Sexual Mechanosensitivity: Age-Related Changes in the Innervation of the Human Prepuce.

: The male prepuce that covers the glans penis is richly innervated by low-threshold mechanoreceptors, which form cutaneous end-organ complexes (Meissner, Pacinian and Ruffini corpuscles) and mucous end-organ complexes (especially Krause-like corpuscles). The mechanosensory inputs from these formations are the beginning for spinal reflexes that regulate movements of intercourse and erection and, therefore, are required for sexual function. The study was aimed at analyzing the age-dependent changes in prepuce innervation.

Eosinophil-targeted treatment strategies for long-term outcomes in severe eosinophilic asthma.

Background: Airway eosinophilic inflammation is a key pathobiologic trait of severe asthma, a complex chronic disease which affects about 5-10% of asthmatic patients worldwide. Therefore, an in-depth knowledge of the immunopathologic mechanisms underlying severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA) is essential to understand the beneficial effects of currently available, eosinophil-targeted anti-asthma treatments, as well as to develop new therapeutic strategies.

Areas Covered: This narrative review article aims to provide a concise coverage of the pathophysiology of severe eosinophilic asthma, followed by an updated overview of current and newly emerging therapeutic approaches capable of counteracting airway eosinophilic inflammation.

Temporomandibular joint arthritis in rheumatic diseases patients: which are the effective rehabilitative approaches for pain relief? A systematic review.

Background: Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are a set of musculoskeletal conditions involving the temporomandibular joint, masticatory muscles, and/or associated structures, characterized by symptoms as pain, joint stiffness with limited mouth opening, and joint sounds as crepitus. Rheumatic diseases (RD) are a heterogeneous group of conditions affecting the musculoskeletal system, including temporomandibular joint (TMJ). To date, there is a lack of systematic reviews that properly investigated the efficacy of conservative approaches in reducing pain in rheumatic patients affected by TMJ arthritis.

Pituitary enlargement and hypopituitarism in patient with lung cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: Metastasis or hypophysitis? Role of imaging.

Pituitary gland metastasis is an unusual event, and pituitary metastasis from lung adenocarcinoma is extremely rare and associated with poor prognosis. To date, approximately 16 cases have been reported. Symptoms of these lesions can mimic hypophysitis, that is a possible immune-related adverse event of ICIs (Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors).

Coexistence of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: Post-Operative Monitoring of Anti-Thyroglobulin Antibodies and Assessment of Treatment Response.

Introduction: Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) is frequently found in conjunction with autoimmune thyroid disorders, particularly Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). This study investigates the impact of coexisting HT on the persistence of an indeterminate response to therapy due to positive anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (AbTg), measured via competitive immunoassay, in a consecutive patient series from Calabria, Southern Italy.

Methods: This retrospective longitudinal study analyzed 259 consecutive DTC patients managed at the Endocrinology Unit of Renato Dulbecco Hospital (Catanzaro, Italy) up to 2023.

A case of pleural lipoma evaluated with multi-imaging methods.

We reported a rare case of patient affected by pleural lipoma, studied with ultrasound, X-rays, CT, and MRI examination, with both conventional and functional MR imaging modality (DWI), in order to highlight the diagnostic contribution of the DWI sequence. It is necessary to make an adequate evaluation with dedicated imaging to make a correct differential diagnosis from the corresponding malignant forms which would require more radical treatment. In this case we evaluated the effectiveness of the DWI sequence in reaching the correct diagnosis.

Impact of COVID-19 and vaccination campaign on 1,755 systemic sclerosis patients during first three years of pandemic. Possible risks for individuals with impaired immunoreactivity to vaccine, ongoing immunomodulating treatments, and disease-related lung involvement during the next pandemic phase.

Introduction: The impact of COVID-19 pandemic represents a serious challenge for 'frail' patients' populations with inflammatory autoimmune systemic diseases such as systemic sclerosis (SSc). We investigated the prevalence and severity of COVID-19, as well the effects of COVID-19 vaccination campaign in a large series of SSc patients followed for the entire period (first 38 months) of pandemic.

Patients And Method: This prospective survey study included 1755 unselected SSc patients (186 M, 1,569F; mean age 58.

Primary large B-cell lymphoma involving the cerebellopontine angle mimic acoustic schwannoma: Role of MR Spectroscopy in differential diagnosis. A case report.

Primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma is a very rare aggressive non-Hodgkin disease that originates in CNS (brain, leptomeninges, spinal cord, or eyes). It seems to have increased over the last two decades in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients. Primary large B-cell lymphoma involving the cerebellopontine angle (CPA) is extremely rare: only 15 cases of large B-cell lymphoma of the CPA have been reported worldwide; based on our knowledge, no cases studied with MR Spectroscopy.

From Euglycemia to Recent Onset of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Proof-of-Concept Study on Circulating microRNA Profiling Reveals Distinct, and Early microRNA Signatures.

Background and aim-Alterations in circulating microRNA (miRNA) expression patterns are thought to be involved in the early stages of prediabetes, as well as in the progression to overt type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) and its vascular complications. However, most research findings are conflicting, in part due to differences in miRNA extraction and normalization methods, and in part due to differences in the study populations and their selection. This cross-sectional study seeks to find new potentially useful biomarkers to predict and/or diagnose T2D by investigating the differential expression patterns of circulating miRNAs in the serum of patients with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and new-onset T2D, with respect to euglycemic controls, using a high-throughput 384-well array and real-time PCR.

Short-term effect of sacubitril/valsartan on endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness in patients with chronic heart failure.

Heart failure (HF) is associated to endothelial dysfunction that promotes the increase of arterial stiffness thus augmenting myocardial damage. Sacubitril/Valsartan is used in the treatment of HF reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and has been proven effective in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) progression and all-cause mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Sacubitril/Valsartan on endothelial dysfunction, arterial stiffness, oxidative stress levels and platelets activation in patients with HFrEF, at baseline and after 6 months of treatment.

Transit time flow measurement guiding the surgical treatment for anomalous origin of the right coronary artery: A case report.

Anomalous origin of a coronary artery from the opposite sinus of Valsalva (ACAOS) in symptomatic patients is a rare but serious finding whose treatment consists of a surgical correction. The surgical treatment has a level of complexity that could vary from unroofing and ostioplasty to coronary artery bypass grafting. We present our management of a 59-year-old woman presenting with chest pain and dyspnea for right ACAOS with an interarterial route.

Impaired immunogenicity to COVID-19 vaccines in autoimmune systemic diseases. High prevalence of non-response in different patients' subgroups.

Autoimmune systemic diseases (ASD) may show impaired immunogenicity to COVID-19 vaccines. Our prospective observational multicenter study aimed to evaluate the seroconversion after the vaccination cycle and at 6-12-month follow-up, as well the safety and efficacy of vaccines in preventing COVID-19. The study included 478 unselected ASD patients (mean age 59 ± 15 years), namely 101 rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 38 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 265 systemic sclerosis (SSc), 61 cryoglobulinemic vasculitis (CV), and a miscellanea of 13 systemic vasculitis.

Efficacy of rehabilitative techniques in reducing hemiplegic shoulder pain in stroke: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP) is a disabling complication affecting stroke survivors. In this context, rehabilitation might play a key role in its clinical management. Recent systematic reviews of the impact of rehabilitative approaches on pain reduction in patients with HSP are lacking.

Covid-19 And Rheumatic Autoimmune Systemic Diseases: Role of Pre-Existing Lung Involvement and Ongoing Treatments.

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic may have a deleterious impact on patients with autoimmune systemic diseases (ASD) due to their deep immune-system alterations.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of symptomatic Covid-19 and its correlations with both organ involvement and ongoing treatments in a large series of Italian ASD patients during the first wave of pandemic.

Methods: Our multicenter telephone 6-week survey included 3,029 unselected ASD patients enrolled at 36 tertiary referral centers of northern, central, and southern Italian macro-areas with different diffusion of the pandemic.

Current and emerging investigational venetoclax-based therapies in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

: Venetoclax has emerged as a breakthrough treatment which has revolutionized the therapeutic paradigm of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). This is primarily attributed to the efficacy of venetoclax as a time-limited, chemo-free, therapy in a field dominated by targeted agents given on a continuous schedule. Furthermore, compelling clinical data support the use of venetoclax in combination with other targeted agents in the hope of preventing drug resistance due to the emergence of acquired mutations.

COVID-19 and rheumatic autoimmune systemic diseases: report of a large Italian patients series.

Introduction: Covid-19 infection poses a serious challenge for immune-compromised patients with inflammatory autoimmune systemic diseases. We investigated the clinical-epidemiological findings of 1641 autoimmune systemic disease Italian patients during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Method: This observational multicenter study included 1641 unselected patients with autoimmune systemic diseases from three Italian geographical areas with different prevalence of Covid-19 [high in north (Emilia Romagna), medium in central (Tuscany), and low in south (Calabria)] by means of telephone 6-week survey.

Gut Microbiota and Obesity: A Role for Probiotics.

Nowadays, obesity is one of the most prevalent human health problems. Research from the last 30 years has clarified the role of the imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, unhealthy lifestyle, and genetic variability in the development of obesity. More recently, the composition and metabolic functions of gut microbiota have been proposed as being able to affect obesity development.

A Hazelnut-Enriched Diet Modulates Oxidative Stress and Inflammation Gene Expression without Weight Gain.

Introduction: Inflammation is associated with obesity condition and plays a pivotal role in the onset and progression of many chronic diseases. Among several nutraceutical foods, hazelnuts (Corylus avellana L.) are considered an excellent anti-inflammatory and hypolipidemic food being the second richest source of monounsaturated fatty acids among nuts and because they are rich in vitamins, minerals, and phenolic compounds.

Role of Personalized Nutrition in Chronic-Degenerative Diseases.

Human nutrition is a branch of medicine based on foods biochemical interactions with the human body. The phenotypic transition from health to disease status can be attributed to changes in genes and/or protein expression. For this reason, a new discipline has been developed called "-omic science".

Established coronary artery disease in systemic sclerosis compared to type 2 diabetic female patients: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by endothelial dysfunction, which is also associated with other disorders, such as atherosclerosis. The direct role of SSc in facilitating cardiovascular events should be clarified. We compared the prevalence of established coronary artery disease (CAD) between SSc and type 2 diabetes, a well-known phenotype associated with high cardiovascular risk.

The development of a decellularized extracellular matrix-based biomaterial scaffold derived from human foreskin for the purpose of foreskin reconstruction in circumcised males.

The circumcision of males is emphatically linked to numerous sexual dysfunctions. Many of the purported benefits do not hold up to the scrutiny of extensive literature surveys. Involuntary circumcision, particularly when not medically warranted, is also associated with many psychological and emotional traumas.