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Textiles are a fertile breeding ground for a multitude of micro-organisms under appropriate conditions of moisture and temperature. The broad-spectrum biocide properties of silver are well known and many technologies have been developed so far to treat textiles with silver. The efficacy of the silver deposition technology presented in this article has been already demonstrated in previous works, where the strong adhesion of silver nanoparticles to the substrate and their antibacterial capability have been assessed. This work focuses on the evaluation of any possible interaction of silver treated cotton with human skin, in terms of skin irritation and hypoallergenicity. Moreover, the presence of silver and the antibacterial capability against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria, namely Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, were verified even after several washing cycles in order to develop a product with long-term antibacterial capability and no adverse effects in terms of skin irritation and hypoallergenicity. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 102B: 1031-1037, 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of fabrics with antibacterial properties for commodity applications can provide numerous advantages such as a reduction in the release of odors due to bacterial proliferation in sweat and a reduction in the development of skin hypersensitivity reactions due to microorganisms trapped into the fabrics. Silver is one of the most effective antibacterial agents used for the high degree of biocompatibility and for its long-term antibacterial effectiveness against many different bacterial strains. In this study, an innovative technique for the deposition of nanosilver antibacterial coating on woolen fiber was analyzed. In particular, fabrics woven with different percentages of silver-treated fibers were compared to determine the best ratio preserving the antibacterial activity and optimizing the cost-effectiveness of the final product. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a uniform distribution of silver nanoclusters on the fibers. The impressive silver coating stability and durability were demonstrated after several washing cycles through thermogravimetric analysis. The antimicrobial activity of the silver-treated substrates was evaluated by antibacterial tests on Escherichia coli. A very strong antibacterial activity was found even in presence of the lower silver content; therefore, a blend of coated and uncoated fibers is proposed for practical applications. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Idiopathic achalasia is a rare disorder of the oesophagus of unknown aetio-pathogenesis characterized by a myenteric inflammation, aperistalsis and insufficient lower oesophageal sphincter relaxation. Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), present in the myenteric plexus, is involved in smooth muscle relaxation and acts as an anti-inflammatory cytokine. The human VIP receptor 1 gene (VIPR1) is highly polymorphic and may play a role in idiopathic achalasia. One hundred and four consecutive patients and 300 random controls from the same geographic area were typed for five SNPs mapping in the VIPR1 gene. Patients with idiopathic achalasia show a significant difference in allele, genotype and phenotype distribution of SNP rs437876 mapping in intron 4. This association, however, was almost entirely due to the group of patients with late disease onset ( P = 0.0005). These results strongly suggest that idiopathic achalasia is a heterogeneous disease with a different aetiology in cases with early or late disease onset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To define the contribution of HLA genes other than HLA-B27 in conferring susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis (AS), through analysis of HLA-B27 haplotypes in Sardinian subjects., Methods: Ninety-eight patients with AS, 133 HLA-B27-positive controls (of whom 33 were positive for HLA-B*2709), and 190 randomly selected controls were genotyped for microsatellites and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) spanning the HLA region., Results: Haplotypes carrying either the B*2705 or the B*2709 allele were found to share a conserved region downstream of the HLA-B gene and a functional polymorphism in the HLA-E gene (R128G), while differing in all other markers. Notably, the presence of an A at SNP rs1264457, encoding for Arg-128, was significantly increased in the cohort of patients (P = 6 x 10(-6), corrected P = 3 x 10(-5)) but not in B*2705- or B*2709-positive controls. Comparing the alleles co-occurring at each HLA marker, we identified a region differentiating patients with AS and B*2705-matched controls. In particular, there was a markedly increased prevalence of heterozygosity at rs1264457 among B27-positive controls (74%, versus 47% in patients and 54% in random controls), suggesting a protective role of G128 in AS. Moreover, other markers around the HLA-B gene were also differentially represented., Conclusion: These results demonstrate a significant difference in the frequency of some HLA markers between AS patients and B*2705-positive controls, which could be attributed to the opposite chromosome. In particular, the differential distribution of a functional polymorphism in the HLA-E gene suggests a possible role of natural killer function in AS pathogenesis.