Marche Polytechnic University

About: Marche Polytechnic University is a education organization based out in Ancona, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Prostate cancer. The organization has 5905 authors who have published 15769 publications receiving 382286 citations. The organization is also known as: Universitá Politecnica delle Marche & Universita Politecnica delle Marche.

Diagnosis and management of primary aldosteronism

Abstract: Purpose of reviewTo illustrate the steps for clinical management of primary aldosteronism from screening evaluation to surgical and/or medical treatment.Recent findingsIt is now widely accepted that primary aldosteronism represents the most common form of endocrine hypertension and its early diagnos

Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the 5' and 3' ends of the osteopontin gene contribute to susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus.

Abstract: Objective To test the association of osteopontin (OPN) polymorphisms with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods The coding 5′ and 3′ flanking regions of the OPN gene were scanned for polymorphisms by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography. A case–control association study was performed in 394 Italian SLE patients and 479 matched controls. OPN serum levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 40 patients and 124 controls, and the mean levels were compared between the different OPN genotypes. Results Among the 13 detected single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), alleles −156G (frequency 0.714 versus 0.651; P = 0.006, corrected P [Pcorr] = 0.036) and +1239C (0.377 versus 0.297; P = 0.00094, Pcorr = 0.0056) were significantly increased in the SLE patients compared with the controls. The presence of the associated allele in single or double dose conferred an odds ratio (OR) of 2.35 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.38–4.02) for SNP −156 and an OR of 1.57 (95% CI 1.16–2.13) for SNP +1239. These effects were independent of each other, i.e., not a consequence of linkage disequilibrium between the 2 alleles. The risk associated with a double dose of susceptibility alleles at both SNPs was 3.8-fold higher (95% CI 2.0–7.4) relative to the complete absence of susceptibility alleles. With regard to individual clinical and immunologic features, a significant association was seen between lymphadenopathy and −156 genotypes (overall P = 0.0011, Pcorr = 0.046). A significantly increased OPN serum level was detected in healthy individuals carrying +1239C (P = 0.002), which is indicative of an association between the SLE susceptibility allele and OPN levels. Conclusion These data suggest the independent effect of a promoter (−156) and a 3′-untranslated region (+1239) SNP in SLE susceptibility. We can speculate that these sequence variants (or others in perfect linkage disequilibrium) create a predisposition to high production of OPN, and that this in turn may confer susceptibility to SLE.

Pre-treatment neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio may be a useful tool in predicting survival in early triple negative breast cancer patients

Abstract: There is a growing body of evidence that immune response plays a large role in cancer outcome. The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been used as a simple parameter of systemic inflammation in several tumors. The purpose was to investigate the association between pre-treatment NLR, disease-free survival and overall survival in patients with early triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). We reviewed the records of patients with stage I-III TNBC at our Institution from 2006 to 2012. The association between pre-treatment NLR and survival was analyzed. The difference among variables was calculated by chi-square test. DFS and OS were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method. Cox analysis was performed to analyze clinical parameters for their prognostic relevance. A total of 90 patients were eligible. There was no significant correlation among pre-treatment NLR and various clinical pathological factors. Patients with NLR higher than 3 showed significantly lower DFS (p = 0.002) and OS (p = 0.009) than patients with NLR equal or lower than 3. The Cox proportional multivariate hazard model revealed that higher pre-treatment NLR was independently correlated with poor DFS and OS, with hazard ratio 5.15 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11-23.88, p = 0.03) and 6.16 (95% CI 1.54-24.66, p = 0.01) respectively. Our study suggests that pre-treatment NLR may be associated with DFS and OS patients with early TNBC. Further validation and a feasibility study are required before it can be considered for clinical use.