Pyrosequencing Unveils Cystic Fibrosis Lung Microbiome Differences Associated with a Severe Lung Function Decline

Chronic airway infection is a hallmark feature of cystic fibrosis (CF) disease. In the present study, sputum samples from CF patients were collected and characterized by 16S rRNA gene-targeted approach, to assess how lung microbiota composition changes following a severe decline in lung function. In particular, we compared the airway microbiota of two groups of patients with CF, i.e. patients with a substantial decline in their lung function (SD) and patients with a stable lung function (S). The two groups showed a different bacterial composition, with SD patients reporting a more heterogeneous community than the S ones. Pseudomonas was the dominant genus in both S and SD patients followed by Staphylococcus and Prevotella. Other than the classical CF pathogens and the most commonly identified non-classical genera in CF, we found the presence of the unusual anaerobic genus Sneathia. Moreover, the oligotyping analysis revealed the presence of other minor genera described in CF, highlighting the polymicrobial nature of CF infection. Finally, the analysis of correlation and anti-correlation networks showed the presence of antagonism and ecological independence between members of Pseudomonas genus and the rest of CF airways microbiota, with S patients showing a more interconnected community in S patients than in SD ones. This population structure suggests a higher resilience of S microbiota with respect to SD, which in turn may hinder the potential adverse impact of aggressive pathogens (e.g. Pseudomonas). In conclusion, our findings shed a new light on CF airway microbiota ecology, improving current knowledge about its composition and polymicrobial interactions in patients with CF.     

The Changes of Lipid Metabolism in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated with Everolimus: A New Pharmacodynamic Marker?

Background

Everolimus is a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). We aimed to assess the association between the baseline values and treatmentrelated modifications of total serum cholesterol (C), triglycerides (T), body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose level (FBG) and blood pressure (BP) levels and the outcome of patients treated with everolimus for mRCC.

Methods

177 patients were included in this retrospective analysis. Time to progression (TTP), clinical benefit (CB) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated.

Results

Basal BMI was significantly higher in patients who experienced a CB (p=0,0145). C,T and C+T raises were significantly associated with baseline BMI (p=0.0412, 0.0283 and 0.0001). Median TTP was significantly longer in patients with T raise compared to patients without T (10 vs 6, p=0.030), C (8 vs 5, p=0.042) and C+T raise (10.9 vs 5.0, p=0.003). At the multivariate analysis, only C+T increase was associated with improved TTP (p=0.005). T raise (21.0 vs 14.0, p=0.002) and C+T increase (21.0 vs 14.0, p=0.006) were correlated with improved OS but were not significant at multivariate analysis.

Conclusion

C+T raise is an early predictor for everolimus efficacy for patients with mRCC.     

Ecological index of maturity to evaluate the vegetation disturbance of areas affected by restoration work: a practical example of its application in an area of the Southern Alps

This paper presents the ecological index of maturity (EIM), a new index for evaluating the vegetation disturbance of an area affected by environmental restoration measures based on the study of plant communities. The EIM is the result of the unification and development of some floristic‐vegetational indices devised by Taffetani and Rismondo (2009) and Rismondo et al. (2011) to assess the ecological functionality of agro‐ecosystems. The EIM provides a value between 0 (high vegetation disturbance) and 9 (undisturbed vegetation), obtained by considering three distinct variables of the species of a plant community: phytosociological class, chorotype, and coverage. Starting from the measure of the degree of maturity of the vegetation (dynamic stage of succession), EIM values tend to decrease the greater the coverage of exotic species and the lower the coverage of endemic species present in the plant community. A practical example, in which the EIM is applied to a mountainous area in the Southern Alps (Northern Italy) that, following a landslide, was subject to soil bioengineering work aimed at slope stabilization and environmental restoration, is provided in order to understand the importance and features of the EIM.     

Hypoxia enhances proliferation and stemness of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells

The aim of the study was to obtain the highest number of multipotent adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) by using culture conditions which favour cell expansion without loss of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC)-like properties. Based on the assumption that stem cells reside in niches characterized by hypoxic condition, we investigated if the low oxygen tension may improve the proliferation and stemness of ADMSCs. Intact adipose tissue was resected from eight subjects, and the stromal vascular fraction was obtained by using type II collagenase. The heterogeneity of cellular lineages was confirmed by immunophenotypic analysis that showed the presence of leukocytes (CD45+), endothelial cells (CD34+), and pericytes (CD140+). The immunophenotype of confluent ADMSCs was similar to that of bone marrow-derived MSCs, except for the expression of CD34, which was variable (donor-dependent) and inversely correlated to the CD36 expression. ADMSCs showed a high clonal efficiency (94.5 ± 1 %) and were able to generate osteoblastic, chondrocytic and adipocytic lineages. ADMSCs were cultured under normoxic (21 % O₂) and hypoxic (1 % O₂) conditions, and we found that hypoxia significantly favoured ADMSC proliferation and preserved the expression of stemness genes, i.e. Nanog and Sox2. Since hypoxia reflects the microenvironment in which ADMSCs must proliferate and differentiate, the culture in hypoxic condition allows to better understand the biology of these cells and their regenerative potential. Low oxygen concentrations promote cell proliferation and stemness, thus enriching the pool of cells potentially able to differentiate into multi-lineages, and extending the possibility of a long-term expansion.     

The effect of solvent extraction on antioxidant properties of apricot fruit

Two solvent extraction procedures were used to investigate the extraction efficiency in terms of total antioxidant capacity and total phenols in apricot fruit. Samples were either sequentially extracted with aqueous ethanol (ethanol/water 80% v/v) and tetrahydrofuran or directly extracted with tetrahydrofuran. Each extract was analyzed for total antioxidant capacity by the Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) assay and total phenols by the Folin-Ciocalteu assay. The results showed that using sequential solvent extraction, the majority (85%) of the total antioxidant capacity and total phenols was due to hydrophilic compounds. In tetrahydrofuran direct extractions, the total antioxidant capacity and total phenols were higher than values obtained with aqueous ethanol and the sum of results obtained from sequential extracts for either total antioxidant capacity or total phenols was similar to the tetrahydrofuran-extract antioxidant values. A linear correlation between total antioxidant capacity and total phenols was found and was independent of the solvent extraction method. In conclusion, the choice of solvent is related to the antioxidant potential of fruit and depends on the food hydrophilic/lipophilic composition.