Renal vascular damage in systemic sclerosis patients without clinical evidence of nephropathy

Objective. To evaluate the use of color-flow Doppler ultrasonography, a direct, noninvasive technique, for measurement of kidney blood flow in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods. Twenty-five normal volunteers and 25 SSc patients (median disease duration 8 years, range 2–21 years) were studied. All were free of clinical symptoms of renal damage. The resistance index (RI) was determined on main, interlobar, and cortical vessels. Results. In SSc patients, the RI was significantly increased at every sampling site examined (P < 0.001). RI values were strongly correlated with disease duration (main artery r = 0.56, P < 0.04; interlobar artery r = 0.63, P < 0.02; cortical artery r = 0.75, P < 0.002). Regression analysis showed no relationship between RI and creatinine clearance values. Conclusion. Color-flow Doppler ultrasonography is a sensitive and noninvasive technique for evaluating vascular damage of the kidney in patients with SSc.     

Emerging Respiratory Viruses of Cats

In recent years, advances in diagnostics and deep sequencing technologies have led to the identification and characterization of novel viruses in cats as protoparviruses and chaphamaparvoviruses, unveiling the diversity of the feline virome in the respiratory tract. Observational, epidemiological and experimental data are necessary to demonstrate firmly if some viruses are able to cause disease, as this information may be confounded by virus- or host-related factors. Also, in recent years, researchers were able to monitor multiple examples of transmission to felids of viruses with high pathogenic potential, such as the influenza virus strains H5N1, H1N1, H7N2, H5N6 and H3N2, and in the late 2019, the human hypervirulent coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. These findings suggest that the study of viral infections always requires a multi-disciplinary approach inspired by the One Health vision. By reviewing the literature, we provide herewith an update on the emerging viruses identified in cats and their potential association with respiratory disease.     

Short commentaries on data published by Petit et al. on locoregional risk after lipofilling in breast cancer patients

Lipofilling is becoming part of the breast reshaping after quadrantectomy or mastectomy in breast cancer patients, but there are open questions of its safety.     

Exocrine pancreatic cancer,cigarette smoking,and diabetes mellitus: a case-control study in northern Italy

The role of cigarette smoking and diabetes mellitus as risk factors for exocrine pancreatic cancer (PC) was investigated in a hospital based case-control study. Current smokers were at increased risk for PC (OR = 2.36, 95% CI 1.53-3.63): the magnitude of the risk was related to the lifetime amount of smoking (chi2(trend) = 17.00; P < 0.0001). Among former smokers, after 15 years from ceasing smoking, the risk for PC dropped to the level of a lifetime non-smoker, whichever the lifetime smoking amount. Diabetes was associated with a 2.89-fold increased risk for PC (95% CI 1.71-4.86): the risk was 4.76 (95% CI 1.99-11.53) for diabetes diagnosed up to 2 years before the diagnosis of PC and dropped to 2.07 (95% CI 1.02-4.20) for diabetes diagnosed more than 5 years before PC. The risk for PC was estimated according to the treatment used to control diabetes: it was 6.49 (95% CI 2.28-18.48) for insulin treated diabetes and 2.12 (95% CI 1.16-3.87) for diabetes treated with oral hypoglycemic drugs. The risk of PC for diabetes treated for more than 5 years before the diagnosis of PC was 6.21 (95% CI 1.61-23.96) for patients treated with insulin and 1.21 (95% CI 0.50-2.92) for those treated with oral hypoglycemic drugs: the type of treatment needed to control the disease may discriminate between the diabetes that represents a consequence of cancer from the diabetes that could represent an etiological co-factor. More studies are needed to clarify whether long-lasting insulin-treated diabetes is an etiological co-factor in PC.     

Regional mapping of RBP4 to 10q23→q24 and RBP1 to 3q21→q22 in man

The human gene coding for RBP4 has been assigned to 10q2324 using a panel of somatic cell hybrids and in situ hybridization experiments. The mapping of the human RBP1, previously assigned by our group to chromosome 3 using a panel of somatic cell hybrids, was restricted to the region 3q2122 using in situ experiments and Southern blots of genomic DNA from a hybrid retaining a portion of chromosome 3.R.F. is recipient of a Research Grant from A.I.R.C.