[Improving vaccination social marketing by monitoring the web]. / Migliorare il marketing sociale in tema di vaccinazioni "presidiando" il Web.

Immunisation is one of the most important and cost- effective interventions in Public Health because of their significant positive impact on population health.However, since Jenner's discovery there always been a lively debate between supporters and opponents of vaccination; Today the antivaccination movement spreads its message mostly on the web, disseminating inaccurate data through blogs and forums, increasing vaccine rejection.In this context, the Società Italiana di Igiene (SItI) created a web project in order to fight the misinformation on the web regarding vaccinations, through a series of information tools, including scientific articles, educational information, video and multimedia presentations The web portal (http://www.vaccinarsi.org) was published in May 2013 and now is already available over one hundred web pages related to vaccinations Recently a Forum, a periodic newsletter and a Twitter page have been created. There has been an average of 10,000 hits per month. Currently our users are mostly healthcare professionals. The visibility of the site is very good and it currently ranks first in the Google's search engine, taping the word "vaccinarsi" The results of the first four months of activity are extremely encouraging and show the importance of this project; furthermore the application for quality certification by independent international Organizations has been submitted.

[TNFalpha blockers and infectious risk in rheumatoid arthritis]. / I farmaci biologici anti-TNFalpha e il rischio infettivo nell'artrite reumatoide.

Patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis have increased risk of infections when compared with general population. The risk depends directly from disease activity and severity. Furthermore, risk increases with aging, immunosuppressive agents and comorbidities such as diabetes, pulmonary and cardiac diseases. In particular corticosteroids, even at low doses, are a major risk factor. Due to disease related risk it is difficult to separate the risk deriving from the use of TNF alpha blockers. Data from clinical trials, meta-analysis and national registers are somewhat contradictory. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis on routine follow-up, treatment with TNF alpha blockers seems to carry an increased risk of infections compared to traditional DMARDs but not associated with increased risk of overall serious infection. Physicians should carefully monitor for signs of infection when using TNF alpha blockers, particularly shortly after treatment initiation.

Effect of interferon alpha-2b on endometrioma cells in vitro.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of interferon alpha-2b on the growth of endometrioma cells and its effect on the DNA synthesis. METHODS: Cells from four separate endometrioma cell lines were seeded into six-well plates in M199 medium containing increasing levels of interferon alpha-2b: 0 (control), 50, 100, 500, 1000, and 2000 U/mL. All cells were counted on days 0, 3, 6, and 9 in quadruplicate, and the counts were averaged for each condition. A second experiment was run to demonstrate the effect of short-term exposure of interferon alpha-2b on the growth of endometrioma cells in culture. In a separate experiment, cells from two endometriomas were plated in quadruplicate to evaluate the DNA synthesis. On day 3, 1000 and 4000 U/mL of interferon alpha-2b were added and run simultaneously with control (0 U/mL) wells. 3H-thymidine was added to each condition for 24 and 48 hours' incubation. Cells were then harvested and counted in a scintillation counter to study the 3H-thymidine uptake. RESULTS: Interferon alpha-2b suppressed endometrioma cell growth in vitro. This effect increased with increasing concentrations of interferon alpha-2b (50-2000 U/mL) compared with the control (0 U/mL). The suppression of cell growth was statistically significant, but when interferon alpha-2b was removed from the culture cell growth increased. 3H-thymidine uptake by endometrioma cells decreased compared with the control after 24 and 48 hours for interferon alpha-2b concentrations of 1000 and 4000 U/mL, respectively. CONCLUSION: Interferon alpha-2b inhibits the growth and DNA synthesis of endometrioma cells in culture. This finding may have prospects for the treatment of endometriosis.

Hyperbaric O2 reduces intestinal ischemia-reperfusion-induced TNF-alpha production and lung neutrophil sequestration.

Treatment with hyperbaric O2 (HBO) ameliorates ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Since tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) plays an important role in I/R injury, we hypothesized that the effect of HBO in I/R injury may be due to its ability to inhibit TNF-alpha production. In this study, one group of rats received HBO during 60 min of ischemia (HBO group, n = 9), while control rats endured the same procedure but did not receive HBO (non-HBO, n = 9). A group of sham-operated control rats (SHAM, n = 6) underwent laparotomy without occlusion of the artery and HBO treatment. Intestinal I/R led to an increase in serum TNF-alpha concentration to [mean (SEM)] 165 (32) pg/ml (P < 0.01 vs SHAM rats). HBO attenuated this increase [34 (9) pg/ml; P<0.05 vs non-HBO group]. Intestinal I/R also resulted in a marked increase in lung myeloperoxidase content [0.62 (0.04) U/g vs 0.17 (0.02) U/g of SHAM rats, P<0.01]. HBO suppressed this increase [0.40 (0.04) U/g, P<0.05 vs non-HBO rats]. HBO ameliorated the injury to the intestine and lung. The number of neutrophils sequestered in the lung was reduced in HBO rats compared to non-HBO rats [6.4 (0.9) neutrophils/per oil field and 10.9 (2) neutrophils/per oil field, respectively; P < 0.05]. These findings demonstrate that HBO inhibits TNF-alpha production during intestinal I/R, and this reduced TNF-alpha production may be attributed to the beneficial effects of HBO.

Effects of TPN on brain, liver, and food intake in rats.

Postulating that total parenteral nutrition (TPN) has a direct metabolic effect in the brain which may be similar to that in the liver, we studied the effects of TPN on brain glycogen and triglyceride in rats. Control rats (n = 24) received normal saline via jugular catheter for 18 days; TPN rats (n = 24) had normal saline for 10 days and then TPN-100 for 4 days, followed by normal saline for 4 more days. TPN-100 (caloric ratio glucose: fat:amino acid = 50:30:20) provided 100% of the rat's daily caloric needs. Chow and water were available ad libitum during the study. Eight rats from each group were sacrificed after 1 and 4 days of TPN-100, and 4 days after stopping TPN-100. Glycogen in brain and liver glycogen, triglyceride, and glycogen synthetase and phosphorylase were measured, as were plasma glucose and insulin. Data were evaluated using Student's t test. With TPN, the following occurred: (a) an 85% decrease (P < 0.05) of spontaneous food intake; (b) an elevated plasma glucose; (c) a three- to fivefold increase (P < 0.01) in plasma insulin; (d) a 23% increase (P < 0.05) in whole brain glycogen but a 22-33% decrease (P < 0.05) in liver glycogen; (e) liver glycogen synthetase and phosphorylase activity were unchanged while whole brain glycogen synthetase activity decreased by 27% (P < 0.05) and phosphorylase activity increased by 10-16%; and (f) whole brain triglyceride content did not change, although there was a 155-241% increase (P < 0.01) in liver triglyceride.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Lateral hypothalamic dopaminergic neural activity in response to total parenteral nutrition.

BACKGROUND: The lateral hypothalamic dopaminergic neurons dominate modulation of food intake. Changes in lateral hypothalamic synaptic dopaminergic release before and during total parenteral nutrition (TPN) and its components were measured in vivo with microdialysis probes. METHODS: Rats had an intracerebral guide cannula and an internal jugular catheter placed. Ten days after recovery, rats were fasted for 24 hours. A 2 mm microdialysis probe was inserted into the lateral hypothalamus neurons via the guide cannula. Dopamine level was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography in three 60-minute baseline dialysis samples. TPN, glucose, fat, or amino acid was then infused via the internal jugular catheter, and dopamine level was measured in three more 60-minute dialysate samples. Single nutrients were infused for 24 hours, and dopamine was measured during the 3 hours after the infusions were stopped. Data were analyzed by paired t test (mean +/- standard error) and represented percentage change from baseline. RESULTS: Dopamine levels rose significantly (p < 0.05) and remained so during infusions in TPN (26% +/- 3%), glucose (26.5% +/- 4.6%), fat (36.2% +/- 6.7%), and amino acids (9.6% +/- 4.2%). After infusions were stopped, dopamine levels decreased to -35.4% +/- 1.5% in glucose but remained unchanged with fat and amino acids. CONCLUSIONS: Increase in lateral hypothalamic dopamine level occurs with TPN and its components, and changes persist temporarily after stopping the infusions, explaining in part the slow recovery of food intake after TPN is stopped.