8 results on '"Finamore, P"'
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2. Lipid biomarkers in statin users with coronary artery disease annotated by coronary computed tomography angiography
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Elena Michelucci, Nicoletta Di Giorgi, Francesco Finamore, Jeff M. Smit, Arthur J. H. A. Scholte, Giovanni Signore, and Silvia Rocchiccioli
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract Molecular markers are suggested to improve the diagnostic and prognostic accuracy in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) beyond current clinical scores based on age, gender, symptoms and traditional risk factors. In this context, plasma lipids are emerging as predictors of both plaque composition and risk of future events. We aim to identify plasma lipid biomarkers associated to CAD indexes of stenosis severity, plaque lipid content and a comprensive score of CAD extent and its risk. We used a simple high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method to identify 69 plasma lipids in 132 subjects referred to Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA) for suspected CAD, all under statin treatment. Patients were stratified in groups using three different CCTA-based annotations: CTA-risk score, lipid plaque prevalence (LPP) ratio and the coronary artery disease-reporting and data system (CAD-RADS). We identified a common set of lipid biomarkers composed of 7 sphingomyelins and 3 phosphatidylethanolamines, which discriminates between high risk CAD patients and controls regardless of the CAD annotations used (CTA score, LPP ratio, or CAD-RADS). These results highlight the potential of circulating lipids as biomarkers of stenosis severity, non calcified plaque composition and overall plaque risk of events.
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- 2021
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3. The Low Variability of Tc24 in Trypanosoma cruzi TcI as an Advantage for Chagas Disease Prophylaxis and Diagnosis in Mexico
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Ingeborg Becker, Haydee Miranda-Ortiz, Edith A. Fernández-Figueroa, Sokani Sánchez-Montes, Pablo Colunga-Salas, Estefanía Grostieta, Javier Juárez-Gabriel, Yokomi N. Lozano-Sardaneta, Minerva Arce-Fonseca, Olivia Rodríguez-Morales, Gabriela Meneses-Ruíz, Sergio Pastén-Sánchez, Irma López Martínez, Saúl González-Guzmán, Vladimir Paredes-Cervantes, Otacilio C. Moreira, Paula Finamore-Araujo, Julio C. Canseco-Méndez, Uriel Coquis-Navarrete, Laura Rengifo-Correa, Constantino González-Salazar, Myrna M. Alfaro-Cortés, Jorge A. Falcón-Lezama, Roberto Tapia-Conyer, and Christopher R. Stephens
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Chagas disease ,Tc24 ,population genetics ,DTUs ,molecular epidemiology ,Medicine - Abstract
(1) Background: Chagas disease is the main neglected tropical disease in America. It is estimated that around 6 million people are currently infected with the parasite in Latin America, and 25 million live in endemic areas with active transmission. The disease causes an estimated economic loss of USD 24 billion dollars annually, with a loss of 75,200 working years per year of life; it is responsible for around ~12,000 deaths annually. Although Mexico is an endemic country that recorded 10,186 new cases of Chagas disease during the period of 1990–2017, few studies have evaluated the genetic diversity of genes that could be involved in the prophylaxis and/or diagnosis of the parasite. One of the possible candidates proposed as a vaccine target is the 24 kDa trypomastigote excretory–secretory protein, Tc24, whose protection is linked to the stimulation of T. cruzi-specific CD8+ immune responses. (2) Methods: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the fine-scale genetic diversity and structure of Tc24 in T. cruzi isolates from Mexico, and to compare them with other populations reported in the Americas with the aim to reconsider the potential role of Tc24 as a key candidate for the prophylaxis and improvement of the diagnosis of Chagas disease in Mexico. (3) Results: Of the 25 Mexican isolates analysed, 48% (12) were recovered from humans and 24% (6) recovered from Triatoma barberi and Triatoma dimidiata. Phylogenetic inferences revealed a polytomy in the T. cruzi clade with two defined subgroups, one formed by all sequences of the DTU I and the other formed by DTU II–VI; both subgroups had high branch support. Genetic population analysis detected a single (monomorphic) haplotype of TcI throughout the entire distribution across both Mexico and South America. This information was supported by Nei’s pairwise distances, where the sequences of TcI showed no genetic differences. (4) Conclusions: Given that both previous studies and the findings of the present work confirmed that TcI is the only genotype detected from human isolates obtained from various states of Mexico, and that there is no significant genetic variability in any of them, it is possible to propose the development of in silico strategies for the production of antigens that optimise the diagnosis of Chagas disease, such as quantitative ELISA methods that use this region of Tc24.
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- 2023
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4. High Parasitic Loads Quantified in Sylvatic Triatoma melanica, a Chagas Disease Vector
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Carolina Valença-Barbosa, Paula Finamore-Araujo, Otacílio Cruz Moreira, Marcus Vinicius Niz Alvarez, André Borges-Veloso, Silvia Ermelinda Barbosa, Liléia Diotaiuti, and Rita de Cássia Moreira de Souza
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triatomine ,Trypanosoma cruzi ,brasiliensis complex ,blood-feeding behavior ,Medicine - Abstract
Triatoma melanica is a sylvatic vector species in Brazil. In We aimed to characterize the Trypanosoma cruzi discrete typing units (DTUs), the parasitic loads, and the blood meal sources of insects collected in rocky outcrops in rural areas in the state of Minas Gerais. An optical microscope (OM) and kDNA-PCR were used to examine natural infection by T. cruzi, and positive samples were genotyped by conventional multilocus PCR. Quantification of the T. cruzi load was performed using qPCR, and the blood meal sources were identified by Sanger sequencing the 12S rRNA gene. A total of 141 T. melanica were captured. Of these, ~55% (61/111) and ~91% (63/69) were positive by OM and KDNA-PCR, respectively. We genotyped ~89% (56/63) of the T. cruzi-positive triatomines, with TcI (~55%, 31/56) being the most prevalent DTU, followed by TcIII (~20%, 11/56) and TcII (~7%, 4/56). Only TcI+TcIII mixed infections were detected in 10 (~18%) specimens. A wide range of variation in the parasitic loads of T. melanica was observed, with an overall median value of 104 parasites/intestine, with females having higher T. cruzi loads than N2, N4, and N5. TcII showed lower parasitic loads compared to TcI and TcIII. The OM positive diagnosis odds ratio between T. cruzi infection when the parasite load is 107 compared to 103 was approximately 29.1. The most frequent blood meal source was Kerodon rupestris (~58%), followed by Thrichomys apereoides (~18%), Wiedomys cerradensis (~8%), Galactis cuja (~8%) and Gallus gallus (~8%). Our findings characterize biological and epidemiological aspects of the sylvatic population of T. melanica in the study area, highlighting the need to extend surveillance and control to this vector.
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- 2022
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5. Validation of a novel multiplex real-time PCR assay for Trypanosoma cruzi detection and quantification in açai pulp.
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Paula Finamore-Araujo, Amanda Faier-Pereira, Carlos Ramon do Nascimento Brito, Eldrinei Gomes Peres, Klenicy Kazumy de Lima Yamaguchi, Renata Trotta Barroso Ferreira, and Otacilio Cruz Moreira
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
In Brazil, orally acquired T. cruzi infection has become the most relevant transmission mechanisms from public health perspective. Around 70% of new Chagas disease cases have been associated with consumption of contaminated food or beverages. Açai (Euterpe oleracea and Euterpe precatoria) is currently one of the most commercialized Amazonian fruits in the Brazilian and international markets. Therefore, it has become important to incorporate in the production process some procedures to measure out effective hygiene and product quality control required by global market. Molecular methods have been developed for rapid detection and quantification of T. cruzi DNA in several biological samples, including food matrices, for epidemiological investigation of Chagas disease and food quality control. However, a high-performance molecular methodology since DNA extraction until detection and quantification of T. cruzi DNA in açai berry pulp is still needed. Herein, a simple DNA extraction methodology was standardized from the supernatant of açai berry pulp stabilized in a 6M Guanidine-HCl/0.2M EDTA buffer. In addition, a multiplex real time qPCR assay, targeting T. cruzi DNA and an Exogenous Internal Positive Control was developed and validated, using reference from all T. cruzi DTUs and commercial samples of açai pulp, from an endemic municipality with previous history of oral Chagas disease outbreak. Thus, a high-sensitivity qPCR assay, that could detect up to 0.01 parasite equivalents/mL in açai, was reached. As of the 45 commercial samples analyzed, 9 (20%) were positive for T. cruzi. This high-sensitive, fast, and easy-to-use molecular assay is compatible with most of the laboratories involved in the investigations of oral Chagas disease outbreaks, representing an important tool to the epidemiology, control, and surveillance of Chagas disease.
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- 2021
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6. MD-CTS: An integrated terminology reference of clinical and translational medicine
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Will Ray, Joe Finamore, Majid Rastegar-Mojarad, Chris Kadolph, Zhan Ye, Jacquie Bohne, Yin Xu, Dan Burish, Joshua Sondelski, Melissa Easker, Brian Finnegan, Barbara Bartkowiak, Catherine Arnott Smith, Umberto Tachinardi, Eneida A. Mendonca, Bryan Weichelt, and Simon M. Lin
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Database ,Software ,Medicine ,Dictionary ,Biotechnology ,TP248.13-248.65 - Abstract
New vocabularies are rapidly evolving in the literature relative to the practice of clinical medicine and translational research. To provide integrated access to new terms, we developed a mobile and desktop online reference—Marshfield Dictionary of Clinical and Translational Science (MD-CTS). It is the first public resource that comprehensively integrates Wiktionary (word definition), BioPortal (ontology), Wiki (image reference), and Medline abstract (word usage) information. MD-CTS is accessible at http://spellchecker.mfldclin.edu/. The website provides a broadened capacity for the wider clinical and translational science community to keep pace with newly emerging scientific vocabulary. An initial evaluation using 63 randomly selected biomedical words suggests that online references generally provided better coverage (73%-95%) than paper-based dictionaries (57–71%).
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- 2016
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7. Lactobacillus amylovorus inhibits the TLR4 inflammatory signaling triggered by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli via modulation of the negative regulators and involvement of TLR2 in intestinal Caco-2 cells and pig explants.
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Alberto Finamore, Marianna Roselli, Ambra Imbinto, Julie Seeboth, Isabelle P Oswald, and Elena Mengheri
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Inflammation derived from pathogen infection involves the activation of toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling. Despite the established immunomodulatory activities of probiotics, studies relating the ability of such bacteria to inhibit the TLR signaling pathways are limited or controversial. In a previous study we showed that Lactobacillus amylovorus DSM 16698T, a novel lactobacillus isolated from unweaned pigs, protects the intestinal cells from enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) K88 infection through cytokine regulation. In the present study we investigated whether the ability of L. amylovorus to counteract the inflammatory status triggered by ETEC in intestine is elicited through inhibition of the TLR4 signaling pathway. We used the human intestinal Caco-2/TC7 cells and intestinal explants isolated from 5 week-old crossbreed Pietrain/Duroc/Large-White piglets, treated with ETEC, L. amylovorus or L. amylovorus cell free supernatant, either alone or simultaneously with ETEC. Western blot analysis showed that L. amylovorus and its cell free supernatant suppress the activation of the different steps of TLR4 signaling in Caco-2/TC7 cells and pig explants, by inhibiting the ETEC induced increase in the level of TLR4 and MyD88, the phosphorylation of the IKKα, IKKβ, IκBα and NF-κB subunit p65, as well as the over-production of inflammatory cytokines IL-8 and IL-1β. The immunofluorescence analysis confirms the lack of phospho-p65 translocation into the nucleus. These anti-inflammatory effects are achieved through modulation of the negative regulators Tollip and IRAK-M. We also found that L. amylovorus blocks the up-regulation of the extracellular heat shock protein (Hsp)72 and Hsp90, that are critical for TLR4 function. By using anti-TLR2 antibody, we demonstrate that TLR2 is required for the suppression of TLR4 signaling activation. These results may contribute to develop therapeutic interventions using L. amylovorus in intestinal disorders of piglets and humans.
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- 2014
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8. Metabolic syndrome is associated with better quality of sleep in the oldest old: results from the 'Mugello Study'
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Laudisio, A., Giovannini, S., Finamore, P., Navarini, L., Margiotta, D. P. E., Vannetti, F., Macchi, C., Coraci, D., Imbimbo, I., Molino-Lova, R., Loreti, C., Antonelli Incalzi, R., Zuccala, G., Padua, L., Bonaccorsi, G., Boni, R., Castagnoli, C., Cecchi, F., Cesari, F., Epifani, F., Frandi, R., Giusti, B., Luisi, M. L. E., Marcucci, R., Paperini, A., Razzolini, L., Sofi, F., Turcan, N., and Valecchi, D.
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medicine.medical_specialty ,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism ,Quality of sleep ,Assessment index ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Internal medicine ,Diabetes mellitus ,Internal Medicine ,Medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,lcsh:RC620-627 ,Reverse epidemiology ,Geriatric ,Metabolic syndrome ,Sleep quality ,business.industry ,Research ,medicine.disease ,Oldest old ,Poor sleep ,lcsh:Nutritional diseases. Deficiency diseases ,Cohort ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Background and aims Reduced sleep quality is common in advanced age. Poor sleep quality is associated with adverse outcomes, chiefly cardiovascular, in young and middle-aged subjects, possibly because of its association with metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, the correlates of sleep quality in oldest populations are unknown. We evaluated the association of sleep quality with MetS in a cohort of subjects aged 90+. Methods and results We analysed data of 343 subjects aged 90+ living in the Mugello area (Tuscany, Italy). Quality of sleep was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Assessment Index (PSQI). Good quality of sleep was defined by a PSQI score .050). However, an increasing number of MetS components was associated with increasing probability of good quality of sleep (P for trend = .002), and of PSQI below the median (P for trend = .007). Generalized Additive Model analysis documented no smoothing function suggestive of nonlinear association between PSQI and MetS. Conclusion Our results confirm a high prevalence of poor sleep quality in oldest age; however, in these subjects, MetS seems to be associated with better sleep quality. Additional larger, dedicated studies are required to confirm our results, and, if so, to identify the subsystems involved and the potential therapeutic implications of such an association.
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- 2020
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