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Topic Review
Plant Polyphenols
Plant polyphenols are the main category of natural active substances, and are distributed widely in vegetables, fruits, and plant-based processed foods. Polyphenols have a beneficial performance in preventing diseases and maintaining body health.
  • 1.1K
  • 15 Nov 2021
Topic Review
DNA Methylation in Tauopathies
Together with histone variants and modifications, alterations in nucleosome positioning, non-coding RNAs, and DNA methylation constitute the epigenetic toolkit. DNA methylation describes the chemical modification of the DNA itself by the addition of methyl groups mostly on cytosines, but also on adenines via DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), with DNMT1 and DNMT3A being the major DNMTs in the CNS. DNA methylation effects, i.a. transcriptional control when occurring at enhancer and promoter sites, alternative promoter choice and alternative splicing. At the level of transcriptional regulation, methylated motifs of transcription factor (TF) binding sites physically impede the binding of methyl-sensitive TFs, leading to transcriptional suppression. Furthermore, the interaction of the methyl-CpG-binding domain proteins (MBDs) with methylated DNA prevents binding of TFs and promotes inactive heterochromatin formation by recruiting other chromatin and nucleosome remodeling factors.
  • 1.1K
  • 30 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Capsule Endoscopy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Capsule endoscopy (CE) has proven to be a valuable diagnostic modality for small bowel diseases over the past 20 years, particularly Crohn’s disease (CD), which can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus. CE is not only used for the diagnosis of patients with suspected small bowel CD, but can also be used to assess disease activity, treat-to-target, and postoperative recurrence in patients with established small bowel CD. As CE can detect even mildly non-specific small bowel lesions, a high diagnostic yield is not necessarily indicative of high diagnostic accuracy. The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is relatively high but rather stable in Western countries; however, the incidence and prevalence of IBD are rapidly increasing in Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America, and this shift in the epidemiology of IBD indicates that it has become a global disease, whose increasing incidence has been burdening health services in recent years. Therefore, the use of CE for the diagnosis and management of IBD is becoming more frequent and its implementation is considered a priority in the field of IBD. 
  • 1.1K
  • 07 Feb 2022
Topic Review
The Human Virome
Members of the virome may collaborate with the human host to retain mutualistic functions in preserving human health. Although a person’s virome can alter over time, viral presence in a person can be extremely stable. Since viruses are present in the environment all the time, it is easy to imagine where the members of the changeable virome originate.
  • 1.1K
  • 28 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Cytokines and Growth Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most prominent neurodegenerative diseases, which impairs cognitive function in afflicted individuals. AD results in gradual decay of neuronal function as a consequence of diverse degenerating events. Several neuroimmune players (such as cytokines and growth factors that are key players in maintaining CNS homeostasis) turn aberrant during crosstalk between the innate and adaptive immunities. This aberrance underlies neuroinflammation and drives neuronal cells toward apoptotic decline. Neuroinflammation involves microglial activation and has been shown to exacerbate AD. Cytokines are non-structural proteins within the molecular weight range of 8000–40,000 Da. They can be described as inflammatory peptides aiding the immune defense response. The majority of nucleated cells are capable of synthesizing cytokines but they are predominantly produced by macrophages/microglia and lymphocytes.
  • 1.1K
  • 26 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Nitric Oxide-Donating Drugs for IOP Lowering
Nitric oxide (NO) is a commendable new class of glaucoma drugs that acts on the conventional outflow pathway. An increasing number of nitric oxide donors have been developed for glaucoma and ocular hypertension treatment. Here, we will review how NO lowers IOP and the types of nitric oxide donors that have been developed.
  • 1.1K
  • 17 Dec 2021
Topic Review
The Selected Rare B-Cell Lymphoproliferative Disorders
The updated 4th edition WHO classification of lymphoid malignancies and certain lymphoproliferative disorders (LPD), released in 2016, contains pivotal new terminology and information that is important for both radiologists and oncologists to understand. In spite of these updates, some LPDs included within this update have been rarely discussed in radiology literature. Many of these disorders have distinct clinical and imaging features, overlapping with more common disorders. The purpose of this entry is provide an overview for radiologists regarding certain rare LPDs.
  • 1.1K
  • 03 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Probiotic Use in Allergic Rhinitis Management
Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common medical condition affecting up to 40% of the general population. A type 2 immunity determines eosinophilic inflammation that, in turn, elicits typical nasal symptoms. Type 2 immunity is eminently characterized by polarization of innate and adaptative B and T cells, increased production of type 2 cytokines, including interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5, and IL-13, and impaired function of allergen-specific T regulatory cells (Tregs). This immunologic derangement promotes allergic inflammation, characterized by an abundant eosinophilic infiltrate and the presence of mast cells. The mast cells are activated by allergen exposure and release pro-inflammatory mediators, including histamine. These mediators interact with specific receptors and, consequently, are responsible for the appearance of typical AR symptoms: nasal itching, sneezing, rhinorrhea, and nasal congestion.
  • 1.1K
  • 30 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Portal Vein Thrombosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the fourth leading cause of cancer worldwide, and the fastest increasing cause of cancer mortality in the United States. Its propensity for vascular invasion leads to the presence of portal vein tumor thrombus in up to half of patients.
  • 1.1K
  • 10 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Vitamin C and Multiple Pathophysiological Stages of COVID-19
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, AA) is an essential nutrient with many biological roles that have been proven to play an important part in immune function; it serves as an antioxidant, an anti-viral, and exerts anti-thrombotic effects among many other physiological benefits. Research has proven that AA at pharmacological doses can be beneficial to patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and other respiratory illnesses, including sepsis. In addition, High-Dose Intravenous Vitamin C (HDIVC) has proven to be effective in patients with different viral diseases, such as influenza, chikungunya, Zika, and dengue. Moreover, HDIVC has been demonstrated to be very safe. Regarding COVID-19, vitamin C in addition to its antiviral properties, it can suppress the cytokine storm, reduce thrombotic complications, and diminish alveolar and vascular damage, among other benefits.
  • 1.1K
  • 07 Dec 2021
Topic Review
BRAF V600K-Mutant Cutaneous Melanoma
BRAF is a serine/threonine protein kinase that, activating MAPK and ERK signalling, is involved in cell proliferation. About 50% of melanomas harbour a BRAF mutation. Of these 50%, 10% have a V600K mutation. Recent findings have underlined how melanoma V600K seems to be less dependent on the ERK/MAPK pathway, with a higher expression of PI3KB and a strong inhibition of multiple antiapoptotic pathways. Both target therapy with BRAF inhibitors + MEK inhibitors and immunotherapy with anti-checkpoint blockades are effective in melanoma V600K, although no sufficient evidence can currently support a formal recommendation for first line treatment choice in IIIC unresectable/IV stage patients.
  • 1.1K
  • 15 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators Biomarkers
The application of precision medicine paradigm in the daily treatment of patients has been greatly hampered by the lack of robust biomarkers. Lipid mediators are central in the regulation of host immune responses during both the initiation and resolution of inflammation. Amongst lipid mediators, the specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPM) govern immune cells to promote the resolution of inflammation. These autacoids are produced via the stereoselective conversion of essential fatty acids to yield molecules that are dynamically regulated during inflammation and exert potent immunoregulatory activities. Furthermore, there is an increasing appreciation for the role that these mediators play in conveying the biological actions of several anti-inflammatory therapeutics. Identification and quantitation of these mediators has traditionally been achieved using hyphenated mass spectrometric techniques, primarily liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. 
  • 1.1K
  • 03 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Renal Insufficiency
Renal impairment is defined as serum creatinine (sCr) above the upper normal limit of 2 mg/dL or as an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of 60 mL/min/1.73 m2.
  • 1.1K
  • 25 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Dental Implants and Thickness of Cortical Bone
Dental implantation exhibits a high and predictable prevalence of success, but correct assessment of the relation between bone quality, primary stability and osseointegration of implants is still a major challenge. For example, the relationship between a denser thickness of cortical bone and implant stability has been the subject of low-quality clinical reports only, and this has not helped clinicians wishing to use this type of bone to design, prepare or place dental implants. Nevertheless, knowledge of this topic is important to refine the practice of dental implantation, as well as to minimize the risks of its failure.
  • 1.1K
  • 20 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Metabolomics in Severe Asthma
Precision medicine refers to the tailoring of therapeutic strategies to the individual characteristics of each patient; thus, it could be a new approach for the management of severe asthma that considers individual variability in genes, environmental exposure, and lifestyle. Metabolomics is the systematic study of low molecular weight (bio)chemicals in a given biological system and offers a powerful approach to biomarker discovery and elucidating disease mechanisms. In this point of view, metabolomics could play a key role in targeting precision medicine. 
  • 1.1K
  • 09 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Mexican Propolis
Propolis is a resinous substance collected by bees from plants and its natural product is available as a safe therapeutic option easily administered orally and readily available as a natural supplement and functional food.
  • 1.1K
  • 13 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Gene Mutations in Systemic Mastocytosis
Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is a rare hematologic disease characterized by an abnormal expansion and accumulation of pathological mast cells (MCs) in skin and/or other several extracutaneous tissues such as bone marrow (BM) and the gastro-intestinal tract. Currently, SM is divided into five different diagnostic subtypes according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2016 classification. These include indolent SM (ISM), smouldering SM (SSM), aggressive SM (ASM), SM with associated haematological neoplasms (SM-AHN) and MC leukaemia (MCL). Additionally, the inclusion of two new subtypes of SM into the classification of the disease is currently under consideration: a variant of ISM known as BM mastocytosis (BMM), which is characterized by a low BM MC burden in the absence of skin lesions, and a very rare (<5%) variant of mastocytosis, which shows tumour mast cells (MCs) with a well-differentiated morphology together with a CD25− CD2− immunophenotype and unique clinical, biological and molecular features, termed well-differentiated SM (WDSM). From a prognostic point of view, all these diagnostic subtypes of SM can be grouped into (i) non-advanced forms of SM (Non-AdvSM), which include BMM, ISM and SSM, typically characterized by a more stable and indolent course of the disease and a life expectancy similar or close to that of a sex- and age-matched population; and (ii) advanced SM (AdvSM) including ASM, SM-AHN and MCL, which typically display an adverse prognosis associated with a significantly shortened life expectancy requiring cytoreductive therapy. Despite this, some ISM patients (<5%) can eventually evolve to SSM and AdvSM. Conversely, a small proportion of AdvSM patients may also show a relatively stable disease course over years or even decades.
  • 1.1K
  • 27 May 2022
Topic Review
Bioactivities of Turmeric Oil
Curcuma longa L. (syn. Curcuma domestica), commonly known as turmeric, is a perennial herb native to Asia. After curing, drying, and milling, turmeric rhizomes are usually employed as a dye, cosmetic, and food seasoning. Most pharmacological activities of turmeric have been explained by the properties of curcumin, mainly because turmeric oil has not been as extensively studied as curcuminoids. Turmeric rhizome oil (TO) is responsible for this spice’s characteristic taste and smell.
  • 1.1K
  • 16 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Sexual Dysfunction and Atopic Dermatitis
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin whose main symptom is pruritus and may affect all age ranges. Many concomitant diseases have been associated with AD, but the causal relationship between AD and psychological impairment has not been clearly established. Unlike other psychological comorbidities such as anxiety and depression, sexual dysfunction in AD is a field scarcely explored in the literature. This sexual dysfunction focuses on the male sex in large population studies and in clinical diagnoses without exploring it through specific and validated questionnaires in this regard. Further studies focused on both sexes are needed. It is important to correlate this sexual dysfunction with the severity of the disease, previous treatments, and cardiovascular comorbidities.
  • 1.1K
  • 26 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Alternative Splicing in Myeloid Malignancies
Alternative RNA splicing (AS) is an essential physiologic function that diversifies the human proteome. AS also has a crucial role during cellular development. In fact, perturbations in RNA-splicing have been implicated in the development of several cancers, including myeloid malignancies. 
  • 1.0K
  • 16 Dec 2021
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