Measurement of Glutathionylated Haemoglobin by MAL-DI-ToF Mass Spectrometry as a Biomarker of Oxidative Stress in Heavy Smokers and in Occupational Obese Subjects

Glutathionyl-haemoglobin (Hb-SSG) is a minor form of haemoglobin characterized by the presence of a disulfide bond between the β-93 cysteine residue and the thiol group of glutathione. Hb-SSG is naturally present in the erythrocytes at levels comparable to those of glycated haemoglobin and can be measured by MALDI mass spectrometry on very small samples of erythrocytes from peripheral blood. Since Hb-SSG has been recognized as a sensitive biomarker of oxidative stress in several degenerative diseases (diabetes, hyperlipidemia, kidney disease) and in healthy workers exposed to glutathione-depleting toxic agents such as butadiene, we have measured for the first time the levels of Hb-SSG in two groups: healthy heavy cigarette smokers and overweight-obese. For both classes of subjects, the measured levels (6.4%±1.7%, n=30 for smokers;3.0%±0.8%, n=20 for overweight-obese) are in the upper 97thpercentile of those measured in the Italian general population. Levels in smokers show a small, yet statistically significant dependence on the level of smoking addiction (>20 cig./day vs. ￡20 cig./day: 7.0% ± 1.4% vs. 5.7% ± 1.1%;p < 0.05). This biomarker thus adds to those presently available to rationally assess the extent of biological damage caused by tobacco smoking.

COVID-19 pandemic in the intensive care unit:Psychological implications and interventions,a systematic review

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic produced changes in intensive care units(ICUs) in patient care and health organizations. The pandemic event increased patients’ risk of developing psychological symptoms during and after hospitalisation. These consequences also affected those family members who could not access the hospital. In addition, the initial lack of knowledge about the virus and its management, the climate of fear and uncertainty, the increased workload and the risk of becoming infected and being contagious, had a strong impact on healthcare staff and organizations. This highlighted the importance of interventions aimed at providing psychological support to ICUs, involving patients, their relatives, and the staff;this might involve the reorganisation of the daily routine and rearrangement of ICU staff duties.AIM To conduct a systematic review of psychological issues in ICUs during the COVID-19 pandemic involving patients, their relatives, and ICU staff.METHODS We investigated the PubMed and the ClinicalTrials.gov databases and found 65 eligible articles,upon which we commented.RESULTS Our results point to increased perceived stress and psychological distress in staff, patients and their relatives and increased worry for being infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 in patients and relatives. Furthermore, promising results were obtained for some psychological programmes aiming at improving psychological measures in all ICU categories.CONCLUSION As the pandemic limited direct inter-individual interactions, the role of interventions using digital tools and virtual reality is becoming increasingly important. All considered, our results indicate an essential role for psychologists in ICUs.

Eye reflux:an ocular extraesophageal manifestation of gastric reflux

AIM： To suspect laryngopharyngeal reflux（LPR） in patients with ocular surface disease（OSD）. METHODS： The present study evaluated a group of subjects with OSD assessing the Ocular Surface Disease Index（OSDI） and the Reflux Symptom Index（RSI） to detect patients with suspected LPR and define a possible relationship between tests.RESULTS： Two hundred and ninety subjects（175 females, mean age： 60.41±15.68y） were consecutively visited at ophthalmologist offices. One hundred and one（34%） patients had pathological RSI（〉13） and consequently a suspected LPR.CONCLUSION： The current study shows that suspected LPR may be common（34%） in patients with OSD and a suspected LPR may be considered in OSD patients when RSI score is 〉13 and OSDI score is 〉42.

Using organotypic hippocampal slice cultures to gain insight into mechanisms responsible for the neuroprotective effects of meloxicam: a role for gamma aminobutyric and endoplasmic reticulum stress

This perspective aims to put into context the recent article by Landucci et al.(2018)on mechanisms involved in the neuroprotective effects of meloxicam on an organotypic hippocampal slice cultures(OHSCs)model.In vitro cell cultures are the main method for studying large quantities of homogeneous cells in an isolated environment.Thus,the use of primary dissociated neuron,astrocyte,oligodendrocyte,microglia,or endothelial cell cultures has become a standard

Molecular Recognition of Human Telomeric DNA by Phenanthroline-Based G-Quadruplex Ligands

G-quadruplexes (G4) are non-canonical DNA structures assumed by guanine rich sequences. G4 are stabilized by the presence of cations and are characterized by a high degree of structural polymorphism with different patterns of groove, loop arrangement, strand orientations and stoichiometry. G-rich sequences are over-represented in the promoter regions of many oncogenes as well as at human telomeres, d(TTAGGG) repeats, ranging in size from 3 to 15 kb, involved in protecting chromosomal ends. A specialized enzyme, called telomerase, provides a telomere maintenance mechanism by elongating the end of the G-strand and it is activated in the majority of cancer cells. Therefore there are two general strategies of telomerase targeting in cancer treatment. One is a direct targeting of telomerase to cause its inhibition;the other one is the use of G4 stabilizers which block telomerase access to telomere, thus causing an indirect enzyme inhibition. Here, we evaluated the molecular recognition of some phenanthroline-based ligands against four different experimental models of the human telomeric sequence d[AG3(T2AG3)3] by means of docking simulations. Our theoretical analysis was able to reproduce the experimental affinity measurements, with a linear squared correlation factor r2 equal to 0.719 among all the studied models. These findings highlighted the importance to consider the polymorphism of the DNA G4. Interestingly, this correlation resulted always improved with respect to that of the single folds, with the exception of the parallel structure, thus suggesting a key role of this G4 conformation in the interaction network of the tested binders. Moreover, we identified the moieties of the phenanthroline scaffold directly involved in the complex formation. This allowed to rationalize the improved binding affinity always associated with a bis-phenanthroline system and to explain why a phenanthroline substituted with a pyridine ring is favored with respect to the pyrimidine one.