Venous ulcers are related to dysfunctions in extracellular matrix. Both matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) could play a role in the healing process in patients with chronic venous ulcers. We evaluated the role of MMP-9 and NGAL in the healing process in venous ulceration. We performed an open-label, parallel groups, single clinical center study. Patients with chronic venous leg ulcers represented the test group (Group I), whereas patients without chronic ulcers represented the control group (Group II). In Group I plasma and wound fluid samples were collected at the time of admission, at the time of the surgery, and at the follow-up, while ulcer tissues were taken at the time of the surgery. In Group II, plasma and wound fluid were collected at admission and at the time of the surgery, whereas skin tissues were collected at the time of the surgery. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test was used to evaluate the levels of MMP-9 and NGAL in plasma and wound fluid, whereas Western blot analysis was performed to estimate the expression of MMP-9 and NGAL in tissues. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay tests revealed significantly higher levels of MMP-9 and NGAL in both plasma and wound fluid of patients with ulcers compared to patients without ulcers (p < 0.01). Moreover, Western blot analysis documented an increased expression of MMP-9 and NGAL in biopsy tissue of patients with ulcers compared to patients without ulcers (p < 0.01). In conclusion MMP-9 and NGAL may correlate with the clinical course of venous ulcers.

Short-term NSAID treatment improves the patient disease-specific quality of life with a parallel decrease in pro-inflammatory synovial fluid cytokine levels in knee OA. Signal transduction pathways may be involved in regulating the anti-inflammatory effects of NSAIDs. ClinicalTrial.gov: NCT01860833.

In both GLC-82 and CALU-1 cell lines, simvastatin and R115777 significantly reduced ERK phosphorylation; this effect, which reached the greatest intensity after 36 h treatment, was paralleled by a concomitant induction of apoptosis, documented by significant increase in both caspase-3 activation and TUNEL-positive cells, associated with a reduction in cell numbers. Our results thus suggest that simvastatin and R115777 may exert, in susceptible lung cancer cell phenotypes, a pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative activity, which appears to be mediated by inhibition of the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signalling cascade.

No abstract

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is a promising tool for large-scale screening of body fluids for the early detection of human diseases. Proteins, peptides, and metabolites present in cells, tissues, or in body fluids constitute the molecular signatures of individuals. The design and generation of material-based platforms for capturing molecular signatures from body fluids has gained increasing interest in recent years. Highly selective materials are attractive candidates for a wide range of applications in biofluid proteomics. We have therefore developed a procedure based on mesoporous silica particles for the selective binding and enrichment of low molecular weight plasma/serum proteins by MALDI MS analysis ( Terracciano, R., Gaspari, M., Testa, F., Pasqua, L., Cuda G., Tagliaferri, P., Cheng, M. C., Nijdam, A. J., Petricoin, E. F., Liotta, L. A., Ferrari, M., and Venuta, S. ( 2006 ) Selective binding and enrichment for low-molecular weight biomarker molecules in human plasma after exposure to nanoporous silica particles . Proteomics 6, 3243-3250 ). Mesoporous silica beads (MSB) are able to harvest peptides from plasma and serum by means of nanosized porous channels with high surface area, while excluding large size proteins. Moreover, the absorption properties can be modified since the pore walls can be functionalized with different chemical species due to the high concentration of silanol groups at the surface. In this study, we performed derivatization of MSB with different functionalities, and we evaluated the derivatized materials for plasma and urine peptidomic profiling. Aminopropyl, N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl, and N,N,N' tris-carboxymethyl ethylene diamine, have been introduced onto the mesoporous silica surfaces in order to modulate selective peptide enrichment. We also explored various experimental conditions in order to optimize the performance of chemically modified MSB in the peptide profiling of human plasma and urine. These new derivatized mesoporous surfaces, in addition to the previous nonderivatized MSB, constitute an extended and reliable platform of five distinct chromatographic phases with defined surface functionality and porosity. Several plasma and urine peptides were extracted from derivatized MSB and then profiled by MALDI-TOF MS. The reproducibility of sample preparation by different functionalized beads was evaluated via three replicate analyses of plasma and urine samples. Lower coefficients of variation in the mass values and peak intensities resulted for plasma in comparison to those of urine samples; nevertheless, these where satisfactory for diagnostic purposes. For human urine, a linear correlation was found between spiked peptide concentrations and their peak areas (R(2) > 0.98) with a limit of detection in the low-nanogram per milliliter range, thus confirming the high sensitivity of the methodology, previously demonstrated for human plasma. Different panels of peptide repertoires have thus been collected from hig...

Aim Our aim was to compare the efficacy and tolerability of loperamide and racecadotril in elderly patients with acute diarrhea.

In conclusion, our results suggest that simvastatin and rosuvastatin could play a role in LC treatment by modulation of RAS protein, MMP-2/9 and NF-κB-p65.

Magnesium increased the efficacy of ibuprofen and acetaminophen with not age-related effects.