Risk behaviors among Italian healthcare students: a cross-sectional study for health promotion of future healthcare workers

Background:Risk behaviors are frequent among young adults and they are particularly relevant when considering healthcare students.Objectives:The study is aimed to examine the prevalence of smoking, binge drinking, physical inactivity, and excessive bodyweight in a population of healthcare students attending an Italian university.Methods:Healthcare students filled an anonymous multiple-choice questionnaire on the occasion of the occupational health visit that preceded their hospital internship. The questionnaire covered socio-demographic characteristics (including student’s working status and cohabitation) and risk behaviors. We evaluated the prevalence of risk behaviors and their association with socio-demographic characteristics.Results:The sample consisted of 494 students (65% women): 23.2% were smokers, 7.9% had excessive bodyweight, 35% did not practice any physical activity and 50% reported binge drinking at least once in the last 12 months. We found associations of male sex (30.5%) and being nursing students (29.9%) with smoking habit. The frequency of binge drinking was higher in men (38.4%), working students (53.9%), and among those who lived without family (50%). Physical inactivity was associated with female sex (44.2%) and living without family (57.1%). Finally, the co-presence of 2 risk behaviors or more was higher in men (36.8%), in nursing students (39.6%) and in working students (44.7%).Conclusions:Our findings regarding the prevalence of risk behaviors and their potential association with socio-demographic factors may be a clue to the definition of targeted strategies aimed at reducing of risk behaviors among healthcare students.Key words: risk behaviors, healthcare students, smoking, binge drinking, physical inactivity     

Impact of direct acting antivirals (DAAs) on cardiovascular events in HCV cohort with pre-diabetes

Background and aimsBeyond type 2 diabetes, even a condition of prediabetes is associated with an increased cardiovascular (CV) risk, and HCV infection coexistence represents an exacerbating factor. CV prognosis improvement in prediabetes represents a challenge, due to the increasing prevalence of this metabolic condition worldwide. Hence, we aimed to prospectively assess how direct acting antivirals (DAAs) could affect major cardiovascular events (MACE) in a prediabetic HCV positive cohort.Methods and resultsIn this prospective multicenter study, we enrolled HCV patients with overt prediabetes. We compared a subgroup of patients treated with DAAs with untreated prediabetic controls. We recorded all CV events occurred during an overall median follow-up of 24 months (IQR 19–34). 770 HCV positive prediabetic patients were enrolled, 398 untreated controls and 372 DAAs treated patients. Overall, the CV events annual incidence was much higher among prediabetic treated patients (1.77 vs. 0.62, p < 0.001), and HCV clearance demonstrated to significantly reduce CV events (RR: 0.411, 95%CI 0.148–1.143; p < 0.001), with an estimated NNT for one additional patient to benefit of 52.1. Moreover, an independent association between a lower rate of CV events and HCV clearance after DAAs was observed (OR 4.67; 95%CI 0.44–53.95; p = 0.016).ConclusionsHCV eradication by DAAs allows a significant reduction of MACEs in the prediabetic population, and therefore represents a primary objective, regardless of the severity of liver disease and CV risk factors.     

VGLUT‐VGAT expression delineates functionally specialised populations of vasopressin‐containing neurones including a glutamatergic perforant path‐projecting cell group to the hippocampus in rat and mouse brain

The origin and functional significance of vasopressin (AVP)‐containing fibres in limbic regions has been an ongoing subject of investigation for several years. We have previously identified AVP‐magnocellular neurones of rat hypothalamus that provide glutamatergic projections to the hippocampus, amygdala, lateral habenula and locus coeruleus. However, we also reported AVP‐immunopositive fibres in those regions that are thin and make Gray type II synapses, which are unlikely to be of magnocellular origin. Therefore, in the present study, we characterised AVP mRNA co‐expression with expression of mRNAs marking glutamatergic (vesicular glutamate transporter [VGLUT]) and GABAergic (vesicular GABA transporter [VGAT]) neuronal traits in rat and mouse brain, using high‐resolution in situ hybridisation methods, including a radio‐ribonucleotide and RNAscope 2.5 HD duplex assay, with Slc17a7, Slc17a6, Slc32a1 and Avp probes corresponding to mRNAs of VGLUT1, VGLUT2, VGAT and AVP, respectively. We located 18 cell groups expressing Avp and identified their molecular signatures for VGLUT and VGAT mRNA expression. Avp cell groups of hypothalamus and midbrain are mainly VGLUT mRNA‐expressing, whereas those in regions derived from cerebral nuclei are mainly VGAT mRNA‐expressing, suggesting a functional segregation of glutamate/GABA co‐transmission with AVP. A newly identified Slc17a7 and Slc17a6 (but not Slc32a1) expressing vasopressinergic cell group was found in layer II‐III neurones of the central entorhinal cortex, which projects to the hippocampus. These data support the notion of a complex role for AVP with respect to modulating multiple central circuits controlling behaviour in specific ways depending on co‐transmission with glutamate or GABA, potentially giving rise to a functional classification of AVPergic neurones in the central nervous system.     

Diagnostic and prognostic value of magnetic resonance imaging in the detection of tumor depth of invasion and bone invasion in patients with oral cavity cancer

La radiologia medica - To evaluate the accuracy of preoperative contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the assessment of radiological depth of invasion (rDOI) and bone invasion in...     

Differential effects of glucose deprivation on the survival of fetal versus adult neural stem cells-derived oligodendrocyte precursor cells

Impaired myelination is a key feature in neonatal hypoxia/ischemia (HI), the most common perinatal/neonatal cause of death and permanent disabilities, which is triggered by the establishment of an inflammatory and hypoxic environment during the most critical period of myelin development. This process is dependent on oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) and their capability to differentiate into mature oligodendrocytes. In this study, we investigated the vulnerability of fetal and adult OPCs derived from neural stem cells (NSCs) to inflammatory and HI insults. The resulting OPCs/astrocytes cultures were exposed to cytokines to mimic inflammation, or to oxygen–glucose deprivation (OGD) to mimic an HI condition. The differentiation of both fetal and adult OPCs is completely abolished following exposure to inflammatory cytokines, while only fetal-derived OPCs degenerate when exposed to OGD. We then investigated possible mechanisms involved in OGD-mediated toxicity: (a) T3-mediated maturation induction; (b) glutamate excitotoxicity; (c) glucose metabolism. We found that while no substantial differences were observed in T3 intracellular content regulation and glutamate-mediated toxicity, glucose deprivation lead to selective OPC cell death and impaired differentiation in fetal cultures only. These results indicate that the biological response of OPCs to inflammation and demyelination is different in fetal and adult cells, and that the glucose metabolism perturbation in fetal central nervous system (CNS) may significantly contribute to neonatal pathologies. An understanding of the underlying molecular mechanism will contribute greatly to differentiating myelination enhancing and neuroprotective therapies for neonatal and adult CNS white matter lesions.     

Cell-based assays for the detection of MOG antibodies: a comparative study

Journal of Neurology - The detection of antibodies to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) is fundamental for the identification of MOG antibody-associated disorders (MOGAD), and the...