Vitamin D increases the production of IL-10 by regulatory T cells in patients with systemic sclerosis

2019

OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D status influences the risk to develop autoimmune diseases affecting the percentage and/or functions of regulatory T cells (Tregs). Since low levels of 25 (OH) D have been decreased in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), we aimed to study the effect of Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) supplementation on Tregs frequencies and functions. METHODS: Peripheral blood and sera samples were obtained from 45 SSc patients and controls (HC). A number of eighteen SSc patients had consumed Cholecalciferol (orally) at the dose of 25.000 UI/month for 6 months at the time of enrollment. 25(OH)D serum levels were measured and VDR polymorphisms, were genotyped by polymerase chain reactio…

Elevated cerebrospinal fluid and plasma homocysteine levels in ALS

2012

Background: Numerous recent evidence suggests that homocysteine (HC), a putative risk factor for stroke and coronary artery disease [1,2], could play a role in the physiopathology of several neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s Parkinson’s diseases and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) [3,4,5]. HC, an aminoacid involved in the methionine metabolism, acts as a neurotoxin through several mechanisms, including free radicals and cytosolic accumulation, mitochondrial dysfunctions, activation of apoptotic pathways, and excitotoxic aminoacid-mediated damage [5]. A recent report showed that plasma HC levels were significantly elevated in ALS, and in particular in those patients with a…

Vitamin D and immunomodulation: Is it time to change the reference values?

2017

The term "vitamin D" refers to two chemical compounds - ergosterol, or vitamin D2, and cholecalciferol, or vitamin D3. Active vitamin D3 is correctly regarded as a neurohormone due to its pleiotropic biological activities. Although the relation between vitamin D and calcium-phosphorus metabolism has never been discussed, the knowledge on many other roles vitamin D plays is growing fast. Briefly, vitamin D immunomodulation includes attenuation and stimulation of Th1 and Th2 cell proliferation, respectively. Similarly, vitamin D can induce or inhibit the synthesis, secretion, and release of anti- inflammatory (IL- 4 and IL-10) and pro-inflammatory (IL-1, TNF-α, IFN-γ) cytokines, respectivel…

SMART TECHNIQUES FOR FAST MEDICAL IMAGE ANALYSIS AND PROCESSING

Medical Imaging has become an important transversal applications and re- search field that embraces a great variety of sciences. Imaging is the central science of measurement in diagnosis and treating diseases. The effort of the technological progress has made possible human imaging starting from a single molecule to the whole body. The open challenge is to treat the huge amount of medical informations with the use of smart and fast techniques that allows clinical and images data analysis and processing. In this ph.D. Thesis, many issues have been addressed and a certain amount of improvement in various fields have been produced, such as biom- etry, organs and tissues segmentation, MRI ther…

Rehabilitation following injury of the rotator cuff

2003

The main aim of this paper is to compare two diffrent rehabilitation tecniques for treatment of the shoulder joint following injury of the rotator cuff. The seriousness of the pathology means patients generally have to endure a considerable period during wich use of the joint in question is impossible