The interplay between lung galectins and pro-fibrotic markers in post-COVID-19 fibrogenesis: A pilot study.

Aims: COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, can lead to serious lung conditions, notably interstitial pulmonary fibrosis.

Main Methods: Our study tracked the progression of fibrosis markers in serial bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) measurements collected from 16 COVID-19 patients at 1, 3, and 6 months post-infection. Additionally, BAL samples from 10 healthy control subjects were included.

Space-confined mediation of electron transfer for efficient biomolecular solar conversion.

Solar-converting nanosystems using self-renewing biomaterial resources carry great potential for developing sustainable technologies to ameliorate climate change and minimize reliance on fossil fuels. By mimicking natural photosynthesis, diverse proof-of-concept biosolar systems have been used to produce green electricity, fuels and chemicals. Efforts so far have focused on optimizing light harvesting, biocatalyst loading and electron transfer (ET), however, the long-term performance of best-performing systems remains a major challenge due to the intensive use of diffusive, toxic mediators.

Vitamin D serum levels in patients with systemic sclerosis and very early systemic sclerosis (VEDOSS).

Introduction: Vitamin D may be capable of interfering with the pathophysiological pathways involved in systemic sclerosis, by virtue of its well-known immunomodulatory effects. In this study, we aimed at evaluating the differences and the correlations between vitamin D levels in systemic sclerosis patients versus patients with very early systemic sclerosis.

Methods: One hundred twenty-six patients (80 definite systemic sclerosis and 46 very early systemic sclerosis) were included in this case control study.

The HYdrocortisone for Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Respiratory and Developmental (HYBRiD) outcomes study: protocol for a longitudinal cohort study.

Background: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) affects up to half of extremely preterm infants, and is associated with adverse long-term respiratory, neurodevelopmental, and educational sequelae and costly health service and family economic outcomes. The NICHD Neonatal Research Network Hydrocortisone for Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) Trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of hydrocortisone treatment to prevent BPD in high-risk infants. The trial enrolled 800 very preterm infants with respiratory failure and followed the participants until 2 years corrected age to assess safety of the trial intervention.

Chrysin-loaded calixarene-cyclodextrin ternary drug delivery system inhibits TGF-β and galectin-1 mediated pathways in diabetic liver fibrosis.

This study investigated the efficacy of a new chrysin-loaded calixarene-cyclodextrin ternary drug delivery system (DDS) in reversing liver fibrosis in a mouse model of chronic diabetes. The system was designed to enhance the solubility and bioavailability of chrysin (CHR) and calixarene 0118 (OTX008). Adult male CD1 mice received streptozotocin (STZ) injections to induce diabetes.

Thyroid dysfunction in Hashimoto's thyroiditis: a pilot study on the putative role of miR-29a and TGFβ1.

Purpose: Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is one of the most common causes of thyroid dysfunction in iodine sufficient worldwide areas, but its molecular mechanisms are not completely understood. To this regard, this study aimed to assess serum levels of miRNA-29a (miR-29a) and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1) in HT patients with different patterns of thyroid function.

Methods: A total of 29 HT patients, with a median age of 52 years (21-68) were included.

Evolutionary engineering and molecular characterization of cobalt-resistant .

With its versatile metabolism including aerobic and anaerobic respiration, photosynthesis, photo-fermentation and nitrogen fixation, can adapt to diverse environmental and nutritional conditions, including the presence of various stressors such as heavy metals. Thus, it is an important microorganism to study the molecular mechanisms of bacterial stress response and resistance, and to be used as a microbial cell factory for biotechnological applications or bioremediation. In this study, a highly cobalt-resistant and genetically stable strain was obtained by evolutionary engineering, also known as adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE), a powerful strategy to improve and characterize genetically complex, desired microbial phenotypes, such as stress resistance.

Global 30-Day Morbidity and Mortality of Primary Bariatric Surgery Combined with Another Procedure: The BLEND Study.

Background: No robust data are available on the safety of primary bariatric and metabolic surgery (BMS) alone compared to primary BMS combined with other procedures.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to collect a 30-day mortality and morbidity of primary BMS combined with cholecystectomy, ventral hernia repair, or hiatal hernia repair.

Setting: This is as an international, multicenter, prospective, and observational audit of patients undergoing primary BMS combined with one or more additional procedures.

Prevention, diagnosis and pharmacological treatment of infections in pregnancy: The mobile app GAIA! for healthcare providers and patients.

Objective: To develop and assess the GAIA! app, designed to assist pregnant women and healthcare professionals in managing infectious diseases during pregnancy, and to bridge the information gap between health professionals and expectant mothers.

Study Design: This collaborative initiative in Italy involved partnerships with the University of Florence, Careggi University Hospital, and other institutions. The app, built on the Ionic framework, is available on both Apple and Google App Stores.

Comparative performance evaluation of four different methods for diagnosing Giardia infection in dogs and zoonotic assemblages' identification.

Giardia duodenalis (syn. G. intestinalis or G.

Indirect impact of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on incidence of maternal primary cytomegalovirus and Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnancy.

Objective: Public health interventions promoted during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to control viral spread have impacted the occurrence of other communicable disease. Yet no studies have focused on perinatal infections with the potential for neonatal sequelae, including cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Toxoplasma gondii (TG). Here we investigate whether incidence rates of maternal primary CMV and TG infection in pregnancy were affected by the implementation of pandemic-related public health measures.

Ocular pharmacological and biochemical profiles of 6-thioguanine: a drug repurposing study.

Introduction: The purine analog 6-thioguanine (6TG), an old drug approved in the 60s to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML), was tested in the diabetic retinopathy (DR) experimental setting along with a molecular modeling approach.

Methods: A computational analysis was performed to investigate the interaction of 6TG with MC1R and MC5R. This was confirmed in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) exposed to high glucose (25 mM) for 24 h.

Melanocortin 3,5 receptors immunohistochemical expression in colonic mucosa of inflammatory bowel disease patients: A matter of disease activity?

Background: Melanocortin 3 and 5 receptors ( MCR and MCR) belong to the melanocortin family. However, data regarding their role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are currently unavailable.

Aim: This study aims to ascertain their expression profiles in the colonic mucosa of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), aligning them with IBD disease endoscopic and histologic activity.

Dynamic shifts in lung cytokine patterns in post-COVID-19 interstitial lung disease patients: a pilot study.

Introduction: The pathogenesis of post-COVID interstitial lung disease, marked by lung tissue scarring and functional decline, remains largely unknown.

Objectives: We aimed to elucidate the temporal cytokine/chemokine changes in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from patients with post-COVID interstitial lung disease to uncover potential immune drivers of pulmonary complications.

Design: We evaluated 16 females diagnosed with post-COVID interstitial lung disease, originating from moderate to severe cases during the second epidemic wave in the Autumn of 2020, treated at the Pneumology Department of the Arad County Clinical Hospital, Romania.

Polydopamine-immobilized yeast cells for portable electrochemical biosensors applied in environmental copper sensing.

The coupling of biological organisms with electrodes enables the development of sustainable, low cost, and potentially self-sustained biosensors. A critical aspect is to obtain portable bioelectrodes where the biological material is immobilized on the electrode surface to be utilized on demand. Herein, we developed an approach for the rapid entrapment and immobilization of metabolically active yeast cells in a biocompatible polydopamine layer, which does not require a separate and time-consuming synthesis.

Neurodevelopment of Children Whose Mothers Were Randomized to Low-Dose Aspirin During Pregnancy.

Objective: Because low-dose aspirin is now commonly prescribed in pregnancy, we sought to assess the association between early antenatal exposure and child neurodevelopment.

Methods: We performed a noninferiority, masked, neurodevelopmental follow-up study of children between age 33 and 39 months whose mothers had been randomized to daily low-dose aspirin (81 mg) or placebo between 6 0/7 and 13 6/7 weeks of gestation through 37 weeks. Neurodevelopment was assessed with the Bayley-III (Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd Edition) and the ASQ-3 (Ages and Stages Questionnaire, 3rd Edition).

Chrysin Directing an Enhanced Solubility through the Formation of a Supramolecular Cyclodextrin-Calixarene Drug Delivery System: A Potential Strategy in Antifibrotic Diabetes Therapeutics.

Calixarene 0118 (OTX008) and chrysin (CHR) are promising molecules for the treatment of fibrosis and diabetes complications but require an effective delivery system to overcome their low solubility and bioavailability. Sulfobutylated β-cyclodextrin (SBECD) was evaluated for its ability to increase the solubility of CHR by forming a ternary complex with OTX008. The resulting increase in solubility and the mechanisms of complex formation were identified through phase-solubility studies, while dynamic light-scattering assessed the molecular associations within the CHR-OTX008-SBECD system.

Changes in Circulating Acylated Ghrelin and Neutrophil Elastase in Diabetic Retinopathy.

: The role and the levels of ghrelin in diabetes-induced retinal damage have not yet been explored. The present study aimed to measure the serum levels of total ghrelin (TG), and its acylated (AG) and des-acylated (DAG) forms in patients with the two stages of diabetic retinopathy (DR), non-proliferative (NPDR) and proliferative (PDR). Moreover, the correlation between serum ghrelin and neutrophil elastase (NE) levels was investigated.

Effects of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell conditioned medium on human tenocytes exposed to high glucose.

Introduction: Diabetic tendinopathy is a common invalidating and challenging disease that may be treated using stem cells. However, the effects of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell conditioned medium (ASC-CM) in diabetic tendinopathy have never been explored.

Objectives: The present study evaluated the effects of ASC-CM on morphology, cell viability, structure, and scratch wound closure of human tenocytes (HTNC) exposed to high glucose (HG).

Chrysin-based supramolecular cyclodextrin-calixarene drug delivery system: a novel approach for attenuating cardiac fibrosis in chronic diabetes.

Cardiac fibrosis is strongly induced by diabetic conditions. Both chrysin (CHR) and calixarene OTX008, a specific inhibitor of galectin 1 (Gal-1), seem able to reduce transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β)/SMAD pro-fibrotic pathways, but their use is limited to their low solubility. Therefore, we formulated a dual-action supramolecular system, combining CHR with sulfobutylated β-cyclodextrin (SBECD) and OTX008 (SBECD + OTX + CHR).

Infliximab therapy decreases the expression of serum and faecal miR-126 and miR-20a in paediatric Crohn's disease: AÂ pilot study.

Aim: We aimed to evaluate the serum and faecal expression of miR-126 and miR-20a in children with Crohn's disease (CD) during infliximab (IFX) therapy.

Methods: In this prospective observational study, serum and faeces from CD patients were collected before IFX therapy (T0), after induction (T1) and after 6 months from IFX (T2). IFX levels were determined by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay at T1 and T2.