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Thromboembolic conditions are the most common cause of death in developed countries. Anticoagulant therapy is the treatment of choice, and heparinoids and warfarin are the most adopted drugs. Sulphated polysaccharides extracted from marine organisms have been demonstrated to be effective alternatives, blocking thrombus formation by inhibiting some factors involved in the coagulation cascade. In this study, four acidic glycan fractions from the marine sponge Sarcotragus spinosulus were purified by anion-exchange chromatography, and their anticoagulant properties were investigated through APTT and PT assays and compared with both standard glycosaminoglycans and holothurian sulphated polysaccharides. Moreover, their topographic localization was assessed through histological analysis, and their cytocompatibility was tested on a human fibroblast cell line. A positive correlation between the amount of acid glycans and the inhibitory effect towards both the intrinsic and extrinsic coagulation pathways was observed. The most effective anticoagulant activity was shown by a highly charged fraction, which accounted for almost half (about 40%) of the total hexuronate-containing polysaccharides. Its preliminary structural characterization, performed through infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance, suggested that it may consist of a fucosylated chondroitin sulphate, whose unique structure may be responsible for the anticoagulant activity reported herein for the first time.

Carotid atherosclerosis represents a relevant healthcare problem, since unstable plaques are responsible for approximately 15% of neurologic events, namely transient ischemic attack and stroke. Although statins treatment has proven effective in reducing LDL-cholesterol and the onset of acute clinical events, a residual risk may persist suggesting the need for the detection of reliable molecular markers useful for the identification of patients at higher risk regardless of optimal medical therapy. In this regard, several lines of evidence show a relationship among specific biologically active plasma lipids, atherosclerosis, and acute clinical events. We performed a Selected Reaction Monitoring-based High Performance Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry (SRM-based HPLC-MS/MS) analysis on plasma HDL, LDL, and VLDL fractions purified, by isopycnic salt gradient ultracentrifugation, from twenty-eight patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy, having either a "hard" or a "soft" plaque, with the aim of characterizing the specific lipidomic patterns associated with features of carotid plaque instability. One hundred and thirty lipid species encompassing different lipid (sub)classes were monitored. Supervised multivariate analysis showed that lipids belonging to phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), sphingomyelin (SM), and diacylglycerol (DG) classes mostly contribute to discrimination within each lipoprotein fraction according to the plaque typology. Differential analysis evidenced a significant dysregulation of LDL PE (38:6), SM (32:1), and SM (32:2) between the two groups of patients (adj. p -value threshold = 0.05 and log 2 FC ≥ |0.58|). Using this approach, some LDL-associated markers of plaque vulnerability have been identified, in line with the current knowledge of the key roles of these phospholipids in lipoprotein metabolism and cardiovascular disease. This proof-of-concept study reports promising results, showing that lipoprotein lipidomics may present a valuable approach for identifying new biomarkers of potential clinical relevance.

Two groups of children from 6 to 14 years old have been compared to explain correlation between haematic eosinophils and allergic respiratory diseases related with the environment where they live. First group was formed by 350 pupils of Sesto S. Giovanni, and industrialized town, the second group by 345 pupils of Cogliate, a country place. The screening was been preceded by a set of questions self-managed and it consisted in the determinations percentage of peripheral blood eosinophils. Patients whose eosinophils were more than 4% have been considered eosinophilia carrier. The results have been elaborated with statistical method "chi square". Results proved the greatest prevalence of allergic respiratory diseases in urban population with a greater eosinophilia spreading (33% in comparison with 26%; p less than 0.05). Eosinophilia appeared connected with recurrent rhinitis (p less than 0.001) relapsing bronchitis (p less than 0.001) relapsing bronchitis (p less than 0.001) asthmatic bronchitis (p less than 0.001) positive results of skin tests to 4 allergens (p less than 0.001) and in rural district also with male sex (p less than 0.05). In industrialized areas, in special way there is a closed relation between respiratory diseases and peripheral blood eosinophils increased. Eosinophilia will be find in relapsing respiratory pathology and it will apply to allergology controls. It could represent an unfavourable element of prognosis foresee the possibility that episodic bronchus-spasms will be frequent in patients with asthmatic syndrome.

Various categories of subjects working in food shops were tested for Salmonellae. The strains were isolated through serological typing and testing for sensitivity to antibiotics allowed us to know the epidemiological situation of those microorganisms in our area and their variations compared to previous studies.