Publications by authors named "Simona Roggero"

The fast-growing healthcare demand for user-friendly and affordable analytical tools is driving the efforts to develop reliable platforms for the customization of therapy based on individual health conditions. In this overall scenario, we developed a paper-based electrochemical sensor for the quantification of iron ions in serum as a cost-effective sensing tool for the correct supplement administration. In detail, the working electrode of the screen-printed device has been modified with a nanocomposite constituted of carbon black and gold nanoparticles with a drop-casting procedure.

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The growth of (bio)sensors in analytical chemistry is mainly attributable to the development of affordable, effective, portable, and user-friendly analytical tools. In the field of sensors, paper-based devices are gaining a relevant position for their outstanding features including foldability, ease of use, and instrument-free microfluidics. Herein, a multifarious use of filter paper to detect copper ions in bodily fluids is reported by exploiting this eco-friendly material to (i) synthesize AuNPs without the use of reductants and/or external stimuli, (ii) print the electrodes, (iii) load the reagents for the assay, (iv) filter the gross impurities, and (v) preconcentrate the target analyte.

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Dietary therapy represents an important tool in the management of chronic kidney disease (CKD), mainly through a balanced reduction of protein intake aimed at giving the remnant nephrons in damaged kidneys a "functional rest". While dialysis, transplantation, and pharmacological therapies are usually seen as "high tech" medicine, non pharmacological interventions, including diets, are frequently considered lifestyle-complementary treatments. Diet is one of the oldest CKD treatments, and it is usually considered a part of "mainstream" management.

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The term "diabetic kidney" has recently been proposed to encompass the various lesions, involving all kidney structures that characterize protean kidney damage in patients with diabetes. While glomerular diseases may follow the stepwise progression that was described several decades ago, the tenet that proteinuria identifies diabetic nephropathy is disputed today and should be limited to glomerular lesions. Improvements in glycemic control may have contributed to a decrease in the prevalence of glomerular lesions, initially described as hallmarks of diabetic nephropathy, and revealed other types of renal damage, mainly related to vasculature and interstitium, and these types usually present with little or no proteinuria.

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Aim: Nephrocalcinosis is a clinical-pathological entity characterized by the deposition of calcium salts within the kidney parenchyma. Both the protean presentation and multiple causes may explain the lack of data regarding its prevalence. The aim of this study is to report the prevalence and main clinical features of nephrocalcinosis diagnosed in a newly opened nephrology outpatient unit.

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Background: Pregnancy on dialysis is increasingly being reported. This study evaluates the behavioural profile of the children of mothers on dialysis and the parental stress their mothers undergo when compared with a group of mothers affected by a different chronic disease (microcythaemia) and a group of healthy control mothers.

Methods: Between 2000 and 2012, 23 on-dialysis mothers gave birth to 24 live-born children in Italy (23 pregnancies, 1 twin pregnancy, one of the twins deceased soon after delivery); of these, 16 mothers and 1 father (whose wife died before the inquiry) were included in the study (1 mother had died and the father was unavailable; 2 were not asked to participate because their children had died and 3 were unavailable; children: median age: 8.

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Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) has been reported with nearly all forms of the inherited as well as the acquired hemolytic anemias. Although screening studies suggested that PAH has emerged as major complication of thalassemia patients, its impact on survival is unknown; the pathophysiology of the PAH in these patients is multifactorial, and a thorough diagnostic evaluation is essential. Understanding the PAH pathogenesis, diagnostic options, prevention is critical for clinicians who care for the thalassemic patients; there are virtually no high-quality data on the safety/efficacy of PAH treatment strategy in this patient population.

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Deferiprone (DFP) has been evaluated in a wide range of disorders, but most data come from transfusion-dependent thalassemia. The safety and tolerability profile includes gastrointestinal complaints, liver enzymes elevation, weight gain, arthropathy, neutropenia, and agranulocytosis. The last requires close monitoring of blood count and precludes the use of DFP in conditions with bone marrow abnormalities.

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Chronic iron overload is a serious complication in transfusion-dependent patients. Few studies have addressed this issue in Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA). We describe a retrospective analysis of iron overload, and its related complications in 31 transfusion-dependent Italian DBA patients whose records included one or more evaluation of liver iron concentration (LIC) by means of noninvasive magnetic liver susceptometry with a superconductive quantum interference device (SQUID).

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Although the presence of nontransferrin bound plasma iron (NTBI) in transfusional iron overload is well documented, knowledge about its clinical significance is limited. We assessed NTBI levels in a large and homogeneous series of thalassemia patients on regular transfusion and chelation and explored the hypothesis that NTBI levels may be associated with relevant clinical outcomes: in particular, heart disease. Among 174 patients with thalassemia major and intermedia, we showed the presence NTBI in 145 of 174 or 83.

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