Isolation and pathogenicity of Xylella fastidiosa associated to the olive quick decline syndrome in southern Italy.

In autumn 2013, the presence of Xylella fastidiosa, a xylem-limited Gram-negative bacterium, was detected in olive stands of an area of the Ionian coast of the Salento peninsula (Apulia, southern Italy), that were severely affected by a disease denoted olive quick decline syndrome (OQDS). Studies were carried out for determining the involvement of this bacterium in the genesis of OQDS and of the leaf scorching shown by a number of naturally infected plants other than olive. Isolation in axenic culture was attempted and assays were carried out for determining its pathogenicity to olive, oleander and myrtle-leaf milkwort. The bacterium was readily detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in all diseased olive trees sampled in different and geographically separated infection foci, and culturing of 51 isolates, each from a distinct OQDS focus, was accomplished. Needle-inoculation experiments under different environmental conditions proved that the Salentinian isolate De Donno belonging to the subspecies pauca is able to multiply and systemically invade artificially inoculated hosts, reproducing symptoms observed in the field. Bacterial colonization occurred in prick-inoculated olives of all tested cultivars. However, the severity of and timing of symptoms appearance differed with the cultivar, confirming their differential reaction.

[Chronobiology of dynamic equilibrium and recurrence of migraine crises]. / Cronobiologia dell'equilibrio emodinamico e ricorrenza delle crisi emicraniche.

Haemodynamic balance was assessed in relation to platelet-vessel homeostasis in the microcirculation in a group of 15 migraine sufferers and 15 healthy subjects. The results support the hypothesis of a relationship between the typical recurrence of migraine attacks and the chronobiological performance of the haemodynamic balance.

[Desynchronization of serotonin, hemodynamic equilibrium and the recurrence of migraine crises]. / Desincronizzazione della serotonina, equilibrio emodinamico e ricorrenza delle crisi emicraniche.

Haemodynamic balance and the circadian rhythm of plasmatic 5HT were studied in 15 migraine sufferers (common and classic). Haemodynamic imbalance and a clear desynchronisation of the 5HT acrophase was discovered. It is thought that these two elements are correlated and represent a key to the recurrence of migraine attacks.

[Desynchronization of noradrenaline and hemodynamic equilibrium in migraine subjects]. / Desincronizzazione della noradrenalina ed equilibrio emodinamico nei soggetti emicranici.

Fifteen migraine sufferers and a control group were checked for the circadian rhythm of urinary catecholamine and VMA excretion. These data were compared with the typical variations in haemodynamic balance already encountered in migraine sufferers. It is felt that this connection is an essential element in the pathogenesis of headaches.

[A new approach in the treatment of vascular headaches]. / Nuovo approccio nel trattamento delle cefalee vascolari.

A preventive pharmacological treatment in 50 migraine sufferers was carried out, using the data obtained from a computerized analysis of symptoms relative, to the patients' neurotransmitter balance. The results can be considered really interesting.

Circadian variations of proopiocortin-related peptides in children with migraine.

Basal and throughout-the-day variations of B-lipotropin (BLPH), B-endorphin (BEP), ACTH and cortisol plasma levels were studied in seven prepubertal children who had been affected by common migraine for periods of 6-26 months and in six healthy volunteers. Despite normal cortisol concentrations, children with migraine show higher BLPH (15.1 +/- 2.7 fmol/ml, M +/- SE), ACTH (25 +/- 2.7) and BEP (9.1 +/- 1.1) levels than controls. In both groups of children, evening values (8 p.m.) were significantly lower than morning values, but in migraineurs the decrease of the three peptides was less. The raised proopiocortin-related peptide plasma levels found in children suffering from migraine cannot be explained at present, although the discomfort experienced by the patients may create a situation of chronic stress which could explain such a finding. Whatever the explanation is, these findings differentiate prepubertal migraine from the most severe forms of headache occurring in adult life where lower than normal opioid levels have been demonstrated.