-soil and wild edible mushroom samples collected in Tuscany, Italy.

The amount of the trace elements As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Li, Mn, Ni, Pb, Rb, Se, Sr, and Zn was measured in top soils and edible mushrooms, Boletus edulis, Macrolepiota procera, collected at five distinct green microhabitats inside the Lucca province, North-Central Italy (years 2008-2009). Results showed a top soil element content within the Italian statutory limits. Concerning the amount of mushroom elements, we observed significant species-differences obtaining higher levels of Ni, Rb, and Se in B.

Altered amino acid homeostasis in subjects affected by fibromyalgia.

Objectives: To evaluate plasma amino acid (AA) concentrations in patients affected by fibromyalgia (FM) and to study the relationships between their levels and FM clinical parameters.

Design And Methods: 20 AAs were assessed in 34 FM patients and in 18 healthy volunteers by means of a modified version of the Waters picotag method.

Results: Significant lower plasma taurine, alanine, tyrosine (Tyr), valine, methionine, phenylalanine and threonine concentrations, and the sum of essential AAs were observed in FM patients vs healthy controls (P<0.

ATP, calcium and magnesium levels in platelets of patients with primary fibromyalgia.

Objectives: To evaluate the intracellular levels of the high energy adenosine triphosphate nucleotide ATP and essential divalent cations, calcium and magnesium, in platelets of patients affected by primary fibromyalgia syndrome (FMs).

Design And Method: Platelet ATP and cation concentrations were measured in 25 patients affected by FMs and 25 healthy volunteers through a chemiluminescent and a fluorimetric assay, respectively.

Results: Significant lower ATP levels were observed inside platelets of FM patients (fmol ATP/plt: 0.

Characterization of thyroglobulin epitopes in patients with autoimmune and non-autoimmune thyroid diseases using recombinant human monoclonal thyroglobulin autoantibodies.

Context: Thyroglobulin (Tg) epitopes of serum Tg autoantibodies (TgAb) have been characterized using inhibition of Tg binding by human monoclonal TgAb in autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) [Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and Graves' disease (GD)] but not in non-AITD [nontoxic multinodular goiter (NTMG) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC)].

Objective: Our objective was to compare Tg epitopes of serum TgAb from patients with AITD, non-AITD, and PTC associated with histological thyroiditis (PTC-T) using inhibition of Tg binding by four recombinant human TgAb-Fab (epitopic regions A-D).

Design: Inhibition of Tg binding of 24 HT, 25 GD, 19 NTMG, 15 PTC, and 25 PTC-T TgAb-positive sera by each TgAb-Fab was evaluated in ELISA.

Species comparison of adenosine receptor subtypes in brain and testis.

We aimed at comparing the binding characteristics of adenosine A(1) and A(2A) receptors (A(1)Rs and A(2A)Rs) in high-expressing cerebral areas, the cortex and striatum respectively, of human, bovine and rat brain. Adenosine A(3) receptor (A(3)R) binding was studied in rat and bovine testis. Results confirmed species differences in AR saturation-displacement binding parameters.

Specific proteins identified in whole saliva from patients with diffuse systemic sclerosis.

Objective: To evaluate the global changes of salivary protein profiles in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) using a proteomic approach.

Methods: Whole saliva (WS) was collected from 15 patients with diffuse SSc and 15 healthy volunteers. Protein expression profiles for each sample were generated by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and protein spots of interest were identified using peptide mass fingerprinting.

Short-term effects of 3,4-methylen-dioxy-metamphetamine (MDMA) on 5-HT(1A) receptors in the rat hippocampus.

The first effects of 3,4-methylen-dioxy-metamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy"), on serotonin 1A (5-HT(1A)) receptors in rat hippocampus were determined by means of [(3)H]-8-hydroxy-dipropylamino-tetralin ([(3)H]-8-OH-DPAT) and 5'guanosine-(gamma-[(35)S]-thio)triphosphate ([(35)S]-GTPgammaS) binding as well as inhibition of forskolin (FK)-stimulated adenylyl cyclase (AC) activity. The study was completed by [(35)S]-GTPgammaS functional autoradiography experiments carried out in frontal sections of rat brain, including the hippocampal region. Results showed that MDMA was either able to displace [(3)H]-8-OH-DPAT binding (K(i) congruent with 500 nM) or to reduce the number of specific sites (B(max)) without affecting K(d).

[3H] muscimol receptors sites in the carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) brain: binding assay and autoradiographic distribution.

Autoradiographic and binding techniques were used to study the presence of [(3)H]muscimol receptors sites in the carp brain. The radioligand was distributed with an high degree of anatomical selectivity. We found abundant labelling in the cerebellum, in the nucleus diffusus lobi inferioris, and in the torus longitudinalis.

Tubby protein in human lymphocytes from normal weight and obese subjects.

Objectives: The presence of tubby protein in human lymphocytes was investigated and their electrophoretic mobility property between normal weight and obese subjects was compared.

Design And Methods: 2-DE proteome map of lymphocytes has been generated and western blot analysis was conducted using anti-tub polyclonal antibody.

Results And Conclusions: We found the presence of tubby protein both in normal weight and in obese subjects; however in the latter an isoelectric point shift toward the acidic end was observed.

Proteome analysis of whole saliva: a new tool for rheumatic diseases--the example of Sjögren's syndrome.

Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a systemic disease that affects salivary glands directly, and is therefore expected to influence the composition of human whole saliva (WS) fluid. The aim of this study was to characterize the WS proteins of pSS patients using a proteomic approach to assess a valid procedure to examine the global changes of the salivary protein profiles in connective tissue disorders. The WS proteins expressed in patients affected by pSS and healthy volunteers were analyzed using the 2-DE technique.

Alteration of serotonin transporter density and activity in fibromyalgia.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the kinetic parameters of a specific serotonin transporter (SERT) and serotonin uptake in a mentally healthy subset of patients with fibromyalgia. Platelets were obtained from 40 patients and 38 healthy controls. SERT expression and functionality were evaluated through the measurement of [3H]paroxetine binding and the [3H]serotonin uptake itself.

Autoradiographic localization and binding study of benzodiazepines receptor sites in carp brain (Cyprinus carpio L.).

This study demonstrates, for the first time, by both autoradiography and binding assay that [3H]Ro 15-1788 binds to carp brain with a high degree of anatomical selectivity. Saturation binding of the radioligand was determined in seven anatomically defined regions and suggested the presence of one class of binding sites (Type I-lke). In general, there was a good correlation between the autoradiographic and the binding data.

[3H]PK11195 binding sites in human neutrophils: effect of fMLP stimulation and modulation in rheumatic diseases.

Objective: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the [3H]PK11195 binding parameters in a model of acute inflammation, the N-formylmethionine-leucine-phenylalanine (fMLP)-stimulated neutrophil cell membranes, and to analyze if alterations of peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) characteristics occurred in neutrophil cell membranes of patients affected by osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and psoriasic arthritis (PA).

Design And Methods: Neutrophils were obtained from 15 patients with OA, 15 patients with RA, and 15 patients with PA. fMLP stimulation was performed to aliquots of neutrophils from six healthy individuals.

Autoradiographic distribution of neuropeptide Y binding sites in the brain of the carp Cyprinus carpio L. (Cyprinidae, Teleostei).

The present study reports the distribution of neuropeptide Y (NPY)-binding sites in the brain of the adult carp Cyprinus carpio L. Radioiodinated NPY was used as tracer in the autoradiographic procedure. The NPY-binding sites (NPY-bs) were widely distributed in the carp brain.