Workplace drug testing on urine samples: evidence for improving efficacy of a first-level screening programme.

Background: Previous reports revealed poor performance in identifying drugs of abuse users through first-level workplace drug testing (WDT), based on urine samples. In a cross-sectional study, we evaluated: (i) the effect of creatinine normalization of drug values from diluted urine samples (creatinine levels ≤ 20 mg/dL) on the prevalence of drug users; (ii) the independent procedure-related predictors of positivity and dilution.

Methods: Workers' urine samples were collected at the workplace or at our certified laboratory between 2008 and 2012.

Effect of the lipopolysaccharide antagonist Planktothrix sp. FP1 cyanobacterial extract on human polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

CyP is a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-like molecule extracted from the freshwater cyanobacterium Oscillatoria planktothrix FP1, which has been reported to be a potent competitive inhibitor of bacterial LPS. In the present study the ability of CyP to affect human polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) function was investigated. PMNs were isolated from venous blood by standard density-gradient centrifugation.

Scanning electron microscopy examination of endothelium morphology in human carotid plaques.

In recent years, experimental and clinical evidence has been provided regarding endothelial dysfunction and its contribution to the inflammatory process leading to atherosclerotic plaque formation. All the techniques employed direct to the study of endothelial dysfunction, however usually require isolation of endothelial cells and therefore tissue manipulation and destruction, with subsequent loss of information regarding morphology and topographical distribution of the lesions. By means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), we have investigated the characteristics of the endothelial layer in carotid specimens obtained from subjects undergoing carotid endarterectomy.

Immunomodulatory activity of the lignan 7-hydroxymatairesinol potassium acetate (HMR/lignan) extracted from the heartwood of Norway spruce (Picea abies).

The pharmacological profile of the lignan 7-hydroxymatairesinol (HMR/lignan, HMR) includes chemopreventive effects, antioxidant properties, and mild proestrogenic activity. The present study was devised to investigate the effects of HMR on THP-1 cells, an established model of human monocytes, and on human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). In THP-1 cells, HMR concentration-dependently reduced LPS-stimulated tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha secretion in the supernatant.

Angiotensin type 1 receptor expression and interleukin-8 production in polymorphonuclear leukocytes of patients with peripheral arterial disease.

We investigated angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R) expression and interleukin-8 (IL-8) productions in polymorphonuclear leukocytes obtained from patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) undergoing femoral endarterectomy. Subjects at high cardiovascular risk (high-risk subjects, HRS) and healthy controls (HC) were also enrolled. To this end, patients with PAD were studied 1 month before surgery, at the time of surgery, and 3 and 6 months after surgery.

Simvastatin treatment in subjects at high cardiovascular risk modulates AT1R expression on circulating monocytes and T lymphocytes.

Objective: Angiotensin II, through the activation of angiotensin II type 1 receptors, plays a crucial role in atherosclerosis. Statins may interfere with the effects of angiotensin II.

Methods: We have investigated the expression of angiotensin II type 1 receptor, angiotensin II type 2 receptor and angiotensinogen on circulating monocytes and T-lymphocytes from subjects at high risk for vascular events before and during simvastatin treatment, and healthy controls.

Angiotensin II type 1 receptor expression in polymorphonuclear leukocytes from high-risk subjects: changes after treatment with simvastatin.

Statins may directly interfere with the effects of angiotensin (Ang) II, which is a key player in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis (ATH). Ang II promotes a wide array of detrimental processes including a prominent proinflammatory effect, increasingly regarded as a target for therapeutic intervention. Because the proinflammatory effects of Ang II are exerted mainly through the activation of Ang II type 1 receptors (AT1Rs) the present study was devised to investigate by means of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and flow cytometry techniques the expression of such receptors on circulating polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) from subjects at high risk for vascular events before and during treatment with simvastatin and in sex- and age-matched healthy controls.