Panminerva medica
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Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is characterized by hepatic steatosis with inflammation, ballooned hepatocytes and possible fibrosis, which may progress to liver cirrhosis. Although liver biopsy, remains the diagnostic gold standard of NASH, several noninvasive biomarkers have been studied, to avoid the need for this invasive procedure. We performed a systematic review with meta-analysis to evaluate the accuracy of several noninvasive biomarkers in predicting NASH and assessing liver fibrosis in NASH patients. ⋯ FIB-4 predicted NASH and quantified liver fibrosis, stages 0 vs. 1-4 more precisely compared to NFS, APRI, and BARD. However, considering that methodological quality of the assessed studies is limited, the results should be considered with caution.
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Hypoxia could induce cardiomyocytes injury and lead to heart disease. Studies have shown that 6-Gingerol has a protective effect on cardiomyocytes injury, but its molecular mechanism is still unclear. ⋯ 6-Gingerol could hinder the expression of KCNQ1OT1 to protect cardiomyocytes from hypoxia-induced injury through regulation of the miR-340-5p/ PI3K/AKT pathway, providing a new mechanism of 6-Gingerol protecting cardiomyocytes from injury.
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The Brisighella Heart Study (BHS) is a long-term, prospective, population-based longitudinal study on 2939 randomly selected residents of the town of Brisighella, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Upon enrollment in 1972, no participant had any cardiovascular disease, 1491 participants were men and 1448 women, and the age span was 14 to 84 years. The observational phase of the study contributed to the evidence of a strong pathophysiological association between hypercholesterolemia and hypertension. ⋯ Currently, the BHS staff is planning its 11th four-yearly population survey in 2022. Today, the study is moving from an epidemiological perspective to a translational approach, involving advanced biomolecular analyses, genetic tests, and functional vascular investigations. This review aims to summarize the main findings of the first 50 years of BHS research and spot the latest developments and future perspectives of this remarkable Italian cardiovascular study.