Soluble Toll-like Receptor 4: A New Player in Subclinical Inflammation and Malnutrition in Hemodialysis Patients.

Objective: Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) promotes inflammation in hemodialysis patients (HD). A soluble form of extracellular TLR4 (sTLR4) has been recently characterized, which showed the ability to attenuate TLR4 signalling. In this study, we describe the sTLR4 profile in regular HD patients.

Modulation of Myostatin/Hepatocyte Growth Factor Balance by Different Hemodialysis Modalities.

In this study we investigated the relevance of myostatin and Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) in patients undergoing hemodialysis HD and the influence of different HD modalities on their levels. We performed a prospective crossover study in which HD patients were randomized to undergo 3-month treatment periods with bicarbonate hemodialysis (BHD) followed by online hemodiafiltration (HDF). Clinical data, laboratory parameters, and myostatin and HGF serum levels were collected and compared.

The Role of Adipocytokines in Coronary Atherosclerosis.

Purpose Of Review: The aim of this review is to overview the pathophysiological role of adipocytokines in atherogenesis, focusing on their potential role as biomarkers of coronary disease.

Recent Findings: Several lines of evidence indicated adipose tissue not only as depot but rather as an endocrine organ. In this context, the balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory adipocytokines has been shown to critically regulate vascular homeostasis in both physiological and pathophysiological conditions.

Classification of Healthy Subjects and Alzheimer's Disease Patients with Dementia from Cortical Sources of Resting State EEG Rhythms: A Study Using Artificial Neural Networks.

Previous evidence showed a 75.5% best accuracy in the classification of 120 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients with dementia and 100 matched normal elderly (Nold) subjects based on cortical source current density and linear lagged connectivity estimated by eLORETA freeware from resting state eyes-closed electroencephalographic (rsEEG) rhythms (Babiloni et al., 2016a).

Hyperuricemia is associated with increased hospitalization risk and healthcare costs: Evidence from an administrative database in Italy.

Background And Aim: Chronic hyperuricemia is responsible for a relevant burden of articular diseases and cardio-nephrometabolic disorders. We evaluated the effect of high serum uric acid (SUA) levels on hospitalization risk and mortality and on healthcare costs in a real-life setting.

Methods And Results: We conducted a retrospective analysis using a large administrative database and a clinical registry among 112,170 subjects from three Italian local health units.

Increased Serum Uric Acid Levels Blunt the Antihypertensive Efficacy of Lifestyle Modifications in Children at Cardiovascular Risk.

Primary hypertension is a growing concern in children because of the obesity epidemic largely attributable to western lifestyles. Serum uric acid is known to be influenced by dietary habits, correlates with obesity, and could represent a risk factor for hypertension. Preliminary studies in children highlighted uric acid as a potentially modifiable risk factor for the prevention and treatment of hypertension.

Uncovering the genomic heterogeneity of multifocal breast cancer.

Multifocal breast cancer (MFBC), defined as multiple synchronous unilateral lesions of invasive breast cancer, is relatively frequent and has been associated with more aggressive features than unifocal cancer. Here, we aimed to investigate the genomic heterogeneity between MFBC lesions sharing similar histopathological parameters. Characterization of different lesions from 36 patients with ductal MFBC involved the identification of non-silent coding mutations in 360 protein-coding genes (171 tumour and 36 matched normal samples).

Genetic predisposition to pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PC) is the most deadly of the common cancers. Owing to its rapid progression and almost certain fatal outcome, identifying individuals at risk and detecting early lesions are crucial to improve outcome. Genetic risk factors are believed to play a major role.

Increased urine semaphorin-3A is associated with renal damage in hypertensive patients with chronic kidney disease: a nested case-control study.

Background: Semaphorins are guidance proteins implicated in several processes such as angiogenesis, organogenesis, cell migration, and cytokine release. Experimental studies showed that semaphorin-3a (SEMA3A) administration induces transient massive proteinuria, podocyte foot process effacement and endothelial cell damage in healthy animals. While SEMA3A signaling has been demonstrated to be mechanistically involved in experimental diabetic glomerulopathy and in acute kidney injury, to date its role in human chronic kidney disease (CKD) has not been investigated.

Serum uric acid and its relationship with metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk profile in patients with hypertension: insights from the I-DEMAND study.

Background And Aims: The independent role of serum uric acid (SUA) as a marker of cardio-renal risk is debated. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between SUA, metabolic syndrome (MS), and other cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in an Italian population of hypertensive patients with a high prevalence of diabetes.

Methods And Results: A total of 2429 patients (mean age 62 ± 11 years) among those enrolled in the I-DEMAND study were stratified on the basis of SUA gender specific quartiles.

Serum uric acid and blood pressure in children at cardiovascular risk.

Objectives: Hyperuricemia has been shown to be a strong correlate of hypertension in children. However, the complex interaction between serum uric acid (UA), systemic blood pressure (BP), and possibly confounding factors has been elucidated only in part.

Methods: We evaluated office BP as well as clinical and biohumoral parameters in a cross-sectional cohort of 501 children (280 boys and 221 girls) aged between 6 and 18 years (mean = 10.