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showing 10 items of 698 documents
Role of Colchicine Treatment in Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Associated Periodic Syndrome (TRAPS): Real-Life Data from the AIDA Network
2020
Objective. To analyze the potential role of colchicine monotherapy in patients with tumor necrosis factor receptor associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS) in terms of control of clinical and laboratory manifestations. Methods. Patients with TRAPS treated with colchicine monotherapy were retrospectively enrolled; demographic, clinical and therapeutic data were collected and statistically analysed after having clustered patients according to different times at disease onset, penetrance of mutations, dosage of colchicine, and different disease manifestations. Results. 24 patients (14 males; 15 with pediatric disease onset) treated with colchicine monotherapy were enrolled. Colchicine resulted in …
Anti-Inflammatory Effects of the Mediterranean Diet in the Early and Late Stages of Atheroma Plaque Development
2017
Objective.To evaluate the long-term effects of a Mediterranean diet (MeDiet) intervention on the plasma concentrations of inflammatory and plaque stability-related molecules in elderly people at high risk for cardiovascular disease.Design and Setting. 66 participants from primary care centers affiliated with the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona were randomized into 3 groups: MeDiet plus extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) or nuts and a low-fat diet (LFD). At baseline and at 3 and 5 years, we evaluated the changes in the plasma concentrations of 24 inflammatory biomarkers related to the different stages of the atherosclerotic process by Luminex®.Results.At 3 and 5 years, both MeDiet groups showed a si…
Potential Antioxidant Activity of Calcium and Selected Oxidative Stress Markers in Lead- and Cadmium-Exposed Workers
2020
Occupational lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) exposure occurs during processing and casting of nonferrous metals such as zinc. In contrast to Pb and Cd, Ca is essential for living organisms due to its important role in a multitude of functions, from cell signaling to bone growth. Pb and Cd exposure affects calcium metabolism in various ways. The aim of this study was to investigate the blood levels of Pb, Cd, and Ca and the levels of selected oxidative stress biomarkers in workers exposed to Pb and Cd. Population groups included 264 male employees in a lead-zinc smelter. The study population was divided into two subgroups based on the median of Ca serum level (2.42 mmol/l): the low-Ca-level group…
Objective Extraction of Evoked Event-Related Oscillation from Time-Frequency Representation of Event-Related Potentials
2020
Evoked event-related oscillations (EROs) have been widely used to explore the mechanisms of brain activities for both normal people and neuropsychiatric disease patients. In most previous studies, the calculation of the regions of evoked EROs of interest is commonly based on a predefined time window and a frequency range given by the experimenter, which tends to be subjective. Additionally, evoked EROs sometimes cannot be fully extracted using the conventional time-frequency analysis (TFA) because they may be overlapped with each other or with artifacts in time, frequency, and space domains. To further investigate the related neuronal processes, a novel approach was proposed including three…
Can the TLR-4-mediated signaling pathway be "a key inflammatory promoter for sporadic TAA"?
2014
Thoracic aorta shows with advancing age various changes and a progressive deterioration in structure and function. As a result, vascular remodeling (VR) and medial degeneration (MD) occur as pathological entities responsible principally for the sporadic TAA onset. Little is known about their genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms. Recent evidence is proposing the strong role of a chronic immune/inflammatory process in their evocation and progression. Thus, we evaluated the potential role of Toll like receptor- (TLR-) 4-mediated signaling pathway and its polymorphisms in sporadic TAA. Genetic, immunohistochemical, and biochemical analyses were assessed. Interestingly, the rs4986790 TLR4…
The Effect of Age, Gender, and Insertion Site on Marginal Bone Loss around Endosseous Implants: Results from a 3-Year Trial with Premium Implant Syst…
2014
Objectives.The goal of this study was to evaluate bone changes around endosseous implants in partially edentulous patients.Materials and Methods.A total of 632 two-stage implants were placed in 252 patients. The implants had straight emergence profile, ZirTi surface, 3.3 to 5 mm diameter, and 8.5 to 13 mm length. Bone levels were assessed on orthopantomography immediately after surgery and after 36 months and marginal bone loss (MBL) was calculated from their difference.Results.Cumulative survival rate was 98.73%. Overall MBL was 0.8 mm ± 0.03 (mean ± SEM). Higher MBL was observed around implants in the maxilla than in the mandible (P<0.007). A relation between implant diameter and MBL (…
Apathy and Reduced Speed of Processing Underlie Decline in Verbal Fluency following DBS
2017
Objective. Reduced verbal fluency is a strikingly uniform finding following deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease (PD). The precise cognitive mechanism underlying this reduction remains unclear, but theories have suggested reduced motivation, linguistic skill, and/or executive function. It is of note, however, that previous reports have failed to consider the potential role of any changes in speed of processing. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine verbal fluency changes with a particular focus on the role of cognitive speed. Method. In this study, 28 patients with PD completed measures of verbal fluency, motivation, language, executive functioning, and speed of process…
Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy: One More Angiographic Evidence of Microvascular Dysfunction
2017
Background Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) aetiology has not been completely understood yet. One proposed pathogenic mechanism was coronary microvascular dysfunction (MVD). This study compared coronary flow and myocardial perfusion in patients with TC, microvascular angina (MVA), and a control group (CG). Methods Out of 42 consecutive patients presented to our centre with TC from 2013 to 2017; we retrospectively selected 27 patients. We compared them with a sex- and age-matched group of 27 MVA cases and 27 patients with normal coronary arteries (CG). The flow was evaluated in the three coronary arteries as TIMI flow and TIMI frame count (TFC). Myocardial perfusion was studied with Blush-Score…
Conditioned Media from Adipose-Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Downregulate Degradative Mediators Induced by Interleukin-1β in Osteoarthritic C…
2013
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most frequent joint disorder and an important cause of disability. Recent studies have shown the potential of adipose-tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSC) for cartilage repair. We have investigated whether conditioned medium from AD-MSC (CM) may regulate in OA chondrocytes a number of key mediators involved in cartilage degeneration. CM enhanced type II collagen expression in OA chondrocytes while decreasing matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity in cell supernatants as well as the levels of MMP-3 and MMP-13 proteins and mRNA in OA chondrocytes stimulated with interleukin- (IL-) 1β. In addition, CM increased IL-10 levels and counteracted the stimulating…
High Variability of Fabry Disease Manifestations in an Extended Italian Family
2015
Fabry disease (FD) is an inherited metabolic disorder caused by partial or full inactivation of the lysosomal hydrolaseα-galactosidase A (α-GAL). The impairment ofα-GAL results in the accumulation of undegraded glycosphingolipids in lysosomes and subsequent cell and microvascular dysfunctions. This study reports the clinical, biochemical, and molecular characterization of 15 members of the same family. Eight members showed the exonic mutation M51I in the GLA gene, a disease-causing mutation associated with the atypical phenotype. The clinical history of this family highlights a wide phenotypic variability, in terms of involved organs and severity. The phenotypic variability of two male pati…