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Using EU-SILC data for the years 2006-2009, this study examines the existence of a socioeconomic gradient in health. More precisely, this work aims at understanding whether poverty (both objective and subjective) is associated with worse health conditions among the elderly living in European countries. From the policy makers point of view, it is crucial to understand the health consequences of objective poverty since it can be the focus of dedicated policies. However it may be the case that subjective (self-assessed) poverty better synthesizes the living conditions of the elderly as well as their worries, hence exerting a stronger effect on their health. The applied multilevel models confirm that the association between health and subjective poverty is statistically significant even in those countries where objective poverty does not exert a significant effect. Moreover, with the subjective indicator of poverty the economic gradient in health appears to be more pronounced. However the relationship between objective poverty and health substantially traces that between subjective poverty and health. This study shows that individual differences in material circumstances (objectively or subjectively defined) are associated with different health conditions in the elderly populations of all European countries, notwithstanding the existence of well-known cross-countries differences in terms of welfare regimes and average health of the elderly.

There are hints that hypoxia exposure may affect the number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in humans. To test this hypothesis, the concentration of EPCs was determined by flow cytometry in the peripheral blood of 10 young healthy adults before (0h), at different times (0.5h, 1h, 2h, 4h) during a 4h normobaric hypoxic breathing simulating 4100m altitude, and in the following recovery breathing room air. Results were interpreted mainly on the basis of the changes in surface expression of CXCR-4 (a chemokine receptor essential for EPC migration and homing), the percentage of apoptotic cells, the plasmatic levels of markers of oxidative stress induced by hypoxic breathing. Compared to 0h, the concentration of EPCs, identified as either CD45dim/CD34+/KDR+ or CD45dim/CD34+/KDR+/CD133+ cells, decreased from 337±83 (mean±SEM) to 223±52 (0.5h;P

Background/Aims: T-lymphocyte reactivity against viral antigens may represent the only immunological marker of host contact with a virus. Aim of the present study was to investigate whether vertical exposure to hepatitis C virus (HCV) could activate HCV-specific T-cell responses that may represent a biomarker of previous contact with the virus, and possibly contribute to the low rate of vertical HCV transmission. Methods: We studied 28 children born from chronically HCV-infected mothers. HCV-specific activation and proliferation of CD4+ -lymphocytes and cytokine production were evaluated in cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) stimulated in vitro with HCV-peptides. Results: HCV-specific CD4+-cell reactivity was observed in 20 out of the 28 children (71 %). The proliferation of HCV-specific CD4+ -cells was more frequent and vigorous in children than in their mothers. In children, but not in the mothers, activation of CD4+-cells upon stimulation with HCV-peptides was directly correlated with proliferation. Early upon stimulation with HCV-peptides, lymphocytes from children produced lower levels of IL-10 than lymphocytes from the mothers. Conclusions: Vertical exposure to HCV induces the development of viral-specific CD4+ -cell-mediated immune responses, possibly endowed with protective function against infection, which may contribute to the low rate of vertical HCV transmission. (c) 2005 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effective therapy for prion diseases is currently unavailable. Recently, vaccination was shown to be effective in mouse models of a particular neurodegenerative conditions: Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we report that vaccination with synthetic oligopeptides homologous to the hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) prion protein augments survival time in animals infected intraperitoneally with 263K scrapie agent. For each hamster included in the study, prion-specific serum antibodies as well as deposition of pathological prion protein (PrPres), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and mRNA expression for cytokines (TNF alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-10) in brain tissues were evaluated. In immunized animals, increased survival after challenge was associated with a reduction of cerebral lesion, PrP deposition and GFAP expression; in these animals, anti-prion protein peptide antibody levels were increased, and the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF alpha and IL-1 beta) was reduced. Vaccination could be an effective therapeutic approach to postpone disease onset. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.