Publications by authors named "M A Piras"

Introduction: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common cancer diagnosis among men worldwide, with poor prognosis in its advanced stage. Treatment strategies have evolved, including the use of androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs) and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPis).

Areas Covered: This review evaluates the clinical efficacy, safety, and future potential of combining talazoparib, a potent PARPi, with enzalutamide, a strong androgen receptor (AR) antagonist.

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Weight-inducing psychotropic treatments are risk factors for age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disorders, which are associated with both inflammation and telomere length shortening. With a longitudinal design, the present study evaluates telomere length trajectories after 1 year of weight-inducing psychotropic medication, accounting for weight changes and the inflammatory biomarker high-sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (CRP). Among 200 patients, an overall median telomere shortening of -41.

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Introduction: Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) have been shown to improve disease outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. They may also impair the immune response to vaccines, including the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. However, available data on both the intrinsic immune effects of DMTs and their influence on cellular response to the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine are still incomplete.

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Article Synopsis
  • Usher syndrome (USH) is a genetic condition characterized by hearing loss and vision problems due to retinitis pigmentosa, with a study focusing on 3 families out of 6,148 participants in the SardiNIA project highlighting its clinical and genetic aspects.
  • The research involved comprehensive medical evaluations, including visual and auditory tests, and genetic testing to identify causal mutations in several candidate genes linked to USH.
  • A significant finding was a single variant in the USH2A gene found in all affected patients, indicating a potential common ancestry or "founder effect" in the Sardinian population, which has implications for understanding the genetic basis of USH.
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This review summarizes the results of a series of studies performed by our group with the aim to define the expression levels of thymosin β and thymosin β over time, starting from fetal development to different ages after birth, in different human organs and tissues. The first section describes the proteomics investigations performed on whole saliva from preterm newborns and gingival crevicular fluid, which revealed to us the importance of these acidic peptides and their multiple functions. These findings inspired us to start an in-depth investigation mainly based on immunochemistry to establish the distribution of thymosin β and thymosin β in different organs from adults and fetuses at different ages (after autopsy), and therefore to obtain suggestions on the functions of β-thymosins in health and disease.

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