The genetic diversity and spatial genetic structure of the Corso-Sardinian endemic Ferula arrigonii Bocchieri (Apiaceae).

Corsica and Sardinia represent major hotspots of plant diversity in the Mediterranean area and are priority regions for conservation due to their high number of endemic plant species. However, information supporting human decision-making on the conservation of these species is still scarce, especially at the genetic level. In this work, the first assessment is reported of the species-wide spatial genetic structure and diversity of Ferula arrigonii Bocchieri, a Corso-Sardinian endemic located in a few coastal sites and on small islands. Nine populations covering the entire natural range of the species were investigated by means of AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) markers. Results indicate that this species is characterised by high levels of genetic polymorphism (92% polymorphic fragments) and of genetic diversity (H(w) = 0.317) and by relatively low differentiation among populations (F(st) = 0.057). PCoA, Bayesian analysis and neighbour-joining clustering were also employed to investigate the genetic structure of this species. Three genetically distinct groups were detected, although with considerable overlap between populations.

Is it possible to predict postnatal depression? Research into the origin of blues and depression. The role of the gynaecologist.

PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION: the authors investigated the role of the gynaecologist in trying to predict postnatal depression. Women suffering from postnatal depression (PND) are the expression of a failure to adapt to the unjust demands that society makes on them. Isolation and the lack of social support during and after the pregnancy are very strong factors of risk for postpartum depression. The problem is serious and it develops rapidly, within two weeks of childbirth. It requires immediate and continuous treatment. There is also some risk of infanticide or suicide. METHODS: submission of a questionnaire based on the EPDS (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) to 222 pregnant women between 28 and 40 weeks of gestation. RESULTS: 28.4% of the patients resulted positive to the test (score > 12 points) and the hypothesis would seem to be that there is a continuum between depression suffered pre- and postpartum, and that the depression begins during pregnancy and then becomes more acute or less latent at the time of confinement. CONCLUSIONS: the gynaecologist must have a role in helping to achieve an early diagnosis of the depression, because the earlier the problem is recognised the greater are the possibilities of therapy and preventing any consequences for the entire family group.

Non-immune foetal hydrops: a case report.

Foetal hydrops occurs when a certain amount of interstitial fluid, produced by capillary ultrafiltration, overcomes the amount of interstitial fluid that returns to the blood circulation through the lymphatic system. Hydrops is classified as immune (IH) due to the presence of circulating maternal antibodies against the foetal red blood cell's antigens, and non-immune (NIH) that includes all the other causes of hydrops. This classification is still valid, but only under a clinical point of view because they differ in aetiology and management. In this article the management of a case of non-immune foetal hydrops is described, in which, unlike most other cases of non-immune foetal hydrops, the foetus survived.

Ultrasound real-time imaging in the differential diagnosis of periapical lesions.

AIM: To assess whether the use of real-time ultrasound imaging (echography), together with the application of 'Colour Power Doppler', can help the differential diagnosis of periapical lesions based on their contents. METHODOLOGY: Eleven patients diagnosed with periapical lesions using conventional clinical and radiographic findings and who had been scheduled for endodontic surgery were examined using ultrasound imaging and Colour Power Doppler at the site of the lesions. Lesions were described in each case by an expert echographist, together with an endodontist, according to a scheme described previously. Information on the size of each lesion, its content and its vascular supply was gained and recorded by means of the ultrasound images; then, a tentative differential diagnosis between a cyst and a granuloma was made. The lesions obtained during endodontic surgery were processed and examined with a light microscope. The results from the biopsies were compared with the descriptions made with the ultrasound images. RESULTS: The differential diagnoses between periapical granulomas and cystic lesions, which were based on the echograpic findings, were confirmed by the results of the histopathologic examination in all the 11 cases: four being granulomas and seven being cystic lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound real-time imaging is a technique that may help make a differential diagnosis between cysts and granulomas by revealing the nature of the content of a bony lesion. This technique may have further applications in the study of other lesions of the jaws.

Computerized tomography in the management and follow-up of extensive periapical lesion.

Radiographs are good diagnostic aids in endodontics, although they have limitations. The purpose of this article is to discuss the use of computerized tomography in differential diagnosis, treatment planning, follow-up and overall clinical management of complex periapical lesions. A clinical case of an extensive symptomatic periapical lesion of the upper jaw is presented, in which the use of computerized tomography allowed evaluation of the true extent of the lesion and its spatial relationship to important anatomical landmarks. Computerized tomography also provided specific information about the type of lesion and the degree of bone repair which had taken place 18 months after non-surgical treatment had been completed.

Management of apical inflammatory root resorption: report of a case.

This article describes the diagnosis and treatment of a case of extensive apical external root resorption in the presence of a large periradicular lesion. The diagnosis was made in retrospect because the result of the resorption mimicked an immature root. The treatment consisted of the use of calcium hydroxide to induce apexification. Healing was obtained after 24 months.

Glucose transport stimulation by bradykinin in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts: a pertussis toxin-sensitive mechanism operates without involvement of arachidonic acid and cyclic AMP.

The possible role of cAMP and/or arachidonic acid (and metabolites) in the stimulation of glucose transport elicited by bradykinin in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts was investigated with particular attention to the part of this effect inhibitable by pertussis toxin. Application of the membrane permeant cAMP analog 8-BrcAMP modified neither basal nor stimulated transport observed after bradykinin, insulin, or the combination of the two, indicating that [cAMP]i fluctuations are probably not involved. In contrast, arachidonic acid, which is released by the cells exposed to bradykinin, was able to markedly stimulate glucose transport, however, only at relatively high concentrations (EC50 approximately 30 microM). The stimulation by arachidonic acid was insensitive to pertussis toxin and was largely inhibited by both the cyclooxygenase blocking drug, indomethacin, and the [Ca2+]i clamping at the resting level (by ionomycin administered in a Ca2(+)-free incubation medium). Neither of the last treatments affected the glucose transport activated by bradykinin to a great extent. Moreover, the bradykinin-induced arachidonic acid release was unaffected by pertussis toxin and markedly inhibited by two treatments ineffective on glucose transport, the blockade of [Ca2+]i increases elicited by the peptide and the administration of the phospholipase A2 blocker, quinacrine. These results exclude that glucose transport stimulation by bradykinin is mediated intracellularly via arachidonic acid release. Since the involvement of Ca2+ and diacylglycerol can also be ruled out by present and previous results, this effect of the peptide appears to be independent of the generation of known second messengers and might be triggered by the direct interaction of a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein with the glucose transporter in the plane of the plasma membrane.

Heterogeneous distribution and transmembrane signaling properties of lymphocyte function-associated antigen (LFA-1) in human lymphocyte subsets.

The role of LFA-1, a member of the integrin supergene family, in intercellular adhesion, including lymphocyte-endothelial cell (EC) binding, has been established. We now demonstrate that differences in LFA-1 cell surface density are responsible for the variable adhesion efficiency of lymphocyte subsets to EC. Electrophoretic analysis revealed multiple glycosylated isoforms of both alpha and beta subunits, largely as a result of different degrees of sialylation, with variable expression among different lymphocyte subsets. Neuraminidase digestion before EC adhesion increased the binding efficiency of all lymphocyte subsets, although the relative increase in each subset was proportional to the initial LFA-1 sialic acid content. LFA-1 cross-linking resulted in phosphoinositide hydrolysis and a rise in [Ca2+]i when using anti-alpha but not anti-beta subunit antibodies. These findings indicate that the density of LFA-1 on lymphocyte subsets controls their adhesive properties, and that the LFA-1 alpha subunit has transmembrane signaling properties that may result in activation events after interaction with its natural ligands.

Regulation of glucose transport by insulin, bombesin, and bradykinin in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts: involvement of protein kinase C-dependent and -independent mechanisms.

Glucose transport stimulation by insulin, bombesin, and bradykinin in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts was compared with the phosphoinositide hydrolysis effects of the same stimulants in a variety of experimental paradigms known to affect generation and/or functioning of intracellular second messengers: short- and long-term treatments with phorbol dibutyrate, that cause activation and down-regulation of protein kinase C, respectively; cell loading with high [quin2], that causes clamping of [Ca2+]i near the resting level; poisoning with pertussis toxin, that affects the GTP binding proteins of the Go/Gi class; treatment with Ca2+ ionophores. Glucose transport stimulation by maximal [insulin] was affected by neither pertussis toxin nor protein kinase C down-regulation. The latter, however, partially blocked the action of suboptimal [insulin]; moreover, acute phorbol dibutyrate treatment caused responses more than additive at all [insulin]. Thus, the insulin action on glucose transport in 3T3 cells appears to be synergistically potentiated by a protein kinase C-dependent mechanism, and not directly mediated by the enzyme. This result correlates with the lack of effect of insulin on phosphoinositide hydrolysis. In contrast, part of the glucose transport responses induced by bombesin and bradykinin appeared to be mediated by protein kinase C in proportion with the stimulation induced by these peptides on the phosphoinositide hydrolysis. The protein kinase C-independent portion of the response to bradykinin was found to be inhibitable by pertussis toxin. This latter result might suggest an interaction between the bradykinin receptor and a glucose transporter, mediated by a protein of the Go/Gi class.