Reduced levels of hepcidin associated with lower ferritin concentration and increased number of previous donations in periodic blood donors: A pilot study.

Background: Hepcidin is one of the major negative regulators of iron balance. Periodic blood donors are highly susceptible to iron deficiency. Our goal was to evaluate the possible association between serum hepcidin levels and iron homeostasis parameters in periodic blood donors.

Plant-based diets for CKD patients: fascinating, trendy, but feasible? A green nephrology perspective.

Climate change is inducing us to rethink our way of life. There is widespread awareness that we need to adopt environmentally friendly approaches and reduce the amount of waste we generate. In medicine, nephrology was one of the first specialties to adopt a green approach.

Adrenal Lesions: A Review of Imaging.

Adrenal lesions are frequently incidentally diagnosed during investigations for other clinical conditions. Despite being usually benign, nonfunctioning, and silent, they can occasionally cause discomfort or be responsible for various clinical conditions due to hormonal dysregulation; therefore, their characterization is of paramount importance for establishing the best therapeutic strategy. Imaging techniques such as ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance, and PET-TC, providing anatomical and functional information, play a central role in the diagnostic workup, allowing clinicians and surgeons to choose the optimal lesion management.

Machine Learning-Based Texture Analysis in the Characterization of Cortisol Secreting vs. Non-Secreting Adrenocortical Incidentalomas in CT Scan.

New radioimaging techniques, exploiting the quantitative variables of imaging, permit to identify an hypothetical pathological tissue. We have applied this potential in a series of 72 adrenal incidentalomas (AIs) followed at our center, subdivided in functioning and non-functioning using laboratory findings. Each AI was studied in the preliminary non-contrast phase with a specific software (Mazda), surrounding a region of interest within each lesion.

The Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: A Focus on Definitions for Clinical Nephrologists.

About 5-10% of pregnancies are complicated by one of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. The women who experience these disorders have a greater risk of having or developing kidney diseases than women with normotensive pregnancies. While international guidelines do not provide clear indications for a nephrology work-up after pregnancy, this is increasingly being advised by nephrology societies.

Chronic Hyperkaliemia in Chronic Kidney Disease: An Old Concern with New Answers.

Increasing potassium intake ameliorates blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular (CV) prognoses in the general population; therefore the World Health Organization recommends a high-potassium diet (90-120 mEq/day). Hyperkalaemia is a rare condition in healthy individuals due to the ability of the kidneys to effectively excrete dietary potassium load in urine, while an increase in serum K is prevalent in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Hyperkalaemia prevalence increases in more advanced CKD stages, and is associated with a poor prognosis.

Psychobiome Feeding Mind: Polyphenolics in Depression and Anxiety.

Recently gut bacterial populations seem to be involved in many functions and in the pathogenesis of several medical conditions. Traditionally the intestinal microbiome has been recognized to play an important role in metabolizing food compounds in simpler chemical structures for the absorption of different nutrients, and in maintenance control of gastrointestinal pathogens species. Bacterial populations are implicated in a complicated network of interactions within the immune system, epithelial cells local endocrine system, that affects the peripheral and the central nervous system, via blood circulation.

Treatment responses to antiangiogenetic therapy and chemotherapy in nonsecreting paraganglioma (PGL4) of urinary bladder with SDHB mutation: A case report.

Introduction: Paraganglioma (PGL) is a rare neuroendocrine tumor. Currently, the malignancy is defined as the presence of metastatic spread at presentation or during follow-up. Several gene mutations are listed in the pathogenesis of PGL, among which succinate dehydrogenase (SDHX), particularly the SDHB isoform, is the main gene involved in malignancy.

Protein-C Reactive as Biomarker Predictor of Schizophrenia Phases of Illness? A Systematic Review.

Background: Schizophrenia is a complex illness in which genetic, environmental, and epigenetic components have been implicated. However, recently, psychiatric disorders appear to be related to a chronic inflammatory state, at the level of specific cerebral areas which have been found as well impaired and responsible for schizophrenia symptomatology. Hence, a role of inflammatory mediators and cytokines has been as well defined.

Current and Future Perspectives on the Major Depressive Disorder: Focus on the New Multimodal Antidepressant Vortioxetine.

Background: Vortioxetine (VRX) is a multimodal antidepressant that acts as serotonin (5HT) transporter inhibitor as well as 5HT3A and 5HT7 receptors antagonist, 5HT1A and 5HT1B receptors partial agonist. It was recently approved in the US and the EU for the treatment of adult patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

Objective: The present article aims at systematically reviewing findings of the published and unpublished research on the pharmacological properties, efficacy, safety and tolerability of oral VRX in the treatment of MDD.

Effect of agomelatine treatment on C-reactive protein levels in patients with major depressive disorder: an exploratory study in "real-world," everyday clinical practice.

Objective: Agomelatine is a newer antidepressant but, to date, no studies have been carried out investigating its effects on C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in major depressive disorder (MDD) before and after treatment. The present study aimed (i) to investigate the effects of agomelatine treatment on CRP levels in a sample of patients with MDD and (ii) to investigate if CRP variations were correlated with clinical improvement in such patients.

Methods: 30 adult outpatients (12 males, 18 females) with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) diagnosis of MDD were recruited in "real-world," everyday clinical practice and treated with a flexible dose of agomelatine for 12 weeks.

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder Without Comorbid Psychiatric Conditions: A Systematic Review of Therapeutic Options.

Objectives: Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a disabling condition affecting approximately 2% to 8% of women during reproductive age. It has been recently included in the mood disorder section of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, but its treatment as a primary psychiatric illness is still debated, because of the high prevalence of other mental disturbances in PMDD patients. On the other hand, clear clinical guidelines for PMDD patients not suffering from comorbid mental conditions are not yet available.

The Novel Antipsychotic Cariprazine (RGH-188): State-of-the-Art in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders.

Cariprazine (RGH-188) is a novel antipsychotic drug that exerts partial agonism of dopamine D2/D3 receptors with preferential binding to D3 receptor, antagonism of 5HT2B receptors and partial agonism of 5HT1A. Currently, cariprazine is in late-stage clinical development (phase III clinical trials) in patients with schizophrenia (S) and in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), as well as an adjunctive treatment in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and drug-resistant MDD. Cariprazine has completed phase III trials for the acute treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar mania, phase II trials for the bipolar depression and MDD whilst it is undergoing phase III trials as an adjunct to antidepressants.

An update of safety of clinically used atypical antipsychotics.

Introduction: The atypical antipsychotic (APs) drugs have become the most widely used agents to treat a variety of psychoses because of their superiority with regard to safety and tolerability profile compared to conventional/'typical' APs.

Areas Covered: We aimed at providing a synthesis of most current evidence about the safety and tolerability profile of the most clinically used atypical APs so far marketed. Qualitative synthesis followed an electronic search made inquiring of the following databases: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library from inception until January 2016, combining free terms and MESH headings for the topics of psychiatric disorders and all atypical APs as following: ((safety OR adverse events OR side effects) AND (aripiprazole OR asenapine OR quetiapine OR olanzapine OR risperidone OR paliperidone OR ziprasidone OR lurasidone OR clozapine OR amisulpride OR iloperidone)).

The endocannabinoid system: a putative role in neurodegenerative diseases.

Background: Following the characterization of the chemical structure of D9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent of marijuana, researchers have moved on with scientific valuable explorations.

Objectives: The aim of this review is to highlight the role of endocannabinoid system in neurodegenerative diseases.

Materials And Methods: The article is a critical analysis of the most recent data currently present in scientific literature on the subject; a qualitative synthesis of only the most significant articles has been performed.

Treatment-resistant insomnia treated with pregabalin.

We report a case with refractory insomnia. We diagnosed her case as depression with high levels of anxiety, weakness, with diminished ability to think or concentrate and with a sensory-motor disorder. Although this last symptom was very distressing, it did not satisfy the criteria for RLS (Restless Legs Syndrome).

Contrast-enhanced sonography of the spleen.

Objective: Combined use of low-mechanical-index technologies and non-air-filled contrast media allows real-time sonographic assessment of the spleen. This pictorial essay focuses on several aspects of contrast-enhanced sonography of the spleen, including examination technique, clinical indications, normal findings obtained through all vascular phases, abnormal findings (splenomegaly, infarction, abscess, benign tumors, lymphoma, metastasis, injuries, and accessory spleen), limitations, and pitfalls.

Conclusion: Real-time, contrast-enhanced sonography is a novel technique allowing depiction of a wide range of splenic abnormalities.