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  • 1
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    Molecular Mechanisms and Physiological Changes behind Benign Tracheal and Subglottic Stenosis in Adults
    MDPI AG ; 2022
    In:  International Journal of Molecular Sciences Vol. 23, No. 5 ( 2022-02-22), p. 2421-
    Details
    In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences, MDPI AG, Vol. 23, No. 5 ( 2022-02-22), p. 2421-
    Abstract: Laryngotracheal stenosis (LTS) is a complex and heterogeneous disease whose pathogenesis remains unclear. LTS is considered to be the result of aberrant wound-healing process that leads to fibrotic scarring, originating from different aetiology. Although iatrogenic aetiology is the main cause of subglottic or tracheal stenosis, also autoimmune and infectious diseases may be involved in causing LTS. Furthermore, fibrotic obstruction in the anatomic region under the glottis can also be diagnosed without apparent aetiology after a comprehensive workup; in this case, the pathological process is called idiopathic subglottic stenosis (iSGS). So far, the laryngotracheal scar resulting from airway injury due to different diseases was considered as inert tissue requiring surgical removal to restore airway patency. However, this assumption has recently been revised by regarding the tracheal scarring process as a fibroinflammatory event due to immunological alteration, similar to other fibrotic diseases. Recent acquisitions suggest that different factors, such as growth factors, cytokines, altered fibroblast function and genetic susceptibility, can all interact in a complex way leading to aberrant and fibrotic wound healing after an insult that acts as a trigger. However, also physiological derangement due to LTS could play a role in promoting dysregulated response to laryngo-tracheal mucosal injury, through biomechanical stress and mechanotransduction activation. The aim of this narrative review is to present the state-of-the-art knowledge regarding molecular mechanisms, as well as mechanical and physio-pathological features behind LTS.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 1422-0067
    URL: Article
    DOI: 10.3390/ijms23052421
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2022
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2019364-6
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  • 2
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    Quantitative Analysis of Plant Cytosolic Calcium Signals in Response to Water Activated by Low-Power Non-Thermal Plasma
    MDPI AG ; 2022
    In:  International Journal of Molecular Sciences Vol. 23, No. 18 ( 2022-09-15), p. 10752-
    Details
    In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences, MDPI AG, Vol. 23, No. 18 ( 2022-09-15), p. 10752-
    Abstract: Non-thermal plasma technology is increasingly being applied in the plant biology field. Despite the variety of beneficial effects of plasma-activated water (PAW) on plants, information about the mechanisms of PAW sensing by plants is still limited. In this study, in order to link PAW perception to the positive downstream responses of plants, transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings expressing the Ca2+-sensitive photoprotein aequorin in the cytosol were challenged with water activated by low-power non-thermal plasma generated by a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) source. PAW sensing by plants resulted in the occurrence of cytosolic Ca2+ signals, whose kinetic parameters were found to strictly depend on the operational conditions of the plasma device and thus on the corresponding mixture of chemical species contained in the PAW. In particular, we highlighted the effect on the intracellular Ca2+ signals of low doses of DBD-PAW chemicals and also presented the effects of consecutive plant treatments. The results were discussed in terms of the possibility of using PAW-triggered Ca2+ signatures as benchmarks to accurately modulate the chemical composition of PAW in order to induce environmental stress resilience in plants, thus paving the way for further applications in agriculture.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 1422-0067
    URL: Article
    DOI: 10.3390/ijms231810752
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2022
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2019364-6
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  • 3
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    Can Gut Microbiota Be a Good Predictor for Parkinson’s Disease? A Machine Learning Approach
    MDPI AG ; 2020
    In:  Brain Sciences Vol. 10, No. 4 ( 2020-04-19), p. 242-
    Details
    In: Brain Sciences, MDPI AG, Vol. 10, No. 4 ( 2020-04-19), p. 242-
    Abstract: The involvement of the gut microbiota in Parkinson’s disease (PD), investigated in several studies, identified some common alterations of the microbial community, such as a decrease in Lachnospiraceae and an increase in Verrucomicrobiaceae families in PD patients. However, the results of other bacterial families are often contradictory. Machine learning is a promising tool for building predictive models for the classification of biological data, such as those produced in metagenomic studies. We tested three different machine learning algorithms (random forest, neural networks and support vector machines), analyzing 846 metagenomic samples (472 from PD patients and 374 from healthy controls), including our published data and those downloaded from public databases. Prediction performance was evaluated by the area under curve, accuracy, precision, recall and F-score metrics. The random forest algorithm provided the best results. Bacterial families were sorted according to their importance in the classification, and a subset of 22 families has been identified for the prediction of patient status. Although the results are promising, it is necessary to train the algorithm with a larger number of samples in order to increase the accuracy of the procedure.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2076-3425
    URL: Article
    DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10040242
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2020
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2651993-8
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  • 4
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    Oligorecurrent Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Treated by Chemo-Radiation Followed by Immunotherapy and Intracranial Radiosurgery: A Case Report and Mini Review of Literature
    MDPI AG ; 2023
    In:  International Journal of Molecular Sciences Vol. 24, No. 3 ( 2023-01-18), p. 1892-
    Details
    In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences, MDPI AG, Vol. 24, No. 3 ( 2023-01-18), p. 1892-
    Abstract: Locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer still represents a “grey zone” in terms of the best treatment choice and optimal clinical outcomes. Indeed, most patients may be suitable to receive different treatments with similar outcomes such as chemo-radiotherapy (CHT-RT) followed by immunotherapy (IO) or surgery followed by adjuvant local/systemic therapies. We report a clinical case of a patient submitted to primary thoracic surgery who developed a mediastinal nodal recurrence successfully treated by CHT-RT-IO. Subsequently, a single brain lesion was found to have been successfully treated by single fraction stereotactic ablative radiotherapy. The patient is still on follow-up and she is free from disease having a good quality of life. In this report, we also perform a mini review about the role of CHT-RT followed by IO in treating loco-regional relapse after surgery. The role of SABR after IO is also evaluated, finding that it is safe and well tolerated. More robust and larger clinical data are needed in this particular setting to better define the role of the combination of systemic and local treatments in the management of intrathoracic and intracranial relapse for patients already submitted to CHT-RT followed by immunotherapy.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 1422-0067
    URL: Article
    DOI: 10.3390/ijms24031892
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2023
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2019364-6
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  • 5
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    Not just a Snapshot: An Italian Longitudinal Evaluation of Stability of Gut Microbiota Findings in Parkinson’s Disease
    MDPI AG ; 2022
    In:  Brain Sciences Vol. 12, No. 6 ( 2022-06-04), p. 739-
    Details
    In: Brain Sciences, MDPI AG, Vol. 12, No. 6 ( 2022-06-04), p. 739-
    Abstract: Most research analyzed gut-microbiota alterations in Parkinson’s disease (PD) through cross-sectional studies, as single snapshots, without considering the time factor to either confirm methods and findings or observe longitudinal variations. In this study, we introduce the time factor by comparing gut-microbiota composition in 18 PD patients and 13 healthy controls (HC) at baseline and at least 1 year later, also considering PD clinical features. PD patients and HC underwent a fecal sampling at baseline and at a follow-up appointment. Fecal samples underwent sequencing and 16S rRNA amplicons analysis. Patients’clinical features were valued through Hoehn & Yahr (H & Y) staging-scale and Movement Disorder Society Unified PD Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) Part-III. Results demonstrated stability in microbiota findings in both PD patients and HC over a period of 14 months: both alfa and beta diversity were maintained in PD patients and HC over the observation period. In addition, differences in microbiota composition between PD patients and HC remained stable over the time period. Moreover, during the same period, patients did not experience any worsening of either staging or motor impairment. Our findings, highlighting the stability and reproducibility of the method, correlate clinical and microbiota stability over time and open the scenario to more extensive longitudinal evaluations.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2076-3425
    URL: Article
    DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12060739
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2022
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2651993-8
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  • 6
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    Convergent Validity of the Timed Walking Tests with Functional Ambulatory Category in Subacute Stroke
    MDPI AG ; 2023
    In:  Brain Sciences Vol. 13, No. 7 ( 2023-07-18), p. 1089-
    Details
    In: Brain Sciences, MDPI AG, Vol. 13, No. 7 ( 2023-07-18), p. 1089-
    Abstract: Determining the walking ability of post-stroke patients is crucial for the design of rehabilitation programs and the correct functional information to give to patients and their caregivers at their return home after a neurorehabilitation program. We aimed to assess the convergent validity of three different walking tests: the Functional Ambulation Category (FAC) test, the 10-m walking test (10MeWT) and the 6-minute walking test (6MWT). Eighty walking participants with stroke (34 F, age 64.54 ± 13.02 years) were classified according to the FAC score. Gait speed evaluation was performed with 10MeWT and 6MWT. The cut-off values for FAC and walking tests were calculated using a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Area under the curve (AUC) and Youden’s index were used to find the cut-off value. Statistical differences were found in all FAC subgroups with respect to walking speed on short and long distances, and in the Rivermead Mobility Index and Barthel Index. Mid-level precision (AUC 〉 0.7; p 〈 0.05) was detected in the walking speed with respect to FAC score (III vs. IV and IV vs. V). The confusion matrix and the accuracy analysis showed that the most sensitive test was the 10MeWT, with cut-off values of 0.59 m/s and 1.02 m/s. Walking speed cut-offs of 0.59 and 1.02 m/s were assessed with the 10MeWT and can be used in FAC classification in patients with subacute stroke between the subgroups able to walk with supervision and independently on uniform and non-uniform surfaces. Moreover, the overlapping walking speed registered with the two tests, the 10MeWT showed a better accuracy to drive FAC classification.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2076-3425
    URL: Article
    DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13071089
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2023
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2651993-8
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  • 7
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    Acute and Chronic Dopaminergic Depletion Differently Affect Motor Thalamic Function
    MDPI AG ; 2020
    In:  International Journal of Molecular Sciences Vol. 21, No. 8 ( 2020-04-15), p. 2734-
    Details
    In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences, MDPI AG, Vol. 21, No. 8 ( 2020-04-15), p. 2734-
    Abstract: The motor thalamus (MTh) plays a crucial role in the basal ganglia (BG)-cortical loop in motor information codification. Despite this, there is limited evidence of MTh functionality in normal and Parkinsonian conditions. To shed light on the functional properties of the MTh, we examined the effects of acute and chronic dopamine (DA) depletion on the neuronal firing of MTh neurons, cortical/MTh interplay and MTh extracellular concentrations of glutamate (GLU) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in two states of DA depletion: acute depletion induced by the tetrodotoxin (TTX) and chronic denervation obtained by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), both infused into the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) in anesthetized rats. The acute TTX DA depletion caused a clear-cut reduction in MTh neuronal activity without changes in burst content, whereas the chronic 6-OHDA depletion did not modify the firing rate but increased the burst firing. The phase correlation analysis underscored that the 6-OHDA chronic DA depletion affected the MTh-cortical activity coupling compared to the acute TTX-induced DA depletion state. The TTX acute DA depletion caused a clear-cut increase of the MTh GABA concentration and no change of GLU levels. On the other hand, the 6-OHDA-induced chronic DA depletion led to a significant reduction of local GABA and an increase of GLU levels in the MTh. These data show that MTh is affected by DA depletion and support the hypothesis that a rebalancing of MTh in the chronic condition counterbalances the profound alteration arising after acute DA depletion state.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 1422-0067
    URL: Article
    DOI: 10.3390/ijms21082734
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2020
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2019364-6
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  • 8
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    Treatment with Idelalisib in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Follicular Lymphoma: The Observational Italian Multicenter FolIdela Study
    MDPI AG ; 2022
    In:  Cancers Vol. 14, No. 3 ( 2022-01-27), p. 654-
    Details
    In: Cancers, MDPI AG, Vol. 14, No. 3 ( 2022-01-27), p. 654-
    Abstract: Follicular lymphoma (FL) is an indolent hematological disease, often responsive to the first line of treatment, but characterized by repeated relapses. The therapeutic algorithm for relapsed/refractory FL patients comprises phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitors. Idelalisib showed anticancer activity, while inducing a significant rate of toxicities. Since the evidence in the literature on its use in normal clinical practice is scarce, a retrospective multicenter study was conducted to evaluate effectiveness and tolerability in a real-life context. Seventy-two patients with a median age at diagnosis of 57.2 years—mostly with an advanced stage (88.9%) and relapsed to the most recent therapy (79.1%)—were enrolled. The median number of prior therapies was three (20.8% refractory to the last therapy before idelalisib). With a median number of 4 months of treatment, the overall response rate was 41.7% (20.8% complete responses). Median disease-free survival and overall survival were achieved at 8.4 months and at 4 years, respectively. Forty-four percent of patients experienced at least one drug-related toxicity: 6.9% hematological ones and 43% non-hematological. The study confirmed that idelalisib has anticancer effectiveness and an acceptable safety profile in relapsed/refractory FL with unfavorable prognostic characteristics, even in the context of normal clinical practice.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2072-6694
    URL: Article
    DOI: 10.3390/cancers14030654
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2022
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2527080-1
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  • 9
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    A Community Study of SARS-CoV-2 Detection by RT-PCR in Saliva: A Reliable and Effective Method
    MDPI AG ; 2022
    In:  Viruses Vol. 14, No. 2 ( 2022-02-02), p. 313-
    Details
    In: Viruses, MDPI AG, Vol. 14, No. 2 ( 2022-02-02), p. 313-
    Abstract: Efficient, wide-scale testing for SARS-CoV-2 is crucial for monitoring the incidence of the infection in the community. The gold standard for COVID-19 diagnosis is the molecular analysis of epithelial secretions from the upper respiratory system captured by nasopharyngeal (NP) or oropharyngeal swabs. Given the ease of collection, saliva has been proposed as a possible substitute to support testing at the population level. Here, we used a novel saliva collection device designed to favour the safe and correct acquisition of the sample, as well as the processivity of the downstream molecular analysis. We tested 1003 nasopharyngeal swabs and paired saliva samples self-collected by individuals recruited at a public drive-through testing facility. An overall moderate concordance (68%) between the two tests was found, with evidence that neither system can diagnose the infection in 100% of the cases. While the two methods performed equally well in symptomatic individuals, their discordance was mainly restricted to samples from convalescent subjects. The saliva test was at least as effective as NP swabs in asymptomatic individuals recruited for contact tracing. Our study describes a testing strategy of self-collected saliva samples, which is reliable for wide-scale COVID-19 screening in the community and is particularly effective for contact tracing.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 1999-4915
    URL: Article
    DOI: 10.3390/v14020313
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2022
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2516098-9
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  • 10
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    Assessment of Psychometric Characteristics of Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale 2 and Analysis of a Cut-Off Score for Detecting Insomnia in Italian Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Validation Study
    MDPI AG ; 2024
    In:  Journal of Personalized Medicine Vol. 14, No. 3 ( 2024-03-10), p. 298-
    Details
    In: Journal of Personalized Medicine, MDPI AG, Vol. 14, No. 3 ( 2024-03-10), p. 298-
    Abstract: Introduction: Sleep disorders are frequent non-motor symptoms affecting patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Insomnia represents the most common sleep disorder. Parkinson’s disease Sleep Scale 2 (PDSS-2) is a specific tool to investigate sleep problems in PD. The General Sleep Disturbances Scale (GSDS) was a general scale validated for the Italian population. Our goal was to assess the psychometric characteristics of PDSS-2 and the GSDS in this population, calculating a cut-off score for insomnia symptoms by using subitems of PDSS-2. Methods: Patients admitted at the PD Unit of the Hospital of Rome Tor Vergata outpatient clinic and those afferent to PD associations were asked to complete PDSS-2 and GSDS to be correlated to identify a cut-off for insomnia symptoms. Items 1,2,3,8,13 of PDSS-2 were used to detect insomnia. An ROC curve to assess a cut-off score for insomnia was determined. A cross-cultural analysis of PD population characteristics was performed. Results: In total, 350 PD patients were recruited. Cronbach’s alpha was high for the total score (0.828 for PDSS-2 and 0.832 for GSDS). A cross-cultural analysis did not show any significant p-value. The ROC curve yielded an AUC of 0.79 (CI: 0.75–0.84). The cut-off value for insomnia disorder based on items 1,2,3,8,13 of PDSS-2 was 〉 10, demonstrating a sensitivity of 76% and a specificity of 69% in determining the presence of subjective insomnia symptoms in PD. Discussion: PDSS-2 is demonstrated to be a valid, specific tool to address sleep disturbances in PD patients. A cut-off score of 10 for items 1,2,3,8,13 was identified for detecting insomnia symptoms in PD patients.
    Type of Medium: Online Resource
    ISSN: 2075-4426
    URL: Article
    DOI: 10.3390/jpm14030298
    Language: English
    Publisher: MDPI AG
    Publication Date: 2024
    detail.hit.zdb_id: 2662248-8
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