Ricerc@Sapienza

Background: Obesity is characterized by a systemic low-grade chronic inflammatory oxidative condition that affects vascular and cardiac smooth muscle relaxation. In human antrum, relaxation is mediated
by vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) through cAMP and cGMP signaling pathways. A genome-wide association study has demonstrated an association between VIP and obesity.
Aim: To evaluate smooth muscle activity in human obese antrum, both in in vitro preparations as well as in vivo.

Maternal obesity plays a key role in the health trajectory of the offspring. Although research on this topic has largely focused on the potential of this condition to increase the risk for child obesity, it is becoming more and more evident that it can also significantly impact cognitive function and mental health. The mechanisms underlying these effects are starting to be elucidated and point to the placenta as a critical organ that may mediate changes in the response to stress, immune function and oxidative stress.

Aim of this study was to characterize the effects of oral trehalose administration (2%w/v) on healthspan in old mice. Trehalose was administered in drinking water for 1 month to male and female C57BL/6N mice aged 25-months. After behavioral phenotyping (grip strength, beam walking and rotarod tests), autophagy (LC3-II/actin) and oxidative stress were tested in the cerebral cortex and gastrocnemius muscle.

Objectives Alcohol addiction elicits oxidative imbalance and it is well known that polyphenols possess antioxidant properties. We investigated whether or not polyphenols could confer a protective potential against alcohol-induced oxidative stress. Methods We administered (per os) for two months 20 mg/kg of olive polyphenols containing mostly hydroxytyrosol in alcoholic adult male mice.

To characterize nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase isoform 2 (NOX2), oxidative stress, and endothelial function in children with and without allergic rhinitis and to ascertain the effect of passive smoke exposure on these factors, because there is an established association between allergic rhinitis and increased cardiovascular risk in adults.

Despite advances in the field of male reproductive health, idiopathic male infertility, in which a man has altered semen characteristics without an identifiable cause and there is no female factor infertility, remains a challenging condition to diagnose and manage. Increasing evidence suggests that oxidative stress (OS) plays an independent role in the etiology of male infertility, with 30% to 80% of infertile men having elevated seminal reactive oxygen species levels.

Nonylphenol (NP) and octylphenol (OP) are pervasive environmental contaminants belonging to the broader class of compounds known as alkylphenols, with potential human toxic effects. Classified as "xenoestrogens," NP and OP are able to interfere with the cell endocrine physiology via a direct interaction with the estrogen receptors. Here, using HepG2 cells in culture, the changes of the cell redox balance and mitochondrial activity induced by OP and NP have been investigated at mu M concentrations, largely below those provoking acute toxicity, as those typical of environmental contaminants.

Oxidative stress and apoptosis are both associated with various acute and chronic disorders. Thus, the aim of the present study is to synthesize imidazo[2,1-c][1,2,4]triazines derivatives and to evaluate their effects in H2O2-induced oxidative stress in human neuroblastoma cell line (SH-SY5Y cells). The effects of the compounds on cell viability were measured by MTT assay and the changes in stress and apoptosis-related proteins were investigated by PathScan® Stress and Apoptosis Signaling Antibody Array kit and Western Blot technique.

Oxidative stress may be the major cause of induction of Shiga toxin-converting (Stx) prophages from chromosomes of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in human intestine. Thus, we aimed to test a series of novel antioxidant compounds for their activities against prophage induction, thus, preventing pathogenicity of STEC. Forty-six compounds (derivatives of carbazole, indazole, triazole, quinolone, ninhydrine, and indenoindole) were tested. Fifteen of them gave promising results and were further characterized.

Phytochemicals serve as potential therapeutic agents for the prevention and treatment of diseases. In this study, we elucidate the renoprotective activity of compounds isolated from Eucalyptus globulus and Melaleuca styphelioides extracts in glucose- and oxalate-challenged NRK-49F cell model. The antioxidant potential of isolated compounds was evaluated based on their effect on antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation levels. The results demonstrated that exposure of NRK-49F cells to glucose and oxalate stress augmented cell damage and attenuated antioxidant enzyme activities.