Lichen sclerosus is a chronic relapsing inflammatory dermatosis with a predilection for anogenital skin in 85%-98% of cases and is more prevalent in women (3%) than in men (> 0.07%).
The purpose of ...this study was to investigate gender differences in clinical presentation and therapeutic response to treatment with platelet-rich plasma (PRP), an emerging innovative strategy for LS.
Forty-three male and 51 female patients affected by LS were evaluated. Each patient was subjected to PRP treatment (1 infiltration every 15 days, for 3 times).
The PRP procedure was well tolerated by all patients and an overall significant decrease in symptoms was reported 6 months after PRP infiltration. Reduction in pain and burning sensation was significant in both gender but more accentuated in women than in men, whereas reduction of itching was similar. On the contrary, dyspareunia evidenced sex-related difference since a significant diminution was observed only in male.
This study demonstrates that PRP based therapy may exert a relevant role in LS patient management due to its effect on Quality of Life (QoL) and sexual function in both gender. In addition, the study underlined gender-related differences in severity of symptoms and disease age onset.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Lichen sclerosus (LS) is a chronic-relapsing and potentially serious skin disease that has a preference for genital skin. Currently, there is no standardized method for assessing the effects of ...therapies.
The objective of this preliminary study is to use video thermography (VTG) in the evaluation of vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS) before and after platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy.
A sample of six female patients was enrolled. Patients were subjected to PRP treatment. Patients selected for the study had been assessed at baseline (T0) and after 7 and 30 d from PRP treatment (T1 and T2, respectively). Clinical and VTG evaluation was executed in every visit.
The VTG examination showed at least one hypothermic area (HA) in all our patients. The average temperature measured in the vulvar and perineal region taken as a reference for each patient was found to be between 33.7 °C and 36.3 °C, with a fair difference between the patients. HAs showed thermal differences which varied between 2.2 °C and 1.2 °C.
It is demonstrated here that PRP offers satisfactory effectiveness in treating VLS and that video thermograpy could represent a useful paraclinic method in the identification and follow-up of LS.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The current growing interest for natural antioxidants has led to a renewed scientific attention for artichoke, due not only to its nutritional value, but, overall, to its polyphenolic content, ...showing strong antioxidant properties. The major constituents of artichoke extracts are hydroxycinnamic acids such as chlorogenic acid, dicaffeoylquinic acids caffeic acid and ferulic acid, and flavonoids such as luteolin and apigenin glycosides. Invitro studies, using cultured rat hepatocytes, have shown its hepatoprotective functions and in vivo studies have shown the inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis in human subjects. Several studies have shown the effect on animal models of artichoke extracts, while information on human bioavailability and metabolism of hydroxycinnamates derivatives is still lacking. Results showed a plasma maximum concentration of 6·4 (sd 1.8) ng/ml for chlorogenic acid after 1 h and its disappearance within 2 h (P < 0·05). Peak plasma concentrations of 19·5 (sd6·9) ng/ml for total caffeic acid were reached within 1 h, while ferulic acid plasma concentrations showed a biphasic profile with 6·4 (sd1·5) ng/ml and 8·4 (sd4·6) ng/ml within 1 h and after 8 h respectively. We observed a significant increase of dihydrocaffeic acid and dihydroferulic acid total levels after 8 h (P < 0·05). No circulating plasma levels of luteolin and apigenin were present. Our study confirms the bioavailability of metabolites of hydroxycinnamic acids after ingestion of cooked edible Cynara scolymus L. (cultivar Violetto di Provenza).
Erythrocytapheresis, an apheresis treatment which selectively removes red blood cells, is an alternative to therapeutic phlebotomy, over which it has several advantages.
Actually there is a high ...degree of variability in the use of this treatment. This prompted SIdEM (Italian Society of Hemapheresis and Cell Manipulation) to conduct a survey on the use of erythrocytapheresis in the Italian Transfusion Services. The purpose is to monitor this activity in the treatment of Polycythemia Vera (pv), secondary erythrocytosis and hemochromatosis.
A data collection file was sent to the SIdEM regional delegates who, in turn, involved the Transfusion Centers in the areas they cover. The data collected were processed on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
75 centers from 14 Italian regions responded to the Survey: 36 centers (48 %) use erythrocytapheresis (35 centers perform therapeutic apheresis and 1 center only donor apheresis), 39 centers (52 %) do not (15 centers perform therapeutic apheresis, 18 centers only donor apheresis and 6 centers do not perform either therapeutic apheresis or donor apheresis).
Although most centers have a substantially uniform attitude concerning the indications for which erythrocytapheresis is used, the survey shows that there are still differences more evident in the treatment of secondary erythrocytosis than in the treatment of pv or hemochromatosis.
This survey has been useful to document the current Italian reality and to raise awareness about the need for improvement in optimizing and standardizing the use of a therapy with a great potential to exploit properly.
The main objective of this research was to determine whether a commercial orange juice rich in anthocyanins could have an effect on body weight and on clinical parameters related to obesity including ...antioxidant status, lipid profile, and metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers. 11 women with an average BMI of 34.4±4.8 kg/m2 were enrolled in a pilot study. Over a period of 12 weeks they received 500 mL daily dose into two doses (250 mL) of commercial red orange juice (COJ). The biochemical parameters were measured at baseline and at the end of the study (12 weeks). One month later upon free diet, a follow-up was performed measuring the same variables. The daily consumption of 500 mL of COJ had no significant effects on body weight, while there was a decrease in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. The grade of obesity implies different changes in inflammation biomarkers. In obese women, our data do not seem to support evidence that commercial red orange juice consumption acts as functional food preventing obesity and metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance and/or inflammatory status.
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of long term supplementation with two moderate dose of Zn on plasma and cellular red-ox status markers in elderly volunteers. DESIGN, ...SETTING AND SUBJECTS: In a double blind study 108 healthy volunteers, aged 70–85 years, were enrolled. They were randomly divided in 3 groups of treatment, receiving placebo, 15 mg/day and 30 mg/day of Zn for 6 months. Red-ox status markers were assessed at baseline and after 6 months evaluating carotenoids, vitamin A and E in plasma; glutathione (GSH), thiol groups (RSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), percentage of haemolysis and methemoglobin in erythrocytes. RESULTS: Zn supplementation had no significant effects on red-ox status markers except for vitamin A levels (from 1.94±0.44 to 2.18±0.48 μM in volunteers receiving 15 mg of Zn and from 1.95±0.46 to 2.26±0.56 μM in volunteers receiving 30 mg of Zn), which increased proportionally to zinc dose. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that, differently from unhealthy populations, long-term supplementation with two moderate doses of Zn in a healthy elderly population, with an adequate Zn nutritive status and macro and micronutrients intakes in the range of normality, is an inefficient way to increase antioxidant defences.
Abstract
This study aims at investigating the effect of an experimental period of intake of whole grain foods rich in lignans as part of an habitual diet on the plasma and urinary excretion of ...enterolignans, the biomarkers of lipid metabolism and the immunological and antioxidant status in a group of postmenopausal women with moderate serum cholesterol. A randomized double-blind crossover study was completed on 13 subjects in 12-weeks after protocol approval of an ethical committee. The subjects consumed whole grain foods high in lignans (30 g/d of breakfast cereals or biscuits, etc., 80 g/d of whole grain pasta) or refined grain foods for 4 weeks, separated by a 2-weeks wash-out period. A modest hypocholesterolemic effect (p < 0.05) of the whole grain diet was observed and the intake of whole grain products rich in lignans was also associated with an increase in urinary enterodiol excretion (p < 0.05).
The essential oils obtained by water distillation from the aerial parts of Helichrysum italicum G. Don subsp. microphyllum (Willd.) Nym. were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Three different populations ...growing at different elevations and under different weather conditions were studied from their vegetative period to post-blooming time. Forty-eight constituents accounting for between 96.5% and 83.0% of total oils have been identified and quantified. Among the identified constituents those present in the highest percentage were neryl acetate (17.6–35.6%), nerol (3.7–14.4%) and eudesmen-5-en-11-ol (6.4–23.5%). Among them, the neryl acetal percentage decreased when 5-eudesmen-11-ol percentage increased, and limonene reached 7% relative composition. The main fraction of the oil consisted of oxygenated compounds present in higher concentrations in June.
•Helichrysum italicum ssp. michrophyllum is an endemic species of Sardinia.•Essential oils profiles of 146 genotypes from two habitats have been studied.•The species has economical value for ...pharmacological, aromatic and ornamental uses.•Correlation between essential oils and environmental conditions was found.•Significant differences in seaside and mountains groups have been found.
Helichrysum italicum (Asteraceae) is a small shrub of the Mediterranean area which colonizes a wide range of habitats. In Sardinia, Italy, the species is widely dispersed in different environments ranging from sandy beaches to holm hoak forests 1250m above sea level (a. s. l.). Recently, the species has been attributed an increasing economical value mainly for its pharmacological, aromatic proprieties and ornamental uses.
In this study, the chemical profiles of 146 H. italicum ssp. microphyllum genotypes from two contrasting habitats (seaside and mountains) in Sardinia were explored. Significant differences in volatile fractions between the two groups were found, displaying a correlation between secondary metabolite production and habitat type. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes (oxygenated/not oxygenated), alcohols, ester were quantitatively differentially produced in the plants growing under different environmental conditions (P<0.0001). However, discriminant analysis also showed that compositional separation among samples is not simply the question if the habitat is from the coast or the mountains: plants from four seaside sites separate most remarkably from the rest, and in the latter plants from three mountain sites become distinct. It means that there is a fairly homogeneous and large group of plants in which habitat type is not a distinguishing feature regarding volatile oil composition.
Considering the importance of climatic conditions in plant development and growth, the relationship between meteorological variables and chemical compounds of the volatile fraction was explored by principal component analysis. Nerolidol is mostly positively correlated to mean winter temperature, while italicene, bergamotene, nerol and curcumene are positively influenced by spring and summer precipitation. Finally, Mantel test revealed a significant correlation (Spearman, P=0.002) between chemical and meteorological matrices of Euclidean distances, suggesting that the most diverse chemical profiles belonged to plants from the farther climatic locations.
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