Comparing medication persistence with oral and subcutaneous semaglutide in a real-world setting.

Aims: To compare medication persistence and efficacy of oral and subcutaneous semaglutide, in a real-world setting.

Materials And Methods: This is a single-center, retrospective observational cohort study. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) starting treatment with either formulation of semaglutide between January 1 2019 and July 31 2023 and with at least one follow-up visit were included.

Differential Association of Sex Hormones with Metabolic Parameters and Body Composition in Men and Women from the United States.

Sex hormones impact body composition. Data on the specific impact of each hormone on different body depots in men and women are scarce. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between testosterone, estradiol and body fat distribution in the general population.

Serum neurofilament light chain levels are associated with all-cause mortality in the general US population.

Introduction: Serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels are biomarkers of neuro-axonal injury in multiple neurological diseases. Little is known on their potential role as prognostic markers in people without known neurological conditions.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between sNfL levels and all-cause mortality in a general population setting.

Low 25 (OH) vitamin D levels are associated with increased prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and significant liver fibrosis.

Aims: Evidence on the role of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) in the occurrence and progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is conflicting and population-based data are scarce. Here, we assess the association between 25(OH)D levels, NAFLD and liver fibrosis in the general population.

Materials And Methods: This is an analysis of data from the 2017-2018 cycle of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Diabetes Mellitus is Associated With Higher Serum Neurofilament Light Chain Levels in the General US Population.

Context: Serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels are biomarkers of neuroaxonal injury in multiple neurological diseases.

Objective: Given the paucity of data on the distribution of sNfL levels in the general population, in the present study we identified predictors of sNfL levels in a community setting and investigated the association between diabetes and sNfL.

Methods: sNfL levels were measured in 2070 people aged 20 to 75 years from the general US population (275 with and 1795 without diabetes) that participated in the 2013-2014 cycle of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Seasonal variation in estimated cardiovascular risk in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background And Aims: Seasonal variations in several risk factors for cardiovascular events (CVD) were described. Here, we evaluate the impact of seasonal variations in blood pressure (BP), lipid profile and glycemic control on estimated CVD risk in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods And Results: Retrospective monocentric study of patients with T2D who were visited at least once in the winter period and once in the summer period, less than 8 months apart, for which data related to systolic (S) BP, diastolic (D) BP, body mass index, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and smoking habit were available on both occasions.

Metabolic and Psychological Features are Associated with Weight Loss 12 Months After Sleeve Gastrectomy.

Context: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is a recognized effective procedure of bariatric surgery, but a poor response in weight loss may still represent a clinical problem. To date there are no validated predictors useful to better perform patient selection.

Objective: To establish the association of baseline anthropometric, metabolic, and psychologic features with the percent total weight loss (%TWL) and percent excess weight loss (%EWL) 12 months after surgery.

Baseline TSH levels and short-term weight loss after different procedures of bariatric surgery.

Background: Bariatric surgery is a valuable therapeutic option in the treatment of obesity but the outcomes show a large subject-to-subject variability yet to be explained. Thyroid function may represent an involved factor and we have only few controversial data about its influence.

Subjects/methods: We retrospectively assessed using a longitudinal approach the relation between baseline TSH levels and short-term (6 and 12 months) weight loss in 387 euthyroid patients who underwent laparoscopic gastric banding (LAGB; n = 187) or sleeve gastrectomy (SG; n = 200).

Hypercortisolism and altered glucose homeostasis in obese patients in the pre-bariatric surgery assessment.

Aims: Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis hyperactivity was suggested to be associated with the metabolic syndrome (MS), obesity and diabetes. The aim of this study was to test whether hypercortisolism was associated with altered glucose homeostasis and insulin resistance, hypertension and dyslipidemia in a homogeneous population of obese patients.

Materials/methods: In retrospective analysis of a set of data about obese patients attending the outpatient service of a single obesity centre between January 2013 and January 2020, 884 patients with BMI >30 kg/m were segregated in two subgroups: patients with urinary free cortisol (UFC) higher than normal (UFC+; n = 129) or within the normal range (UFC-; n = 755).

Visit-to-visit blood pressure variability in patients with type 2 diabetes with and without previous history of cardiovascular disease.

Objective: Visit-to-visit variability in SBP is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) but little is known on whether in T2DM this differs according to presence or absence of previous CVD.

Methods: We retrospectively assessed the coefficient of variation (standard deviation/mean) of mean SBP (SBP-CV) in 970 patients (44% with established CVD) attending at least four times our secondary care diabetes clinic in 2015-2016 to estimate their risk of CVD-related events using the 10-year UKPDS Risk Engine.

Results: Patients with established CVD had a higher SBP-CV (10.

Resting Whole Body Energy Metabolism in Class 3 Obesity; from Preserved Insulin Sensitivity to Overt Type 2 Diabetes.

Context: Insulin resistance and diabetes may influence separately or in combination whole body energy metabolism.

Objective: To assess the impact of insulin resistance and/or overt type 2 diabetes on resting energy expenditure (REE) in class 3 obese individuals.

Design And Setting: Retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of a set of data about individuals attending the outpatients service of a single center of bariatric surgery between January 2015 and December 2017.

Resting Energy Expenditure in Obese Women with Primary Hypothyroidism and Appropriate Levothyroxine Replacement Therapy.

Context: Growing evidence suggests that appropriate levothyroxine (LT4) replacement therapy may not correct the full set of metabolic defects afflicting individuals with hypothyroidism.

Objective: To assess whether obese subjects with primary hypothyroidism are characterized by alterations of the resting energy expenditure (REE).

Design: Retrospective analysis of a set of data about obese women attending the outpatients service of a single obesity center from January 2013 to July 2019.

Screening for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in type 2 diabetes using non-invasive scores and association with diabetic complications.

Objective: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is prevalent in patients with type 2 diabetes. Here, we estimate the proportion of patients with type 2 diabetes that should be referred to hepatologists according to the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL)-European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)-European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) Guidelines and evaluate the association between non-invasive biomarkers of steatosis and fibrosis and diabetic complications.

Research Design And Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of type 2 diabetes patients who attended on a regular basis our diabetes clinic between 2013 and 2018 (n=2770).

Fasting Whole-Body Energy Homeostasis and Hepatic Energy Metabolism in Nondiabetic Humans with Fatty Liver.

Background: Fatty liver is believed to be sustained by a higher than normal adipose-derived NEFA flux to the liver. Also, hepatic energy metabolism may be a rate-limiting step of intrahepatic fat (IHF) accumulation.

Aims: To assess whole-body energy metabolism and hepatic high-energy phosphates (HEPs) in individuals with fatty liver.

Legal issues in governing genetic biobanks: the Italian framework as a case study for the implications for citizen's health through public-private initiatives.

This paper outlines some of the challenges faced by regulation of genetic biobanking, using case studies coming from the Italian legal system. The governance of genetic resources in the context of genetic biobanks in Italy is discussed, as an example of the stratification of different inputs and rules: EU law, national law, orders made by authorities and soft law, which need to be integrated with ethical principles, technological strategies and solutions. After providing an overview of the Italian legal regulation of genetic data processing, it considers the fate of genetic material and IP rights in the event of a biobank's insolvency.

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.

The legal fate of biobanks between privacy, IPRs and crisis of a firm. A preliminary study on the case of "bio-bankruptcy" .

In the case of biobank bankruptcy, the current legal framework is not suitable to protect the rights of research subjects. In the paper we identify such a gap in protection and suggest some remedies to address it.

Comparison of objective Bayes factors for variable selection in parametric regression models for survival analysis.

This paper considers the problem of selecting a set of regressors when the response variable is distributed according to a specified parametric model and observations are censored. Under a Bayesian perspective, the most widely used tools are Bayes factors (BFs), which are undefined when improper priors are used. In order to overcome this issue, fractional (FBF) and intrinsic (IBF) BFs have become common tools for model selection.

TH17 cells are increased in the peripheral blood of patients with SAPHO syndrome.

To assess whether the immune derangement previously observed in SAPHO syndrome could be linked to variations in blood TH1, TH2 or TH17 lymphocytes frequency. Seven SAPHO patients with a protracted course of the disease were studied ex-vivo for intracellular cytokines production by means of flow-cytometry and compared with matched groups of Psoriatic Arthritis patients and healthy controls. The Kruskal-Wallis test on the median of the three categories showed that there is a significant association between the TH17 levels and the category (p value = 0.

Association between fatigue and other motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease patients.

Although fatigue is a common non-motor symptom in patients affected by Parkinson's disease (PD), its association with motor and other non-motor symptoms is still largely unclear. We assessed fatigue in PD patients studying the possible association with motor and non-motor symptoms. Eighty-one PD patients were included in the study.

It is never too late for a genetic disease: a case of a 79-year-old man with persistent hypokalemia.

Background: We describe a 79-year-old man with biochemical and radiological features of Gitelman syndrome: hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, hyperreninemic hyperaldosteronism in absence of secondary hyperaldosteronism causes, and chondrocalcinosis.


Methods And Results: The diagnosis was confirmed by sequence analysis of the SLC12A3 gene showing the compound heterozygous mutation Gly439Ser and Arg1018Term. Aliskiren, a direct renin inhibitor, in combination with potassium and magnesium oral supplements was effective in ameliorating the electrolytic imbalance without any adverse effects.

Postprandial triglyceride profile after a standardized oral fat load is altered in growth hormone (GH)-deficient adult patients and is not improved after short-term GH replacement therapy.

Objective: Adult growth hormone deficiency (GHD) has detrimental effects on metabolic profile, leading to an increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Above all, disturbance in postprandial triglyceride metabolism is of major concern because of the crucial role of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins in atherogenesis. The majority of previous studies on GH replacement have shown favourable changes in the fasting lipid profile.

GH deficiency in adult B-thalassemia major patients and its relationship with IGF-1 production.

Endocrine complications in Β-thalassemia represent a prominent cause of morbidity. Above all, dysfunction of GH-IGF-1 axis is of a major concern because of its pathogenic role on cardiac and bone disease, frequently described in this clinical setting. The aim of this paper is to analyze GH-IGF-1 axis in a cohort of 25 adult patients affected by Β-thalassemia.