Synthesis of Novel Hyaluronic Acid Sulfonated Hydrogels Using Safe Reactants: A Chemical and Biological Characterization.

Here, we present a one-pot procedure for the preparation of hyaluronic acid (HA) sulfonated hydrogels in aqueous alkaline medium. The HA hydrogels were crosslinked using 1,4-butanedioldiglycidyl ether (BDDE) alone, or together with N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (Bes), as a safe sulfonating agent. Conditions for the simultaneous reaction of HA with BDDE and Bes were optimized and the resulting hydrogels were characterized under different reaction times (24, 72, and 96 h).

Determinants of epigenetic resistance to HDAC inhibitors in dystrophic fibro-adipogenic progenitors.

Pharmacological treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) with histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) is currently being tested in clinical trials; however, pre-clinical studies indicated that the beneficial effects of HDACi are restricted to early stages of disease. We show that FAPs from late-stage mdx mice exhibit aberrant HDAC activity and genome-wide alterations of histone acetylation that are not fully reversed by HDACi. In particular, combinatorial H3K27 and/or H3K9/14 hypo-acetylation at promoters of genes required for cell cycle activation and progression, as well as glycolysis, are associated with their downregulation in late-stage mdx FAPs.

Mediterranean Diet Adherence in People With Parkinson's Disease Reduces Constipation Symptoms and Changes Fecal Microbiota After a 5-Week Single-Arm Pilot Study.

Non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) such as gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction are common, yet little is known about how modifying dietary intake impacts PD symptoms. The aim of this study in individuals with PD was to determine whether a Mediterranean diet intervention is feasible and affects GI function, intestinal permeability and fecal microbial communities. A single-arm, 5-week Mediterranean diet intervention study was conducted in eight people with PD.

Effect of a Mediterranean diet intervention on gastrointestinal function in Parkinson's disease (the MEDI-PD study): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Constipation is a common and sometimes debilitating non-motor symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD) that can result in intestinal inflammation and microbial dysbiosis. The Mediterranean diet, rich in fermentable fibres and anti-inflammatory phenolic compounds, is associated with reduced risk of developing PD and slower progression of parkinsonism. The Mediterranean diet is often recommended for people with PD; however, no studies to date examine this diet as a therapeutic intervention to modulate gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction.

HDAC inhibitors tune miRNAs in extracellular vesicles of dystrophic muscle-resident mesenchymal cells.

We show that extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by mesenchymal cells (i.e., fibro-adipogenic progenitors-FAPs) mediate microRNA (miR) transfer to muscle stem cells (MuSCs) and that exposure of dystrophic FAPs to HDAC inhibitors (HDACis) increases the intra-EV levels of a subset of miRs, which cooperatively target biological processes of therapeutic interest, including regeneration, fibrosis, and inflammation.

Advanced Methods to Study the Cross Talk Between Fibro-Adipogenic Progenitors and Muscle Stem Cells.

Functional interactions between muscle (satellite) stem cells-MuSCs-and other cellular components of their niche (the fibro-adipogenic progenitors-FAPs) coordinate regeneration of injured as well as diseased skeletal muscles. These interactions are largely mediated by secretory networks, whose integrity is critical to determine whether repair occurs by compensatory regeneration leading to formation of new contractile fibers, or by maladaptive formation of fibrotic scars and fat infiltration. Here we provide the description of methods for isolation of FAPs and MuSCs from muscles of wild type and dystrophic mice, and protocols of cocultures as well as MuSC's exposure to FAP- derived exosomes.

[Disseminated intravascular coagulation in chickenpox. Report of a case in a child].

The case of a healthy and immunocompetent five-year-old boy, who developed a disseminated intravascular coagulation during chickenpox is described. Disseminated intravascular coagulation manifestations were extremely severe and included macroscopic hematuria, necrotic purpura and cerebrovascular thrombosis. The outcome in this patient was a complete recovery.

[The follow-up of a child with a syndrome due to partial deletion of chromosome 3 (p25-pter)].

A case of del(3) p25-pter syndrome in a four-year-old boy whose clinical manifestations were followed and studied since birth, is described. Diagnosis was made by means of karyotype analysis. The parental chromosomes were normal.

[Rapid recovery from optic papillitis secondary to oto-mastoiditis in pediatric age].

In this paper we report the case of an acute papillitis of the right optic nerve secundary to a mastoiditis and sinusitis of the same site in a 10-year old boy. At onset the child presented a painful movement of the ocular globe, monolateral amaurosis and papillary oedema. The exams have confirmed the correlation among mastoiditis, sinusitis and papillitis.

[Pseudotumor cerebri: a pediatric case report].

We describe a case of pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) in a five years old child. Pseudotumor cerebri is a not very common syndrome in the pediatric age. The incidence rate in about 1:100.

[Orbital cellulitis. A case report].

This study describes the case of a 6 years old child, male, with orbital cellulitis and underlines the importance of an early diagnosis and therapy to avoid severe complications often present in this disease. Swelling and redness of the eyelid, pain and ophthalmoplegia are the first sign of an orbital cellulitis and they require rapid diagnostic procedure such as ultrasound and TC scan of the orbital region to evaluate the integrity of the profound orbital tissues. The child was admitted at the Department of Pediatrics, University "La Sapienza" of Rome and underwent an ultrasound, TC scan and serum exams which demonstrated the elevation of the sedimentation rate, reactive C protein and WBC plus the interesting of the profound orbital tissues.

Liddle's syndrome: a 14-year follow-up of the youngest diagnosed case.

The 14-year follow-up of a female patient with Liddle's syndrome (LS), a rare disease characterized by hypertension, hypokalemic alkalosis, and negligible aldosterone secretion due to renin suppression, is described. The disease was diagnosed at the age of 10 months (youngest identification). The patient was repeatedly investigated during follow-up for plasma renin activity (PRA), plasma aldosterone concentration (PA), serum sodium and potassium (K) concentration, blood pressure (BP), somatic anthropometry, and mental development.

[Colles' fracture in a girl after fulguration].

In the present study we describe the case of a 11 years old child, female, who was accidentally fulgurated by the left arm and after has presented an episode of pallor, shaking, confusion, throbbing and tingle of the arms. For this reason she was admitted in our Department of Pediatrics, University of Rome "La Sapienza". The child presented also a moderate pain at the left wrist.

[Anterior scalenus syndrome in pediatric age. Report of a case].

This paper aims to describe a case of a twelve-year-old girl affected by "scalenus syndrome" and who, at its outbreak, suffered great pain, cyanosis hyperhydrosis in the affected arm. The patient's follow-up took place at the Children's Hospital of the University of Rome "La Sapienza". The diagnosis, already clear from the anamnesis as well as from both the onset of the symptoms and the general conditions of the patient herself, was then confirmed by a local MR-angiography (MRA), the only test that gave us a positive result.

[Left pneumonectomy in a child with congenital bronchiectasis].

A case of diffuse bronchiectasis concerning an entire lung in an eight-year-old boy is described. The disease in this case was widespread in the entire left lung and was considered as consequent to a defect in the development of the left bronchial wall. Because of the frequent respiratory infections, occurring since birth, and given the good anatomical and functional conditions of the right lung, we recommended the surgical excision of the sick lung.

[The interpretation of a negative intradermal reaction to tuberculin in a case of tuberculous lymphadenitis].

This work aims at describing a particular case of tuberculous lymphadenitis with negative tuberculin skin test in a five-year child who has afterwards developed Hodgkin disease. BK presence is initially demonstrated through the examination of a first bioptic sample of a lymph-node, then confirmed by the presence in the serum of mycobacterial antigens on the peripheral lymphocytes and monocytes. Nine months later the second bioptic sample puts in evidence the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells.

[Budd-Chiari syndrome in children: case report].

This work aims at describing a particular case of Budd-Chiari syndrome in a ten-year-old girl. In our patient, the subjective and objective features of this disease, which is already rare during childhood, are associated with a well-assessed polyposis in the blind intestine (intestinum caecum). In our opinion, a possible connection between these two pathological events, a connection unheard of in the literature so far, is an interesting issue to be dealt with in this case report.

Cerebral infarction in a child. A case report.

Cerebral infarcts in children are rather rare and in most cases no precise etiology is established. The authors describe a case of cryptogenetic cerebral infarction in a 9-year-old boy. The child presented an acute onset of hemiplegia in the right arm and leg, central facial palsy, dysarthria and steppage.

Acute hepatitis in childhood: virological, immunological and clinical aspects.

Virological, immunological and clinical findings in 7 previously healthy children, aged 18 months to 11 years, with viral hepatitis are reported. Asymptomatic and fully recovering, although protracted, hepatitis B was diagnosed by chance in a 1 1/2 year-old boy. Anicteric and short-term hepatitis occurred in three children with Epstein-Barr virus infection, concomitantly with typical mononucleosis syndrome.

Role of genetic variability in neonatal jaundice. A prospective study on full-term, blood group-compatible infants.

A series of genetic, developmental and environmental variables have been analyzed in a prospective sample of full-term newborn babies, compatible with their mothers in the major blood group systems, in order to attempt an evaluation of the effect of these variables on serum bilirubin level during the first few days of life. Three genetic factors (PGM1, ACP1 and ADA) and three non-genetic variables (rise of bilirubin level during the first day of life, a mother with a history of previous abortion, and use of alcoholic beverages by the mother) have a significant predictive value for the separation of newborns with clinically relevant jaundice from other infants.

[The efficacy of cyclophosphamide bolus therapy in a girl with SLE with a nephritic onset].

A case of glomerulonephritis as the initial clinical manifestation of SLE in a child is reported. Treatment with oral prednisone did not produce beneficial results either worth respect to the symptoms or the laboratory data. The association with intravenous Cyclophosphamide led to rapid improvement in clinical and serological patterns.

[Usefulness of long-term monitoring of neonatal arterial pressure].

30 newborns were studied, whose systolic arterial pressure has been controlled every 30 minutes 48 hours long, with oscillometric automatic technique. The resulting average of oscillation was 45.1 +/- 12.

[A case of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis treated with thymopentin].

The case of a ten year old girl with JRA presenting a systemic onset and resistant to non-steroid therapy is described. After one course of thymopentin the patient responded satisfactorily. After ten months from the beginning of treatment and a third course she is still doing well.

Chronobiology of blood pressure in childhood: implications for tracking.

Chronobiology, in its methodological evolution, developed data series analyses paying particular attention to blood pressure (BP), because of the importance of this biorhythmic variable for assessing the risk of developing hypertension. An example of the potentiality of the chronobiologic procedures is given in the present report which deals with the inferential analysis of the BP 24-h patterns in 3-12 year-old children. By using the chronobiologic methodology, time-qualified standards for BP are calculated.