Multi-omics staging of locally advanced rectal cancer predicts treatment response: a pilot study.

Treatment response assessment of rectal cancer patients is a critical component of personalized cancer care and it allows to identify suitable candidates for organ-preserving strategies. This pilot study employed a novel multi-omics approach combining MRI-based radiomic features and untargeted metabolomics to infer treatment response at staging. The metabolic signature highlighted how tumor cell viability is predictively down-regulated, while the response to oxidative stress was up-regulated in responder patients, showing significantly reduced oxoproline values at baseline compared to non-responder patients (p-value < 10).

Postprandial lipid and vascular responses following consumption of a commercially-relevant interesterified palmitic acid-rich spread in comparison to functionally-equivalent non-interesterified spread and spreadable butter: a randomised controlled trial in healthy adults.

: Interesterification is an industrial processing technique used widely where hard fats are essential for functionality and consumer acceptability, margarines and lower fat spreads. : The aim of this study was to compare acute cardiovascular effects of functionally equivalent spreads (similar solid fat content) made with interesterified (IE) or non-IE palm-based fats, or spreadable butter. : A randomised, controlled, 4-armed crossover, double-blind study (25 men, 25 women; 35-75 years; healthy; mean BMI 24.

Towards targeted dietary support for shift workers with type 2 diabetes (Shift-Diabetes study): A mixed-methods case study protocol.

Background: Blood glucose is higher in people working night shifts compared to day workers. Changes to eating behaviour, activity and sleep patterns in addition to circadian disruption are likely to impact glucose management in night-shift workers with type 2 diabetes.

Aim: To investigate current dietary intake and glucose variability during night work, including barriers and facilitators to dietary behaviour in this context.

MRI-based clinical-radiomics model predicts tumor response before treatment in locally advanced rectal cancer.

Neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) followed by total mesorectal excision (TME) represents the standard treatment for patients with locally advanced (≥ T3 or N+) rectal cancer (LARC). Approximately 15% of patients with LARC shows a complete response after CRT. The use of pre-treatment MRI as predictive biomarker could help to increase the chance of organ preservation by tailoring the neoadjuvant treatment.

Primary leiomyoma of the liver in an immunocompetent patient.

Primary leiomyoma of the liver (PLL) is a rare benign tumor occurring in immunosuppressed people. From 1926 less than fifty cases are reported in the scientific literature and about half are in immunocompetent patients. Etiology of this kind of lesion is not yet well known.

Snacking on whole almonds for 6 weeks improves endothelial function and lowers LDL cholesterol but does not affect liver fat and other cardiometabolic risk factors in healthy adults: the ATTIS study, a randomized controlled trial.

Background: There is convincing evidence that daily whole almond consumption lowers blood LDL cholesterol concentrations, but effects on other cardiometabolic risk factors such as endothelial function and liver fat are still to be determined.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate whether isoenergetic substitution of whole almonds for control snacks with the macronutrient profile of average snack intakes, had any impact on markers of cardiometabolic health in adults aged 30-70 y at above-average risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods: The study was a 6-wk randomized controlled, parallel-arm trial.

Robotic Liver Resections: Application of Difficulty Score Systems to an Initial Experience. Is a Specific Robotic Difficulty Score Necessary?

Recently, the minimally invasive surgical approach has been available for performing liver resections (LRs) with laparoscopic and robotic techniques. The robotic approach for LRs seems to overcome several laparoscopic limitations, which is a valid alternative when performed in high volume and specialized centers. Laparoscopic difficulty score systems (DSSs) should serve to guide the surgeon's choice in the best surgical approach to adopt for every single patient, giving the possibility to switch to the open approach when needed.

Diagnostic accuracy of biparametric vs multiparametric MRI in clinically significant prostate cancer: Comparison between readers with different experience.

Background: MRI plays a crucial role to identify men with a high likelihood of clinically significant prostate cancer who require immediate biopsy. The added value of DCE MRI in combination with T2-weighted imaging and DWI is controversial (risks related to gadolinium administration, duration of MR exam, financial burden, effects on diagnostic performance). A comparison of a biparametric and a standard multiparametric MR imaging protocol, taking into account the different experience of the readers, may help to choose the best MR approach regarding diagnostic performance.

Expression of genes associated with apoptosis in the porcine corpus luteum during the oestrous cycle.

The corpus luteum (CL) of the pig lacks luteolytic sensitivity (LS) to prostaglandin (PG) F-2α until after day 12 of the oestrous cycle, but the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are poorly understood. As luteolysis involves apoptosis, we hypothesized that critical apoptotic proteins may be deficient in CLs that lack LS. The specific aim of these studies was to examine mRNA expression and protein levels of apoptosis genes/proteins (BAX/Bax, BCLX/Bcl-x, CASP3/Caspase-3, CASP8/Caspase-8, NFΚB1/NFκB, TP53/p53) in porcine CLs collected at different stages of the oestrous cycle.

A severe case of Aeromonas veronii biovar sobria travellers' diarrhoea characterized by Vibrio parahaemolyticus co-isolation.

We report a severe case of travellers' diarrhoea in a patient returning from Ecuador to Italy with the concomitant presence of Aeromonas veronii biovar sobria and Vibrio parahaemolyticus in their faeces. Based on diagnostic results, epidemiological information and the clinical outcome, we conclude that the real aetiological agent was A. veronii biovar sobria, while V.

[Loa loa filariasis in Italy: review of the literature with a clinical report].

We present the case of an asymptomatic Loa loa disease in a 28-year-old Nigerian man living in Italy for 5 years. The man was admitted to our clinic for an occasional identification of hypereosinophilia (white blood cell count 5440/mmc, eosinophil 42%) and the presence of microfilaria at an hemoscopic evaluation. The diagnosis was made by testing the diurnal peripheral blood that showed a parasitaemia of 7000 microfilia/mL.

HDAC6 is a target for protection and regeneration following injury in the nervous system.

Central nervous system (CNS) trauma can result in tissue disruption, neuronal and axonal degeneration, and neurological dysfunction. The limited spontaneous CNS repair in adulthood and aging is often insufficient to overcome disability. Several investigations have demonstrated that targeting HDAC activity can protect neurons and glia and improve outcomes in CNS injury and disease models.

Liposarcoma of the colon presenting as an endoluminal mass.

Background: Liposarcoma is one of the most common soft tissue sarcoma of adult life, usually occurring in the retroperitoneum and the extremities. Primary liposarcoma of the colon is very rare. The optimal treatment has not been established due to the small number of cases reported.

Searching for disease modifiers-PKC activation and HDAC inhibition - a dual drug approach to Alzheimer's disease that decreases Abeta production while blocking oxidative stress.

A series of benzolactam compounds were synthesized, some of which caused a concentration-dependent increase in sAPPalpha and decrease in Abeta production in the concentration range of 0.1-10 microM. Moreover, some compounds showed neuroprotective effects in the 10-20 microM range in the HCA cortical neuron model of oxidative stress and no toxicity in measurements of neuron viability by MTT assay, even at the highest concentrations tested (20 microM).

Studies of benzamide- and thiol-based histone deacetylase inhibitors in models of oxidative-stress-induced neuronal death: identification of some HDAC3-selective inhibitors.

We compare three structurally different classes of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors that contain benzamide, hydroxamate, or thiol groups as the zinc binding group (ZBG) for their ability to protect cortical neurons in culture from cell death induced by oxidative stress. This study reveals that none of the benzamide-based HDAC inhibitors (HDACIs) provides any neuroprotection whatsoever, in distinct contrast to HDACIs that contain other ZBGs. Some of the sulfur-containing HDACIs, namely the thiols, thioesters, and disulfides present modest neuroprotective activity but show toxicity at higher concentrations.

[Campylobacter enteritis and related organisms. Clinical microbiology and antibiotic resistance].

The Authors underline the importance to always and correctly investigate also for Campylobacters and related organisms (Clo's) in faeces of humans with enteritis, because prevalent like Salmonella and for surveillance antibiotic resistances; in fact for campylobacteriosis specific therapy is often necessary. Between 2001 and 2005 248 strains of Campylobacter and Clo's were isolated: 225 were C. jejuni (90.

Pulse inhibition of histone deacetylases induces complete resistance to oxidative death in cortical neurons without toxicity and reveals a role for cytoplasmic p21(waf1/cip1) in cell cycle-independent neuroprotection.

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are currently in human clinical trials as antitumor drugs because of their ability to induce cell dysfunction and death in cancer cells. The toxic effects of HDAC inhibitors are also apparent in cortical neurons in vitro, despite the ability of these agents to induce significant protection in the cells they do not kill. Here we demonstrate that pulse exposure of cortical neurons (2 h) in an in vitro model of oxidative stress results in durable neuroprotection without toxicity.

[Acute and prolonged infectious diarrheas, of microbial and viral etiology: methods of clinical and microbiological diagnosis].

The Authors relate clinical-microbiological criteria for a rational diagnosis of acute and prolonged enteritis, distinguishing between home and imported diarrheas. During 2005, 381 subjects (192 children and 189 adults) with acute diarrhea and 110 subjects (16 children and 94 adults) with prolonged diarrhea were examined. In the first group Salmonella prevailed in 11.

[Preliminary survey of human intestinal parasitosis in a Peruvian Andean zone].

We studied 91 faecal specimens of 38 children and 53 adults in a five-day epidemiological survey between the end of February and the beginning of March, 2006. The subjects were in- or out-patients of Chacas Hospital, Ancash. The O&P were performed with macroscopic evaluation, microscopic (direct and after formalin-ether concentration, FEA) observations and Giemsa permanent stain of all faecal samples.

[Intestinal infections caused by Dientamoeba fragilis and Giardia duodenalis in our experience].

Between 2002 and 2003 the Authors analyzed stool specimens of 1,989 subjects, 966 children (1-14 years old) and 1,023 adults, to investigate for intestinal protozoa too: 380 children and 656 adults with intestinal aspecific troubles, 546 children and 291 adults with acute diarrhoea, 40 children and 76 adults with prolonged diarrhoea. G. duodenalis prevailed in 1.

Functional differences in epigenetic modulators-superiority of mercaptoacetamide-based histone deacetylase inhibitors relative to hydroxamates in cortical neuron neuroprotection studies.

We compare the ability of two structurally different classes of epigenetic modulators, namely, histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors containing either a hydroxamate or a mercaptoacetamide as the zinc binding group, to protect cortical neurons in culture from oxidative stress-induced death. This study reveals that some of the mercaptoacetamide-based HDAC inhibitors are fully protective, whereas the hydroxamates show toxicity at higher concentrations. Our present results appear to be consistent with the possibility that the mercaptoacetamide-based HDAC inhibitors interact with a different subset of the HDAC isozymes [less activity at HDAC1 and 2 correlates with less inhibitor toxicity], or alternatively, are interacting selectively with only the cytoplasmic HDACs that are crucial for protection from oxidative stress.

[Role of Dientamoeba fragilis in human bowel infections].

During 2004, we identified 39 intestinal infections caused by Dientamoeba fragilis and 23 caused by Giardia duodenalis, on 1141 home subjects (3.4% and 2.0% respectively): D.

Solitary peritoneal metastases from ductal breast cancer.

Breast carcinoma remains the most common malignancy in women in western countries. The principal sites of metastases are the regional lymph nodes, liver, lung and bone; unusual sites of metastases are very rare. Infiltrating ductal carcinoma is the most common histological subtype (about 80%) as compared to lobular carcinoma (7-20%), which metastasizes more frequently to unusual sites.