The pathogenic role of metabolism in Sjögren's syndrome.

The link between immune cell function and cell metabolic reprogramming is currently known under the term "immunometabolism". Similarly to the Warburg's effect described in cancer cells, in activated immune cells an up-regulation of specific metabolic pathways has been described and seems to be pathogenic in different inflammatory conditions.Sjӧgren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease that affects the exocrine glands and is characterised by a progressive loss of secretory function.

Exposure to urban stressors and free testosterone plasma values.

Objectives: The chemical agents present in the environment, such as traffic pollutants, may affect male fertility. Traffic policemen are daily exposed to traffic pollutants. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether occupational exposure to urban stressors could cause alterations in free testosterone plasma values in male traffic policemen versus administrative staff of Municipal Police of a big Italian city.

Microtransplantation of ligand-gated receptor-channels from fresh or frozen nervous tissue into Xenopus oocytes: a potent tool for expanding functional information.

Despite huge improvements in neurobiological approaches for investigating the functional properties of neurotransmitter receptors and ion channels, many difficulties are still encountered when focusing on the human brain. Electrophysiological studies aimed at performing direct determinations on human nervous tissue are limited by neurosurgery and also by pathophysiological conditions prevailing before and after the resective operation. The electrophysiological study of receptors and channels becomes difficult also in animal models when the cells are not accessible and/or the experiments last many hours, during which the examined nervous tissue usually becomes unhealthy.

GABA(A)-current rundown of temporal lobe epilepsy is associated with repetitive activation of GABA(A) "phasic" receptors.

A study was made of the "rundown" of GABA(A) receptors, microtransplanted to Xenopus oocytes from surgically resected brain tissues of patients afflicted with drug-resistant human mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE). Cell membranes, isolated from mTLE neocortex specimens, were injected into frog oocytes that rapidly incorporated functional GABA(A) receptors. Upon repetitive activation with GABA (1 mM), "epileptic" GABA(A) receptors exhibited a GABA(A)-current (I(GABA)) rundown that was significantly enhanced by Zn(2+) ( View Article and Find Full Text PDF