HCV-HIV coinfected pregnant women: data from a multicentre study in Italy.

Purpose: To provide information about main pregnancy outcomes in HIV-HCV coinfected women and about the possible interactions between HIV and HCV in this particular population.

Methods: Data from a multicenter observational study of pregnant women with HIV, conducted in Italian University and Hospital Clinics between 2001 and 2015, were used. Eligibility criteria for analysis were HCV coinfection and at least one detectable plasma HCV-RNA viral load measured during pregnancy.

Morphophenotypic changes in human multistep hepatocarcinogenesis with translational implications.

Background & Aims: Human hepatocarcinogenesis in cirrhosis is thought to be multistep and characterized by a spectrum of nodular lesions, ranging from low to high grade dysplastic nodules (LGDN and HGDN) to early and progressed hepatocellular carcinoma (eHCC and pHCC). The aim of this study was to investigate the morphophenotypical changes of this sequence and their potential translational significance.

Methods: We scored the vascular profile, ductular reaction/stromal invasion and overexpression of five biomarkers (GPC3, HSP70, GS, CHC, and EZH2), in a series of 100 resected nodules (13 LGDN, 16 HGDN, 42 eHCC and 29 small pHCC).

Brief Report: Consequences of Presentation With Advanced HIV Disease in Pregnancy: Data From a National Study in Italy.

Among 469 women with a diagnosis of HIV in pregnancy, 74 (15.8%) presented with less than 200 CD4 cells per cubic millimeter. The only variable significantly associated with this occurrence was African origin (odds ratio: 2.

The lateral infratrigeminal transpontine window to deep pontine lesions.

Object: Surgery of brainstem lesions is increasingly performed despite the fact that surgical indications and techniques continue to be debated. The deep pons, in particular, continues to be a critical area in which the specific risks related to different surgical strategies continue to be examined. With the intention of bringing new knowledge into this important arena, the authors systematically examined the results of brainstem surgeries that have been performed through the lateral infratrigeminal transpontine window.

Autophagy in Normal and Abnormal Early Human Pregnancies.

Autophagy is an inducible catabolic process by which cells degrade and recycle materials to survive stress, starvation, and hypoxia. The aim of this study was to evaluate autophagy at the fetal-maternal interface, to assess autophagy involvement during the early phase of human gestation, and to explore autophagic modification in case of early abnormal pregnancy outcome. Specimens were collected from first-trimester normal gestations undergoing legal termination of pregnancy and first-trimester sporadic spontaneous miscarriages.

Rate, predictors, and consequences of late antenatal booking in a national cohort study of pregnant women with HIV in Italy.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence and consequences of late antenatal booking (13 or more weeks gestation) in a national observational study of pregnant women with HIV.

Methods: The clinical and demographic characteristics associated with late booking were evaluated in univariate analyses using the Mann-Whitney U test for quantitative data and the chi-square test for categorical data. The associations that were found were re-evaluated in multivariable logistic regression models.

Telomere dysfunction in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

Background: Chromosomal instability in peripheral blood mononuclear cells has a role in the onset of primary biliary cirrhosis. We hypothesized that patients with primary biliary cirrhosis may harbour telomere dysfunction, with consequent chromosomal instability and cellular senescence.

Aim: To evaluate the clinical significance of telomerase activity and telomere length in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

PKA regulatory subunit R2B is required for murine and human adipocyte differentiation.

ADIPOGENESIS IS A COMPLEX PROCESS MODULATED BY SEVERAL FACTORS, INCLUDING CAMP SIGNALING. THE MAIN CAMP TARGET IS PROTEIN KINASE A (PKA), A TETRAMERIC ENZYME WITH FOUR REGULATORY SUBUNITS SHOWING TISSUE-SPECIFIC EXPRESSION AND FUNCTION: PRKAR2B is the main regulatory subunit in adipose tissue in mice and in adult humans. This study aimed to evaluate the expression of PKA regulatory subunits in human adipose tissue during fetal development and to investigate their role in the differentiation of 3T3-L1 and primary human preadipocytes.

Autophagy in placentas from acidotic newborns: an immunohistochemical study of LC3 expression.

Autophagy is an inducible catabolic process activated during compromised conditions, such as hypoxia. Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is a syndrome of disturbed neurological function. No absolute prognostic indicators are available at birth to identify neonates at high risk to develop NE.

Autophagy and human parturition: evaluation of LC3 expression in placenta from spontaneous or medically induced onset of labor.

Induction of labor is one of the most used procedures in obstetrics, performed to achieve vaginal delivery through cervical ripening and stimulation of uterine contractions. We investigated the impact of induction of labor upon placental autophagy, a catabolic pathway activated in response to alteration of the physiological intracellular conditions. We collected 28 singleton placentas at the time of uncomplicated term vaginal delivery (7 spontaneous onset of labor, 21 induced labor).

Prolactin and proinflammatory cytokine expression at the fetomaternal interface in first trimester miscarriage.

Objective: To investigate the expression of prolactin (PRL), PRL-receptor (PRL-R), and the TH1 cytokines interleukin-2 (IL-2), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) at the maternofetal interface.

Design: Case-control study.

Setting: University hospital unit of gynecology and obstetrics and research laboratories.

Placental amino acids transport in intrauterine growth restriction.

The placenta represents a key organ for fetal growth as it acts as an interface between mother and fetus, regulating the fetal-maternal exchange of nutrients, gases, and waste products. During pregnancy, amino acids represent one of the major nutrients for fetal life, and both maternal and fetal concentrations are significantly different in pregnancies with intrauterine growth restriction when compared to uncomplicated pregnancies. The transport of amino acids across the placenta is a complex process that includes the influx of neutral, anionic, and cationic amino acids across the microvilluos plasma membrane of the syncytiotrophoblast, the passage through the cytoplasm of the trophoblasts, and the transfer outside the trophoblasts across the basal membrane into the fetal circulation.

Abnormal spiral artery remodelling in the decidual segment during pregnancy: from histology to clinical correlation.

Introduction: Modification of the spiral arteries with loss of the muscular vascular wall, invaded by the trophoblasts, represents the goal of the physiological vascular adaptation during human implantation. When physiological vascular changes do not occur, an unfavourable evolution of gestation may develop as suggested by uterine biopsies studies.

Aims: To evaluate the prevalence of the abnormal spiral arteries modification (ASAM) through the routine examination of placentas, to identify maternal predisposing factors and to examine the correlations between the histological lesion and pregnancy outcome.

An imbalance of COX level is not related to placental abruption.

Aims: Muscularised basal plate arteries (MA) or chorioamnionitis (CA) are often present in placental abruption. The aim of this study was to evaluate the placental expression of COX 1 and COX 2 in cases of placental abruption with MA or CA hypothesising that an imbalance in COX placental expression might be implicated in its pathogenesis.

Methods: COX 1 and COX 2 placental immunostaining was analysed in 16 placentas with abruption (nine with MA, seven with CA), in 26 normal placentas and in 10 gestational age-matched MA or CA cases without abruption.

Autophagy in term normal human placentas.

Autophagy is an inducible catabolic process that responds to environment and is essential for cell survival during stress, starvation and hypoxia. Its function in the human placenta it is not yet understood. We collected 14 placentas: 7 at vaginal delivery and 7 at elective caesarean section after uneventful term pregnancies.

Thrombosis of the umbilical vessels revisited. An observational study of 317 consecutive autopsies at a single institution.

Thrombosis of the umbilical vessels has been associated with conditions like fetal death, cerebral palsy, and severe fetal distress, which are common causes for litigation in today's obstetrics practice. Although different anatomical conditions of the umbilical cord as well as maternal or fetal pathologies are considered risk factors, the etiology of thrombosis of the umbilical vessels is still obscure in many cases that pathologists handle. We diagnosed 32 cases of umbilical vessel thrombosis in a series of 317 consecutive autopsies of spontaneous intrauterine fetal death selected from a file of 914 fetal and neonatal autopsies.

Plasma oxysterols in normal and cholestatic children as indicators of the two pathways of bile acid synthesis.

Background: No information is available on the hepatic and extrahepatic pathways of bile acid synthesis in normal children and in pediatric cholestatic liver diseases.

Methods: To explore the changes of the two pathways of bile acid synthesis during development, plasma concentrations of 7alpha-hydroxycholesterol and 27-hydroxycholesterol were measured in 50 healthy children (1 month-14 years) and compared to 18 adult controls. We also measured plasma oxysterols in 31 patients with pediatric cholestatic liver disease.

Peculiar HLA polymorphisms in Italian patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

Background/aims: Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is an autoimmune cholestatic liver disease of unknown etiology with a highly variable progression rate and prevalence among different geographical areas. Data concerning human leukocyte antigen (HLA) polymorphisms in PBC come from a limited number of geographical areas, from which the association with the HLA-DRB1*08 allele has been consistently reported.

Methods: To investigate whether HLA polymorphisms contribute toward disease susceptibility, we compared 186 well-defined Italian PBC patients with 558 healthy subjects matched by age, gender and geographical area (Northern, Central and Southern Italy).