Real-life Performance of Edoxaban in Elderly Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: a Multicenter Propensity Score-Matched Cohort Study.

Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to compare the efficacy and safety of edoxaban versus vitamin K antagonist (VKA) therapy among a cohort of elderly patients (ie, those aged ≥75 years) with atrial fibrillation (AF) in a real-life setting.

Methods: A propensity score-matched cohort observational study was performed comparing the safety and efficacy of edoxaban versus VKA therapy among a cohort of elderly (aged ≥75 years) patients with AF in a real-life setting. Follow-up data were obtained through outpatient visits at 1, 3, and every 6 months.

Sperm DNA fragmentation: An early and reliable marker of air pollution.

Environmental factors could have a key role in the continuous and remarkable decline of sperm quality observed in the last decades. This study compared the seminal parameters and sperm DFI in men living in areas with different levels of air pollution. Results demonstrate that both steel plants workers and patients living in a high polluted area show a mean percentage of sperm DNA fragmentation above 30%, highlighting a clear sperm damage.

Minimally invasive anatomic reconstruction of the anterolateral ligament with ipsilateral gracilis tendon.

Background: There has been much interest in understanding the anatomy and biomechanics of the anterolateral ligament (ALL). Several recon struction procedures have been proposed to correct rotatory instability after Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and anterolateral soft tissues injuries.

Methods: We propose a new anatomic minimally invasive ALL reconstruction using the ipsilateral gracilis tendon.

Effects of Highly Polluted Environment on Sperm Telomere Length: A Pilot Study.

High environmental pressure may impair male fertility by affecting sperm quality, but the real effect remains controversial. Herein, we assessed the influence of environmental exposure on telomere length (TL) in both leukocytes (LTL) and sperm cells (STL). A pilot biomonitoring study was conducted in 112 clinically healthy, normospermic men living in various areas of Campania region (South of Italy) with high ( = 57, High Group) or low ( = 55, Low Group) environmental pressure.

Human semen as an early, sensitive biomarker of highly polluted living environment in healthy men: A pilot biomonitoring study on trace elements in blood and semen and their relationship with sperm quality and RedOx status.

The Campania region in Italy is facing an environmental crisis due to the illegal disposal of toxic waste. Herein, a pilot study (EcoFoodFertility initiative) was conducted to investigate the use of human semen as an early biomarker of pollution on 110 healthy males living in various areas of Campania with either high or low environmental impact. The semen from the "high impact" group showed higher zinc, copper, chromium and reduced iron levels, as well as reduced sperm motility and higher sperm DNA Fragmentation Index (DFI).

Free Radical-derived Oxysterols: Novel Adipokines Modulating Adipogenic Differentiation of Adipose Precursor Cells.

Context: Increased oxidative stress in adipose tissue emerges as an inducer of obesity-linked insulin resistance. Here we tested whether free-radical derived oxysterols are formed by, and accumulate in, human adipocytes. Moreover, we asked whether increased accumulation of oxysterols characterizes the adipose cells of obese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) (OBT2D) compared with lean, nondiabetic controls (CTRLs).

Xenograft of microencapsulated Sertoli cells restores glucose homeostasis in db/db mice with spontaneous diabetes mellitus.

Background: Increased abdominal fat and chronic inflammation in the expanded adipose tissue of obesity contribute to the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). The emerging immunoregulatory and anti-inflammatory properties of Sertoli cells have prompted their application to experimental models of autoimmune/inflammatory disorders, including diabetes. The main goal of this work was to verify whether transplantation of microencapsulated prepubertal porcine Sertoli cells (MC-SC) in the subcutaneous abdominal fat depot of spontaneously diabetic and obese db/db mice (homozygous for the diabetes spontaneous mutation [Lepr ]) would: (i) improve glucose homeostasis and (ii) modulate local and systemic immune response and adipokines profiles.

Environmental pollutants: genetic damage and epigenetic changes in male germ cells.

About a quarter of the human diseases occurs for exposure to air pollution. The male reproductive system, and especially spermatogenesis, seems to be particularly sensitive. As result, male infertility is increasing in industrial countries becoming a top priority for public health.

Fetuin-A, adiposity-linked insulin resistance and responsiveness to an educational-based weight excess reduction program: a population-based survey in prepubertal schoolchildren.

The secreted hepatokine fetuin-A emerges as an independent predictor of type 2 diabetes in adulthood. The overall aims of this study were: (1) to investigate the associations of fetuin-A with adiposity and insulin resistance, as well as its relationship with adipokines, in prepubertal children, and, (2) to evaluate whether, in prepubertal obesity, serum fetuin-A levels may either change or predict the responsiveness to an educational-based weight excess reduction program. We studied 200 prepubertal children (boys/girls: 89/111; Tanner stage 1; age: 5-13 years), included in a cohort of 44,231 adolescents who participated in an extensive Italian school-based survey.

Epigenetic control of the immune system: a lesson from Kabuki syndrome.

Kabuki syndrome (KS) is a rare multi-systemic disorder characterized by a distinct face, postnatal growth deficiency, mild-to-moderate intellectual disability, skeletal and visceral (mainly cardiovascular, renal, and skeletal) malformations, dermatoglyphic abnormalities. Its cause is related to mutations of two genes: KMT2D (histone-lysine N-methyltransferase 2D) and KDM6A (lysine-specific demethylase 6A), both functioning as epigenetic modulators through histone modifications in the course of embryogenesis and in several biological processes. Epigenetic regulation is defined as the complex of hereditable modifications to DNA and histone proteins that modulates gene expression in the absence of DNA nucleotide sequence changes.

Left ventricular hypertrophy and obesity: only a matter of fat?

Obesity can be regarded as an energy balance disorder in which inappropriate expansion and dys-function of adipose tissue lead to unfavorable outcomes. Even in the absence of hypertension, adiposity induces structural and functional changes in the heart through hemodynamic and non hemodynamic factors. In the "obese" heart, besides the growth of cardiomyocytes, interstitial fat infiltration and triglyceride accumulation in the contractile elements importantly contribute to left-ventricular mass (LVM) accrual, hypertrophy (LVH) and geometric pattern.

Lipokines and oxysterols: novel adipose-derived lipid hormones linking adipose dysfunction and insulin resistance.

The expansion of adipose tissue (AT) is, by definition, a hallmark of obesity. However, not all increases in fat mass are associated with pathophysiological cues. Indeed, whereas a "healthy" fat mass accrual, mainly in the subcutaneous depots, preserves metabolic homeostasis, explaining the occurrence of the metabolically healthy obese phenotype, "unhealthy" AT expansion is importantly associated with insulin resistance/type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome.

Oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation by-products at the crossroad between adipose organ dysregulation and obesity-linked insulin resistance.

Obesity has been proposed as an energy balance disorder in which the expansion of adipose tissue (AT) leads to unfavorable health outcomes. Even though adiposity represents the most powerful driving force for the development of insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes, mounting evidence points to "adipose dysregulation", rather than fat mass accrual per se, as a key pathophysiological trigger of the obesity-linked metabolic complications. The dysfunctional fat, besides hypertrophic adipose cells and inflammatory cues, displays a reduced ability to form new adipocytes from the undifferentiated precursor cells (ie, the preadipocytes).

The selective phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor tadalafil induces microvascular and metabolic effects in type 2 diabetic postmenopausal females.

Objective: The objective of the study was to explore the acute in vivo effects of the selective phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor tadalafil on local microcirculation and regional metabolism in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue (AT).

Design, Setting, And Participants: We studied eight postmenopausal female patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and eight nondiabetic controls (Ctrl) in the postabsorptive state and 180 min after the administration of tadalafil 10 mg. Intramuscular and sc microdialysis were combined with measurements of forearm (FBF) and AT blood flow as well as with arterial and deep venous blood sampling.

Distinct expression of the soluble and the membrane-bound forms of interleukin-1 receptor accessory protein in the endometrium of women with endometriosis.

Objective: To investigate interleukin (IL) 1 receptor accessory protein (IL1RAcP) expression in the eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Human reproduction research laboratory.

Post-operative splenic arteriovenous fistula detected with 16-multidetector computed tomography.

We herein report on a new radiological case of post-operative splenic arteriovenous fistulae (SAVF) with CT-based diagnosis. A brief review of the inherent literature is also discussed.

Inflammation, infection and cardiovascular events in chronic hemodialysis patients: a prospective study.

Background: Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients. Inflammation is a potent risk factor for CV disease in the general population. Recent evidence suggests infection, particularly with agents such as Chlamydia pneumoniae (C.

Prognostic value of 24-hour blood pressure in pregnancy.

Context: Elevated blood pressure (BP) measured at the physician's office may reflect true hypertension or white coat hypertension (WCH). The prognostic value of WCH among pregnant women is unknown.

Objective: To assess the prognostic value of WCH in pregnancy.

Human endometrial cells cultured in a type I collagen gel.

Objective: To elaborate in vitro conditions that enable epithelial and stromal cells of human endometrium to grow within a gel of collagen.

Study Design: Primary cultures of epithelial cells derived from human endometrial biopsies were dissociated and mixed with a collagen solution, and the gel was allowed to form at physiologic pH. Control cultures were grown in plastic dishes.