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| 2. |
- Spagnuolo, R., et al.
(författare)
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Deregulation of SGK1 in Ulcerative Colitis: A Paradoxical Relationship Between Immune Cells and Colonic Epithelial Cells
- 2018
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Ingår i: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1078-0998 .- 1536-4844. ; 24:9, s. 1967-1977
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is due to the interaction of genetic and environmental factors that trigger an unbalanced immune response ultimately resulting in the peculiar inflammatory reaction. Experimental models of IBD point to a role of T-cell-derived cytokines (Th17) and to SGK1 as mediator of the Th17 switch. We hypothesize that SGK1, a salt inducible kinase, directs lymphocytic behavior and tissue damage. Methods: Eleven controls and 32 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients were randomized according to endoscopic Mayo score. Mucosal biopsies from different intestinal tracts were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to check the expression of disease markers including SGK1. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients and controls were analyzed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Finally, an in vitro cell model was developed to test the hypothesis. Results: SGK1 mRNA and protein expression in lesional areas of UC patients were lower than in normal peri-lesional areas of the same patients and in normal tissues of healthy controls. SGK1 expression was increased in PBMCs from UC patients, particularly in the CD4+ cell population, enriched in Th17 cells. IL17/IL13 was increased in patients and correlated with SGK1 expression. Genetically engineered Jurkat cells confirmed the effect of SGK1 overexpression on viability of RKO cells. Conclusions: These observations suggest a pathogenic mechanism whereby SGK1 overexpression in CD4+ T cells induces the secretion of the inflammatory cytokines IL17 and IL13, which downregulate the expression of SGK1 in target tissues. Our data suggest a novel hypothesis in the pathogenesis of UC, integrating colonic epithelial cells and lymphocytes.
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| 7. |
- Caretta, Martina Angela, et al.
(författare)
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Water
- 2022
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Ingår i: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability : Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 8. |
- Mancina, Rosellina Margherita, et al.
(författare)
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Gastrointestinal Symptoms of and Psychosocial Changes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Nursing-Led Cross-Sectional Study of Patients in Clinical Remission
- 2020
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Ingår i: Medicina-Lithuania. - : MDPI AG. - 1010-660X. ; 56:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and Objectives: Nursing management in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is focused on global patient care. Starting from basic knowledge of diagnostic and therapeutic management, nurses can assess the impact of IBD on patients' quality of life not only at the physical level, but also at the psychological, social, and emotional levels. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of gastrointestinal symptoms on psychosocial changes in IBD patients in remission through nursing-led Patient-Reported Outcomes. Materials and Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of 109 IBD patients in clinical and endoscopic remission. Specialist nurses invited patients to complete questionnaires on gastrointestinal symptoms and quality of life through the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS). Results: We found that the gastrointestinal symptoms that the patients reported had a significant impact on the analyzed aspects of health. More specifically, belly pain, diarrhea, and bloating were associated with depressive symptoms (p < 0.001), anxiety (p < 0.001), fatigue (p < 0.001), and sleep disturbances (p < 0.001). Moreover, these symptoms also significantly affected patients' social dimension in terms of satisfaction with participation in social roles (p < 0.001, p < 0.05, and p < 0.001 for belly pain, diarrhea, and bloating, respectively) and physical functions (p < 0.001). The results were virtually the same in a multivariable analysis adjusted by age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and disease duration. Conclusions: Even during remission, gastrointestinal symptoms are the main factors that influence quality of life in IBD patients. This exploratory study highlights the need to adopt validated questionnaires in clinical practice, and demonstrates that PROMIS is a valid, objective, and standardized instrument that can help nursing staff to better define the consequences of the disease in a patient's daily life.
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| 9. |
- Mancina, Rosellina Margherita, et al.
(författare)
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PNPLA3 148M Carriers with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Have Higher Susceptibility to Hepatic Steatosis and Higher Liver Enzymes
- 2016
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Ingår i: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1078-0998. ; 22:1, s. 134-140
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are characterized by chronic relapsing inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and encompass Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. IBD are often associated with extraintestinal manifestations affecting multiple organs including the liver. Increased levels of serum aminotransferases, possibly related to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, constitute one of the most frequently described IBD-related liver diseases. The PNPLA3 I148M substitution is a major common genetic determinant of hepatic fat content and progression to chronic liver disease. The aim of this study was to investigate whether carriers of PNPLA3 148M allele with IBD have higher risk of liver steatosis and increase in transaminases levels. Methods: The PNPLA3 I148M (rs738409) genotype was performed by Taqman assays in 158 individuals from Southern Italy (namely, Catanzaro cohort) and in 207 individuals from Northern Italy (namely, Milan cohort) with a definite diagnosis of IBD. Demographic and clinical data and also alanine transaminase levels were collected for both cohorts. The Catanzaro cohort underwent liver evaluation by sonography and liver stiffness and controlled attenuation parameter measurements by transient elastography. Results: Here, we show for the first time that carriers of the PNPLA3 148M allele with IBD have a greater risk of hepatic steatosis (odds ratio, 2.9, and confidence interval, 1.1-7.8), higher controlled attenuation parameter values (P = 0.029), and increased circulating alanine transaminase (P = 0.035) in the Catanzaro cohort. We further confirm the higher alanine transaminase levels in the Milan cohort (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Our results show that PNPLA3 148M carriers with IBD have higher susceptibility to hepatic steatosis and liver damage.
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| 10. |
- Mancina, Rosellina Margherita, et al.
(författare)
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Ulcerative Colitis as an Independent Risk Factor for Hepatic Steatosis
- 2020
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Ingår i: Gastroenterology Nursing. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 1042-895X. ; 43:4, s. 292-297
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract encompassing Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis, often associated with extraintestinal manifestations. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease represents one of the described inflammatory bowel disease-related liver diseases. To understand the IBD contribution to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease onset, we compared liver fat content and fibrosis between IBD patients and healthy controls integrating medical and nursing expertise (integrated nursing approach). A total of 95 patients and 53 healthy volunteers were recruited. Only nondiabetic and nonobese individuals were included in the study. Liver evaluation was performed by an experienced nurse using transient elastography. We found that IBD patients had higher liver fat content than the control group (p= .003). Bonferroni post hoc analyses revealed that patients with Crohn disease or ulcerative colitis had higher liver fat than the control group. We also found that ulcerative colitis was associated with more than a 4-fold increased risk for mild steatosis and 7-fold increased risk for moderate/severe steatosis independently from other risk factors such as glucose and body mass index. In conclusion, we showed for the first time that ulcerative colitis is an independent risk factor for hepatic steatosis measured by transient elastography.
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| 12. |
- Pironi, L., et al.
(författare)
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COVID-19 infection in patients on long-term home parenteral nutrition for chronic intestinal failure
- 2023
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Ingår i: Clinical Nutrition Espen. - : Elsevier BV. - 2405-4577. ; 55, s. 212-220
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and aims: To investigate the incidence and the severity of COVID-19 infection in patients enrolled in the database for home parenteral nutrition (HPN) for chronic intestinal failure (CIF) of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN). Methods: Period of observation: March 1st, 2020 March 1st, 2021. Inclusion criteria: patients included in the database since 2015 and still receiving HPN on March 1st, 2020 as well as new patients included in the database during the period of observation. Data related to the previous 12 months and recorded on March 1st 2021: 1) occurrence of COVID-19 infection since the beginning of the pandemic (yes, no, unknown); 2) infection severity (asymptomatic; mild, no-hospitalization; moderate, hospitalization no -ICU; severe, hospitalization in ICU); 3) vaccinated against COVID-19 (yes, no, unknown); 4) patient outcome on March 1st 2021: still on HPN, weaned off HPN, deceased, lost to follow up.Results: Sixty-eight centres from 23 countries included 4680 patients. Data on COVID-19 were available for 55.1% of patients. The cumulative incidence of infection was 9.6% in the total group and ranged from 0% to 21.9% in the cohorts of individual countries. Infection severity was reported as: asymptomatic 26.7%, mild 32.0%, moderate 36.0%, severe 5.3%. Vaccination status was unknown in 62.0% of patients, non-vaccinated 25.2%, vaccinated 12.8%. Patient outcome was reported as: still on HPN 78.6%, weaned off HPN 10.6%, deceased 9.7%, lost to follow up 1.1%. A higher incidence of infection (p = 0.04), greater severity of infection (p < 0.001) and a lower vaccination percentage (p = 0.01) were observed in deceased patients. In COVID-19 infected patients, deaths due to infection accounted for 42.8% of total deaths.Conclusions: In patients on HPN for CIF, the incidence of COVID-19 infection differed greatly among countries. Although the majority of cases were reported to be asymptomatic or have mild symptoms only, COVID-19 was reported to be fatal in a significant proportion of infected patients. Lack of vacci-nation was associated with a higher risk of death.(c) 2023 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 13. |
- Scalas, A., et al.
(författare)
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An automatic approach for the classification of ancient clay statuettes based on heads features recognition
- 2019
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Ingår i: GCH 2019 - Eurographics Workshop on Graphics and Cultural Heritage. - 9783038680826 ; , s. 79-82
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent years, quantitative approaches based on mathematical theories and ICT tools, known under the terms of digital, computational, and virtual archaeology, are more and more involved in the traditional archaeological research. In this paper, we apply shape analysis techniques to 3D digital replicas of archaeological findings to support their interpretation. In particular, our study focuses on a collection of small terracotta figurines from the ancient sanctuary of Ayia Irini, Cyprus, and it aims at re-analysing the material utilising a quantitative approach. We experiment state of the art techniques (meshSIFT and DBSCAN) to cluster statuettes according to the similarity of their heads, to investigate their production process.
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| 14. |
- Spagnuolo, M. S., et al.
(författare)
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A Short-Term Western Diet Impairs Cholesterol Homeostasis and Key Players of Beta Amyloid Metabolism in Brain of Middle Aged Rats
- 2020
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Ingår i: Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. - : Wiley. - 1613-4125 .- 1613-4133. ; 64:16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Scope Cholesterol homeostasis is crucial for brain functioning. Unhealthy nutrition can influence cerebral physiology, but the effect of western diets on brain cholesterol homeostasis, particularly at middle age, is unknown. Given the link between brain cholesterol alteration and beta amyloid production, the aim is to evaluate whether a diet rich in fat and fructose affects the protein network implicated in cholesterol synthesis and shuttling between glial cells and neurons, as well as crucial markers of beta amyloid metabolism. Methods and results Middle aged rats are fed a high fat-high fructose (HFF) or a control diet for 4 weeks. Inflammatory markers and cholesterol levels significantly increase in hippocampus of HFF rats. A higher activation of 3-hydroxy 3-methylglutaryl coenzyme-A reductase, coupled with lower levels of apolipoprotein E, LXR-beta, and lipoproteins receptors is measured in hippocampus from HFF rats. The alteration of critical players of cholesterol homeostasis is associated with increased level of amyloid precursor protein, presenilin 1, and nicastrin, and decreased level of insulin degrading enzyme. Conclusions Overall these data show that a western diet is associated with perturbation of cholesterol homeostasis in middle aged rats, mostly in hippocampus. This might trigger molecular events involved in the onset of neurodegenerative diseases.
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| 15. |
- Spagnuolo, R., et al.
(författare)
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Beta-glucan, inositol and digestive enzymes improve quality of life of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome
- 2017
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Ingår i: European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences. - 1128-3602. ; 21, s. 102-107
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of a mixture of beta-glucan, inositol and digestive enzymes in improving gastrointestinal symptoms in patients affected by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was conducted at the IBD Unit of the University of Catanzaro. Forty-three IBD patients with IBS symptoms were included in the study. IBD diagnosis was performed by clinical, endoscopic, histological and radiological criteria. Patients were in clinical remission and in treatment only with systemical and topical mesalamine. All study participants fulfilled the Rome III criteria for the diagnosis of IBS. The study participants were randomized into 2 groups: group A (n=23) received conventional treatment (systemical and topical mesalamine) plus a mixture of beta-glucan, inositol and digestive enzymes (one tablet after lunch and dinner) for four consecutive weeks; group B (n=20) received only conventional treatment. The prevalence and intensity of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms were evaluated both at the enrollment (T-0) and after four weeks of treatment (T-1). RESULTS: Patients who received mesalamine plus the mixture of beta-glucan, inositol and digestive enzymes (group A) reported a reduction in abdominal pain together with reduction in bloating and flatulence after four weeks of treatment. Importantly, an overall improvement in the general well-being has been recorded. Patients who underwent only mesalamine treatment (group B) reported a mild reduction in the evacuative urgency without any other improvements. CONCLUSIONS: We have shown that supplementation with a mixture of beta-glucan, inositol and digestive enzymes reduces bloating, flatulence and abdominal pain, improving the overall clinical condition of IBD-IBS patients.
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| 16. |
- Spagnuolo, R., et al.
(författare)
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Effects of listening to music in digestive endoscopy: A prospective intervention study led by nursing
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Advanced Nursing. - : Wiley. - 0309-2402 .- 1365-2648. ; 76:11, s. 2993-3002
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims To explore whether music can reduce anxiety and pain in patients who underwent diagnostic endoscopic examinations in conscious and deep sedation and to assess degree of satisfaction and willingness to repeat the procedure. Design Prospective study led by nursing. Methods Between March 2019-June 2019, consecutive outpatients undergoing endoscopic examinations were simple matched into four groups: Group 1: conscious sedation with music; Group 2: conscious sedation without music; Group 3: deep sedation with music and Group 4: deep sedation without music. Ten minutes before the procedure, two trainee nurses applied music.State-Trait Anxiety Inventorywas used to evaluate anxiety. Results Before and at the end of the procedure, patients who listened to music had a lower level anxiety than those who did not listen and, also, reported lower pain intensity during procedure. Only within Group 1 median anxiety, measured after the procedure, is lower than that measured before. In the bivariate logistic regression model, pain and listening to music were independent factors for satisfaction and willingness to repeat procedure. Conclusion music in digestive endoscopy reduce pain and anxiety in conscious sedation, thus could be used to reduce anxiety in support to conscious sedation leading to lower usage of deep sedation and consequently reduction of costs and adverse events. Impact Anxiety in digestive endoscopy limits patients' satisfaction. Music in digestive endoscopy as a specific nursing intervention could reduce anxiety of patients. This nursing intervention study confirms positive effect of music in digestive endoscopy. As part of nursing management, the addition of music to daily care practice in digestive endoscopy may reduce anxiety and increase the patient's degree of satisfaction. Use of music could limit deep sedation use in digestive endoscopy with consequent reduction of risks for patients, execution times, and costs of procedures.
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