Periapical status in patients affected by osteoporosis: A retrospective clinical study.

Objectives: To assess the periapical status in patients with osteoporosis (OP) treated with denosumab (D), bisphosphonates (BPs), or not on medication, and to understand if these conditions influence the prevalence and the progression of apical periodontitis (AP). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Seventy-six patients with OP alone or treated with D, or BPs, formed the study group (O), and those from 76 patients matched for age and sex, without diseases, and not taking medications, constituted the control (C) in this retrospective case-control study. The data from the complete clinical and radiographic examination, medical history, decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT), and periapical index score (PAI) were recorded for each patient.

Moderate Exercise Improves Cognitive Function in Healthy Elderly People: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Physical activity in the elderly is recommended by international guidelines to protect against cognitive decline and functional impairment.

Objective: This Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) was set up to verify whether medium-intensity physical activity in elderly people living in the community is effective in improving cognitive performance.

Design: RCT with parallel and balanced large groups.

Active elderly and health-can moderate exercise improve health and wellbeing in older adults? Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Aging is marked by a progressive rise in chronic diseases with an impact on social and healthcare costs. Physical activity (PA) may soothe the inconveniences related to chronic diseases, has positive effects on the quality of life and biological rhythms, and can prevent the decline in motor functions and the consequent falls, which are associated with early death and disability in older adults.

Methods: We randomized 120 over-65 males and females into groups of similar size and timing and will give each either moderate physical activity or cultural and recreational activities.

Could an Innovative Training Program Including Contact Sports and Counseling Help Young People With Traits of Psychopathy and A History of School Dropout?

Background: The aim was to assess the effects of a training program inclusive of contact sports and counseling on school dropout, quality of life (QoL) and psychopathologic symptoms in the youth with a history of school dropout and psychopathic personality traits.

Methods: The Experimental Group (EG) consisted of 32 subjects (male 90.6%; age 19.

Cost-effectiveness of US National Institute of Health and European Union FP7 Projects on Active Ageing and Elderly Quality of Life-Author's reply.

Background: The use of bibliometric analysis to assess scientific productivity and impact is particularly relevant for EU funding programs. The objective of the present study is to assess the impact on scientific literature by focusing specifically on the cost-effectiveness of FP7 and NHI projects in the fields of AA and QoL, respectively.

Methods: Twenty projects were randomly selected from the CORDIS database in accordance with the following criteria: funded by the FP7; accepted from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2012; concluded by 31 August 2017;For each project selected, we determined: number of publications in Scopus and Google databases attributable to the project; number of papers published in Q1 quartile of the SCIMAGO rank; number of citations found in Scopus and Scholar Google; amount of funds allocated.

Bone mass preservation with high-dose cholecalciferol and dietary calcium in HIV patients following antiretroviral therapy. Is it possible?

Objective: To evaluate whether treatment with 100,000 IU/month (equivalent to 3200 IU/day) of cholecalciferol and 1 g/day of dietary calcium supplementation in HIV patients following different cART regimens yields normal levels of vitamin D3 and PTH as well as whether changes in bone mineral density are clinically significant.

Methods: Consecutive HIV patients following different cART regimens received 100,000 IU/month (equivalent to 3200 IU/day) of cholecalciferol and 1 g/day of dietary calcium supplementation. The participants underwent BMD assessment via dual energy X-ray absorptiometry of the spine and hip at baseline (T0) and after 24 months (T1).

Coeliac disease and psychiatric comorbidity: epidemiology, pathophysiological mechanisms, quality-of-life, and gluten-free diet effects.

Coeliac Disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease in which an environmental factor, gluten, triggers a pathological reaction. It results in intra- and entra-intestinal manifestations of disease, including, most frequently, diarrhoea, weight loss, and anaemia. CD occurs in ∼1% of the western population, being one of the most common autoimmune lifelong disorders, and may present with a variety of psychiatric comorbidities.

Randomized phase III clinical trial of a combined treatment with carnitine + celecoxib ± megestrol acetate for patients with cancer-related anorexia/cachexia syndrome.

Background & Aims: A phase III, randomized non-inferiority study was carried out to compare a two-drug combination (including nutraceuticals, i.e. antioxidants) with carnitine + celecoxib ± megestrol acetate for the treatment of cancer-related anorexia/cachexia syndrome (CACS): the primary endpoints were increase of lean body mass (LBM) and improvement of total daily physical activity.

Effect of cyclosporine A on bone density in female rheumatoid arthritis patients: results from a multicenter, cross-sectional study.

Objective: To analyze the influence of cyclosporine A (CYA) on bone using data from a large multicenter, cross-sectional study on bone mineral density (BMD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: We selected 558 female patients with RA and divided them into two groups on the basis of CYA use: those who had never used CYA (n = 467) and CYA users (n = 91; users for < 24 months n = 50; users for > 24 months n = 41). Demographic, disease and treatment-related variables were collected for each patient.

A multicenter cross sectional study on bone mineral density in rheumatoid arthritis. Italian Study Group on Bone Mass in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: To determine the frequency of osteoporosis in a large cohort of women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to investigate the main determinants of bone mineral density (BMD) and risk factors for vertebral fractures in this population.

Methods: We recruited 925 consecutive female patients with RA at 21 Rheumatology Centers in Italy. For each patient pre-registered demographic, disease, and treatment-related variables were collected.

Circulating telopeptide type I is a peripheral marker of thyroid hormone action in hyperthyroidism and during levothyroxine suppressive therapy.

The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the clinical performance of serum carboxy-terminal-1-telopeptide (ICTP), a new marker of bone resorption, in identifying peripheral overexposure to thyroid hormones, as compared with serum osteocalcin (OC) and serum sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). Serum ICTP, SHBG, and OC were assayed by specific radioassays in three study groups. Group 1: 50 perimenopausal women on long-term levothyroxine (LT4) suppressive treatment; group 2: 29 women with untreated hyperthyroidism; group 3: 36 normal euthyroid women matched with group 1 patients for age, alcohol, smoking habits, and lifestyle.

Development of arthritis and hypothyroidism during alpha-interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis C.

Alpha-interferon (alpha-IFN) therapy may induce, reveal or exacerbate various autoimmune-related disorders. The most common is the development of autoantibodies, while clinically overt autoimmune diseases are rare. We describe a 49-year-old woman who developed seronegative rheumatoid-like arthritis and autoimmune hypothyroidism after 7 months of human lymphoblastoid alpha-IFN therapy given for hepatitis C virus-related chronic active hepatitis (CAH-HCV).

[Acromegalic arthropathy].

Six acromegalic patients, three males (aged 28 to 48 years) and three females (aged 57 to 75 years), with GH-producing pituitary adenoma, were studied through clinical examination, laboratory and instrumental tests. In all the patients frequent involvement of large joints, with crepitus and provoked pain, was found; while articular mobility was normal especially in the dorso-lumbar spine, a frequent seat of pain. Radiology showed typical features of an osteoarthritic process with characteristic widening of articular spaces, especially in weight-bearing large joints in symptomatic patients.

[Physical activity and osteoporosis].

The aim of the present research was to underline the importance of physical activity in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. Therefore the authors considered age-related bone loss and the value of weight-bearing exercise on bone-remodeling. Moreover the authors examined current world literature on physical exercise in post-menopausal age and bone mineral content in athletes, reporting their study's results.

[Ocular involvement in rheumatoid arthritis].

The authors evaluated ocular involvement in 23 patients affected by rheumatoid arthritis (RA) according to ARA criteria. Slit-lamp biomicroscopic examination showed signs of keratoconjunctivitis sicca in one patient (4%), while a positive bilateral Schirmer test was found in six subjects (26%). Fluorescein angiography, carried out in 11 of the 23 RA patients, showed retinal vasculitis in 18% of the patients examined, even if no clinical and ophthalmoscopic signs of retinal vessel inflammation were present.

Serum and urine ferritin in patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

Erythrocyte, serum and urine ferritin concentrations were evaluated in 20 patients suffering from transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder and in 20 healthy men. No clinical or biochemical signs of liver disorders, chronic inflammatory states or infections were present in both the patients and the controls. Our results showed no significant difference in the erythrocyte ferritin concentration in both groups.

Peripheral red blood cell survival invariance during pefloxacin treatment in subjects with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.

In order to evaluate the possible damaging effect of pefloxacin on erythrocytes in subjects with G-6-PD deficiency, a trial on red-cell survival was carried out using a 51Cr-labelled peripheral red blood cell technique. Eight men, aged 52 to 64 years, with osteoarthrosis and G-6-PD deficiency (Mediterranean type) were treated with 800 mg/day pefloxacin. Pefloxacin did not modify red cell survival in the subjects under study.

Tolerability of tiaprofenic acid in patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is an X-linked genetic disorder which can lead to acute haemolytic anaemia following ingestion of fava beans and the administration of certain drugs, mainly in subjects with bacterial or viral infections. It is common in the Mediterranean region and many variants are found in Sardinia. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vivo if treatment with tiaprofenic acid 600 mg daily for 15 days would reduce erythrocyte GSH (reduced glutathione) concentrations and thus produce erythrocytolysis (assessed by evaluation of 51Cr-labelled erythrocyte survival) in subjects with G6PD deficiency.

Iron overload and lysosomal stability in beta zero-thalassaemia intermedia and trait: correlation between serum ferritin and serum N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase levels.

Increased iron storage represents a characteristic condition in patients with beta zero-thalassaemia intermedia. Iron overload is an important factor in cellular damage. Recent studies have shown an enhanced lysosomal fragility due to increased iron storage.