Chitosan polymer as a bioactive carrier has an emerging importance due to its great versatility. Many strategies are reported for enhancing its properties. Herein, chitosan hydrogels modified by dodecenylsuccinic anhydride (DDSA) are prepared, characterized by SEM, FTIR, 13C NMR while their mechanical properties and cytotoxicity are assessed. Chitosan modification was studied by FTIR and 13C NMR. According to rheological measurements, modified chitosan hydrogels present a predominantly elastic behavior and exert a higher compressive strength than chitosan hydrogels. Furthermore, this work evaluates thymol incorporation, its release profile as well as its in vivo performance in a periodontitis rat model. In vitro studies reveal that thymol‐loaded‐DDSA‐chitosan hydrogels possess antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa for 2 days and antioxidant activity for 5 days. The incorporation of hydrophobic chains improves thymol release profile; however, DDSA‐chitosan hydrogels cytotoxicity is greater when compared to chitosan hydrogels. Finally, in a preliminary in vivo study, the local application of thymol‐loaded hydrogels is evaluated during a one‐week period. The histomorphometric measurements indicate that periodontal damage is lower when thymol is administrated in chitosan hydrogels in comparison to DDSA‐chitosan hydrogels. Nevertheless, DDSA‐chitosan hydrogels could still be useful for the sustained local delivery of hydrophobic drugs.
Background: Curcumin (Cur) is a natural yellow polyphenol extracted from the turmeric rhizome (Curcuma longa). Cur is known for its potential therapeutic properties as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, hepatoprotective, and anti-mutagenic, although some of these biological activities remain unproven. Epidemiological studies have shown a positive relationship between high-fat diets and diet-related chronic diseases. We hypothesized that some adverse effects of consuming atherogenic or high-fat diets (AD) can be ameliorated by Cur supplementation. Using an experimental model of rats, this study investigated the significance of Cur when it is given as a supplement in an AD.Methods: Healthy adult Wistar rats were randomly assigned to one of three groups. Controls (C) received a standard diet and experimental rats were fed with AD or AD+Cur for 5 weeks. Cur (100 mg/kg body weight) was given orally daily, plus piperine (5 mg/kg body weight). The effect of Cur supplementation was studied on zoometrics, visceral fat content, serum lipids profile, hepatosteatosis, liver function and oxidative status. Results: Diets did not alter energy consumption. As compared to the other groups, AD+Cur group showed a lower total visceral fat content, percentage of perirenal, mesenteric, and pelvic fat, and body weight gain (P< 0.05). Serum total cholesterol (P<0.0001), non-HDL-C (P<0.0001) levels were significantly higher in AD groups as compared with C. Serum triglycerides and HDL-C levels remained similar among groups (P>0.05). AD induced a liver injury with macrovesicular steatosis and portal inflammation. AD+Cur rats presented microvesicular steatosis with no inflammation, achieving the lowest level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT; P<0.0001) and reductions of aspartate aminotransferase (AST; P<0.0001). Liver homogenates from AD+Cur showed that Cur supplementation reduced the dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) oxidation rate induced by AD by 25 % and deferoxamine and superoxide dismutase inhibited DCFH-DA. Conclusion: Cur as a dietary supplement showed a protective effect against obesity and inflammation, but its cardioprotective ability remained unproved. Cur may develop as a promising therapeutic agent for liver diseases induced by oxidative stress. This study provides supporting evidence to confirm the beneficial effects of curcumin from the point of view of functional food science. Keywords: curcumin, liver injury, ROS, atherogenic diet, visceral fat, obesity
The immigrant population in Italy is currently increasing, particularly, foreigners in East Piedmont raised by 16,8 % last year. We aim to compare immigrant and Italian patients' Emergency Room (ER) admissions due to psychiatric symptoms. Results: Of the 658 admissions we observed, 13.1 % of ER contacts concerned immigrants mostly coming from Russia, Albania, Morocco and Romania, consistently with migration streams in East Piedmont. Compared to the Italians, immigrant patients were younger (35.70; SD = 10.56 versus 44.78; SD = 16.57) and more frequently admitted for alcohol and substance abuse/withdrawal. Italians had a higher probability of having a psychiatric history including previous hospitalizations and contacts with Mental Health Services (OR = 2.60; CI 95 %: 1.64-4.12). The presence of social/relational problems associated with admission was significantly lower among the Italians (OR = 0.55; CI 95 %: 0.35-0.88). Conclusions: Preliminary data suggest that ER utilisation by immigrants may represent their main way to primary health care. Monitoring ER contacts may provide relevant information for the development of culturally sensitive Mental Health Services. Methods: We considered Italian and immigrant patients with psychiatric symptoms who were admitted to the ER Department of Novara during a period of 13 months. We compared sociodemographic (gender, age, education, occupational history, marital status, living circumstances) clinical-anamnestic (history of psychiatric illness, presentation symptoms, previous contacts with Substance Abuse/Mental Health Services, social/relational problems) and admission (type of admission, intervention and discharge) characteristics of the two groups (Italians versus immigrants).
IntroductionWe present the case of a 51-years-old Caucasian woman with Bipolar Disorder I (BDI), treated for a long time with typical antipsychotics and mood stabilizers. She referred to our outpatient service because she wished to revise her precriptions, which had caused several side-effects, including metabolic syndrome, gain of body weight, sedation, cognitive impairments, and extrapiramidal symptoms. Moreover, treatment was poorly effective, the patient's compliance was lacking and she experienced frequent relapses.AimsWe started treating the patient with aripiprazole at a daily dose of 15 mg. Our aim is to describe the substantial clinical and metabolic improvements of a patient who poorly responded to previous prescriptions.MethodsPsychometric measures for the assessment of mood and social functioning were administered at baseline and at the follow-up interviews. Body Mass Index was monitored and blood tests were performed to evaluate the lipid profile (LDL, HDL, total cholesterol, triglycerides), blood glucose, and glycated haemoglobin.ResultsIn the last two years the patient has regularly taken her therapies and attended to follow-up visits. Her social functioning and tolerance to stressful situations have improved, as well as her metabolic profile. Noteworthy, she had not needed further hospitalizations.ConclusionsOur clinical observations support the efficacy of aripiprazole in the treatment of BDI. Switching to aripiprazole should be considered in cases similar to the one we have described, characterized by poor compliance, obesity or metabolic syndrome, sensitivity to manifest extrapiramidal syndrome (especially tardive dyskinesia) and other side effects such as sedation and cognitive impairments.
IntroductionPatients affected by schizophrenia have deficits in social cognition, functioning and in properly interpreting facial expression. These disabilities contribute to global impairment in social and relational skills. Data started being collected in the context of the Italian-Network-of-Research-on-Psychosis, headed by Mario Maj and Silvana Galderisi, in our centre;collection went on also after the conclusion of the national project.AimsTo compare social inference and facial emotion identification in schizophrenic patients and healthy controls.Material and MethodsWe recruited 50 patients with Schizophrenia and 50 healthy controls (HCs) matched for sex, age and level of education. Socio-demographic characteristics were gathered;assessment of both patients and HCs included The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT) and the Facial Emotion Identification Test (FEIT);furthermore patients were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS).ResultsSome differences in socio-demographic variables emerged (patients are more often unemployed and single). Moreover, the preliminary analyses highlight several differences between schizophrenic patients and HCs at TASIT and FEIT:patients performed significantly worse than HCs in both tests, with longer reaction times.DiscussionAs expected schizophrenic patients showed social skills deficits and difficulties in identifying facial emotions. Our preliminary results point out disabilities in understanding social messages and interpreting human behaviour;these features underlie poor and limited social relationships proper to schizophrenia. Galderisi S et al. The influence of illness-related variables, personal resources and context-related factors on real-life functioning of people with schizophrenia;WorldPsychiatry2014,13(3):275-287Mucci A et al. The Specific Level of Functioning Scale: Construct validity, internal consistency and factor structure in a large Italian sample of people with schizophrenia living in the community Schizophr Res.2014Oct;159(1):144-50
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