Search

Copyright of Annali di Igiene, Medicina Preventiva e di Comunità is the property of Societa Editrice Universo s.r.l. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This is the final of four papers updating standards for the care of people with CF. That this paper "Planning a longer life" was considered necessary, highlights how much CF care has progressed over the past decade. Several factors underpin this progress, notably increased numbers of people with CF with access to CFTR modulator therapy. As the landscape for CF changes, so do the hopes and aspirations of people with CF and their families. This paper reflects the need to consider people with CF not as a "problem" to be solved, but as a success, a potential and a voice to be heard. People with CF and the wider CF community have driven this approach, reflecting many of the topics in this paper. This exercise involved wide stakeholder engagement. People with CF are keen to contribute to research priorities and be involved in all stages of research. People with CF want healthcare professionals to respect them as individuals and consider the impact of our actions on the world around us. Navigating life presents challenges to all, but for people with CF these challenges are heightened and complex. In this paper we highlight the concerns and life moments that impact people with CF, and events that the CF team should aim to support, including the challenges around having a family. People with CF and their care teams must embrace the updated standards outlined in these four papers to enjoy the full potential for a healthier life., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors had no declarations of interest in relation to the current work. Declarations of interest for each author outside the current work are summarised in Supplementary Table 4., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Lipodystrophies (LDs) are rare, complex disorders of the adipose tissue characterized by selective fat loss, altered adipokine profile and metabolic impairment. Sirtuins (SIRTs) are class III NAD + -dependent histone deacetylases linked to fat metabolism. SIRT1 plays a critical role in metabolic health by deacetylating target proteins in tissue types including liver, muscle, and adipose. Circulating SIRT1 levels have been found to be reduced in obesity and increased in anorexia nervosa and patients experiencing weight loss. We evaluated circulating SIRT1 levels in relation to fat levels in 32 lipodystrophic patients affected by congenital or acquired LDs compared to non-LD subjects (24 with anorexia nervosa, 22 normal weight, and 24 with obesity). SIRT1 serum levels were higher in LDs than normal weight subjects (mean ± SEM 4.18 ± 0.48 vs. 2.59 ± 0.20 ng/mL) and subjects with obesity (1.7 ± 0.39 ng/mL), whereas they were close to those measured in anorexia nervosa (3.44 ± 0.46 ng/mL). Our findings show that within the LD group, there was no relationship between SIRT1 levels and the amount of body fat. The mechanisms responsible for secretion and regulation of SIRT1 in LD deserve further investigation.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) has high mortality and recurrence rates. Malignancy resilience is ascribed to Glioblastoma Stem Cells (GSCs), which are resistant to Temozolomide (TMZ), the gold standard for GBM post-surgical treatment. However, Nitric Oxide (NO) has demonstrated anti-cancer efficacy in GBM cells, but its potential impact on GSCs remains unexplored. Accordingly, we investigated the effects of NO, both alone and in combination with TMZ, on patient-derived GSCs. Experimentally selected concentrations of diethylenetriamine/NO adduct and TMZ were used through a time course up to 21 days of treatment, to evaluate GSC proliferation and death, functional recovery, and apoptosis. Immunofluorescence and Western blot analyses revealed treatment-induced effects in cell cycle and DNA damage occurrence and repair. Our results showed that NO impairs self-renewal, disrupts cell-cycle progression, and expands the quiescent cells' population. Consistently, NO triggered a significant but tolerated level of DNA damage, but not apoptosis. Interestingly, NO/TMZ cotreatment further inhibited cell cycle progression, augmented G0 cells, induced cell death, but also enhanced DNA damage repair activity. These findings suggest that, although NO administration does not eliminate GSCs, it stunts their proliferation, and makes cells susceptible to TMZ. The resulting cytostatic effect may potentially allow long-term control over the GSCs' subpopulation.

Radiomics is emerging as a promising and useful tool in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging applications. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate, for the first time, the effect of image resampling/discretization and filtering on radiomic features estimation from quantitative CMR T1 and T2 mapping. Specifically, T1 and T2 maps of 26 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) were used to estimate 98 radiomic features for 7 different resampling voxel sizes (at fixed bin width), 9 different bin widths (at fixed resampling voxel size), and 7 different spatial filters (at fixed resampling voxel size/bin width). While we found a remarkable dependence of myocardial radiomic features from T1 and T2 mapping on image filters, many radiomic features showed a limited sensitivity to resampling voxel size/bin width, in terms of intraclass correlation coefficient (> 0.75) and coefficient of variation (< 30%). The estimate of most textural radiomic features showed a linear significant (p < 0.05) correlation with resampling voxel size/bin width. Overall, radiomic features from T2 maps have proven to be less sensitive to image preprocessing than those from T1 maps, especially when varying bin width. Our results might corroborate the potential of radiomics from T1/T2 mapping in HCM and hopefully in other myocardial diseases., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Overcoming the systemic administration of chemotherapy to reduce drug toxicity and the application of personalised medicine are two of the major challenges in the treatment of cancer. To this aim, efforts are focused on finding novel nanomaterials for the targeted administration of drugs and bioactive molecules in the tumor sites. DNA-based hydrogels are promising candidates for these applications. However, while such materials are fairly known from a structural and physical standpoint, their effects on cell cultures are far less investigated. Here, we studied the biological response of three different cell lines (clear cell renal cell carcinoma 786-O, lung adenocarcinoma H1975 and glioblastoma U87MG) to the treatment with DNA-GEL - a DNA-based hydrogel composed of interacting DNA nanostars. Additionally, we investigated the structural modification of DNA-GELs under cell culture conditions. The results we collected show a cell type specificity of the response, with interesting implications for future applications.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a diffusible signaling molecule produced by three isoforms of nitric oxide synthase, which release NO during the metabolism of the amino acid arginine. NO participates in pathophysiological responses of many different tissues, inducing concentration-dependent effect. Indeed, while low NO levels generally have protective effects, higher NO concentrations induce cytotoxic/cytostatic actions. In recent years, evidences have been accumulated unveiling S-nitrosylation as a major NO-dependent post-translational mechanism ruling gene expression. S-nitrosylation is a reversible, highly regulated phenomenon in which NO reacts with one or few specific cysteine residues of target proteins generating S-nitrosothiols. By inducing this chemical modification, NO might exert epigenetic regulation through direct effects on both DNA and histones as well as through indirect actions affecting the functions of transcription factors and transcriptional co-regulators. In this light, S-nitrosylation may also impact on cancer cell gene expression programs. Indeed, it affects different cell pathways and functions ranging from the impairment of DNA damage repair to the modulation of the activity of signal transduction molecules, oncogenes, tumor suppressors, and chromatin remodelers. Nitrosylation is therefore a versatile tool by which NO might control gene expression programs in health and disease.

Methods: A questionnaire of 36 questions was developed and administered to assess socio-occupational characteristics, knowledge of Healthcare-associated infections, attitudes and barriers encountered in compliance with hygiene standards, self-analysis of professional behaviour, and proposals for new interventions. Variables were evaluated by univariate analysis, and multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to identify predictors of adequate knowledge, positive attitude and appropriate professional behaviour., Background: Healthcare-associated infections are the main complications of hospitalization. A bottom-up approach, where the Healthcare workers involved play a key role, can be adopted to limit the Healthcare-associated infections burden. To this end, a survey was conducted in the main intensive care unit of Umberto I Teaching Hospital of Rome, where an active surveillance system has been in place since April 2016., Results: Overall, 79/89 Healthcare workers completed the questionnaire. Multivariate analysis showed that Healthcare workers, who participated in ward meetings to share active surveillance reports, were more likely to have adequate knowledge (aOR=4.21, 95% CI: 1.36-13.07). Only job type seemed to be a predictor of adequate behaviour, since nurses and physicians were more likely to show adequate behaviour than residents in training (aOR=0.21, 95% CI: 0.06-0.74). Direct observation of compliance with standard hygiene precautions and the identification of 'local champions' to manage Healthcare-associated infections' issues were the most requested interventions., Conclusions: Our study suggests that the training of healthcare professionals is a key factor in preventing and containing the spreading of Healthcare-associated infections. Moreover, by encouraging greater Healthcare workers' involvement, we conclude that a bottom-up approach is likely to improve Healthcare-associated infections' prevention and management.

Novel DNA materials promise unpredictable perspectives for applications in cell biology. The realization of DNA-hydrogels built by a controlled association of DNA nanostars, whose binding can be tuned with minor changes in the nucleotide sequences, has been recently described. DNA hydrogels, with specific gelation properties that can be reassambled in desired culture media supplemented with drugs, RNA, DNA molecules and other bioactive compounds offer the opportunity to develop a novel nanomaterial for the delivery of single or multiple drugs in tumor tissues as an innovative and promising strategy. We provide here a comprehensive description of different, recently realized DNA-gels with the perspective of stimulating their biomedical application. Finally, we discuss the possibility to design sophisticated 3D tissue-like DNA-gels incorporating cell spheroids or single cells for the assembly of a novel kind of cellular matrix as a preclinical investigation for the implementation of tools for in vivo delivery of bioactive molecules., (Copyright © 2020 Lattuada, Leo, Caprara, Salvatori, Stoppacciaro, Sciortino and Filetici.)

Protein Arginine (R) methylation is the most common post-translational methylation in mammalian cells. Protein Arginine Methyltransferases (PRMT) 1 and 5 dimethylate their substrates on R residues, asymmetrically and symmetrically, respectively. They are ubiquitously expressed and play fundamental roles in tumour malignancies, including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) which presents largely deregulated Myc activity. Previously, we demonstrated that PRMT5 associates with Myc in GBM cells, modulating, at least in part, its transcriptional properties. Here we show that Myc/PRMT5 protein complex includes PRMT1, in both HEK293T and glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs). We demonstrate that Myc is both asymmetrically and symmetrically dimethylated by PRMT1 and PRMT5, respectively, and that these modifications differentially regulate its stability. Moreover, we show that the ratio between symmetrically and asymmetrically dimethylated Myc changes in GSCs grown in stem versus differentiating conditions. Finally, both PRMT1 and PRMT5 activity modulate Myc binding at its specific target promoters. To our knowledge, this is the first work reporting R asymmetrical and symmetrical dimethylation as novel Myc post-translational modifications, with different functional properties. This opens a completely unexplored field of investigation in Myc biology and suggests symmetrically dimethylated Myc species as novel diagnostic and prognostic markers and druggable therapeutic targets for GBM.

The use of cardiac magnetic resonance (cMR) to assess remodeling and tissue characterization in primitive and secondary cardiomyopathies has progressively increased, and it carries important prognostic informations. The aim of this study was to assess the overall clinical value of cMR before implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). All patients referred to our center for an ICD implantation and submitted to cMR (n = 134) were analyzed. All the cMR diagnostic findings and following clinical events were reviewed to assess clinical relevance in patients care. The use of cMR before ICD implantation has progressively increased during the decade studied (13% to 53%, p <0.001). Subjects who underwent cMR were younger, more often female, with lower NYHA class and higher ejection fraction (p <0.05 for all). Unexpected diagnostic findings were observed in 34 patients (25%), resulting in an immediate therapeutic strategy modification in 13%. A pattern of fibrosis leading to a change in the disease's etiology and thrombus detection were the most frequent cMR findings, followed by anatomical incidental findings. Any grade of fibrosis carried a higher annual incidence of combined death or ventricular arrhythmias (9.92% vs 1.83%, p = 0.02). Annual event rate was related to the extent of scarring. In conclusion, we observed a progressively increase of cMR utilization before ICD implantation during the last decade. This practice has yielded a significant increase of new diagnostic findings, carrying unique prognostic information linked to tissue characterization., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Aims: To test T1 and T2 mapping in the assessment of acute myocardial injury in patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), evaluated before revascularization., Methods: Forty-seven patients with acute NSTEMI underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) at 1.5 T, including T1 and T2 mapping., Results: Coronary angiography (CA) evidenced an obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) in 36 patients (80%) and a non-obstructive CAD in 11 patients (20%). Edema was detected in 51.1/65.9% of patients in T1/T2 maps, respectively. This difference was due to artifacts in T1 maps. T1/T2 values were significantly higher in the infarcted myocardium (IM) compared with the remote myocardium (RM) (in T1: 1151.6 ± 53.5 ms vs. 958.2 ± 38.6 ms, respectively; in T2: 69 ± 6 ms vs. 51.9 ± 2.9 ms, respectively; p < 0.0001 for both). We found both an obstructive CAD at CA and myocardial edema at CMR in 53.2% of patients, while 8.5% of patients had a non-obstructive CAD and no edema. However, 25.5% of patients had an obstructive CAD without edema, while 12.8% of patients showed edema despite a non-obstructive CAD. Furthermore, in 6 of the edema-positive patients with multi-vessels obstructive CAD, CMR identified myocardial edema in a vascular territory different from that of the lesion supposed to be the culprit at CA., Conclusions: In a non-negligible percentage of NSTEMI patients, T1 and T2 mapping detect myocardial edema without significant stenosis at CA and vice versa. Therefore, CA and CMR edema imaging might provide complementary information in the evaluation of NSTEMI.

The sirtuin family comprises seven NAD + -dependent deacetylases which control the overall health of organisms through the regulation of pleiotropic metabolic pathways. Sirtuins are important modulators of adipose tissue metabolism and their expression is higher in lean than obese subjects. At present, the role of sirtuins in adipose-derived stem cells has not been investigated yet. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the expression of the complete panel of sirtuins in adipose-derived stem cells isolated from both subcutaneous and visceral fat of non-obese and obese subjects. We aimed at investigating the influence of obesity on sirtuins' levels, their role in obesity-associated inflammation, and the relationship with the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta, which also plays functions in adipose tissue metabolism. The mRNA levels in the four types of adipose-derived stem cells were evaluated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, in untreated cells and also after 8 h of hypoxia exposure. Correlations among sirtuins' expression and clinical and molecular parameters were also analyzed. We found that sirtuin1-6 exhibited significant higher mRNA expression in visceral adipose-derived stem cells compared to subcutaneous adipose-derived stem cells of non-obese subjects. Sirtuin1-6 levels were markedly reduced in visceral adipose-derived stem cells of obese patients. Sirtuins' expression in visceral adipose-derived stem cells correlated negatively with body mass index and C-reactive protein and positively with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta. Finally, only in the visceral adipose-derived stem cells of obese patients hypoxia-induced mRNA expression of all of the sirtuins. Our results highlight that sirtuins' levels in adipose-derived stem cells are consistent with protective effects against visceral obesity and inflammation, and suggest a transcriptional mechanism through which acute hypoxia up-regulates sirtuins in the visceral adipose-derived stem cells of obese patients.

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare three-dimensional echocardiography strain-volume analysis with tagging cardiac magnetic resonance (cMR) measurements., Background and Methods: Strain-volume analysis represents a noninvasive method to assess myocardial function and volumes simultaneously. It can be derived from echocardiography and speckle-tracking; however, it shows some variability that can limit clinical utilization. A three-dimensional approach partially overcomes these limitations since full-volume acquisition avoids images being foreshortened and geometrical reconstruction. In the study presented here, 23 healthy subjects were studied by three-dimensional echocardiography and cMR during the same session. Images were stored and the better cardiac cycle was chosen for simultaneous analysis of volumes and longitudinal (Long) and circumferential (Circ) strain. By means of full-volume acquisition all parameters can be calculated for each frame of the cardiac cycle using the speckle-tracking method. With cMR, left ventricle volumes were calculated as recommended; myocardial strains were computed in short-axis and long-axis views using the tagging technique. For each patient, volumes and strain values were plotted in a Cartesian system for strain-volume analysis. Data were compared between the two methods using Bland-Altman analysis based on mean difference and 95% limits of agreement (LoA)., Results: The volume as measured by three-dimensional echocardiography and cMR was comparable with the slightly higher end-diastolic volumes measured by cMR (mean difference 15.24 ml; LoA -53.6 to 26.5 ml, end-systolic volume 0.3 ml; LoA -19.9 to 20.5 ml). Long shortening was very similar in the two methods (1.5%; LoA -3.9 to 7%), whereas Circ strain was systematically lower with cMR (-8.5%; LoA -15.5 to -1.5%). Very similar values between three-dimensional echo and cMR both for Slope of strain-volume curves (-0.015; LoA -0.08 to 0.05) and ratio (-0.001; LoA -0.04 to 0.04) were observed in the longitudinal plane. Analysis of strain-volume per patient showed a significant correlation coefficient between techniques for both Long Slope (r = 0.65; P = 0.001) and Long Ratio (r = 0.70; P = 0.001)., Conclusion: Longitudinal strain-volume analysis performed with three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography is closely comparable with cMR, which is usually considered the gold standard for volume and function assessment.

Background: Multidetector coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is increasingly used for noninvasive imaging of the coronary arteries. Radiation exposure, however, is a potential limitation to a more extensive use of this imaging modality. We aimed to demonstrate that a professional teamwork approach, including a cardiologist and a radiologist in performing CCTA, may allow to obtain best quality exams with very low radiation doses., Methods: A total of 998 consecutive patients underwent CCTA in accordance with the most recent guidelines. The following procedures were undertaken to reduce the radiation dose: (a) preliminary cardiological evaluation to check for CCTA eligibility; (b) optimized heart rate control with beta-blockers and/or ivabradine; and (c) the use of nonstandardized computed tomography protocols and algorithms for dose reduction., Results: All the patients underwent a preliminary cardiological evaluation; 89% of them were pretreated with oral or intravenous beta-blockers and/or ivabradine; 806 patients (81%) were scanned by means of prospective gating, which allowed a radiation dose exposure of 161 ± 68.64 mGy; 192 patients (19%) underwent a retrospective gating protocol, with a radiation dose exposure of 1135.15 ± 485.87 mGy. In 13 patients (1%) CCTA was uninterpretable because of artifacts. Exam quality was not affected by the use of low-dose computed tomography scanning. Coronary calcium score and/or left ventricular functional analysis were never performed., Conclusions: The preliminary selection and preparation of patients and optimized scanner utilization allow a substantial reduction in radiation dose for most of the patients submitted to CCTA without affecting image quality. In our experience, a team approach was necessary to allow a "low-dose learning curve" and a progressive reduction in radiation doses administered to patients by means of the prospective gating protocol.

Background: With the widespread use of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) coronary angiography, cardiac and extracardiac incidental findings in cardiac imaging might be detected. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cardiac and extracardiac incidental findings in a population of consecutive patients undergoing coronary MDCT., Methods: A total of 840 consecutive patients with known or suspected heart disease underwent cardiac MDCT. All patients were assessed with 64-slice MDCT; the examination was performed by limiting the anatomical region examined between the bifurcation of the trachea and the cardiac apex with the aim of obtaining excellent image quality and low cardiac radiological exposure., Results: Overall, 81 incidental findings in 72 patients (9%) were identified, of which 18 were cardiac (2%) and 63 extracardiac (7%). Extracardiac incidental findings were mainly represented by pulmonary nodules (19%)., Conclusions: A significant number of cardiac and extracardiac incidental findings were observed at cardiac MDCT, with the prevalence depending on technical aspects of image acquisition and patient characteristics. Incidental findings should be carefully searched for and reported because they may have an impact on clinical follow-up indications that is not without cost and risk.

Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) are key regulators of the transcriptional response to hypoxic stress. Three inducible isoforms of HIF are present in mammals. HIF1α and HIF2α are the best characterized and structurally similar isoforms, while HIF3α is the most distantly related and is less studied. The HIF3α gene undergoes complex regulation and produces a large number of long and short mRNA splice variants, which are translated into different polypeptides. These molecules primarily act as negative regulators of HIF1α and HIF2α activity and transcriptional activators of target genes, according to the variant and the biological context. The present review provides an overview of the available, fragmented and sometimes contradictory information concerning the structure, expression and distinct roles of the HIF3α variants, in both hypoxic adaptation and in hypoxia-unrelated activities. The pathological consequences of HIF3α deregulation are also illustrated., (© 2015 FEBS.)

Low-grade chronic inflammation is a salient feature of obesity and many associated disorders. This condition frequently occurs in central obesity and is connected to alterations of the visceral adipose tissue (AT) microenvironment. Understanding how obesity is related to inflammation may allow the development of therapeutics aimed at improving metabolic parameters in obese patients. To achieve this aim, we compared the features of two subpopulations of adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) isolated from both subcutaneous and visceral AT of obese patients with the features of two subpopulations of ASC from the same isolation sites of non-obese individuals. In particular, the behavior of ASC of obese versus non-obese subjects during hypoxia, which occurs in obese AT and is an inducer of the inflammatory response, was evaluated. Obesity deeply influenced ASC from visceral AT (obV-ASC); these cells appeared to exhibit clearly distinguishable morphology and ultrastructure as well as reduced proliferation, clonogenicity and expression of stemness, differentiation and inflammation-related genes. These cells also exhibited a deregulated response to hypoxia, which induced strong tissue-specific NF-kB activation and an NF-kB-mediated increase in inflammatory and fibrogenic responses. Moreover, obV-ASC, which showed a less stem-like phenotype, recovered stemness features after hypoxia. Our findings demonstrated the peculiar behavior of obV-ASC, their influence on the obese visceral AT microenvironment and the therapeutic potential of NF-kB inhibitors. These novel findings suggest that the deregulated hyper-responsiveness to hypoxic stimulus of ASC from visceral AT of obese subjects may contribute via paracrine mechanisms to low-grade chronic inflammation, which has been implicated in obesity-related morbidity., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Tumors are complex tissues in which transformed cells communicate with the surrounding microenvironment and evolve traits promoting their own survival and malignancy. Hypoxia and inflammation are constant characteristics of prostate tumor microenvironment influencing both cancer stem cells and differentiated tumor cells. HIFs and NF-kB are the key regulators of the transcriptional response to hypoxic and inflammatory stresses, respectively, and a crosstalk between HIFs and NF-kB pathways has been widely documented. Similarly, androgen and estrogen signaling, that play important roles in the growth and function of normal prostate gland, when deregulated, have a significant part in the acquisition of hallmarks of malignant diseases. Moreover, androgen and estrogen receptors have been shown to intersect with the HIF/NF-kB signaling in prostate cancer. Aim of this review is to present the current knowledge regarding the crucial role, in prostate cancer progression, of a molecular network linking hypoxia, pro-inflammatory response and steroid receptors., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.)

Sirtuins (SIRTs) are master metabolic regulators with protective roles against obesity and obesity-associated metabolic disorders, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type-2 diabetes. We aimed to ascertain whether there is a relationship between serum SIRT1 and liver steatosis severity in obese patients. Seventy-two obese patients (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)), 18 males and 54 females, mean age 39.66 ± 12.34 years, with ultrasonographic evidence of NAFLD, were studied. BMI, transaminases, insulin, HOMA-index, HbA1c, body composition (DXA), plasma SIRT1 levels (ELISA) and representative measures of metabolic syndrome (waist circumference, fasting plasma glucose, blood pressure, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides) and inflammation (ESR, CRP, fibrinogen) were evaluated. Thirty healthy lean patients were included as controls. SIRT1 was significantly lower in severe liver steatosis obese group compared to the mild steatosis group, both had lower SIRT1 plasma values compared to control lean patients (P = 0.0001). SIRT1 showed an inverse correlation with liver steatosis and HbA1c in univariate analysis (ρ = -0.386; P = 0.001; ρ = -0.300; P = 0.01, respectively). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that liver steatosis was the independent correlate of SIRT1 even after adjustment for potentially relevant variables (β = -0.442; P = 0.003). Serum SIRT1 might be a novel clinical/biochemical parameter associated with fat liver infiltration. Further studies in larger cohorts are warranted.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the regional (i.e. myocardial segments) variability as well as the overall image quality of cardiac T1 and T2 maps obtained in diastole and in systole. In 22 healthy subjects (group-1), diastolic T1 and T2 maps were obtained at 1.5 T in short-axis view at basal, mid-ventricular and apical level, as well as in 4-chamber (4 ch) and in 2-chamber (2 ch) views. In another group of 25 patients (group-2), the maps were obtained in both diastole and systole. In the group-1, 15.4% of myocardial segments in T1 maps and 0.8% of myocardial segments in T2 maps, mainly located at apical level, showed relevant artifacts and/or partial-volume effect and had to be discarded. We found no significant difference in T1 values among basal, mid-ventricular and apical segments. T2 values at apical level were significantly higher than at basal and mid-ventricular level (short-axis, p < 0.0001; 4 ch, p < 0.009; 2 ch, p = 0.0002 at ANOVA tests). In the group-2, 21.1%/5.3% and 4.0%/0.8% of segments showed relevant artifacts in diastolic/systolic T1 and T2 maps, respectively. Apical T2 values were significantly lower in systole than in diastole. In systole, there were no significant differences in T1/T2 among basal, mid-ventricular and apical segments. The overall quality of T1 and T2 maps drops in apical segments. This could be problematic when evaluating focal myocardial changes. The acquisition in systole increases the number of evaluable segments.