Publications by authors named "Stefano Bertacco"
COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) has been the only specific anti-viral therapy against SARS-CoV-2 available for more than one year. Following the negative results from most randomized controlled trials on its efficacy in COVID-19 hospitalized patients and the availability of anti-spike monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), the use of CCP has subsequently rapidly faded. However, the continuous appearance of new variants of concern (VOCs), most of which escape mAbs and vaccine-elicited neutralizing antibodies (nAbs), has renewed the interest towards CCP, at least in seronegative immunocompetent patients, and in immunocompromised patients not able to mount a protective immune response.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Treatment guidelines for patients with moderate persistent asthma recommend regular therapy with a combination of an inhaled corticosteroid and a longacting β2 agonist plus as-needed rapid-acting bronchodilators. We investigated whether symptom-driven budesonide and formoterol combination therapy administered as needed would be as effective as regular treatment with this combination plus as-needed symptom-driven terbutaline for patients with moderate asthma.
Methods: In this non-inferiority randomised clinical trial, we recruited adult patients (18-65 years of age) with stable moderate persistent asthma, according to 2006 Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines.
Background: Oxidative stress is presumed to impair beta-adenoceptor function and airway patency. Erdosteine (E), a mucomodulatory compound, has shown important antioxidant properties.
Methods: The objective was to assess the effect of antioxidant interventions on short-term airway response to salbutamol in non-reversible mild-to-moderate COPD patients.