0000000000057494
AUTHOR
Tommaso Silvano Aronica
The Congenital Hypothyroidism Screening Programme in a Sigle Italian Centre: A 5-Years Retrospective Study
Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) occurs in approximately 1:2,000-1:3,000 newborns in Italy. Lowering of the TSH cut-off was the most important factor contributing to the increase of CH incidence in Italy. The aim of this study is the determination of the prevalence of CH in northwest Sicily, evaluated by the single screening centre of the Children Hospital “G. Di Cristina”, ARNAS, Palermo. From January 2013 to December 2017, 79.699 newborns were screened testing TSH from blood spots. The neonates with TSH≥6mU/L were recalled measuring serum fT4, fT3, TSH, anti- TG and anti-TG antibodies, and thyroid echography. To evaluate the effect in lowering the TSH cut-off, we compared the cases of confi…
Cigarette smoke promotes inflammasome‐independent activation of caspase‐1 and ‐4 leading to gasdermin D cleavage in human macrophages
Mechanisms and consequences of gasdermin D (GSDMD) activation in cigarette smoke (CS)-associated inflammation and lung disease are unknown. GSDMD is a downstream effector of caspase-1, -8, and -4. Upon cleavage, GSDMD generates pores into cell membranes. Different degrees of GSDMD activation are associated with a range of physiological outputs ranging from cell hyperactivation to pyroptosis. We have previously reported that in human monocyte-derived macrophages CS extract (CSE) inhibits the NLRP3 inflammasome and shifts the response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) towards the TLR4-TRIF axis leading to activation of caspase-8, which, in turn, activates caspase-1. In the present work, we investig…
A new p65 isoform that bind the glucocorticoid hormone and is expressed in inflammation liver diseases and COVID-19
AbstractInflammation is a physiological process whose deregulation causes some diseases including cancer. Nuclear Factor kB (NF-kB) is a family of ubiquitous and inducible transcription factors, in which the p65/p50 heterodimer is the most abundant complex, that play critical roles mainly in inflammation. Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor and acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and immunosuppressant. Thus, NF-kB and GR are physiological antagonists in the inflammation process. Here we show that in mice and humans there is a spliced variant of p65, named p65 iso5, which binds the corticosteroid hormone dexamethasone amplifying the effect of the glucocorti…
Neonatal screening for congenital hypothyroidism in an Italian Centre: a 5-years real-life retrospective study
Abstract Introduction Congenital hypothyroidism is an endocrine disease with a significant incidence in the general population (1:2000–1:3000 newborns in Italy) and a different geographical distribution, partially explained by endemic iodine deficiency, genetic traits and autoimmune thyroid diseases. Objectives Aims of this study are: to evaluate the incidence of positive neonatal blood spot screening for CH in western Sicily, identified by the screening centre of the Children Hospital “G. Di Cristina”, ARNAS, Palermo; to evaluate the impact of a lower TSH cutoff in the neonatal blood spot screening for CH. Materials and methods The TSH threshold of the neonatal screening was established as…