Virus-Derived DNA Forms Mediate the Persistent Infection of Tick Cells by Hazara Virus and Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a severe disease of humans caused by CCHF virus (CCHFV), a biosafety level (BSL)-4 pathogen. Ticks of the genus are the viral reservoir, and they represent the main vector transmitting the virus to its hosts during blood feeding. We have previously shown that CCHFV can persistently infect -derived tick cell lines.

Cranberry () Extract Impairs Nairovirus Infection by Inhibiting the Attachment to Target Cells.

Hazara virus (HAZV) belongs to the family and is included in the same serogroup of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). CCHFV is the most widespread tick-borne arbovirus. It is responsible for a serious hemorrhagic disease, for which specific and effective treatment and preventive systems are missing.

Hypothiocyanite and Hypothiocyanite/Lactoferrin Mixture Exhibit Virucidal Activity In Vitro against SARS-CoV-2.

SARS-CoV-2 replicates efficiently in the upper airways during the prodromal stage, resulting in environmental viral shedding from patients with active COVID-19 as well as from asymptomatic individuals. There is a need to find pharmacological interventions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Hypothiocyanite and lactoferrin are molecules of the innate immune system with a large spectrum cidal activity.

Effect of a novel functional tomato sauce (OsteoCol) from vine-ripened tomatoes on serum lipids in individuals with common hypercholesterolemia: tomato sauce and hypercholesterolemia.

Background: Most studies focused on the benefits of lycopene on serum lipids but no studies have been specifically designed to assess the role of a tomato sauce from vine-ripened tomatoes on patients affected by polygenic hypercholesterolemia. The aim of this study was to compare the lipid-lowering effect of a novel functional tomato sauce with a well-known functional food with a lipid-lowering effect, i.e.

Lycopene and bone: an in vitro investigation and a pilot prospective clinical study.

Background: There are several effective therapies for osteoporosis but these agents might cause serious adverse events. Lycopene intake could prevent bone loss, however studies on its effects on bone are scarce. Our aim was to investigate the effects of lycopene on osteoblast cells as well as bone mineral density and bone turnover markers in postmenopausal women.

[Lack of association between LDL-cholesterol and carotid intima-media thickness in elderly women].

Background: It is known that the association between LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the elderly is controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate this issue using carotid intima-media thickness as a marker of cardiovascular disease.

Methods: Women aged 35-79 years were consecutively enrolled in the study.

Gender difference in handgrip strength of Italian children aged 9 to 10 years.

Background: Handgrip strength is an index of nutritional status which correlates to morbidity and mortality in young. It differs in adults and adolescents between gender. However, it is no clear whether a difference exists also in children aged 9 to 10 years, and which are the factors influencing it.

Can the impact of pelvic inflammatory disease on fertility be prevented? Epidemiology, clinical features and surgical treatment: evolution over 8 years.

Objective: To assess the epidemiological features and the trend of care of patients diagnosed with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and to assess most predictive parameters of severe disease, for which surgical management is warranted, in particular when surgery is certain to cause permanent infertility.

Study Design: The study population was divided into 3 groups: medical therapy only, conservative surgery, and destructive surgery (surgical procedures that impaired fertility). Data from the 3 groups were compared with respect to general and medical history data, clinical signs on admission, laboratory tests, and ultrasound findings.

Synthesis of alpha-cyclopropyl-beta-homoprolines.

1-(2-Pyrrolidinyl)cyclopropanecarboxylic acids (alpha-cyclopropyl-beta-homoprolines) were prepared by 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of cyclic nitrones onto bicyclopropylidene followed by trifluoroacetic acid induced thermal fragmentative rearrangement. With the use of enantiopure pyrroline N-oxides derived from easily available chiral pool molecules, beta-homoprolines were formed with high stereocontrol. The incorporation of one of these new cyclic beta-amino acids into a simple tripeptide was also evaluated.

Synthesis, SAR and in vitro evaluation of new cyclic Arg-Gly-Asp pseudopentapeptides containing a s-cis peptide bond as integrin alphavbeta3 and alphavbeta5 ligands.

The solid-phase synthesis of two diastereomeric cyclic pseudopeptides containing the Arg-Gly-Asp sequence and the dipeptide isostere 2-amino-3-oxotetrahydro-1H-pyrrolizine-7a(5H)-carboxylic acid (GPTM) is described. Competition binding assays to purified alphavbeta3 and alphavbeta5 integrins with respect to [125I]echistatin showed a high inhibitory activity for the (2S,7aS)-GPTM derivative. Effects of the structural constraint induced by the two enantiomeric scaffolds (2R,7aR)-GPTM and (2S,7aS)-GPTM on the conformation of Arg-Gly-Asp sequence have been computationally investigated using as a reference the recently solved X-ray structure of cyclo(Arg-Gly-Asp-d-Phe-[N-Me]Val) in complex with the extracellular fragment of the alphavbeta3 receptor.

Application of Mosher's method for absolute configuration assignment and resolution of 2-hydroxypyrrolizidinones.

Derivatization of racemic 2-hydroxypyrrolizidinones with S-(+)-alpha-methoxy-alpha-trifluoromethylphenylacetyl chloride (MTPA-Cl) was successfully used for enantiomer separation and absolute configuration assignment.

Selective ring contraction of 5-spirocyclopropane isoxazolidines mediated by acids.

Thermolysis of 3,4-cis ring-fused 5-spirocyclopropane isoxazolidines 16, 18-21, 33, 34, 38a, and 61, in the presence of a protic acid at 70-110 degrees C, yielded 3,4-cis ring-fused azetidin-2-ones 22-26,41, 42, 46, and 62 with concomitant extrusion of ethylene, in good yields. So far, the collected evidences strongly support a mechanism started by a homolytic cleavage of the protonated N-O bond for the rearrangement of 5-spirocyclopropane isoxazolidines to beta-lactams. Some different competitive pathways can then follow depending on the stability or the stereoelectronic properties of cationic diradical intermediates.