Immunological and Clinical Effect of Diet Modulation of the Gut Microbiome in Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Pilot Study.

Pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS), has been linked to an alteration of the resident microbial commensal community and of the interplay between the microbiota and the immune system. Dietary components such as fiber, acting on microbiota composition, could, in principle, result in immune modulation and, thus, could be used to obtain beneficial outcomes for patients. We verified this hypothesis in a pilot study involving two groups of clinically similar relapsing-remitting (RR) MS patients who had undergone either a high-vegetable/low-protein diet (HV/LP diet group;  = 10) or a "Western Diet" (WD group;  = 10) for at least 12 months.

Active removal of waste dye pollutants using TaN/WO nanocomposite fibres.

A scalable solvothermal technique is reported for the synthesis of a photocatalytic composite material consisting of orthorhombic TaN nanoparticles and WO nanowires. Through X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the as-grown tungsten(VI) sub-oxide was identified as monoclinic WO. The composite material catalysed the degradation of Rhodamine B at over double the rate of the TaN nanoparticles alone under illumination by white light, and continued to exhibit superior catalytic properties following recycling of the catalysts.

An Alternative Route to Pentavalent Postperovskite.

Two different high-pressure and -temperature synthetic routes have been used to produce only the second-known pentavalent CaIrO3-type oxide. Postperovskite NaOsO3 has been prepared from GdFeO3-type perovskite NaOsO3 at 16 GPa and 1135 K. Furthermore, it has also been synthesized at the considerably lower pressure of 6 GPa and 1100 K from a precursor of hexavalent Na2OsO4 and nominally pentavalent KSbO3-like phases.

[43 cases of primary empty sella syndrome: a case series].

Primary empty sella syndrome (ESS) is an anatomo-radiological picture characterized by the presence of an arachnoid herniation filled with liquor that compresses the pituitary against the sellar wall. ESS occurs particularly in obese, hypertensive, cephalalgic women. It is often asymptomatic but may be associated with ophthalmologic, neurologic and non-characterizing endocrine disorders.

[Celiac disease (familial) associated with sarcoidosis. Clinical case and review of the literature].

The authors report a case of a 42 year-old patient, female, already suffering in 1990 from pulmonary sarcoidosis at 0 radiological stage, together with uveitis and relapsing erythema nodosum, with dyspepsia and weight loss which benefited from corticosteroidal therapy, repeatedly applied at the relapses of Erythema Nodosum. This therapy induced clinical recovery and marked weight gain. After 3 years (in 1993), the appearance of chronic diarrhoea, weight loss, oedemas of the lower limbs and altered laboratory findings which suggested malabsorbtive syndrome, made us verify with clinical-instrumental examinations (serum AGA IgA and IgG, Xilose test, perendoscopic jejunal biopsy) the diagnosis of fully clinically expressed adult coeliac disease.

[Lyme disease. Case contribution and review of the literature].

Lyme borreliosis is a systemic disease. The etiologic agent is a tick-bite borne spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi) of which men are casual hosts. Although the illness is reported worldwide, it is more frequent in the northern parts of Countries.

[Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (Moschowitz syndrome). A clinical case and review of the literature].

A case of young woman affected by relapsing Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP), probably beginning in September 1986 and relapsing after 6 years, in June 1992, is described. After a first Complete Remission due to Plasma Exchange and Antiplatelet Agents, the patient relapsed during maintenance therapy with Ticlopidine and, over 1 month, developed two relapses which were resistant to traditional therapy. Showing resistance even to Iloprost, the patient had a Complete Remission only after a 2nd IV bolus of Vincristine according to Gutterman's scheme (modified), with prolonged therapeutic wellbeing.

[Empty sella syndrome (ESS) associated with primary hyperparathyroidism. A clinical case and review of the literature].

The report describes a patient with coexisting primary hyperparathyroidism due to adenoma of the left superior lobe and the primary empty sella syndrome (ESS). Pathogenetic mechanisms, clinical pictures, associated illnesses and similarity between these diseases are discussed. A complete diagnostic procedure and follow-up is necessary even if the illnesses are oligosymptomatic.

[Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of paranasal sinuses. Review of the literature and a case report].

A case of primary extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma arising in paranasal sinuses, in an 89 year-old woman is reported. Histologically it was lymphoplasmacytoid, pleomorphic, diffuse, at intermediate grade of malignancy according to "Working formulation for clinical usage" in I EB stage. Complete resolution was obtained with polychemotherapy according to the scheme ProMACE-CytaBOM.

[Hashimoto's thyroiditis, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (Werlhof's disease) and Steinert's dystrophia myotonica. A clinical case].

The authors report a rare association: Hashimoto's thyroiditis, thrombocytopenic idiopathic purpura (Werlhof's disease) and Steinert's myotonic dystrophia. The authors outline the fingerprints of each disease, report particular syndromes and compare that association to data of partially reviewed literature. They suppose a suggestive pathogenetic connection among these diseases, due to the coexistence of altered genetic, endocrine and autoimmune factors and consequently impaired cell membrane permeability.

[Sweet's syndrome (acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis) associated with Sjögren's syndrome. A clinical case].

A case of Sweet syndrome associated with Sjögren syndrome is reported. After a review of the literature, the clinical and pathologic patterns of the disorder are described. The possible underlying or associated diseases, and the problems on diagnosis and prognosis are discussed.

[Antiemetic protocol in oncohematologic polychemotherapy].

Authors, in an open and preliminary study, evaluate the beneficial effects on chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting of an association of three antiemetic drugs parenterally administered. Twenty-six patients receiving chemotherapy for Lymphomas (195 cycles) were treated with: Chlorpheniramine maleate 10 mg IM 45' before, Sulpiride 200 mg in normal saline 100 ml, at XXX gtt/m', 20' before, and 6-Methyl-Prednisolone 500 mg IV over 2'-3' immediately before chemotherapy. Patients were evaluated for emesis over 48 hours after chemotherapy: they were interviewed on nausea, vomiting and other possible side-effects.