Ricerc@Sapienza

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) disease is the most common congenital cardiac malformation associated with an increased lifetime risk and a high rate of surgically-relevant valve deterioration and aortic dilatation. Genomic data revealed that different genes are associated with BAV. A dominant genetic factor for the recent past was the basis to the recommendation for a more extensive aortic intervention.

COVID-19 is a respiratory tract infection caused by the new coronavirus SARS-COV2 that can be complicated by acute distress respiratory syndrome and multiorgan failure. In light of the high rate of mortality associated with COVID-19, pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies to prevent the infection are currently being tested. Among non-pharmacological preventive measures, vaccines represent one of the main resources for public health.

Air pollution is recognized as the world's largest environmental health risk. In this work we evaluated in vivo the effects of three relevant components of atmospheric dusts (brake dust, wood pellet ash and Saharan dust) employing the animal model Caenorhabditis elegans. Main endpoints of C. elegans such as life span, brood size and oxidative stress were addressed by exposing the nematodes to different dust concentrations. Brake dust and pellet ash affected the life span and increased significantly the oxidative stress of exposed nematodes, while Saharan dust showed no effects.

The structural characterization of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from extremophiles has
important implications in several biomedical and therapeutic applications. The polyextremophile
Gram-negative bacterium Halobacteroides lacunaris TB21, isolated from one of the most extreme
habitats on our planet, the deep-sea hypersaline anoxic basin Thetis, represents a fascinating
microorganism to investigate in terms of its LPS component. Here we report the elucidation of

Background and aim: The aim of this work was to evaluate the relationship between platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) with habitual consumption of dark chocolate in a group of celiac subjects in which chocolate consumption and lower neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) association had already been observed. Additionally, due to the known anti-nutrient effect on iron absorption, we evaluated red blood cell count (RBC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and hemoglobin (Hb) values.