0000000000241748
AUTHOR
Gianluigi Giannelli
Dietary fiber and health outcomes: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses
Background Several studies have suggested that higher consumption of dietary fiber is beneficial for a variety of health outcomes. However, many results have been inconclusive and, to our knowledge, there has been no attempt to systematically capture the breadth of outcomes associated with dietary fiber intake or to systematically assess the quality and the strength of the evidence on the associations of dietary fiber intake and different health outcomes or medical conditions. Objective The aim of this study was to describe the diverse health outcomes convincingly associated with dietary fiber consumption. Design This was an umbrella review of systematic reviews with meta-analysis of observ…
Neoangiogenesis-related genes are hallmarks of fast-growing hepatocellular carcinomas and worst survival. Results from a prospective study
Objective The biological heterogeneity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) makes prognosis difficult. We translate the results of a genome-wide high-throughput analysis into a tool that accurately predicts at presentation tumour growth and survival of patients with HCC.Design Ultrasound surveillance identified HCC in 78 (training set) and 54 (validation set) consecutive patients with cirrhosis. Patients underwent two CT scans 6 weeks apart (no treatment in-between) to determine tumour volumes (V-0 and V-1) and calculate HCC doubling time. Baseline-paired HCC and surrounding tissue biopsies for microarray study (Agilent Whole Human Genome Oligo Microarrays) were also obtained. Predictors of su…
Pharmacological targeting of the novel β-catenin chromatin-associated kinase p38α in colorectal cancer stem cell tumorspheres and organoids
AbstractThe prognosis of locally advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) is currently unsatisfactory. This is mainly due to drug resistance, recurrence, and subsequent metastatic dissemination, which are sustained by the cancer stem cell (CSC) population. The main driver of the CSC gene expression program is Wnt signaling, and previous reports indicate that Wnt3a can activate p38 MAPK. Besides, p38 was shown to feed into the canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Here we show that patient-derived locally advanced CRC stem cells (CRC-SCs) are characterized by increased expression of p38α and are “addicted” to its kinase activity. Of note, we found that stage III CRC patients with high p38α levels display…
Neurological diseases and COVID-19: prospective analyses using the UK Biobank
COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease-19) may present with neurological signs, but whether people already affected by neurological conditions are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 is still not known. We, therefore, aimed to investigate the association of previously diagnosed neurological conditions with COVID-19. 502,536 community-dwelling UK Biobank participants (54.4% male, mean age 56.6 ± 10.3 years) were included. Among these, 57,463 participants had a diagnosis of neurological conditions (11.43%) and a total of 1326 COVID-19-positive cases were identified (0.26%). Neurological conditions were identified through medical history and linkage to data on hospital admissions (ICD-10 code G00–…
Adherence to a healthy lifestyle and multiple sclerosis: a case–control study from the UK Biobank
Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common and disabling condition. The importance of healthy lifestyle for this disease is poorly explored. Objective: To test whether adherence to healthier lifestyle patterns is associated with a lower presence of multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: By using a case–control design, we investigated the combined association of four healthy lifestyle-related factors (no current smoking, healthy diet, exercising regularly, body mass index <30 kg/m2) and the prevalence of MS. A logistic regression analysis, adjusted for potential confounders, was used and data reported as odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: 728 participant…
Traditional Dietary Patterns and Risk of Mortality in a Longitudinal Cohort of the Salus in Apulia Study
There is still room for further studies analyzing the long-term health impact of specific dietary patterns observable in regions belonging to the Mediterranean area. The aim of the study is to evaluate how much a diet practiced in southern Italy is associated to a risk of mortality. The study population included 2472 participants first investigated in 1985, inquiring about their frequencies of intake of 29 foods using a self-administered questionnaire covering the previous year. The population was followed up for mortality until 31 December 2017. Cox-based risk modeling referred to single foods, food groups, the results of principal component analysis (PCA), and a priori indexes. Single foo…
Differential Tissue Fatty Acids Profiling between Colorectal Cancer Patients with and without Synchronous Metastasis
The early detection of colorectal cancer and determination of its metastatic potential are important factors to set up more efficacious therapeutic strategies. In the present study, we hypothesize that fatty acids analysis in colorectal cancer patients can discriminate between metastatic and non-metastatic patients. Fifty-one consecutive patients with histologically proven colorectal cancer were enrolled in the study and the presence of synchronous metastasis was detected in 25 of these 51 patients. Fatty acid profile analysis in red blood cell membranes was not able to discriminate the metastatic colorectal cancer patients from those without metastasis. However, significant differences in …
Endothelial angiopoietin-2 overexpression in explanted livers identifies subjects at higher risk of recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation
BackgroundThough the precise criteria for accessing LT are consistently being applied, HCC recurrence (HCC-R_LT) still affects more than 15% of the patients. We analyzed the clinical, histopathological, and biological features of patients with HCC to identify the predictive factors associated with cancer recurrence and survival after LT.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed 441 patients with HCC who underwent LT in our center. Overall, 70 (15.8%) of them developed HCC-R_LT. We matched them by age at transplant and etiology with 70 non-recurrent patients. A comparable cohort from the Liver Transplant Centre of Bologna served as validation. The clinical and biochemical characteristics and pre-LT…
Down-Regulation of Cannabinoid Type 1 (CB1) Receptor and its Downstream Signaling Pathways in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Changes in the regulation of endocannabinoid production, together with an altered expression of their receptors are hallmarks of cancer, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Although several studies have been conducted to understand the biological role of the CB1 receptor in cancer, little is known about its involvement in the metastatic process of CRC. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible link between CB1 receptor expression and the presence of metastasis in patients with CRC, investigating the main signaling pathways elicited downstream of CB1 receptor in colon cancer. Fifty-nine consecutive patients, with histologically proven colorectal cancer, were enrolled in the study,…
A phase 2 study of galunisertib (TGF-Β R1 inhibitor) and sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
4097 Background: TGFβ signaling is associated with HCC progression. Inhibition of TGFβ R1 potentiates activity of sorafenib in in-vitro and in-vivo models. Here we report the clinical activity of galunisertib (G) plus sorafenib (S) in pts with incurable HCC and no prior systemic therapy. Methods: Eligibility criteria included incurable HCC with measurable disease per RECIST 1.1, no prior systemic therapy, Child Pugh A, ECOG PS ≤1.G was administered as 80 mg PO BID (lead-in Cohort 1) or 150 mg PO BID (lead-in Cohort 2 and expansion cohort), as intermittent dosing of 14 days on/off (28 days = 1 cycle). S was administered continuously as a 400 mg PO BID. Primary objective was to characterize …