Publications by authors named "Maria Frau"

Background: Meglumine antimoniate is used to treat canine leishmaniosis. In humans, it has been associated with pancreatitis. Although a few case reports have described acute pancreatitis secondary to antimonial treatment in dogs, some studies have concluded that pancreatitis is not an adverse effect of this medication.

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Pneumothorax, the accumulation of air in the pleural cavity, occurs when air enters the pleural space by the pleuro-cutaneous, pleuro-pulmonary, or pleuro-oesophageal-mediastinal route. Tension pneumothorax is an infrequent and severe form of pneumothorax where a positive pressure in the pleural space is built up during at least part of the respiratory cycle, with compression of both lungs and mediastinal vessels, and, if unilateral, with midline deviation towards the unaffected hemithorax. We describe 9 cases of tension pneumothorax in 3 species of small cetaceans (striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba, common dolphin Delphinus delphis, and common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus) from the western Mediterranean coast of Spain, and one case from a dolphinarium.

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Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by bone marrow failure, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, and skeletal abnormalities, caused by loss-of-function mutations in the gene, a factor involved in ribosome biogenesis. By analyzing osteoblasts from SDS patients (SDS-OBs), we show that SDS-OBs displayed reduced gene expression and reduced/undetectable SBDS protein compared to osteoblasts from healthy subjects (H-OBs). SDS-OBs cultured in an osteogenic medium displayed a lower mineralization capacity compared to H-OBs.

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In the traditional Sardinian system of medicine, Rubia peregrina L. (Rubiaceae) is reported as an aphrodisiac herb. Since the aphrodisiacs may also have antioxidant and dopaminergic activities, the aim of this study was to study the effect of ethanolic extract of aerial parts of R.

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Background: Shwachman-Diamond syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder in which severe bone marrow dysfunction causes neutropenia and an increased risk of leukemia. Recently, novel particulate cytoplasmic structures, rich in ubiquitinated and proteasomal proteins, have been detected in epithelial cells and neutrophils from patients with Helicobacter pylori gastritis and several epithelial neoplasms.

Design And Methods: Blood neutrophils from 13 cases of Shwachman-Diamond syndrome - ten with and three without SBDS gene mutation - and ten controls were investigated by confocal microscopy and ultrastructural immunocytochemistry using antibodies against ubiquitinated proteins, proteasomes, p62 protein, and Helicobacter pylori VacA, urease and outer membrane proteins.

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Aerial parts of Apium nodiflorum collected in Portugal and Italy were submitted to hydrodistillation; also a supercritical fluid extract was obtained from Italian plants. The extracts were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Both essential oils, obtained from Portuguese and Italian plants, posses high content of phenylpropanoids (51.

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The topical antiinflammatory activity of the essential oil of Myrtus communis L. was studied using croton oil induced ear edema and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in mice, and cotton pellet induced granuloma, and serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in rats. On topical application, the oil exhibited a significant decrease in the ear edema as well as MPO activity.

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The topical anti-inflammatory activity of essential oil of Pistacia lentiscus L. was studied using carrageenan induced rat paw edema and cotton pellet induced granuloma. The effect on serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in rats inserted with cotton pellet was also investigated.

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Satureja thymbra L. is well known in Italy by the popular name of "Santoreggia sarda". It grows only in Sardinia and nowadays it is restricted to the slope of the Colle San Michele in Cagliari.

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In the traditional system of medicine in Sardinia, Rubia peregrina (RP) is reported as an aphrodisiac herb. Since aphrodisiacs may also have dopaminergic activity, and there can be a reciprocal relationship between dopaminergic and serotonergic functions in the central nervous system, the aim here was to study the effect of the ethanolic extract of the aerial parts of R. peregrina on monoamine-mediated behaviour.

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A previous study from our laboratory has shown the facilitatory effect of Ceratonia siliqua L. (Fabaceae) on the dopaminergic function. This study investigates the involvement of monoamines in the antidepressant activity of the total polyphenol content of Ceratonia siliqua extract (CS) in mice using a tail suspension test (TST) and forced swim test (FST).

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