Alteration of the oral microbiota may be a responsible factor,along with estrogen deficiency,by the development of larger periapical lesions

Clinical Oral Investigations - To answer the questions: (1) Does reducing estrogen levels influence the microbial composition of the oral cavity? (2) Does the presence of periapical lesion (PL)...     

Arrhythmias during acute and chronic exercise in chronic heart failure

Exercise can induce or prevent arrhythmias depending upon several factors, related to patient’s clinical characteristics and to exercise modalità (type, intensità, frequency, duration). In the present paper, the author reviews the mechanisms of arrhythmias during acute and chronic exercise in heart failure, and focuses on the relationship between exercise training programs and arrhythmias in chronic heart failure.     

Splenic abscesses: 6 cases in 15 years

Splenic abscesses are a rare type of disease, owing to the quite exceptional primary forms, but the prevalence of the disease is rising as a result of the increase in the population at risk. The authors report on their experience based on 6 observations of such cases over a period of 15 years. The diagnosis was obtained by ultrasonography in all 6 cases. Only one case was successfully treated by percutaneous drainage, the other 5 all requiring splenectomy. Only one patient, suffering from Chédiak-Higashi disease, died of bronchopneumonia 6 months postoperatively. Nowadays the disease is diagnosed earlier than it was in the past owing to the increasingly widespread use and refinement of diagnostic methods, but even today identification of splenic abscess may still be late due to the presence of predisposing diseases which mask the clinical picture, and also because, since the condition is so rare, one very often fails to think of it in the early stages. An analysis of the recent literature indicates that percutaneous drainage is a reliable technique which presents a high therapeutic success rate and low cost compared to surgery. Though we believe that the ongoing progress in the fields of ultrasonography and CT-guided intervention may allow us to treat increasing numbers of patients with splenic abscesses in future, we feel, also in the light of our own experience, that splenectomy still remains the reference treatment, in that ideal conditions for successful percutaneous drainage do not often present themselves.     

Interleukin-7 receptor α (IL-7Rα) deficiency: cellular and molecular bases. Analysis of clinical, immunological, and molecular features in 16 novel patients

Summary: Analysis of gene‐targeted mice and patients with severe combined immunodeficiency due to mutations of the α chain of the interleukin‐7 receptor (IL‐7Rα) has shown important differences between mice and humans in the role played by IL‐7 in lymphoid development. More recently, it has been shown that IL‐7Rα is also shared by the receptor for another cytokine, thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). In this review, we discuss recent advances in IL‐7‐ and TSLP‐mediated signaling. We also report on the clinical and immunological features of 16 novel patients with IL‐7Rα deficiency and discuss the results of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.     

Cross-reactivity of IgE-binding components between boiled Atlantic shrimp and German cockroach

IgE-antibody reactivity to boiled Atlantic shrimp ( Pandalus borealis ) and German cockroach ( Blattella germanica ) of sera from 89 patients, sensitive to one or the other, was investigated with an enzymatic immunoassay for specific IgE detection (CAP-FEIA System, Pharmacia, Sweden). IgE serum levels to both antishrimp and anticockroach allergens were found to be positive in 76 of the 89 (85.4%) tested sera. A positive anticockroach IgE was very rare in the absence of detectable antishrimp IgE (five of 89 sera). Linear regression analysis on antishrimp and anti-German cockroach IgE levels-log plot revealed correlation coefficient (r) of 0.73. Inhibition experiments showed that boiled Atlantic shrimp extract inhibited CAP with German cockroach, and vice versa. Immunoblotting showed the strongest IgE binding for both allergenic extracts between 30 and 43 kDa. By blot inhibition, the binding capacity of German cockroach was totally-abolished by Atlantic shrimp extract, while German cockroach extract only partially IgE binding to Atlantic shrimp. Cross-reactivity exists between shrimp, an important food allergen, and German cockroach, which has an increasing role in allergic asthma. It could be important to determine the clinical significance of cross-allergy to both allergens, in which exposures occur in different ways.     

Reconstruction of the posterior auditory canal with hydroxyapatite-coated titanium.

There are a variety of techniques for treating chronically discharging radical mastoid cavities. The purpose of this article is to report the preliminary results of an original technique for reconstruction of the posterior auditory canal using a titanium net combined with porous hydroxyapatite coating. Titanium is fixed with two screws to the mastoid tip and zygomatic root to prevent the risk of implant dislocation. Eight patients with chronically discharging radical mastoid cavities that failed medical management underwent reconstruction of the mastoid cavity using this technique. After surgery, all cases had rapid healing and good aeration of the middle ear and mastoid. One tympanic membrane reperforated, and no extrusion of the prostheses were detected clinically or on computed tomography scanning. The minimum postoperative follow-up period has been 12 months (range 12-48 months). To date, there has been no evidence of cholesteatoma recurrence. The preliminary results remain encouraging. Larger series and longer follow-up, however, are advisable to prove real validity.     

Discovery of a novel class of reversible non-peptide caspase inhibitors via a structure-based approach

In this paper, we report a simple structure-based iterative optimizations (SUBITO) strategy to identify and optimize new protein ligands and inhibitors. The approach is based on a combination of NMR-based screening and computational docking methods and enabled the identification of novel chemical leads among hundreds of thousands of commercially available compounds by screening only a few hundred compounds from a scaffold library followed by iterative screening steps where only few dozen compounds are tested. As an application, we report on the discovery of a novel class of non-peptide reversible caspase inhibitors, with IC(50) values in the low micromolar range.