The composition of the essential oil of a population of Teucrium fruticans L. from the Maremma Regional Park, Italy, has been studied for the first time. The oil was obtained from both flowering and fruiting tops. The former contained almost equal amounts of mono-and sesquiterpenes (53% and 45%, respectively), while the latter was constituted mainly by sesquiterpenes (70%). The main components during the flowering phase wereˇ-pinene (21%), germacrene D (18%),ˇ-myrcene (13%), andˇ-caryophyllene (12%), and during the fruiting phase germacrene D (24%),ˇ-caryophyllene (22%),ˇ-pinene (7%) andˇ-selinene (7%).

Donkey's milk (DM) has recently aroused scientific interest, above all among paediatric allergologists. A deeper knowledge of both proteins and fats in donkey's milk is necessary to evaluate the immunological, physiological and nutritional properties. By using the most refined techniques for fatty acids analysis, the paper offers a detailed comparative analysis of the lipid fractions of DM as well as of human and cow milk, also indicating the distribution of fatty-acid moieties among sn-1/3 and sn-2 positions of the glycerol backbone. In DM the position of fatty acids on glycerol backbone, above all of long chain saturated fatty acids, is very similar to that of human milk: this fact, in conjunction with the relatively high contents of medium-chain triglycerides, makes the lipids in DM, through quantitatively reduced, highly bioavailable. The high PUFA n-3 content of donkey's milk, and especially its low n-6/n-3 ratio, acquires particular interest in subjects affected by cow's milk protein allergy. Whole DM might also constitute the basis for formulas suitable for subjects in the first year of life.

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Background Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) represent 8% of our genome. They originate from ancestral infections and although no longer contagious they can regulate transcription of adjacent cellular genes, produce viral RNAs sensed as non‐self by pattern recognition receptors, and encode viral proteins, such as Syncytin (SYN) 1 and 2, that exhibit potent immunomodulatory properties. Based on this, HERVs have been studied and proposed as relevant cofactors in several chronic inflammatory and immune‐mediated diseases. HERV transcription is regulated by host TRIM28 and SET domain bifurcated histone lysine methyltransferase 1 (SETDB1), which in turn exert crucial regulatory functions on the host immune system. No studies explored the expression of HERVs, TRIM28, and SETDB1 in allergic patients. Methods We assessed, through a polymerase chain reaction real time Taqman amplification assay, the transcription levels of pol genes of HERV‐H, HERV‐K, HERV‐W, and of env genes of SYN1 and SYN2, as well as of TRIM28 and SETDB1 in whole blood from 32 children with IgE‐mediated food allergy, 19 with food protein‐induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES), and in healthy control children. Results The expression levels of pol genes of HERV‐H, ‐K, and ‐W were significantly enhanced in patients with IgE‐mediated FA or FPIES as compared to control subjects, while the mRNA concentrations of SYN1 and SYN2 were comparable in each group of children. Both TRIM28 and SETDB1 mRNA levels were significantly higher in allergic patients. Conclusions Given the influence of HERVs and of TRIM28 and SETDB1 on innate and adaptive immune responses, their transcriptional activation in children with food allergies suggest that they might play important roles in the development of these diseases.

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