Genetic Risk Factors in Idiopathic and Non-Idiopathic Interstitial Lung Disease: Similarities and Differences.

Recent advances in genetics and epigenetics have provided critical insights into the pathogenesis of both idiopathic and non-idiopathic interstitial lung diseases (ILDs). Mutations in telomere-related genes and surfactant proteins have been linked to familial pulmonary fibrosis, while variants in MUC5B and TOLLIP increase the risk of ILD, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and rheumatoid arthritis-associated ILD. Epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNAs such as miR-21 and miR-29, regulate fibrotic pathways, influencing disease onset and progression.

Longitudinal deep learning clustering of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus trajectories using routinely collected health records.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a highly heterogeneous chronic disease with different pathophysiological and genetic characteristics affecting its progression, associated complications and response to therapies. The advances in deep learning (DL) techniques and the availability of a large amount of healthcare data allow us to investigate T2DM characteristics and evolution with a completely new approach, studying common disease trajectories rather than cross sectional values. We used an Kernelized-AutoEncoder algorithm to map 5 years of data of 11,028 subjects diagnosed with T2DM in a latent space that embedded similarities and differences between patients in terms of the evolution of the disease.

Robust but weak winter atmospheric circulation response to future Arctic sea ice loss.

The possibility that Arctic sea ice loss weakens mid-latitude westerlies, promoting more severe cold winters, has sparked more than a decade of scientific debate, with apparent support from observations but inconclusive modelling evidence. Here we show that sixteen models contributing to the Polar Amplification Model Intercomparison Project simulate a weakening of mid-latitude westerlies in response to projected Arctic sea ice loss. We develop an emergent constraint based on eddy feedback, which is 1.

Interaction between decadal-to-multidecadal oceanic variability and sudden stratospheric warmings.

Major sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) are the most important phenomena of the wintertime boreal stratospheric variability. During SSWs, the polar temperature increases abruptly, and easterlies prevail in the stratosphere. Their effects extend farther from the polar stratosphere, affecting near-surface circulation.

Estimating Subseasonal Variability and Trends in Global Atmosphere Using Reanalysis Data.

A new measure of subseasonal variability is introduced that provides a scale-dependent estimation of vertically and meridionally integrated atmospheric variability in terms of the normal modes of linearized primitive equations. Applied to the ERA-Interim data, the new measure shows that subseasonal variability decreases for larger zonal wave numbers. Most of variability is due to balanced (Rossby mode) dynamics but the portion associated with the inertio-gravity (IG) modes increases as the scale reduces.

Paraneoplastic rheumatic disorders: a narrative review.

Paraneoplastic syndromes (PS) are a heterogeneous group of diseases related to a neoplasm, indirectly dependent on it. Diagnosis and the treatment are often a challenge for clinicians, not least because the pathogenetic mechanisms are highly complex and not entirely known. Nonetheless, in most cases, PS precede the diagnosis of malignancies, thus their identification is particularly important in addressing physicians' diagnostic work-up with regard to early cancer diagnosis.

Impaired flow-mediated dilation in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is complicated by cardiovascular events as myocardial infarction and stroke but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. We hypothesized that endothelial dysfunction may be implicated and that endotoxemia may have a role.

Methods: Fifty patients with CAP and 50 controls were enrolled.

Hospitalization for Pneumonia is Associated With Decreased 1-Year Survival in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: Results From a Prospective Cohort Study.

Diabetes mellitus is a frequent comorbid conditions among patients with pneumonia living in the community.The aim of our study is to evaluate the impact of hospitalization for pneumonia on early (30 day) and late mortality (1 year) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Prospective comparative cohort study of 203 patients with type 2 diabetes hospitalized for pneumonia versus 206 patients with diabetes hospitalized for other noninfectious causes from January 2012 to December 2013 at Policlinico Umberto I (Rome).

The pathogenesis of the anaemia of chronic disorders.

Anemia of chronic disorders is a typical condition of infective, immunological and neoplastic diseases. Hepcidin and proinflammatory cytokines play a leading role in its pathogenesis. Hepcidin is a hormone produced by the liver that controls iron metabolism.

Long-lasting regulation of galanin, opioid, and other peptides in dorsal root ganglia and spinal cord during experimental polyarthritis.

Mechanisms involved in transition from acute to chronic pain are still not well understood and our means to therapeutically influence this transition are limited. Moreover, very little is known about long-lasting consequences of prolonged exposure to painful stimuli with regard to phenotypic changes and pain experience. In this study we have analyzed long term behavioral and neurochemical effects of intradermal tail injection of heat-killed mycobacterium butyricum suspended in complete Freund's adjuvant.

A histochemical study of the rheumatoid synovium: focus on nitric oxide, nerve growth factor high affinity receptor, and innervation.

Objective: The synovium of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by massive cell proliferation, neoangiogenesis, and apoptosis. The nature of potential repressors/inducers of these phenomena is still largely unknown. We investigate if nitric oxide (NO) and nerve growth factor (NGF) can be considered potential mediators in these phenomena in RA.

Is neuronal nitric oxide involved in adjuvant-induced joint inflammation?

Several reports have described a role of macrophagic, endothelial and synoviocytal nitric oxide (NO) in inflammation, immunity and sensory processes in joint diseases. In view of the role of the peripheral nervous system in arthritis and owing to the presence of NO-producing neurons in primary sensory neurons, we have investigated the possible role of neuronal NO during adjuvant-induced joint inflammation in rats. Neural nitric oxide synthase production in sensory ganglia and the spinal cord was investigated by in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry.

Quality of life assessment during six months of NSAID treatment [Gonarthrosis and Quality of Life (GOAL) Study].

Objective: To identify the time point of the greatest degree of improvement in daily living activities, pain and depression in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee during 6 months of treatment with NSAIDs, in order to define compliance and drop-out rate.

Methods: 107 patients were recruited into a multicentre, prospective, randomized, controlled trial comparing two treatments, piroxicam-beta-cyclodextrin (PBCD) and slow release diclofenac (DCL).

Results: The greatest improvement in quality of life occurred in both groups after 3 months, with a slight further gain observed by the end of treatment.

Peptide plasticity in primary sensory neurons and spinal cord during adjuvant-induced arthritis in the rat: an immunocytochemical and in situ hybridization study.

Chronic polyarthritis due to complete Freund's adjuvant injection is characterized by severe inflammation and pain. In the present immunocytochemical and in situ hybridization study on the rat, we quantitatively investigated peptide and peptide messenger RNA expression in the sensory circuit at the spinal level, i.e.

Connective tissue in skin biopsies from patients suffering systemic sclerosis.

Little information is available on elastin during systemic sclerosis since biochemical and morphological data have primarily focused on collagen and glycosaminoglycan alterations of connective tissues in this pathological process. We performed ultrastructural, morphometric, biochemical and in situ hybridisation analyses on skin biopsies from patients affected by scleroderma and from site and age-matched control subjects. Affected skin revealed alterations in the distribution and organisation of collagen bundles and fibrils together with zonal increase of the microfibrillar component.

Enhancement of BALB/c 3T3 cells transformation by 1,2-dibromoethane promoting effect.

Two of the most representative halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons, 1,2-dibromoethane and 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, were tested in the two-stage cell transformation model for analysing the promoting ability. Both of these compounds had previously been found to exert genotoxic effects, probably acting as moderate initiators. BALB/c 3T3 cells were initiated with subtransforming doses of N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine or 3-methylcholanthrene and then exposed to a chronic treatment with different non-transforming dosages of the two haloalkanes.

1,2-Dibromoethane as an initiating agent for cell transformation.

The two-stage transformation assay increases the sensitivity of cells to chemicals and permits detection of carcinogens acting as initiating agents. 1,2-Dibromoethane, a representative halogenated aliphatic, has been tested in the two-stage BALB/c 3T3 cells transformation test at dosage from 16 microM to 128 microM. This dose range is much lower than those previously found efficient in transforming BALB/c 3T3 cells.

Dermal elastin and collagen in systemic sclerosis. Effect of D-penicillamine treatment.

Skin biopsies from 4 systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients, 6 SSc patients treated with D-penicillamine (from 8 to 60 months) and 4 normal subjects were analyzed by light and electron microscopy. By light microscopy, collagen bundles of SSc dermis were thicker and more compact than in age-matched controls; D-penicillamine treatment did not significantly modify their organization. On the contrary, a stereological analysis showed that the elastin volume density was higher in patients than in controls, and increased again after D-penicillamine treatment: moreover, the number of elastin fibers per unit area was significantly higher in the dermis of patients compared to controls, and became even higher after D-penicillamine treatment.

[Histochemical identification of lymphocytic infiltration in the rheumatoid nodule].

The authors have used histochemical techniques to identify lymphocytic infiltrations in the rheumatoid nodule. They used the technique of alpha-naphtyl-acetate esterase (ANAE) for macrophages, ANAE plus Sodium Fluoride (NaF) for T-lymphocytes and 5-nucleotidase for B-lymphocytes. The results of this study reveal that the lymphocytic component of the rheumatoid nodule is mostly B-lymphocytes.