Publications by authors named "Michelucci A"

Mycosis fungoides (MF) represent the most frequent form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Chlormethine gel has been approved as first-line therapy in MF. The classification of early forms of MF is clinically and histologically complex even for experienced clinicians.

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Our study aimed to investigate the correlation between skin cancer and anti-interleukin (IL) therapy in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. This was an observational monocentric study in which we enrolled a total of 235 patients in which 127 patients were affected by moderate-to-severe psoriasis and treated with anti-IL monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for at least 6 months, whereas 108 patients affected by mild psoriasis were treated with topical therapies. Afterward, we performed a dermatologic visit to all the subjects, collecting anamnestic information including risk factors for skin cancer.

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Introduction: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting hair follicles, causing recurrent abscesses and nodules in intertriginous regions. The International HS Severity Score System (IHS4) is widely used to assess HS severity by counting inflammatory nodules, abscesses, and draining fistulas/tunnels. However, traditional clinical examinations may underestimate HS severity due to the presence of subclinical lesions.

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Here, we present a protocol for quantifying microglial cell morphology at the single-cell level in mice. We provide comprehensive details, starting from optimal mouse brain dissection to computational analyses of up to 350 microglial cells per brain slice. Analyzing the morphology of microglial cells is essential for understanding their functional and activation states in different conditions, including during disease development and progression, as well as for assessing the effect of therapeutic interventions.

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Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that significantly impacts patients' quality of life and mental health. Effective management often involves both medical and surgical interventions. The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of wide local excision and secondary intention healing in improving quality of life and mental health in patients with moderate to severe HS.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study compares CO2 laser treatment and surgical deroofing for managing hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) tunnels, focusing on the effectiveness of each method in terms of healing time, pain, and cosmetic results.
  • The results showed that the CO2 laser group had a significantly shorter healing time and lower pain perception compared to the surgical deroofing group, with mean healing times of 4.7 weeks versus 10.9 weeks.
  • Both treatments had low complication rates and similar rates of complete healing at a 6-month follow-up, indicating that while CO2 laser might offer quicker recovery, both methods are effective for HS tunnels.
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Background: Brown tumors are rare bone manifestations of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) that may occur at different sites either as single or multiple lesions and they can easily be mistaken for malignant lesions. Neither bone site nor morphological or functional imaging are useful to drive the differential diagnosis and biopsy is often the only conclusive procedure.

Case Description: We report the case of a 53 years-old man referred to our outpatient clinic for severe symptomatic PHPT complicated by nephrolithiasis and osteoporosis.

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Tubular aggregate myopathy (TAM) is a heritable myopathy primarily characterized by progressive muscle weakness, elevated levels of creatine kinase (CK), hypocalcemia, exercise intolerance, and the presence of tubular aggregates (TAs). Here, we generated a knock-in mouse model based on a human gain-of-function mutation which results in a severe, early-onset form of TAM, by inducing a glycine-to-serine point mutation in the ORAI1 pore (Orai1 or GS mice). By 8 months of age, GS mice exhibited significant muscle weakness, exercise intolerance, elevated CK levels, hypocalcemia, and robust TA presence.

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Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of biological processes has always been a challenging task due to the long timescales of the processes involved and the large amount of output data to handle. Markov state models (MSMs) have been introduced as a powerful tool in this area of research, as they provide a mechanistically comprehensible synthesis of the large amount of MD data and, at the same time, can be used to rapidly estimate experimental properties of biological processes. Herein, we propose a method for building MSMs of ion channel permeation from MD trajectories, which directly evaluates the current flowing through the channel from the model's transition matrix (T), which is crucial for comparing simulations and experimental data.

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Background: Epidemiological studies suggest that metformin reduces the risk of developing several types of cancer, including gliomas, and improves the overall survival in cancer patients. Nevertheless, while the effect of metformin on cancer cells has been extensively studied, its impact on other components of the tumour microenvironment, such as macrophages, is less understood.

Results: Metformin-treated mouse bone marrow cells differentiate into spindle-shaped macrophages exhibiting increased phagocytic activity and tumour cell cytotoxicity coupled with modulated expression of co-stimulatory molecules displaying reduced sensitivity to inflammatory cues compared with untreated cells.

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Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic skin disease, characterized by clinical inflammation of the hair follicle with the recurrence of abscesses, nodules, and tunnels. Recently, several studies suggested a role of IL-1 family (IL-1F) cytokines in eliciting and sustaining the disease. The aim of this work is to perform a comprehensive analysis of IL-1F cytokines, soluble inhibitors and receptors in a cohort of HS patients not treated with biological agents.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study examines how the TAS2R38 gene, linked to bitter taste perception, affects nasal nitric oxide (nNO) levels and respiratory infections in patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD).
  • Researchers tracked 119 PCD patients over 10 years, comparing different TAS2R38 haplotypes and their correlation with nNO and lung function outcomes.
  • Findings indicate that the PAV/PAV haplotype leads to higher nNO levels and better lung function in those with certain PCD mutations, suggesting TAS2R38 may influence the severity of mild PCD and guide future treatment strategies.
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Objective: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the hair follicle. Its treatment often requires a surgical approach. The aim of our study was to evaluate the occurrence of post-surgical complications following a new standard of surgical management.

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Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) presents challenges in management due to its chronic nature and high risk of recurrence. Post-surgical wound care plays a crucial role in treatment, even if standardized methods for assessing and predicting healing times are lacking. The aim of the study is to introduce the Wound Area Severity Index (WASI) as a novel tool to guide clinicians in assessing postsurgical wound progression and predicting potential healing times.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Chronic wounds are challenging to treat due to their complicated biology, and while monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) show promise as a new treatment option, more comprehensive data on their effectiveness is needed.
  • - A literature review found that mAbs were effective for various chronic wound types, especially in conditions like pyoderma gangrenosum and lipoid necrobiosis, with a total of fourteen different mAbs being analyzed.
  • - Although mAbs can provide potential benefits for chronic wounds resistant to standard treatments, no single target molecule can be pinpointed due to the complex nature of wound healing, suggesting that mAbs should be used selectively for tough cases.
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Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a challenging chronic inflammatory condition often requiring surgical intervention, such as wide local excision. Preoperative mapping with ultra-high frequency ultrasound (UHFUS) enables detailed assessment of lesion extension, particularly identifying tunnels and fistulas, facilitating surgical planning.

Objective: This study aimed to analyze recurrence rates of HS lesions previously mapped with UHFUS and treated with wide excision and secondary intention healing.

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Background: Specific microglia responses are thought to contribute to the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the phenotypic acquisition of microglial cells and their role during the underlying neuroinflammatory processes remain largely elusive. Here, according to the multiple-hit hypothesis, which stipulates that PD etiology is determined by a combination of genetics and various environmental risk factors, we investigate microglial transcriptional programs and morphological adaptations under PARK7/DJ-1 deficiency, a genetic cause of PD, during lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation.

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Background And Objective: X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets (XLH) is due to loss-of-function mutations in the phosphate-regulating endopeptidase homologue on the X chromosome (PHEX) that lead to increased fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) production. FGF23 excess causes renal phosphate wasting and insufficient 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)D) synthesis with reduced intestinal phosphate absorption, ultimately resulting in chronic hypophosphatemia. Children with XLH show typical skeletal lesions of rickets, deformities of the lower limbs, stunted growth with disproportionate short stature, bone pain, and physical dysfunctions.

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This retrospective begins with Galvani's experiments on frogs at the end of the 18th century and his discovery of 'animal electricity'. It goes on to illustrate the numerous contributions to the field of physical chemistry in the second half of the 19th century (Nernst's equilibrium potential, based on the work of Wilhelm Ostwald, Max Planck's ion electrodiffusion, Einstein's studies of Brownian motion) which led Bernstein to propose his membrane theory in the early 1900s as an explanation of Galvani's findings and cell excitability. These processes were fully elucidated by Hodgkin and Huxley in 1952 who detailed the ionic basis of resting and action potentials, but without addressing the question of where these ions passed.

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Psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory condition, often presents challenges in treatment, particularly in areas such as nails, palms/soles, scalp/face, and genitalia. Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) like risankizumab targeting interleukin-23 (IL-23) have emerged as promising treatments, yet data on long-term efficacy remain limited. This multicenter retrospective study aimed to evaluate the drug survival at 12 and 36 months of 191 psoriasis patients treated with risankizumab, focusing on critical areas.

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Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a neutrophilic dermatosis that is challenging to diagnose and treat. Clinicians frequently use fast-acting corticosteroids, which are subsequently combined with slower-acting immunosuppressants to progressively taper the corticosteroid dosage. Current research is focused on the use of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against target molecules involved in the pathogenesis of PG.

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