Ricerc@Sapienza

Background: Cachexia, a multifactorial syndrome affecting more than 50% of patients with advanced cancer and responsible for ~20% of cancer-associated deaths, is still a poorly understood process without a standard cure available. Skeletal muscle atrophy caused by systemic inflammation is a major clinical feature of cachexia, leading to weight loss, dampening patients' quality of life, and reducing patients' response to anticancer therapy.

Background and aims: Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), a protein family that includes PARP1, is involved in cellular processes such as DNA repair, genomic stability and cell death. In addition, PARP1 has been recently demonstrated to be involved in several inflammatory diseases, such as septic shock, asthma, atherosclerosis as well as in cancer. The alarmin High-Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) exhibits various functions according to its subcellular location, which is finely conditioned by diverse post-translational modifications.

Background and Aims. Recent evidence implicates gut microbiota
(GM) and immune alterations in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We assess
GM profile and peripheral levels of immunological, neuronal and bacterial
molecules in ASD children and controls. Alarmin HMGB1 was explored as a
non-invasive biomarker to monitor gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms.
Methods.Thirty ASD children and 14 controls entered into the study. GM
metagenomic analysis was performed for 16 ASD patients and 7 controls. GM

Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by arterial and/or venous thrombosis, pregnancy morbidity in the presence of circulating “anti-phospholipid antibodies” (aPL). One of the main target antigens of aPL is β2-glycoprotein I (β2-GPI). APS may occur as a primary syndrome or associated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).