Multi-characteristic toxicity of enantioselective chiral fungicide tebuconazole to a model organism Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819 (Bivalve: Mytilidae).

The survey of available scientific literature shows a lack of data on the chronic effects of tebuconazole (TEB) on non-target aquatic organisms. Therefore, this study evaluates toxicity (10 and 20 days) of two considered concentrations 2 ng/L (E1) and 2 µg/L (E2) of TEB to bioindicator species Mytilus galloprovincialis. To this end, the TEB concentrations measured in soft mussel tissues showed a time-dependent increasing trend. The viability of haemocyte and digestive gland (DG) cells was higher than 95 % during the experiment. However, DG cells lost the ability to regulate their volume in both groups after 20-d. The E1 treatment increased Cl- and Na+ levels, and E2 decreased Na+ levels in the haemolymph. In addition, levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and oxidatively modified protein (OMP) increased after 10- and 20-d in both treatments. Histopathological findings showed abnormalities in the E2, e.g., haemocyte infiltration, hypertrophy, and hyperplasia in gills and DG. This study reveals the potential risks of TEB usage in the model organism M. galloprovincialis, primarily via bioaccumulation of TEB in food web links, and improves knowledge about its comprehensive toxicity.

Origin assessment of EV olive oils by esterified sterols analysis.

In this study extra virgin olive oils of Italian and non-Italian origin (from Spain, Tunisia and blends of EU origin) were differentiated by GC-FID analysis of sterols and esterified sterols followed by chemometric tools. PCA allowed to highlight the high significance of esterified sterols to characterise extra virgin olive oils in relation to their origin. SIMCA provided a sensitivity and specificity of 94.39% and 91.59% respectively; furthermore, an external set of 54 extra virgin olive oils bearing a designation of Italian origin on the labelling was tested by SIMCA. Prediction results were also compared with organoleptic assessment. Finally, the poor correlation found between ethylesters and esterified sterols allowed to hazard the guess, worthy of further investigations, that esterified sterols may prove to be promising in studies of geographical discrimination: indeed they appear to be independent of those factors causing the formation of ethyl esters and related to olive oil production.

The CC genotype of transforming growth factor-ß1 increases the risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease and is associated with AD-related depression.

Transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) is a neurotrophic factor that exerts neuroprotective effects against ß-amyloid-induced neurodegeneration. Recently, a specific impairment of the TGF-ß1 signaling pathway has been demonstrated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain. TGF-ß1 is also involved in the pathogenesis of depressive disorders, which may occur in 30-40% of AD patients. The TGF-ß1 gene contains single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at codon +10 (T/C) and +25 (G/C), which are known to influence the level of expression of TGF-ß1. We investigated TGF-ß1 +10 (T/C) and +25 (G/C) SNPs and allele frequencies in 131 sporadic AD patients and in 135 healthy age- and sex-matched controls. Genotypes of the TGF-ß1 SNPs at codon +10 (T/C) and +25 (G/C) did not differ between AD patients and controls, whereas the allele frequencies of codon +10 polymorphism showed a significant difference (P = 0.0306). We also found a different distribution of the +10 (C/C) phenotype (continuity-corrected χ(2) test with one degree of freedom = 4.460, P = 0.0347) between late onset AD (LOAD) patients and controls (P = 0.0126), but not between early onset AD (EOAD) patients and controls. In addition, the presence of the C/C genotype increased the risk of LOAD regardless of the status of apolipoprotein E4 (odds ratio [OR] = 2.34; 95% CI = 1.19-4.59). Compared to patients bearing the T/T and C/T polymorphisms, LOAD TGF-ß1 C/C carriers also showed > 5-fold risk to develop depressive symptoms independently of a history of depression (OR = 5.50; 95% CI = 1.33-22.69). An association was also found between the TGF-ß1 C/C genotype and the severity of depressive symptoms (HAM-D(17) ≥ 14) (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the CC genotype of the TGF-ß1 gene increases the risk to develop LOAD and is also associated with depressive symptoms in AD.