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Sex differences in the outcome of juvenile social isolation on HPA axis function in rats
No full textWomen are more likely than men to suffer from anxiety disorders and major depression. These disorders share hyperresponsiveness to stress as an etiological factor. Thus, sex differences in brain arousal systems and their regulation by chronic stress may account for the increased vulnerability to these disorders in women. Social isolation is a model of early life stress that results in neurobiological alterations leading to increased anxiety-like and depressive-like behaviors. Here we investigated the sex difference in the effects of post-weaning social isolation on acute stress sensitivity and behavior in rats. In both sexes, social isolation at weaning reduced basal levels of the neuroactive steroid allopregnanolone in the brain and of corticosterone in plasma. Moreover, acute stress increased plasma corticosterone levels in both group-housed and socially isolated male and female rats; however this effect was greater in male than female rats subjected to social isolation. Intriguingly, group-housed female rats showed no change in plasma and brain levels of allopregnanolone after acute foot-shock stress. The absence of stress-induced effects on allopregnanolone synthesis might be due to the physiologically higher levels of this hormone in females vs. males. Accordingly, increasing allopregnanolone levels in male rats blunted the response to foot-shock stress in these animals. Socially isolated male, but not female, rats also display depressive-like behavior and increased hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The ovarian steroids could “buffer” the effect of this adverse experience in females on these parameters. Finally, the dexamethasone (DEX) suppression test indicated that the chronic stress associated with social isolation impairs feedback inhibition in both sexes in which an increase in the abundance of glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) in the hippocampus was found. Altogether, these results demonstrate that social isolation affects neuroendocrine reactivity to stress, plasticity and emotionality in a sexually dimorphic manner
Potential influence of herd and animal factors on the yield of cheese and recovery of components from Sarda sheep milk, as determined by a laboratory bench-top model cheese-making
No full textIndividual milk samples from 169 Sarda sheep were collected to characterise the cheese-making potential through the use of a laboratory bench-top model cheese-manufacturing procedure. As the milk samples were not standardised before processing, the data collected at laboratory level fully reflected the great variability of milk from individual animals. The average cheese yield traits of fresh cheese, cheese dry matter and water retained in cheese (as percentages of the milk processed) were 20.6%, 10.1% and 10.6%. The average milk fat and protein recoveries in the curd were 94.0% and 76.7%, respectively. The values for daily production of curd and curd dry matter per sheep were 0.41 kg d−1 and 0.20 kg d−1, respectively. The cheese yield and cheese-related traits were mainly affected by the nutrient content of the milk and the individual effects of the stage of lactation and daily milk yield, respectively, but also by a large individual variation
Characterisation of <i>Fragaria vesca</i> fruit from Italy following a metabolomics approach through integrated mass spectrometry techniques
No full textThe phytochemical content of Fragaria vesca L. (wild strawberry) grown in Campania Region (South Italy) was investigated. Wild and cultivated fruit were collected from different geographic areas and from bothautochthonous and non-autochthonous germplasm. Extracts were submitted to untargeted liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (LC–ESI-Orbitrap–MS) for metabolite profiling. 39 different phenolic compounds have been detected and identified in the methanolic extract of spontaneous and cultivated strawberries from different origins. Targeted quantitative analyses of selected known metabolites were performed using UHPLC interfaced to Q-Trap mass spectrometer in Multiple Reaction Monitoring mode. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to both untargeted and targeted results. PCA was applied to the untargeted profiling data indicating that fruits from locations with different pedoclimatic conditions can be discerned. Results from quantitative analysis indicate that autochthonous strawberries display significantly higher levels of anthocyanins, especially cyanidin 3-O-glucoside, and other phenolic compounds, like gallic acid and procyanidin B1, compared to the one from non-autochthonous germplasm. The targeted and untargeted metabolite profiling approach used in this work is proposed for the assessment of geographical origin of the berries
Nanoencapsulation of dietary flavonoid fisetin: formulation and <i>in vitro</i> antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibition activities
No full textThe bioactive flavonoid fisetin (FS) is a diet-derived antioxidant that is being increasingly investigated for its health-promoting effects. Unfortunately, the poor physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties affect and limit the clinical application.
In this study, novel polymeric nanoparticles (NPs), based on Poly-(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and PLGA-PEG-COOH, encapsulating FS were formulated as suitable oral controlled release systems. Results showed NPs having a mean diameter of 140–200 nm, and a percent loading of FS ranging from 70 to 82%. In vitro release studies revealed that NPs are able to protect and preserve the release of FS in gastric simulated conditions, also controlling the release in the intestinal medium. Moreover, the DPPH and ABTS scavenging capacity of FS, as well as α-glucosidase inhibition activity, that resulted about 20-fold higher than commercial Acarbose, were retained during nanoencapsulation process.
In summary, our developed NPs can be proposed as an attractive delivery system to control the release of antioxidant and anti-hyperglycemic FS for nutraceutical and/or therapeutic application
Natalizumab therapy modulates miR-155, miR-26a and proinflammatory cytokine expression in MS patients
No full textMicroRNAs fine-tune the regulation of Th1/Th17 lymphocyte subsets in multiple sclerosis. We investigated the expression of miRNAs (previously associated with mycobacterial and viral infections) in MS patients and healthy donors (HD) following 6 months natalizumab therapy. In addition, Th1/Th17 cytokines and the presence of anti-EBNA1/VCA IgG in MS patients with different pattern of miRNA expression have been evaluated. MiR-155, miR-26a, miR-132, miR-146a and Th1/Th17 cytokines expression was detected by RT-real time PCR; moreover anti-EBNA1 and VCA IgG titres were measured by ELISA. We observed an up-regulation of miR-155 (p value = 0.009) and miR-132 (p value = 0.04) in MS patients compared to HD. In MS patients, IL-17a (p = 0.037), IFN γ (p = 0.012) and TNFα (p = 0.015) but not IL-6 were over-expressed compared to HD. Two different miRNAs patterns associated to the expression of different cytokines were observed in the MS cohort. Moreover, a down-regulation of miR-155 and miR-26a was seen in MS patients during and after natalizumab therapy. MS patients that over-expressed miR-155 showed a higher EBNA1 IgG titer than MS patients with high levels of miR-26a. In conclusions the expression of particular miRNAs modulates the pro-inflammatory cytokine expression and the humoral response against EBV and this expression is natalizumab regulated
Immune response induced by Epstein-Barr virus and <i>Mycobacterium avium</i> subsp. <i>paratuberculosis</i> peptides in current and past infectious mononucleosis: a risk for multiple sclerosis?
No full textBackground and purpose
Infectious mononucleosis (IM) caused by Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) has been associated with increased risk of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the mechanism linking these pathologies is unclear. Different reports indicate the association of EBV, and recently Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), with MS. For a better understanding of the role of these pathogens, the host response induced by selected antigenic peptides in subjects with a history of IM that significantly increases the risk of MS was investigated.
Methods
Both humoral and cell-mediated response against peptides able to induce a specific immune activation in MS patients deriving from lytic and latent EBV antigens BOLF1305−320, EBNA1400−413, from MAP MAP_402718−32, MAP_0106c121−132 and from human proteins IRF5424−434 and MBP85−98 in subjects with current and past IM were examined.
Results
EBNA1 and MAP_0106c peptides were able to induce a humoral immune response in subjects with a history of clinical IM in an independent manner. Moreover, these peptides were capable of inducing pro-inflammatory cytokine interferon γ by CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes and interleukin 6 and tumour necrosis factor α by CD14+ monocyte cells.
Conclusion
Our results highlight that EBV and MAP may be involved independently in the same causal process leading to MS in subjects with a history of IM
Certezza del diritto e prevedibilità: una riflessione sul tema
No full textCurrent problems at the centre of ethical and legal debate require new thinking regarding the possibility of considering the principle of legal certainty still relevant, in a historical period, the postmodern era, which is dominated by uncertainty and liquidity making difficult to set priorities and benchmarks. In this paper, I will focus on the interpretation that had the greatest consensus among authors who dealt with the concept of legal certainty, which is the ability to foresee Court decisions. My intent is to reconstruct the concept of certainty as predictability, analyzing major legislative changes occurred over the last two centuries
Development of a Real-Time PCR for detection of <i>Mycoplasma agalactiae</i> in bulk tank milk samples and epidemiology of infection in Sardinia
No full textIn this work the Mycoplasma agalactiae p48 gene was used as a diagnostic marker for contagious agalactia (CA) of sheep and goats by Real-Time PCR. The p48 gene encodes an invariable, constantly expressed, immunodominant surface lipoprotein belongs to the basic membrane protein family. The Real-Time PCR test based on p48 resulted specific
and sensible. The test performance were evaluated on bulk tank milk samples collected from 1064 ovine and 66 goat farms in sardinian region. 4.8% of sheep farms and 4.5 % of goat farms tested positive. Our results showed that the test based on the p48 gene can be used on bulk tank milk for detection and epidemiological surveillance of Mycoplasma
agalactiae infections
Oral diseases epidemiology in italian and non-italian population: a multicenter cross-sectional study
No full textAims: To assess the prevalence of the major oral diseases and the impact of the risk factors in adolescents from three different countries representative of Europe, Latin America and Middle East: Italy, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
Methods: Caries (ICDAS and DMFS), erosion (BEWE), gingival status (Silness-Löe Index) were recorded. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated (WHO guidelines). A questionnaire investigated dietary patterns, oral habits and socio-economic status. Sweet taste evaluation was performed to determine threshold (TT) and preference (TP).
Results: 909 subjects (Italy n= 220; Saudi n=225; Mexico Urban n=224; Mexico rural n=240). Mean DMFS was 2.96 SD 4.01. The prevalence of erosion was higher in Mexico (18.7%), followed by Italy (12,7%) and Saudi (6.7%) while caries experience was higher in Saudi (3.0±4.0), followed by Italy (1.4±2.3) and Mexico (1.2±1.5)(p<0.001). The frequency of soft drinks intake was a constant variable for erosion (p<0.01). Overweight (BMI) was positively related to caries severity. TP and caries had a significant correlation (p<0.01). Subjects in the rural area presented less caries (p<0.01).
Conclusions: The distribution of oral diseases is related to behavioral, socio-cultural and geographic situations. Both caries and dental erosion are associated to diet and diet being determinant to BMI is decisive in oral and general health where prevention can make a decisive change in the quality of life
La Legge Regionale n. 7/2007 a favore della Ricerca Scientifica in Sardegna
No full textThis thesis focuses on the nature and dynamics of funding regimes for public sector research in Sardinia and the impact of these policies can give for innovation and development. In Sardinia, public research funding has been justified by market failures arising from the inherent public nature of scientific research. Markets fail to provide sufficient incentives for investment in research and the public sector can contribute for enhancing scientific knowledge. Sardinia island have introduced a specific reform in his research funding systems in order foster excellence, knowledge transfer and socio-economic innovation. The reform is well known in the regional context as a "L.R 7 del 2007". Between 2008 – 2015 the regional government have funded more than 170 milions for projects and initiatives in the island, most for project-based where scientists obtain funds from their research. Scope of the work is to explore in more than 8 years activities of the reform in terms of model adopted and main results achieved, especially in priority research sectors for the regional governmen