Geographical variation of the chemical composition in essential oils extracted from Sardinian .

is a perennial herbaceous plant well appreciated as medicinal herb which can be found in Mediterranean area, Europe, Africa and Asia. In this study, flowers and leaves were collected in six different geographical areas of Sardinia (Italy). Information about the variation of the chemical composition of plants grown in different locations were obtained from gas chromatography analysis of the extracted essential oils.

Oxidative stress markers in patients with hereditary angioedema.

Introduction: Hereditary angioedema due to C1-INH deficiency (C1-INH-HAE) or with normal C1-INH is characterized by recurrent swellings due to uncontrolled production of vasoactive mediators, among which bradykinin (BK) is crucial. Through the binding and activation of the two human BK-receptors, kinins may have dual beneficial and deleterious effects in vascular and inflammation physiopathology by inducing oxidative stress. We aimed to assess the serum concentrations of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) in patients affected by HAE.

Distinctive metabolomic fingerprint in scleroderma patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in systemic sclerosis (SS) identifies a poor prognosis subset of patients. Recent studies suggested a "metabolic theory" on the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension. On this basis we performed a metabolomic study in order to evaluate whether differences in pulmonary arterial blood metabolites were identifiable in SS patients with increased pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR).

The asthma-anxiety connection.

Background: The literature reports a significant association between various mental disorders and asthma, in particular depression and/or anxiety, with some more robust data regarding anxiety disorders. However, the nature of this association remains largely unclear.

Objectives: (1) To test the hypothesis of a specific association of anxiety and depressive disorder (according to the DSM-IV) with asthma and (2) to test the bidirectional hypothesis of causality between asthma and psychiatric disorders.

Response to First-Line Ritonavir-Boosted Protease Inhibitors (PI/r)-Based Regimens in HIV Positive Patients Presenting to Care with Low CD4 Counts: Data from the Icona Foundation Cohort.

Background: There are no data comparing the response to PI/r-based regimens in people presenting for care with low CD4 counts or AIDS (LC).

Aim: To compare the response to LPV/r-, DRV/r- or ATV/r-based cART regimens in LC initiating cART from ART-naive.

Methods: We included people enrolled in Icona with either CD4 counts ≤350 cells/mm3 (low CD4-LC) or CD4 counts ≤200 cells/mm3 (very low CD4-VLC) and/or AIDS, starting their first PI/r-based regimen after 2008.