Citotoxic Saponins from Schefflera rotundifolia

Eight new oleanane and lupane saponins (1-8) as well as two new benzyl glycosides (9 and 10) were isolated from the aerial parts of Schefflera rotundifolia (Ten) Frodin (Araliaceae) together with two known benzyl glycosides. Their structures were established using 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The antiproliferative activity of all compounds was evaluated using three continuous murine and human culture cell lines J774.A1, HEK-293, and WEHI-164. Compounds 7 and 8, having betulinic acid as aglycone, were the most active constituents

GAMBLING: SPREADING AMONG STUDENTS IN PALERMO

Adolescents represent a particularly high-risk group and they are also vulnerable to the development of gambling related problems. Thanks to technological advances in gaming industry (slot machines, video lottery terminals, casino-types games) new form of gambling are continuously appearing. With the purpose of having an idea about the spreading of gambling among the students of Palermo, a survey has been conducted through administration of questionnaires during the period from January to May 2017: this study involved 1622 students (686 boys and 936 girls) between the age of 14 and 19. In this survey it has been demonstrated that only 15% of students have never played; 36% declare they have…

USE OF HERBAL REMEDIES AMONG CANCER AND TRANSPLANT PATIENTS IN THE TOWN OF PALERMO, SICILY

Concomitant use of herbal remedies may lead to toxicity or failure of conventional therapies in different patients. The objectives of this survey were to assess: (1) the prevalence of the use of vegetal remedies by cancer and transplanted patients (2) the level of communication about such use to the physicians (3) whether such use might be associated to adverse reactions or interactions with conventional drugs. The study was carried out on 100 consecutive cancer patients attending the outpatient medical oncology clinic of the University Hospital "P. Giaccone", Palermo and on other 100 transplanted patients who were hospitalized or followed up at ISMETT, Palermo. Another group was composed o…

Two new sesquiterpene lactones from Montanoa tomentosa ssp. microcephala

ASSESSMENT OF HEAVY METAL CONTAMINATION IN TERRACES FOR PUBLIC USE RECOVERED IN THE CITY OF PALERMO AND IN AGRICULTURAL TERRACES

The contamination by heavy metals in the soil is nowadays considered an indicator of environmental pollution caused by to several factors, such as waste disposal, industrial discharges and the use of irrigation water. Developed in collaboration with SO.GEST Ambiente Laboratory, in Palermo, this study had as a purpose to monitor the levels of heavy metals - Cd, Cr, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn -both in public lands and in agricultural terrains. All the soil samples collected have been subjected to an acid extraction process by using HCL and eventually to a mass spectrometer-based analysis for the quantitative/ qualitative determination, specifically by the technique of flame atomic absorption spectrophoto…

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CASES OF POISONING DETECTED IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM OF THE “SAN GIOVANNI DI DIO” HOSPITAL FROM 2012 TO 2016 AND IN THE TOXICOLOGY DEPARTMENT AND INTENSIVE CARE UNIT OF THE “BUCCHERI LA FERLA” HOSPITAL IN PALERMO

Many clinical cases of intentional or unintentional poisoning have been analysed for every kind of xenobiotics in the period 2012-2016 observed at the “San Giovanni di Dio” Hospital in Agrigento, The same kind of study was carried out on some cases of the period 2000-2010 and 2010-2016 at the “Bucchieri La Ferla” Hospital in Palermo. At the “San Giovanni di Dio” Hospital in Agrigento individual and anonymous data from a sample of 264 individuals has been collected and they present a set of symptoms that are, in whole or in part, caused by the poisoning. Simultaneously, the survey carried out on the hospital in Palermo, which involved 96 individuals, gave particular attention to poisoning ca…

EVALUATION OF BACTERIAL AND FUNGAL LOAD IN FRESH, FROZEN AND DRIED FOOD MUSHROOMS

The analysis carried out by Doores et al. (1) and Venturini et al. (2) on the total bacterial load tested in wild and cultivated fresh mushrooms highlight values ranging between 3.7 and 9.3 log ufc/g. Due to the absence of pathogens, the microbiological quality of mushrooms analysed by the above-mentioned authors has been considered good. On the basis of data reported in literature we have also extended the observations with frozen and dried mushrooms in order to evaluate the mesophilous bacterial and fungal load. In particular the presence/absence of Escherichia coli (Migula,1895) Castellani & Chalmers, 1919, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes (Murray et al.1926) Pirie 1940 was…

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF A SURVEY ABOUT DIFFUSION OF BINGE DRINKING AND DRUNKOREXIA AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE

Youth alcohol consumption is a major global public health concern. Previous reviews have concluded that exposure to alcohol marketing was associated with drinking initiation and higher alcohol consumption among youth. From January to May 2017, a survey has been conducted through administration of questionnaires about the diffusion of binge drinking and drunkorexia among the students of Palermo. Test was administered, during school time, to 2331 students between the ages of 13 and 20. Regarding the analysis of the questionnaires, 97.8% of student declare to have drunk at least once: their first taste of alcoholic drink happens at the age of thirteen/fourteen. They prefer to drink at the disc…

Citotoxic saponins from Schefflera fagueti

Synthesis and structure-activity relationship studies of new 3-methyl-5-(5-propyl-1H-1-R'-3-pyrazolyl)-1H-1-R-4-nitrosopyrazoles as antimicotic agents

We have reported that some 4-nitrosopyrazoles derivatives displayed in vitro and in vivo potent antifungal activity at no cytotoxic concentration and some of these compounds were 4 times more potent than Amphotericine B and Fluconazole respectively against Cryptococcus.Neoformans and C. Krusei.We reported also that the absence of NO group or its replacement with NO2 or NH2 groups gave compounds devoid of antimycotical activity. To better understand the mechanism of action and with the aim of identifying the chemical features responsible for the action, we synthesized and tested a new class of compounds in which the 4-NO group was replaced with 4-CN group having, these last, similar steric a…