Publications by authors named "Parrella P"

MicroRNAs are well established as master regulators of carcinogenesis and potential biomarkers in breast cancer (BC). In a preliminary effort, we found miR-27a-5p to be significantly downregulated in experimentally derived mammospheres and BC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas Breast Invasive Carcinoma (TCGA-BRCA) dataset. Herein, we sought to investigate the putative involvement of miR-27a-5p in promoting a migratory phenotype of breast cancer cells, and establish whether miR-27a-5p is associated with patient clinicopathological characteristics.

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Microsporidia are obligate intracellular parasites of the Fungal Kingdom that cause widespread infections in nature, with important effects on invertebrates involved in food production systems. The two microsporidian species Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae (and the less common Vairimorpha (Nosema) apis) can cause individual disease in honey bees and contribute to colony collapse. The efficacy, safety, and availability of fumagillin, the only drug currently approved to treat microsporidia infection in bees, is uncertain.

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Microsporidia cause disease in many beneficial insects, including honey bees, yet few pathogen control tools are available for protecting these important organisms against infection. Some evidence suggests that microsporidia possess a reduced number of genes encoding DNA repair proteins. We hypothesized that microsporidia would thus be susceptible to treatment with DNA-damaging agents and tested this hypothesis using a novel, rapid method for achieving robust and homogenous experimental infection of large numbers of newly emerged honey bees with one of its microsporidia pathogens, () .

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Colorectal adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) is exceedingly rare, comprising less than 0.1% of all colorectal malignancies, and is characterized by an aggressive disease course, with a higher metastatic rate and worse outcome than conventional colorectal adenocarcinoma. A comprehensive molecular profile of this group of neoplasms is still lacking.

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Androgen receptor (AR) is expressed in 60-70% of breast cancers (BCs) and the availability of anti-AR compounds, currently used for treating prostate cancer, paves the way to tackle specifically AR-positive BC patients. The prognostic and predictive role of AR in BC is a matter of debate, since the results from clinical trials are not striking, probably due to both technical and biological reasons. In this review, we aimed to highlight WHAT is AR, describing its structure and functions, WHAT to test and HOW to detect AR, WHERE AR should be tested (on primary tumor or metastasis) and WHY studying this fascinating hormone receptor, exploring and debating on its prognostic and predictive role.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study analyzes the outcomes of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) who have the KRASG12C mutation and were treated in Italy from 2011 to 2021, finding a low overall response rate to standard treatments.
  • Of the 256 patients with this mutation, only 111 qualified for the study, with a 38.7% response rate to first-line therapy, a median progression-free survival of 9 months, and a median overall survival of 21 months.
  • The research suggests that intensifying first-line chemotherapy with FOLFOXIRI may benefit fit patients, despite the overall disappointing response to conventional treatments.
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Introduction: Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, primarily causes a respiratory tract infection that is not limited to respiratory distress syndrome, but it is also implicated in other body systems. Systemic complications were reported due to an exaggerated inflammatory response, which involves severe alveolar damage in the lungs and exacerbates the hypercoagulation that leads to venous thrombosis, ischemic attack, vascular dysfunction and infarction of visceral abdominal organs. Some complications are related to anticoagulant drugs that are administrated to stabilize hypercoagulability, but increase the risk of bleeding, hematoma and hemorrhage.

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The RNA-binding protein ALYREF (THOC4) is involved in transcriptional regulation and nuclear mRNA export, though its role and molecular mode of action in breast carcinogenesis are completely unknown. Here, we identified high ALYREF expression as a factor for poor survival in breast cancer patients. ALYREF significantly influenced cellular growth, apoptosis and mitochondrial energy metabolism in breast cancer cells as well as breast tumorigenesis in orthotopic mouse models.

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Ovarian cancer (OC) has a high impact on morbidity and mortality in the female population. Survival is modest after platinum progression. Therefore, the search for new therapeutic strategies is of utmost importance.

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Background: Endothelial dysfunction has been proposed as the common pathogenic background of most manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Among these, some authors also reported an impaired exercise response during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). We aimed to explore the potential association between endothelial dysfunction and the reduced CPET performance in COVID-19 survivors.

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While the molecular functions of miR-200 family have been deeply investigated, a role for these miRNAs as breast cancer biomarkers remains largely unexplored. In the attempt to clarify this, we profiled the miR-200 family members expression in a large cohort of breast cancer cases with a long follow-up (H-CSS cohort) and in TCGA-BRCA cohort. Overall, miR-200 family was found upregulated in breast tumors with respect to normal breast tissues while downregulated in more aggressive breast cancer molecular subtypes (i.

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Translational Relevance: No prophylactic treatments for COVID-19 have been clearly proven and found. In this pandemic context, cancer patients constitute a particularly fragile population that would benefit the best from such treatments, a present unmet need. TMPRSS2 is essential for COVID-19 replication cycle and it is under androgen control.

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Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) harboring BRAF mutation exhibits low response to conventional therapy and poorest prognosis. Due to the emerging correlation between gut microbiota and CRC carcinogenesis, we investigated in serrated BRAF cases the existence of a peculiar fecal microbial fingerprint and specific bacterial markers, which might represent a tool for the development of more effective clinical strategies.

Methods: By injecting human CRC stem-like cells isolated from BRAF patients in immunocompromised mice, we described a new xenogeneic model of this subtype of CRC.

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Aim: To determine the agreement and predictive value of emergency department (ED) triage nurse scoring of frailty using the Rockwood Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) when compared with inpatient medical assessment using the same scale.

Methods: Prospective, dual-centre UK-based study over a 1-year period (1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018) of CFS recorded digitally at nursing triage on ED arrival and on hospital admission by a medical doctor. Inclusion criteria were emergency medical admission in those aged ≥65 staying at least one night in hospital with a CFS completed in both ED and at hospital admission.

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miR-155-5p is a well-known oncogenic microRNA, showing frequent overexpression in human malignancies, including breast cancer. Here, we show that high miR-155-5p levels are associated with unfavorable prognostic factors in two independent breast cancer cohorts (CSS cohort, = 283; and TCGA-BRCA dataset, = 1,095). Consistently, miR-155-5p results as differentially expressed in the breast cancer subgroups identified by the surrogate molecular classification in the CSS cohort and the PAM50 classifier in TCGA-BRCA dataset, with the TNBC and -amplified tumors carrying the highest levels.

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Introduction: Emergency department (ED) crowding has significant adverse consequences, however, there is no widely accepted tool to measure it. This study validated the National Emergency Department Overcrowding score (NEDOCS) (range 0-200 points), which uses routinely collected ED data.

Methods: This prospective single-centre study sampled data during four periods of 2018.

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Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily signaling pathways are ubiquitous and essential for several cellular and physiological processes. The overexpression of TGF-β results in excessive fibrosis in multiple human disorders. Among them, stiff skin syndrome (SSS) is an ultrarare and untreatable condition characterized by the progressive thickening and hardening of the dermis, and acquired joint limitations.

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Background: Nasal nitric oxide (nNO) is considered a biomarker of nasal inflammation.

Objective: To perform a systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regressions on the association between nNO levels and allergic rhinitis (AR).

Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and EMBASE databases were systematically searched.

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Background: The usefulness of adapted small-sided games (SSGs) in improving cardiac function in subjects with T2DM is still debated. Here we evaluated the effects of 18 weeks indoor muscular activation training (6 weeks; IMA) followed by adapted SSGs football training (12 weeks) on cardiac function, muscular fitness, body composition and adiponectin expression in sedentary T2DM volunteers.

Methods: Six T2DM patients underwent IMA protocol of 6 weeks, twice a week followed by 12 weeks SSGs (5-a-side, once a week) training.

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Background And Aims: There has been a recent growing interest in the role of nasal nitric oxide (nNO) as a biomarker for osteomeatal complex obstruction in paranasal sinus diseases. By using meta-analysis, we systematically reviewed the literature to establish the possible link between nNO concentration and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) or without (CRSsNP).

Methods: We systematically searched the EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases for related studies.

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Introduction: Intestinal adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) is a rare colorectal neoplasm frequently occurring at onset as a locally advanced disease with distant metastases. The liver is the most common site of metastasis, followed by the peritoneum and the lung. Cutaneous metastases from usual colorectal adenocarcinoma occur in about 3% of cases, both at the time of diagnosis in advanced disease and during the follow-up.

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Epigenetic modifications of glyco-genes have been documented in different types of cancer and are tightly linked to proliferation, invasiveness, metastasis, and drug resistance. This study aims to investigate the diagnostic, prognostic, and therapy-response predictive value of the glyco-gene in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. A Kaplan-Meier analysis was conducted in 1418 CRC patients (GEO and TCGA datasets) to assess the prognostic and therapy-response predictive values of the aberrant expression and methylation status of .

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MicroRNA-210-3p is the most prominent hypoxia regulated microRNA, and it has been found significantly overexpressed in different human cancers. We performed the expression analysis of miR-210-3p in a retrospective cohort of breast cancer patients with a median follow-up of 76 months (n = 283). An association between higher levels of miR-210-3p and risk of disease progression (HR: 2.

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