Atrial natriuretic peptide and vasopressin-presence in the ciliary body of eye in the pig (sus domesticus).

The aqueous humor is produced in the ciliary body, therefore in this study we investigated the Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and vasopressin (VP)-presence in the ciliary body of the pig eye since these peptide are involved in the homeostasis of body fluids. The results show ANP-presence in the epithelial cells and in the endothelial cells of the blood vessels and VP-presence in the epithelial cells, in the endothelium of canal of Schelmm and in the muscle cells of the blood vessels. These peptides might regulate the synthesis and the composition of the aqueous humor and regulate the hydrodynamic flow and haemodynamic flow of the blood.

Exosomal microRNAs in liquid biopsies: future biomarkers for prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer in males in the world. Plasma quantification of prostate-specific antigen substantially improved the early detection of prostate cancer, but still lacks the required specificity. Clinical management of prostate cancer needs advances in the development of new non-invasive biomarkers, ameliorating current diagnosis and prognosis and guiding therapeutic decisions. microRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. These miRNAs are expressed in the cells and are also present in cell-derived extracellular vesicles such as exosomes. Exosomes have been shown to act as mediators for cell to cell communication because of the regulatory functions of their content. High levels of exosomes are found in several body fluids from cancer patients and could be a potential source of non-invasive biomarkers. In this review, we summarize the diagnostic and prognostic utility of exosomal miRNAs in prostate cancer.

Deregulation of MicroRNAs mediated control of carnitine cycle in prostate cancer: molecular basis and pathophysiological consequences.

Cancer cells reprogram their metabolism to maintain both viability and uncontrolled proliferation. Although an interplay between the genetic, epigenetic and metabolic rewiring in cancer is beginning to emerge, it remains unclear how this metabolic plasticity occurs. Here, we report that in prostate cancer cells (PCCs) microRNAs (miRNAs) greatly contribute to deregulation of mitochondrial fatty acid (FA) oxidation via carnitine system modulation. We provide evidence that the downregulation of hsa-miR-124-3p, hsa-miR-129-5p and hsa-miR-378 induced an increase in both expression and activity of CPT1A, CACT and CrAT in malignant prostate cells. Moreover, the analysis of human prostate cancer and prostate control specimens confirmed the aberrant expression of miR-124-3p, miR-129-5p and miR-378 in primary tumors. Forced expression of the miRNAs mentioned above affected tumorigenic properties, such as proliferation, migration and invasion, in PC3 and LNCaP cells regardless of their hormone sensitivity. CPT1A, CACT and CrAT overexpression allow PCCs to be more prone on FA utilization than normal prostate cells, also in the presence of high pyruvate concentration. Finally, the simultaneous increase of CPT1A, CACT and CrAT is fundamental for PCCs to sustain FA oxidation in the presence of heavy lipid load on prostate cancer mitochondria. Indeed, the downregulation of only one of these proteins reduces PCCs metabolic flexibility with the accumulation of FA-intermediate metabolites in the mitochondria. Together, our data implicate carnitine cycle as a primary regulator of adaptive metabolic reprogramming in PCCs and suggest new potential druggable pathways for prevention and treatment of prostate cancer.

DNA-repair after UV-irradiation in skin fibroblasts from patients with actinic keratosis.

Autoradiographic counting technique was utilized to measure the ultraviolet-induced unscheduled DNA synthesis of skin fibroblasts from 12 patients with chronic actinic keratosis and from 12 healthy donors of about the same age. In order to reveal a possible regional difference of DNA repair between the parts of the body ordinarily exposed and those parts unexposed to sunlight, two cell strains were used for each examined subject; one developed from the forehead skin and the other from the abdominal or axillary skin. Unscheduled DNA synthesis appeared depressed in actinic keratosis patients, as compared with controls. In all examined subjects however cell strains from exposed skin showed a DNA repair more active than cell strains from unexposed skin. These findings show that skin cancer may be promoted in actinic keratosis patients by a defect of DNA repair. The exalted DNA repair of chronically sun exposed skin is probably the consequence of a defensive process caused by enzymatic induction.

Indoor air quality at the Correr Museum, Venice, Italy.

Two multidisciplinary field surveys, one in winter and the other in summer have monitored the indoor microclimate, air pollution, deposition and origin of the suspended particulate matter and microorganisms of the Correr Museum, Venice. In addition, this study was focused to identify the problems caused by the heating and air conditioning system (HAC) and the effects due to the presence of carpets. Heating and air conditioning systems (HACs), when chiefly designed for human welfare, are not suitable for conservation and can cause dangerous temperature and humidity fluctuations. Improvements at the Correr Museum have been achieved with the assistance of environmental monitoring. The carpet has a negative influence as it retains particles and bacteria which are resuspended each time people walk on it. The indoor/outdoor pollutants ratio is greater in the summertime, when doors and windows are more frequently open to allow for better ventilation, illustrating that this ratio is mainly governed by the free exchange of the air masses. The chemical composition, size and origin of the suspended particulate matter have been identified, as well as the bacteria potentially dangerous to the paintings. Some general suggestions for improving indoor air quality are reported in the conclusions.

[Reconstructive surgery of the biliary tract]. / Chirurgia ricostruttiva delle vie biliari

Reconstructive surgery of the bile ways involves a great commitment owing to the technical difficulties, the diversity of the nature, site and extent of the alteration to be treated, and because of the particular anatomical structure of the formations which have to be operated. The conditions that can benefit most from this type of surgery are represented by preoperative lesions of the bile ways and particularly stenoses which but not only follow such lesions if they are not treated in time, but may also follow other processes of a benign nature such as calculosis, cholangitis, anomalies of the bile ways treated wrongly during previous cholecystectomy, and at times malignant processes. Reconstructive surgery in bile way surgery means direct re-establishment of the duct to enable bile to flow from the liver to the duodenum. It presupposes a number of local conditions, such as the circumscription of the condition so that the stenotic segment can be removed and long-lasting end-to-end anastomosis effected. When it is possible, this must be considered the ideal procedure since it offers anatomophysiological recovery of bile way function. Operations have also been performed using various vein, artery, appendix, fascia lata, etc. grafts and prostheses using foreign matter such as rubber, vitallium,dacron, etc. tubes but results have always been hazardous and debatable. Personal cases and techniques are reported.

Presence of oxytocin, vasopressin and atrial natriuretic peptide and their modification in rat hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus during resistance training.

Many studies have demonstrated the physiological effects of oxytocin (OT), atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and vasopressin (VP) in the homoeostasis of body fluids during physical exercise. However, a little information is available about the related immunohistochemical changes in hypothalamic magnocellular neurosecretory system during and after the training. The aim of the present work was to study the immunohistochemical changes in OT, ANP and VP levels in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus during and after resistance exercise protocol. Three groups of Wistar rats were trained by a rung ladder protocol for 15, 30 and 45 days, respectively; a fourth group was left to rest for 15 days after the training. Finally, four sedentary groups were used as controls. The results show that resistance training induces a significant reduction in the percentage of OT-positive neurons, compared with sedentary controls. In contrast, this protocol did not induce any change in VP levels, and ANP levels did not change significantly. However, VP increased after the resting period of 15 days. Our work shows that neurons of the paraventricular nucleus are involved in body fluid homoeostasis during and after resistance exercise. The functional significance of these changes in OT and VP levels, during and after the protocol, needs to be further investigated.

Hippocampal dysfunction in patients with mild cognitive impairment: a functional neuroimaging study of a visuospatial paired associates learning task.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients report memory problems greater than those normally expected with ageing, but do not fulfil criteria for clinically probable Alzheimer's disease. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that impaired performance on the Paired Associates Learning (PAL) test from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) may be sensitive and specific for early and differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. We adapted the basic CANTAB PAL task for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in order to examine the functional brain deficits, at encoding and retrieval separately, in patients with MCI compared to healthy matched volunteers. As well as investigating the main effects of encoding and retrieval, we characterized neural responses in the two groups to increasing memory load. We focused on changes in BOLD response in the hippocampus and related structures, as an a priori region of interest based on what is known about the neuropathology of the early stages of Alzheimer's disease and previous information on the neural substrates of the PAL task. We also used structural MRI in the same patients to assess accompanying structural brain abnormalities associated with MCI. In terms of the BOLD response, the bilateral hippocampal activation in the MCI and control groups depended upon load, the MCI patients activating significantly more than controls at low loads and significantly less at higher loads. There were no other differences between MCI patients and controls in terms of the neural networks activated during either encoding or retrieval of the PAL task, including the prefrontal, cingulate and temporal cortex. The functional deficit in hippocampal activation in the MCI patients was accompanied by structural differences in the same location, suggesting that the decrease in hippocampal activation may be caused by a decrease in the amount of grey matter. This is one of the first studies to have used both encoding and retrieval phases of a memory paradigm for fMRI in MCI patients, and to have shown that the BOLD response in MCI patients can show both hyperactivation and hypoactivation in the same individuals as a function of memory load and encoding/retrieval. The findings suggest that performance on PAL might be a useful cognitive biomarker for early detection of Alzheimer's disease, especially when used in conjunction with neuroimaging.

Exosomal microRNAs in liquid biopsies: future biomarkers for prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer in males in the world. Plasma quantification of prostate-specific antigen substantially improved the early detection of prostate cancer, but still lacks the required specificity. Clinical management of prostate cancer needs advances in the development of new non-invasive biomarkers, ameliorating current diagnosis and prognosis and guiding therapeutic decisions. microRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. These miRNAs are expressed in the cells and are also present in cell-derived extracellular vesicles such as exosomes. Exosomes have been shown to act as mediators for cell to cell communication because of the regulatory functions of their content. High levels of exosomes are found in several body fluids from cancer patients and could be a potential source of non-invasive biomarkers. In this review, we summarize the diagnostic and prognostic utility of exosomal miRNAs in prostate cancer (AU)

No disponible

Determination of organophosphorus pesticides in fruits by on-line size-exclusion chromatography-liquid chromatography-gas chromatography-flame photometric detection.

The determination of organophosphorus pesticides in fruits by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) on a polystyrene column coupled on-line to a gas chromatography (GC) system was unsatisfactory as a result of interfering peaks in GC. A liquid chromatography step on silica gel was therefore inserted between the SEC and GC steps to filter out polar by-products. Samples of fruit (apples, grapes and kiwi fruits) were extracted, then the extract filtered or centrifuged and injected into an automated on-line SEC-liquid chromatography-GC-flame photometric detection. Recoveries were about 95% and the detection limits about 1 ng/g.

[Differences in the culture of pigment cells from various sources]. / Differenze colturali di cellule pigmentarie di diversa provenienza.

In order to look for a new culture system suitable for investigating on melanocyte biology, in-vitro experiments have been carried out on pigmented basal cell carcinoma, pigmented seborrhoeic keratosis and melanocytic nevus. Melanocytes cultured from pigmented basal cell carcinoma and pigmented seborrheic keratosis are dendritic and DOPA positive. These cells can be considered similar to those of normal skin. Pigmented cells cultured from nevi are quite different. They are spindle-shaped and only to a little extent are DOPA positive. These findings suggest that nevus cells could be non mature melanocytes stopped at an intermediate stage of differentiation.

[Endothelial cell culture as a model for the study of wound healing]. / Colture di cellule endoteliali come modello per lo studio della cicatrizzazione.

Endothelial cells culture can be considered a reliable method for investigating about granulation tissue production in wound healing and for evaluating the pharmacological action of some chemicals on granulation tissue development. Endothelial cells have been obtained from human umbilical cords after trypsin treatment and their endothelial origin has been demonstrated by light microscopy, by immunofluorescence against factor VIII associated protein and by the platelet adhesion assay. The influence of fibronectin as substratum and of hyaluronic acid as soluble factor on adhesion and growth of endothelial cells has been investigated. Both these substances, but especially hyaluronate, determine a better attachment and an increase in the growth rate when compared with control cultures plated on plastic substratum and without hyaluronic acid in the culture medium.