Cytokines expression in SLE nephritis Gigante, A; Gasperini, M L; Afeltra, A ...
European review for medical and pharmacological sciences
15, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Renal involvement is a common manifestation in course of systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) and may occur at any time. In SLE nephritis, the pattern of glomerular injury is primarily related to the ...formation of the immune deposits in situ, due major to antidouble-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies and anti- C1q. Immune complexes deposits can induce the inflammatory response by activation of adhesion molecules on endothelium, resulting in the recruitment of pro inflammatory leukocytes. Activated and damaged glomerular cells, infiltrating macrophages, B and T cells produced cytokines that play a pivotal role as inflammatory mediators to extend renal injury. In serum of SLE patients, the concentrations of IL-6, IL-17, IL-12, INF-gamma, IL-18, IL-10 and TNF-alpha are higher than healthy people and this increase correlate with disease activity. It is well established possible correlation between urinary cytokines levels (IL-6, IL-10, INF-gamma and TGF-beta) and disease activity. In fact, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) correlate with cytokines over-expression, in particular IL-17, IL-10, TNF-alpha and the axis INF-gamma/IL-12. Recent studies are promising about proteinuria reduction and improving renal function through cytokine blockade therapy.
Cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) describes the concurrent failure of cardiac and renal function, each influencing the other. Malnutrition and cachexia frequently develop in patients with heart failure or ...kidney failure. However, no information is currently available on the prevalence of malnutrition in CRS patients. We studied CRS patients admitted to an internal medicine ward during a 5-month period and evaluated their clinical characteristics and nutritional status. Malnutrition risk was assessed by using the validated screening tool NRS-2002 whilst body composition was assessed by bioimpedance analysis and muscle function was measured by handgrip (HG) strength. Cardiac mass was also recorded. Length of stay, hospital readmission and 6-month mortality were registered. During the study period, 22 CRS patients were studied. Twenty patients were diagnosed with either CRS type 1 or CRS type 5. In CRS patients, fat-free mass showed a trend toward representing a protective factor for 6-month mortality (OR=0.904; p=0.06). Also, fat-free mass correlated with HG strength and cardiac ejection fraction. Malnutrition risk was diagnosed in 45% of the patients, whereas 8 patients met the definition of cachexia. Even without statistical significance, CRS patients with malnutrition had lower BMI (Body Mass Index) (p=0.038) and fat-free mass (p= n.s.). However, CRS malnutrition was associated to higher 6-month mortality (p= 0.05), and appears to negatively influence the outcome in CRS (OR= 9; p= 0.06). Our results show that malnutrition is prevalent in CRS patients and influences the clinical outcome. The assessment of nutritional status, and particularly body composition, should be implemented in daily practice of patients with CRS.
Cardio-Renal Syndrome (CRS) is a condition, which is more frequently observed in clinical practice. The aim of this study is to explore nutritional status and intrarenal arterial stiffness in ...patients affected by CRS.
14 consecutive CRS patients, screened for anthropometry, biochemistry, nutritional and metabolic status underwent renal Doppler ultrasound and whole-body bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS).
We found a positive correlation between phase angle (PA) and CKD-EPI and MDRD (p=0.011 and p=0.007), and between body mass index and renal resistive index (RRI) (p=0.002). Finally, we found a negative correlation between fat-free mass and RRI (p=0.024).
Body composition assessment may improve the care of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Also, BIS may help identify changes in hydration status in CKD patients resulting as a significant predictor of mortality.
This paper deals with the optimization of the piezoelectric performances of nanofibrous membranes. Both ceramic and polymeric piezoelectric nanofibers are manufactured via electrospinning and ...polarized in order to align the ferroelectric domains and enhance the piezoelectric response of the mats. By investigating the electrical properties of the embedding mediums where the nanofibers were immerged during the polarization, it is possible to identify a proper configuration that maximize the dipoles alignment. The measured piezoelectric responses of the produced nanofibrous mats result comparable with commercial stiff piezoelectric samples ones.
Nephrotic Syndrome and Stroke Gigante, A.; Barbano, B.; Liberatori, M. ...
International journal of immunopathology and pharmacology,
07/2013, Letnik:
26, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The hypercoagulability of patients with nephrotic syndrome could be an important trigger for arterial and venous thrombotic events. Arterial thromboses are less frequent than venous thromboses and ...the most common locations are femoral arteries. The association of stroke and nephrotic syndrome is extremely rare. Here we report the case of a patient with stroke as first manifestation of nephrotic syndrome. Ischemic stroke can be the first manifestation of nephrotic syndrome and should be considered as a possible complication of the syndrome, when the commonest causes of ischemic stroke are excluded and especially in presence of pre-existing glomerular disease.
Earthquake scarps associated with recent historical events have been found on the floor of the Sea of Marmara, along the North Anatolian Fault (NAF). The MARMARASCARPS cruise using an unmanned ...submersible (ROV) provides direct observations to study the fine‐scale morphology and geology of those scarps, their distribution, and geometry. The observations are consistent with the diversity of fault mechanisms and the fault segmentation within the north Marmara extensional step‐over, between the strike‐slip Ganos and Izmit faults. Smaller strike‐slip segments and pull‐apart basins alternate within the main step‐over, commonly combining strike‐slip and extension. Rapid sedimentation rates of 1–3 mm/yr appear to compete with normal faulting components of up to 6 mm/yr at the pull‐apart margins. In spite of the fast sedimentation rates the submarine scarps are preserved and accumulate relief. Sets of youthful earthquake scarps extend offshore from the Ganos and Izmit faults on land into the Sea of Marmara. Our observations suggest that they correspond to the submarine ruptures of the 1999 Izmit (Mw 7.4) and the 1912 Ganos (Ms 7.4) earthquakes. While the 1999 rupture ends at the immediate eastern entrance of the extensional Cinarcik Basin, the 1912 rupture appears to have crossed the Ganos restraining bend into the Sea of Marmara floor for 60 km with a right‐lateral slip of 5 m, ending in the Central Basin step‐over. From the Gulf of Saros to Marmara the total 1912 rupture length is probably about 140 km, not 50 km as previously thought. The direct observations of submarine scarps in Marmara are critical to defining barriers that have arrested past earthquakes as well as defining a possible segmentation of the contemporary state of loading. Incorporating the submarine scarp evidence modifies substantially our understanding of the current state of loading along the NAF next to Istanbul. Coulomb stress modeling shows a zone of maximum loading with at least 4–5 m of slip deficit encompassing the strike‐slip segment 70 km long between the Cinarcik and Central Basins. That segment alone would be capable of generating a large‐magnitude earthquake (Mw 7.2). Other segments in Marmara appear less loaded.
Understanding micro-seismicity is a critical question for earthquake hazard assessment. Since the devastating earthquakes of Izmit and Duzce in 1999, the seismicity along the submerged section of ...North Anatolian Fault within the Sea of Marmara (comprising the "Istanbul seismic gap") has been extensively studied in order to infer its mechanical behaviour (creeping vs locked). So far, the seismicity has been interpreted only in terms of being tectonic-driven, although the Main Marmara Fault (MMF) is known to strike across multiple hydrocarbon gas sources. Here, we show that a large number of the aftershocks that followed the M 5.1 earthquake of July, 25
2011 in the western Sea of Marmara, occurred within a zone of gas overpressuring in the 1.5-5 km depth range, from where pressurized gas is expected to migrate along the MMF, up to the surface sediment layers. Hence, gas-related processes should also be considered for a complete interpretation of the micro-seismicity (~M < 3) within the Istanbul offshore domain.
A transform-parallel (transverse) ridge runs for several hundred kilometers along the northern side of the Romanche Fracture Zone (RFZ), being most prominent opposite to the eastern Mid Atlantic ...Ridge/transform intersection (RTI). Seismic reflection profiles and rock sampling indicate that the western part of the transverse ridge is made of uplifted slivers of oceanic lithosphere. In contrast, the eastern part (east of the RTI) consists of a thick (>4
km) sedimentary succession affected by faulting and thrusting. We call it the Romanche Sedimentary Sequence (RSS). If this sedimentary sequence were underlain by oceanic crust, its predicted age should be not more than ∼60
Ma. However, dolomitized Maiolica-type pelagic limestones containing calpionellids of early Cretaceous age (∼140
Ma) were sampled from the RSS, in addition to Paleocene/Eocene quartzs and stones, siltstones, claystones, diatomites, and limestones. We present a description of the rock samples and a reconstruction of their environment of deposition and of their age. The RSS may represent material deposited during initial continent/continent transform motion in a narrow, deep, E–W elongated basin that communicated with the central Atlantic. The RSS was later subjected to transpression and uplift due to transform-related tectonics. Gabbros, but not basalts, were sampled from the igneous basement underlying the RSS. It is not clear whether the RSS overlies oceanic crust or some sort of pre-oceanic, northern Red Sea-type crust. The presence of lower Cretaceous pelagic deposits near the Romanche eastern RTI implies an age for the initial stage of the opening of the equatorial Atlantic older than the generally assumed Aptian/Albian.
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