PEA-OXA restores cognitive impairments associated with vitamin D deficiency-dependent alterations of the gut microbiota.

There is a growing evidence suggesting the association of vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and cognitive impairment. In this study we evaluated the possible involvement of gut microbiota in the cognitive impairments mediated by VDD and investigated the effects of pharmacological treatment with the oxazoline derivative of the aliamide palmitoylethanolamide, 2-Pentadecyl-2-oxazoline (PEA-OXA). Mice were submitted to behavioural, biochemical and electrophysiological analysis to assess whether their vitamin D status affected cognitive performance together with gut microbiota composition. In VDD mice we found cognitive malfunctioning associated with reduced neuroplasticity, indicated by impaired long term potentiation, and neuroinflammation at the hippocampal level. Importantly, PEA-OXA counteracted the cognitive impairments and modified the biochemical and functional changes induced by VDD. Additionally, PEA-OXA treatment enhanced gut microbiota diversity, which tended to be decreased by VDD only in female mice, elevated the relative abundance of lactic and butyric acid-producing families, i.e. Aerococcaceae and Butyricicoccaceae, and reversed the VDD-induced decrease of butyrate-producing beneficial genera, such as Blautia in female mice, and Roseburia in male mice. These data provide novel insights for a better understanding of the cognitive decline induced by VDD and related gut dysbiosis and its potential therapeutic treatment.

Liver and Statins: A Critical Appraisal of the Evidence.

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) represent an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Statins are a class of drugs whose main adverse effects are drug-induced liver injury (DILI) and myopathy. Some of these may be predictable, due to their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, while others, unfortunately, are idiosyncratic. Genetic factors may also influence patient susceptibility to DILI and myopathy in the case of statins. This review will first discuss the role of statins in cardiovascular disease treatment and prevention and the underlying mechanisms of action. Furthermore, to explore the susceptibility of statin-induced adverse events such as myopathy and hepatotoxicity, it will then focus on the recent Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) concerning the transporter genes, Cytochrome P450 (CYP), organic anion-transporting polypeptide (OATP) and ABCB1 and ABCC1, which seem to play a role in the development of clinically relevant adverse events. Finally, we appraise the evidence for and against the use of statins in metabolic syndrome and in HCV-infected patients, in terms of their safety and efficacy in cardiovascular events.

Quantifying the Role of Homophily in Human Cooperation Using Multiplex Evolutionary Game Theory.

Nature shows as human beings live and grow inside social structures. This assumption allows us to explain and explore how it may shape most of our behaviours and choices, and why we are not just blindly driven by instincts: our decisions are based on more complex cognitive reasons, based on our connectedness on different spaces. Thus, human cooperation emerges from this complex nature of social network. Our paper, focusing on the evolutionary dynamics, is intended to explore how and why it happens, and what kind of impact is caused by homophily among people. We investigate the evolution of human cooperation using evolutionary game theory on multiplex. Multiplexity, as an extra dimension of analysis, allows us to unveil the hidden dynamics and observe non-trivial patterns within a population across network layers. More importantly, we find a striking role of homophily, as the higher the homophily between individuals, the quicker is the convergence towards cooperation in the social dilemma. The simulation results, conducted both macroscopically and microscopically across the network layers in the multiplex, show quantitatively the role of homophily in human cooperation.

The health of irregular and illegal immigrants: analysis of day-hospital admissions in a department of migration medicine.

It is difficult to trace full details of the path which irregular or illegal immigrants follow when seeking assistance in the network of the various hospital departments and health structures. The aim of this work was to analyze the health needs of immigrant people by reviewing the types of treatment given to them in the day-hospital of our Department of Migration Medicine. Our study analyzed day-hospital admissions between 2003 and 2009. The patient charts used for managing day-hospital activity were adopted in 2002 in conformity with the "OSI project". From these it is possible to draw up a scale picture of the distribution of each pathology in the immigrant population. The sample population consisted of 1,758 subjects, representing 7.4% of potential users. More than half came from Africa, followed by Asia, and then Europe. Gastroenterological diseases ranked first, with dyspeptic syndromes most frequently diagnosed. Infections and parasitic diseases ranked second, and the most frequent diagnoses were sexually transmitted diseases. Third were diseases of the genitourinary system. Metabolic disorders ranked fourth, among them, more than half of the cases were of diabetes mellitus, in patients from south-east Asia. Diseases of the circulatory system were sixth, with hypertension the most frequent pathology. Our data confirm a marked persistence of the phenomenon known as the "healthy immigrant effect" in these types of patients, as well as the prominent role played by "social determinants" in conditioning the health of immigrants, particularly in the case of some infectious diseases.