Crohn’s disease and extra intestinal granulomatous lesions.

Crohn’s disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease with a multifactorial etiology. Clinical features include mucosal erosion, diarrhea, weight loss and other complications such as formation of granuloma. In CD, granuloma is a non-neoplastic epithelioid lesion, formed by a compact aggregate of histiocytes with the absence of a central necrosis, however, the correlation among CD and the formation of granulomas is unknown. Many cases of granulomas in the extracellular site, related to CD, have been reported in the literature. These granulomas, at times, represented the only visible manifestation of the pathology. Extra intestinal granulomas have been found on ovaries, lungs, male genitalia, female genitalia, orofacial regions and skin. From the data in the literature it could be hypothesized that there is a cross-reaction of the immune system with similar antigenic epitopes belonging to different sites. This hypothesis, if checked, can place CD not only among inflammatory bowel disease but also among inflammatory diseases with systemic involvement.

Colorectal cancer: an update on the effects of lycopene on tumor progression and cell proliferation.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Various factors, including oxidative stress, where excessive productions of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) occur, contribute to its pathogenesis. Numerous studies have investigated the effect of antioxidant substances derived from food such as fruits and vegetables; however, data on Lycopene are still rare. Studies on HT-29 colorectal cancer cells and on animal models have shown that lycopene has effects on cell proliferation and on the progression of the CRC by interacting with various cellular signaling pathways. This analysis of the literature focused on the antioxidant effect of lycopene, a substance that is found in the tomato.

Colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases: effects of diet and antioxidants.

It is well established that oxidative stress is common in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). Accordingly, antioxidants are recommended for treatment. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of antioxidants contained in the various types of tea on symptoms and evolution of IBD and colorectal cancer (CRC). Analysis of the literature revealed that the theaflavin-3, 30-digallate (TFDG) contained in black tea, and epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG) contained in green tea have protective effects against oxidative stress. Moreover, these substances are involved in many biochemical processes responsible for inflammation and proliferation of cancer cells. It is documented that both TFDG and EGCG are able to reduce inflammatory phenomena and symptoms associated with IBD, as well as to reduce the proliferation of CRC cells. Most studies are performed in vitro or in experimental animal models. It is, therefore, advisable to formulate studies that could be carried out on humans or human samples, in order to develop the appropriate therapeutic strategies.

Helicobacter pylori and Barrett’s esophagus: a protective factor or a real cause?

Notwithstanding the definite aetiopathogenetic path of certain diseases, the relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and Barrett’s esophagus (BE), a condition that increases the risk for dysplasia and consequently adenocarcinoma of the distal esophagus and esophagogastric junction, remains uncertain. This paper reviews the current scientific literature with emphasis on the protective correlation between H. pylori infection and BE and demonstrates that a causal relationship has not been disproved with certainty. Furthermore, H. pylori infection could pose a risk for the onset of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which could in turn trigger BE, a precancerous lesion, and subsequently cause cancer. By analyzing the current available data, this article tries to verify that H. pylori infection is the underlying cause of esophageal cancer.

The fingerprint of the human gastrointestinal tract microbiota: a hypothesis of molecular mapping.

The precise etiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IDB) remains unclear and several factors are believed to play a role in its development and progression, including the composition of microbial communities resident in the gastrointestinal tract. Human intestinal microbiota are extensive with at least 15,000-36,000 bacterial species. However, thanks to the new development in sequencing and molecular taxonomic methodologies, our understanding of the microbiota population composition, dynamics, and ecology has greatly increased. Intestinal microbiota play a critical role in the maintenance of the host intestinal barrier homeostasis, while dysbiosis, which involves reduction in the microbiome diversity, can lead to progression of inflammatory disorders, such as IBD and colorectal cancer. It is hypothesized that fingerprinting characterization of the microbiota community composition is the first step in the study of this complex bacterial ecosystem and a crucial step in the targeted therapy. Molecular fingerprinting of human gastrointestinal tract microbiota could be performed by different techniques including the semi quantitation, 16SrRNA, the DNA- microarray as well as other relatively new methods which were developed to study many complex bacterial ecosystems. These techniques provide individual data and profiles, using fast and sensitive tools for the high taxonomic level fingerprint of the human intestinal microbiota and provide estimation of the relative presence of the microbial target groups within each individual. Such personalized information serves as a remarkable and unprecedented opportunity to improve targeted medical treatment and probably develop strategies to prevent disease.

DYSMICROBISM, INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE AND THYROIDITIS: ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE.

The human body is colonized by a large number of microbes that are collectively referred to as the microbiota. They interact with the hosting organism and some do contribute to the physiological maintenance of the general good health thru regulation of some metabolic processes while some others are essential for the synthesis of vitamins and short-chain fatty acids. The abnormal variation, in the quality and/or quantity of individual bacterial species residing in the gastro-intestinal tract, is called “dysmicrobism”. The immune system of the host will respond to these changes at the intestinal mucosa level which could lead to Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD). This inflammatory immune response could subsequently extend to other organs and systems outside the digestive tract such as the thyroid, culminating in thyroiditis. The goal of the present study is to review and analyze data reported in the literature about thyroiditis associated with inflammatory bowel diseases such as Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD). It was reported that similarities of some molecular bacterial components with molecular components of the host are considered among the factors causing IBD through an autoimmune reaction which could involve other non-immune cell types. The axis dysmicrobism-IBD-autoimmune reaction will be investigated as a possible etiopathogenic mechanism to Autoimmune Thyroiditis. If such is the case, then the employment of specific probiotic strains may represent a useful approach to moderate the immune system.

Lactobacillus casei and bifidobacterium lactis supplementation reduces tissue damage of intestinal mucosa and liver after 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid treatment in mice.

Probiotics (PB) are living microorganisms that act as a commensal population in normal intestines and confer numerous beneficial effects on the host. The introduction of probiotics in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) prolongs remission. The aim of this study was to investigate the intestinal and hepatic effects of PB supplementation in an experimental IBD model in mice induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). In the first step of the experimental procedure, CD-1 male mice, 5 to 6 weeks old, were randomly divided into 3 groups and inoculated intrarectally with, respectively, saline, alcohol, or TNBS to assess the experimental IBD model. In the second step, mice treated, or not, with TNBS inoculation, were treated with PB (Lactobacillus Casei, Bifidobacterum Lactis) for 1, 2 or 3 weeks, on a daily basis. Large bowel (colon and rectum) and liver were processed for histological alterations, according to a scoring system. Large bowel was also assessed for apoptosis by TUNEL assay. TNBS induced, as expected, severe damage and inflammation in the large bowel, including nuclear alterations and apoptosis, and, to a lesser extent, to the liver. Administration of PB determined significant reduction of both histological alterations and apoptosis. PB administration in advance protects from inflammation. In conclusion, supplementation with Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterum lactis PB is able to ameliorate the colitis by reversing the histological changes caused by TNBS in mice. Experimentation in human subjects in needed to prove their efficacy in reducing histological alterations that may be present in subjects with IBD.

Relaxant effect of proton pump inhibitors on in vitro myometrium from pregnant women.

AIM: In this study we investigate in in vitro myometrial tissue samples of pregnant women: (a) the effects of proton pomp inhibitors (PPIs) (omeprazole, esomeprazole, pantoprazole, lansoprazole and rabeprazole) on spontaneous contractions; (b) the muscle-relaxant efficacy of the most active PPI considered (pantoprazole) in comparison with that of other known tocolytics (nifedipine, atosiban, MgSO4, isoxsuprine); (c) the effect of pantoprazole on contractions induced by calcium (Ca(++)), KCl, oxytocin and prostaglandin (PGE2); (d) the possible mediators of pantoprazole relaxant effect. METHODS: Organ bath studies were performed on myometrial tissue samples (40×10×10 mm) from pregnant women (38-42 weeks of gestational age) undergoing elective caesarian section. RESULTS: All the PPIs studied reduce the spontaneous contraction of the myometrial smooth muscle. Pantoprazole is the most effective and most potent inhibitor among those analyzed. Pantoprazole also reduces the contractions induced by Ca(++), KCl, oxytocin and PGE2. Neither NO, nor PGs, or the activation of Ca(++)-dependent K(+) currents mediate the muscle-relaxant effect of this PPI. CONCLUSION: These data, together with the fact that PPIs almost do not present side effects, suggest that these drugs can offer new therapeutic strategies for preterm delivery. Undoubtedly, further investigations and clinical studies are necessary before adding PPIs to the list of drugs available for the treatment of preterm delivery.

Probiotics, prebiotics and symbiotics in inflammatory bowel diseases: state-of-the-art and new insights.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) consists of two distinct clinical forms, ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), with unknown aetiology, which nevertheless are considered to share almost identical pathophysiological backgrounds. Up to date, a full coherent mechanistic explanation for IBD is still lacking, but people start to realize that the pathogenesis of IBD involves four fundamental components: the environment, gut microbiota, the immune system and the genome. As a consequence, IBD development might be due to an altered immune response and a disrupted mechanism of host tolerance to the non-pathogenic resident microbiota, leading to an elevated inflammatory response. Considering the available data arising from the scientific literature, here reviewed, in CD, a benefit of probiotics remains unproven; in UC, a benefit of probiotics remains unproven, even if E. coli Nissle 1917 seems promising in maintaining remission and it could be considered an alternative in patients intolerant or resistant to 5-ASA preparations; in pouchitis, small controlled trials suggest a benefit from VSL no. 3 in the primary and secondary prevention of pouchitis; in IBD-associated conditions, a benefit of probiotics remains unproven. However, well-designed randomized control clinical trials are necessary to understand the undoubted role of these agents in the management of gut physiology in health and disease.

Towards An Improvement of Hospital Services and Streamlining of Health Care Costs: The DRG Analysis in Italy.

The term Diagnosis-related Group (DRG) refers to a classification system used to assess hospital services with the aim of a better management of health care costs and improving performance. The DRG system focuses on the utilization of resources, and is not concerned with the specific type of care provided to the patient. This system highlights any diseconomies and eventual critical aspects of the hospital system. This article, starting from the history of heath care financing in Italy and pointing out the difficulty to define the "quality" of health care services, describes the variables used to evaluate correctly hospital performance based on the DRG system. These include Average Length of Stay, Average Daily Patient Load, Comparative Performance Index, and Case Mix Index.

Improved HRGC separation of cis, trans CLA isomers as Diels-Alder adducts of alkyl esters.

This paper reports the separation of four isomers of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), c,t/t,c-8,10; c,t/t,c-9,11; c,t/t,c-10,12; c,t/t,c-11,13, after reaction of esterification with aliphatic alcohols of different chain length and adduct formation with 4-methyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (MTAD). The high resolution gas chromatographic analyses were carried out using a simple 50-m cyanopropyl polysiloxane capillary column both with a flame ionization detector and a mass spectrometer. The resolution between the two pair of isomers: c,t/t,c-9,11 and c,t/t,c-10,12 and between c,t/t,c-10,12 and c,t/t,c-11,13 isomers were good for all the investigated alkyl esters and increased with the chain length of alcohol esterified to carboxylic moiety of CLA isomers. The most interesting result was relative to the c,t/t,c-8,10 and c,t/t,c-9,11 isomers, critical pair of isomers also when analyzed with a 120-m cyanopropyl polysiloxane capillary column; their resolution also increased from methyl to hexyl esters of CLA isomers and reached an acceptable value (0.8) in the case of hexyl esters. The best resolutions of the four considered CLA isomers were obtained with the hexyl esters of MTAD adducts of the isomers, without excessive analysis time. This method was useful and simple to evaluate the profile of the four main c,t isomers in commercial CLA samples.

Hsp10, Hsp70, and Hsp90 immunohistochemical levels change in ulcerative colitis after therapy.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by damage of large bowel mucosa and frequent extra-intestinal autoimmune comorbidities. The role played in IBD pathogenesis by molecular chaperones known to interact with components of the immune system involved in inflammation is unclear. We previously demonstrated that mucosal Hsp60 decreases in UC patients treated with conventional therapies (mesalazine, probiotics), suggesting that this chaperonin could be a reliable biomarker useful for monitoring response to treatment, and that it might play a role in pathogenesis. In the present work we investigated three other heat shock protein/molecular chaperones: Hsp10, Hsp70, and Hsp90. We found that the levels of these proteins are increased in UC patients at the time of diagnosis and decrease after therapy, supporting the notion that these proteins deserve attention in the study of the mechanisms that promote the development and maintenance of IBD, and as biomarkers of this disease (e.g., to monitor response to treatment at the histological level).

[The role of laparoscopy in ovarian carcinoma]. / Il ruolo della laparoscopia nel carcinoma ovarico.

The role of minimally invasive surgery in the management of gynecologic cancers is continuously expanding. Although few trials have focused on the safety of laparoscopy in oncology, laparoscopy is now widely used for most gynecological malignancies. Laparoscopy is widely used to manage benign ovarian masses, but its role in managing ovarian cancer still needs to be defined. The role of laparoscopy in ovarian cancer surgery may be divided into three following categories: 1) laparoscopic staging of apparent early ovarian cancer; 2) laparoscopic assessment of disease extent and potential for resectability; 3) laparoscopic reassessment, or second-look operation, or rule out recurrence. Laparoscopic approach has shown several advantages like a reduction in operating time, blood loss, hospital stay, and total hospital charges. The limitations of laparoscopic practice include inadequate port-site metastasis, tumour dissemination due to cyst rupture and incomplete staging. In addition, there were limitations in performing extensive laparoscopic sampling of areas of tumor persistence including retroperitoneal lymph nodes. In literature there are no randomized studies assessing the use of laparoscopy in the management of ovarian cancer. Moreover, most of the studies in literature comparing laparoscopy and laparotomy are carried out by surgeons specialized in one of two approaches, so that the results can not be compared.

Survey of fumonisins B1, B2 and B3 in conventional and organic retail corn products in Spain and Italy and estimated dietary exposure.

A survey was conducted to determine the occurrence of fumonisin B1, B2 and B3 during 2007 in 186 samples of organic and conventional locally available corn products. Samples included baby food (n = 62), corn flour (11), cornflakes (23), pasta (14), cookies (17) and other corn products (59) were obtained from popular markets of Valencia (Spain) and Perugia (Italy). The analytical method used pressurized liquid extraction and liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry with a triple quadrupole (QqQ) analyser. Of the 104 Spanish samples, 22% contained levels in the range of 2-449 µg kg(-1), 2-229 µg kg(-1) and 6-105 µg kg(-1) for FB1, FB2 and FB3, respectively, while 19 (23%) of the 82 Italian samples were positive with quantifiable levels between 2-235 µg kg(-1), 3-187 µg kg(-1), and 4-40 µg kg(-1) for fumonisins B1, B2 and B3, respectively. Overall, none of the Italian samples and only one organic baby food sample from a Spanish market was above the maximum permitted levels established by European legislation. Fumonisins were found mostly in corn flour followed by cookies and cornflakes. Eleven samples from Spain and nine samples from Italy were organic products, being contaminated the 72% and 77% of the samples, respectively. Analysis of the results showed that levels of fumonisins in corn products were similar in Italy and Spain. The safety of fumonisin intake through corn products was demonstrated by the calculation of the estimated daily intake of both populations considering organic and conventional products separately, which ranged from 1.7 × 10(-3) to 0.72 µg kg(-1) bw day(-1) and comparing them with the provisional maximum total daily intake (PMTDI) of 2 µg kg(-1) bw day(-1) established by the European Union.

Isolation, culture and characterisation of somatic cells derived from semen and milk of endangered sheep and eland antelope.

Semen and milk are potential sources of somatic cells for genome banks. In the present study, we cultured and characterised cells from: (1) cooled sheep milk; (2) fresh, cooled and frozen-thawed semen from Gulf Coast native (GCN) sheep (Ovis aries); and (3) fresh eland (Taurotragus oryx) semen. Cells attached to the culture surface from fresh (29%), cooled (43%) and slow-frozen (1 degrees C/min; 14%) ram semen, whereas no attachment occurred in the fast-frozen (10 degrees C/min) group. Proliferation occurred in fresh (50%) and cooled (100%) groups, but no cells proliferated after passage 1 (P1). Eland semen yielded cell lines (100%) that were cryopreserved at P1. In samples from GCN and cross-bred milk, cell attachment (83% and 95%, respectively) and proliferation (60% and 37%, respectively) were observed. Immunocytochemical detection of cytokeratin indicated an epithelial origin of semen-derived cells, whereas milk yielded either fibroblasts, epithelial or a mixture of cell types. Deoxyribonucleic acid microsatellite analysis using cattle-derived markers confirmed that eland cells were from the semen donor. Eland epithelial cells were transferred into eland oocytes and 12 (71%), six (35%) and two (12%) embryos cleaved and developed to morulae or blastocyst stages, respectively. In conclusion, we have developed a technique for obtaining somatic cells from semen. We have also demonstrated that semen-derived cells can serve as karyoplast donors for nuclear transfer.

HPLC separation and NMR structural elucidation of sn-1,2-, 2,3-, and 1,3-diacylglycerols from olive oil as naphthylethylurethane derivatives.

In this study, sn-1,2-, sn-2,3-, and sn-1,3-diacylglycerols were isolated from olive oil, and their urethane derivatives (urethanes) were prepared. Normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (NP-HPLC) separation of the urethane isomers was performed and the separate classes were studied by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The use of 1H NMR and homo- and heteronuclear 2D techniques provided a great amount of information in a very short time, particularly when a high-field NMR instrument (700 MHz) was used. Particularly diagnostic for this kind of compound was the glyceridic moiety that presents typical chemical shifts both for carbon and hydrogen. These studies show the usefulness of NMR spectroscopy to recognize clearly the sn-1,3- and, moreover, sn-1,2- with respect to sn-2,3-diacylglycerols, although very minor differences occur between them.

[Up-date on cytoreductive surgery in the management of advanced ovarian cancer]. / Aggiornamenti in tema di citoriduzione nel trattamento del carcinoma ovarico avanzato.

Epithelial ovarian cancer represents the most aggressive neoplasm of women genital apparatus with a total 5-year survival rate ranging from 17% to 35% if the disease is in the metastatic phase. Its aggressiveness derives from the fact that it is an asymptomatic disease until it spreads in abdominal cavity. Therefore, in 70% of the cases, the diagnosis is done when tumor is already in advanced phase (Stage FIGO IIB-IV). Data from international literature suggest that standard treatment for advanced ovarian cancer is optimal cytoreductive surgery with adjuvant chemotherapy platinum-based. However, in the last decades, many authors have described the enthusiastic results of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and interval debulking surgery. Griffiths, first, underlined the importance of residual mass after cytoreductive surgery as a prognostic factor. Currently, cytoreduction is defined optimal when residual mass is microscopical or absent. Nevertheless, surgery for ovarian cancer turns out to be a particularly aggressive surgery that needs an operator's remarkable technical ability and a cultural Background: Many studies demonstrated that the frequency of feasibility of optimal cytoreductive surgery also varies within the gynecologic oncology specialized centers. During the last few years, new technologies (such as Cavitron Ultrasonic Surgical Aspirator, CUSA, and argon's coagulator) and new surgical techniques have been introduced. Ovarian cancer turns out to be a particularly chemosensitive tumor. Its responsiveness has been the object of numerous studies and protocols in literature, such as European Organisation of Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) trials.

Quality and freezing qualities of first and second ejaculates collected from endangered Gulf Coast Native rams.

The Gulf Coast Native sheep, or Louisiana Native sheep, is an endangered previously feral domestic sheep population of European origin that has been under natural selection pressure for reproductive survival in their transplanted range while roaming in the southern Gulf Coast Region of the United States. This sheep population has an increased natural resistance to internal parasites, breeds year-around and has a greater percentage of live lambs as compared with other breeds of sheep raised in similar environments. To preserve the genetic diversity of this important feral sheep population, semen was collected by electro-ejaculation and subjected to cryopreservation for subsequent storage in a genome resource bank. Unrelated rams (n=5) were collected 3 days-a-week, allowing at least 2 days of rest between collections. Two ejaculates were obtained from each ram per collection day, with the second collection conducted 10min after the first ejaculation. Semen was processed using the standard Salamon cryopreservation procedure in a Tris-yolk-glycerol extender, frozen in 0.5ml plastic straws using liquid nitrogen (LN(2)) vapor and stored in LN(2). Each ejaculate was evaluated for volume, sperm concentration/ml (x10(9)/ml), number of spermatozoa/ejaculate (x10(9)), sperm progressive motility (%) for pre-cooled semen, cooled semen and semen after thawing. For the five rams, each semen variable for the first ejaculate was compared with that of the second ejaculate collected 10min later. The mean semen volume, sperm concentration and number of spermatozoa per ejaculate obtained from the first ejaculate were significantly greater (P< or =0.01) than those of the second ejaculate (comparisons being 1.62 and 1.06; 3.2 and 1.5; 5.4 and 1.8, respectively). Overall, the mean motility of pre-cooled (22 degrees Celsius), cooled (5 degrees Celsius) and frozen (-196 degrees Celsius) post-thawed spermatozoa was less (P< or =0.01) in the first ejaculate (71.5, 64.8 and 34.1%, respectively) compared with that of the second ejaculate (75, 72.4 and 44.1%, respectively). Conversely, no differences were detected in loss in the percent progressive motility of sperm from cooled sperm to post-thaw sperm from the first and second ejaculates. In summary, our findings suggest sperm collected during the second ejaculate 10min after the first ejaculate of rams survives thawing with a greater rate of progressive motility than that of the first ejaculate. The ability to collect two consecutive ejaculates in a short period by electro-ejaculation could be valuable for gamete resource banking and preserving genetic diversity of the Gulf Coast Native sheep.

Gas chromatographic evaluation of pesticide residue contents in nectarines after non-toxic washing treatments.

Washing with aqueous solutions of citric acid, ethanol, glycerol, hydrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate, sodium metabisulfite, sodium laurylsulfate (SLS), sodium hypochlorite, and urea is evaluated for pesticide residue reduction in nectarines and compared with simple tap water washing. Residues of pesticides commonly utilized in nectarines (chlorpyrifos, fenarimol, iprodione, malathion, methidathion, myclobutanil, parathion and pirimicarb) are extracted with ethyl acetate and anhydrous sodium sulfate, extract is concentred and analyzed by GC with nitrogen-phosphorus detection. The formation of possible toxic by-products (chlorpyrifos oxon, malaoxon, methidaoxon and paraoxon methyl) is studied by GC-MS. No toxic by-products are identified in the extracts of the washed samples for the washing-time and concentrations studied, but high levels of sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate form oxons from the organophosphorus pesticides. Ethanol, glycerol and SLS solutions removed near the 50% of the pesticide residues. The other solutions were not more effective than tap water washing. The amount of pesticide removed by washings is related to its water solubility and octanol-water partition coefficient.