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There is currently no comprehensive feed consumption database using a harmonised feed classification system. This means there is a lack of accurate information on the individual amount of feed consumed daily by farmed and companion animals. Such a database would support exposure assessments of feed. This report provides a complete overview of the main feed databases, their structure, and how feed materials are classified. It highlights their limits and potential and reports any differences from FoodEx2. A proposal for future updates of FoodEx2 and the development of a comprehensive feed consumption model database is provided. The proposed model database is based on three information areas represented by three Excel sheets. These represent Animal, Feed, and Consumption, allowing the determination of animal dietary exposure. A proof of concept of the developed model database was carried out by performing two case studies focused on genetically modified feed and feed contaminants. For genetically modified feed, a reduced animal dietary exposure was obtained compared to estimations reported in the scientific opinions and obtained using Excel calculators proposed by EFSA. For the contaminants in feed, differences were limited, resulting in slightly higher or lower exposure values. Weaknesses and possible mitigations are also addressed, and recommendations are made for a comprehensive feed consumption database. These include recommendations establishing an EU classification system in which the main features and items reported in the European Catalogue of Feed Materials are harmonised with FoodEx2. It is also recommended that real‐life animal consumption data are collected by the feed industry, animal nutritionists, breeders, and farmers, along with the collaboration of stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benzydamine is a non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug, devoid of activity on arachidonic acid metabolism, which is extensively used as a topical drug in inflammatory conditions, particularly for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis and Candida albicans-sustained vaginitis. In the present study the effects of benzydamine on the production of several inflammatory cytokines were examined in cultures of Candida albicans-stimulated human mononuclear cells. Benzydamine (6.25-50 ΜM) inhibited Candida-induced tumor necrosis factor-α and, to a lesser extent, interleukin-1 Β production, whereas it did not affect interleukin-6 release. Benzydamine also blocked monocyte chemotactic protein-1 secretion, but it did not affect interleukin-8 production. Unlike benzydamine, ibuprofen and naproxen, two non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs also used topically, were unable to suppress inflammatory lymphokine production from Candida-activated mononuclear cells. These data suggesrthat benzydamine may be effective in local Candida infections at least in part by suppressing inflammatory cytokine and monokine production in the vaginal mucosa and consequently decreasing their levels in vaginal secretions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crohn's disease is a chronic granulomatous inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract, which can involve almost any segment from the mouth to the anus. Typically, Crohn's lesions attain segmental and asynchronous distribution with varying levels of seriousness, although the sites most frequently involved are the terminal ileum and the proximal colon. A single gold standard for the diagnosis of CD is not available and the diagnosis of CD is confirmed by clinical evaluation and a combination of endoscopic, histological, radiological, and/or biochemical investigations. In recent years, many studies have been performed to investigate the diagnostic potential of less invasive and more patient-friendly imaging modalities in the evaluation of Crohn's disease including conventional enteroclysis, ultrasonography, color-power Doppler, contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, multidetector CT enteroclysis, MRI enteroclysis, and 99mTc-HMPAO-labeled leukocyte scintigraphy. The potential diagnostic role of each imaging modality has to be considered in different clinical degrees of the disease, because there is no single imaging technique that allows a correct diagnosis and may be performed with similar results in every institution. The aim of this paper is to point out the advantages and limitations of the various imaging techniques in patients with suspected or proven Crohn's disease.

Standard culture systems of eukaryotic cells generally failed to deliver sufficient amounts of recombinant proteins without increasing the costs of production. We here showed that membrane-based bioreactors, initially developed for the production of monoclonal antibodies, can be very useful for the production using engineered HEK293 cells, of a recombinant proteoglycan called endocan, with achievement of high level expression and efficient long-term production. When compared to standard procedures, the growth in suspension and at high density of these cells in one bioreactor promoted a 60-fold increase of the concentration of the soluble recombinant endocan. These culture conditions did not affect cell viability, stable expression, recognition by specific monoclonal antibodies or electrophoretic profile of the recombinant endocan. Such an easy to scale up system to produce recombinant protein should open soon new opportunities to study structure and functions of endocan or any other glycosylated cell products newly investigated.

In this work we evaluated the ability of 2,6-di-O-methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (DM-beta-Cyd) to include the anti-rhinovirus drug Disoxaril (WIN 51711), increasing its water solubility and stability. The complex, prepared by kneading method, was characterized in the solid state by differential scanning calorimetry and in aqueous solution using circular dichroism and NMR spectroscopy. The formation of 1:1 and 1:2 drug-Cyd complexes was hypothesized. Stability constants for both complexes were determined on the basis of an Ap-type phase solubility diagrams and evidenced a very high stability for the 1:1 complex. Thermodynamic parameters of the binding process showed the existence of classical hydrophobic interactions in the 1:1 complex with the formation of a less ordered system after complexation. An enthalpic contribution rather than an entropic one accompanied the association of the second Cyd molecule. DM-beta-Cyd was able to significantly increase water solubility of WIN 51711, from 0.000123 to 0.47142 mg/ml. Free drug shows a very low water stability, it is completely hydrolyzed after 36 h in PBS (pH 7.0), at 4 degrees C. In the presence of DM-beta-Cyd only a 10% of WIN 51711 was degraded, to the same conditions, after 12 days. DM-beta-Cyd increases the permeation of WIN 51711 across excised bovine nasal mucosa mounted on Franz cells, with respect to the free drug. Nevertheless, the permeation process had a lag time of 2 h so that the drug might assure its pharmacological activity on the outer surface of the mucosa. In vivo studies on rabbits evidenced that WIN 51711 is well tolerated, having no observable effect on the nasal mucosa following repeated administration.

In previous studies performed to elucidate acetaminophen mechanism of action, we demonstrated that acetaminophen inhibits prostaglandin E2 production by interleukin (IL)-1beta-stimulated T98G human astrocytic cells, without affecting cyclooxygenase-2 enzymatic activity. As this result suggests an effect at transcriptional level, we examined whether the drug interferes with the activation of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB and STAT3 transcription factors and with SAPK signal transducing factor. Western blot analysis of IkappaBalpha protein in the cytoplasm of IL-1beta-stimulated T98G cells and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) on corresponding nuclear extracts indicate that acetaminophen (10-1000 microM) dose-dependently inhibits both IkappaBalpha degradation and NF-kappaB nuclear translocation. In the same cell type neither IL-1beta-dependent SAPK activation nor IL-6-induced STAT3 phosphorylation is affected by the drug. These data indicate that therapeutic concentrations of acetaminophen induce an inhibition of IL-1beta-dependent NF-kappaB nuclear translocation. The selectivity of this effect suggests the existence of an acetaminophen specific activity at transcriptional level that may be one of the mechanisms through which the drug exerts its pharmacological effects.

Several heteroaromatic analogues of (2-aryl-1-cyclopentenyl-1-alkylidene)-(arylmethyloxy)amine COX-2 inhibitors, in which the cyclopentene moiety was replaced by pyrazole, thiophene or isoxazole ring, were synthesized, in order to verify the influence of the different nature of the central core on the COX inhibitory properties of these kinds of molecules. Among the compounds tested, only the 3-(p-methylsulfonylphenyl) substituted thiophene derivatives 17 and 22, showed a certain COX-2 inhibitory activity, accompanied by an appreciable COX-2 versus COX-1 selectivity. Only one of the 1-(p-methylsulfonylphenyl)pyrazole compounds (16) displayed a modest inhibitory activity towards both type of isoenzymes, while the pyrazole 1-(p-aminosulfonylphenyl) substituted 12 proved to be significantly active only towards COX-1. All the isoxazole derivatives were inactive on both COX isoforms.

The (E)-[2-(4-aminosulfonylphenyl)-1-cyclopentenyl-1-methyliden]-(arylmethyloxy)amines (6a,b), which are the sulfonamidic analogues of the previously described methylsulfonyl derivatives 5a,b, and their corresponding sulfides (7a,b) and sulfoxides (8a,b) were synthesised in order to obtain information about the role played by these different sulphur-containing groups in the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitory activity of this class of compounds. In addition, other chemical manipulations concerning the oxime-ether substituent of this type of derivatives were affected by preparing compounds 9a,b, which present a methyl group on the oximic carbon of the oxime-ether chain of 5a,b, and compounds 10 and 11, in which the atomic sequence (C=NOCH(2)) of the MAOMM of 8b and 5b, respectively, is inverted. Compounds 6-11 were tested in vitro for their inhibitory activity towards COX-1 and COX-2 by measuring prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production in U937 cell lines and activated J774.2 macrophages, respectively. Some of the new compounds showed an appreciable in vitro COX-2 inhibitory activity, with IC(50) values in the microM (7a,b, 8a and 9b) or sub-microM (8b) range. This last compound was also assayed in vivo for its antiinflammatory activity by means of the carrageenan-induced paw edema test in rats. No inhibitory effects were detected up to dose of 30 mg kg(-1) orally administered.

The (E)-[2-(4-Methylsulphonylphenyl)-1-cyclopentenyl-1-methyliden](methyloxy)amine (5) and (arylmethyloxy)amines (6-12) were designed in order to verify the effects on the biological properties of the substitution of an aryl of selective diarylcyclopentenyl cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors of type 3 with a methyleneaminoxymethyl moiety (MAOMM). Compounds 5-12 were tested in vitro for their inhibitory activity towards COX-1 and COX-2 by measuring prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production in U937 cell lines and activated J774.2 macrophages, respectively. The compound with the highest in vitro activity towards COX-2 (9) was also assayed in vivo for its antiinflammatory activity by means of the carrageenan-induced paw edema test in rats. Some of the new compounds showed an appreciable in vitro COX-2 inhibitory activity, with IC(50) values in the microM (6,7,9,10,11) range. Compound 9 also exhibited an appreciable in vivo activity (29% inhibition at a dose of 30 mg kg(-1)) when administered intraperitoneally. The structural parameters of 9 were determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis.

T98G glioblastoma cells were previously shown to significantly increase interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) mRNA levels in response to IL-1beta stimulation. This work demonstrates that in such conditions T98G, despite possessing biologically active interleukin converting enzyme, do not release detectable amounts of IL-1beta, even in the presence of 20 mM adenosine triphosphate (ATP). IL-1beta secretion is observed only following concomitant stimulation with 1000 units/ml of IL-1beta and 20 mM ATP. ATP induces a dose-dependent depolarization of T98G plasma membrane, whereas it does not affect Ca(2+) concentration or cell membrane permeability. Our data, together with the observation that the depolarizing effects of ATP are retained after preincubation with 100 microM suramin, an antagonist of P2-purinoceptors, suggest that ATP plays a role in IL-1beta secretion by T98G but its effects do not occur through P2-purinoceptors.

Background: The prevalence of seizures in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) varies between 3 and 13% depending on the various studies, whereas it is 1% in the general population aged under 15 years etiopathogenesis and outcome of seizures in children during treatment for ALL., Methods: A retrospective study was carried out in 204 children with a consecutive diagnosis of ALL, 89 females and 115 males, aged between 5 months and 17 years and 11 months, diagnosed between 15-4-1988 and 15-4-1998, and treated at the Division of Pediatric Oncology and Pediatric Hematology of Turin University using three successive generations of AIEOP protocols 88 (48 cases), 91 (86 cases) and 95 (70 cases). Observation of the patients in the study ended on 30-9-1998. The criteria for eligibility were those stated in the respective protocols. Seizures were classified using the international classification; the diagnosis was made if a doctor, a nurse or a reliable relative witnessed the event with confirmation by the consultant neurologist., Results: Twelve out of 204 (5.8%) patients in this series presented seizures: 2 out of 48 cases using protocol 88 (4.1%), 6 out of 86 cases using protocol 91 (6.9%) and 4 out of 70 cases using protocol 95 (5.7%). None of the patients had critical episodes or other significant neurological pathologies prior to the onset of ALL, nor had they been affected by leukemic meningosis or undergone cranial radiotherapy. When evaluating the possible etiology, the authors noted that, except for one case of febrile convulsion, the seizures in the remaining patients could be attributed to the toxicity of chemotherapy. With regard to the evolution of seizures, only one patient died, whereas the others showed no neurologic sequelae., Conclusions: The frequency of seizures in children receiving treatment for ALL in the series analysed here is in line with that reported in the literature. Neurotoxicity caused by chemotherapy appears to be the main etiopathogenetic factor.

Deposition of beta-amyloid in the brain triggers an inflammatory response which accompanies the neuropathologic events of Alzheimer's disease and contributes to the destruction of brain tissue. The present study shows that beta-amyloid can stimulate human astrocytoma cells (T98G) to secrete the proinflammatory factors interleukin-6 and prostaglandins. Furthermore, prostaglandins can stimulate T98G to secrete interleukin-6, which in turn triggers the formation of additional prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are, therefore, a key element in the induction and maintenance of a state of chronic inflammation in the brain which may exacerbate the fundamental pathology in Alzheimer patients. Paracetamol (0.01-1000 microM), an unusual analgesic/antipyretic drug which acts preferentially by reducing prostaglandin production within the central nervous system, and indomethacin (0.001-10 microM) caused a clear dose-dependent reduction of prostaglandin E2 production by stimulated T98G cells whereas interleukin-6 release was not affected. These data provide further evidence of the involvement of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the inflammatory processes that can be generated by glial cells in intact brain.

In the past, studies on CD34+ cells have been based on the use of monoclonal antibodies conjugated with different fluorochromes that show different fluorescence intensity and yield variable results. Moreover, most of these studies have neither specifically focused on adult human BM samples nor have they used combinations to explore specifically the phenotype of myeloid committed CD34+ cells. The aim of the present study has been to characterize the normal human CD34+ precursor cells from adult BM in order to identify missing or extremely rare phenotypes that can be used for detecting minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with AML. For this purpose we have utilized the fluorochrome conjugates that provide the most sensitive signals for identifying low antigenic expression, and the technique has been adapted to the characterization of cells present at very low frequencies. Normal human BM samples from 13 adult healthy volunteers have been analyzed using triple stainings at flow cytometry. The mean percentage of CD34+ cells detected was 0.72 +/- 0.33%; these cells displayed an heterogeneous light-scatter distribution. Most CD34+ cells coexpressed CD38 (96.7 +/- 5.7%), HLADR (81.6 +/- 14.0%), CD33 (84.7 +/- 18.3%), CD13 (84.6 +/- 16.2%) and CD71 antigens (65.5 +/- 9.1%). In addition, almost half of CD34+ cells were CD117+ (60 +/- 26.8%). Only a small proportion of CD34+ cells coexpressed CD4 (15.5 +/- 11.7%, CD36 (31.7 +/- 6.2%), CD61 (16.3 +/- 12.9%), CD41 (6.5 +/- 5.5%) or the lymphoid associated markers CD10 (18.6 +/- 11.8%) and CD19 (12.3 +/- 13.2%). Reactivity for the CD15 antigen was observed in a small population of CD34+HLADR+ cells (11.6 +/- 11.2%) although its intensity of expression was lower than that of the more mature granulocytic cells. No CD34+ cells displayed CD14, CD65, CD20, strong CD22, CD3 and CD56 antigens. Accordingly, most adult bone marrow CD34+ cells appeared to be committed to the myeloid lineage (CD13+/CD33+) and displayed an intermediate-to-large FSC/SSC while the lymphoid-committed CD34+ cells (CD19+, CD10+) were in a minority with low FSC/SSC values. By triple marker stainings several phenotypes of CD34+ precursor cells were found to be either undetectable or present at very low frequencies (< 1 x 10(-3)) in the normal human adult bone marrow. These data may be of great value for defining leukemia 'associated' phenotypes used to detect minimal residual disease in adult acute leukemia patients.

In the present study, the expression of two NK-associated antigens (CD56 and CD16) together with six 'classically' considered lymphoid-related markers (TDT,CD19,CD10,CD7,CD2,CD4) has been analyzed by appropriate dual combinations in 265 acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients. Among the lymphoid markers, CD4 and CD7 were those most frequently expressed by AML blast cells (58% and 21.6%, respectively) while the incidence of positivity for the other markers was lower: CD19 (7.8%), CD10 (10.9%), CD2 (11.4%), and TDT (11.3%). Regarding NK-associated antigens, CD56 was present in 41% of AML cases analyzed whereas CD16 was detected in only 23%. All but one of the CD16+ cases coexpressed the CD56 antigen. The expression of these antigens was not associated with the degree of cell differentiation assessed either by morphological or immunophenotypical criteria, with the exception of the correlation observed between monocytic leukaemias and the expression of the CD4, CD56, and CD16 antigens. Regarding the prognostic value of the markers investigated, CD56 expression was associated with a tendency for a better outcome whereas CD7 was the only antigen that had an adverse influence on the survival of AML patients.