ORCID Profile
0000-0002-2720-1473
Current Organisations
La Trobe University
,
Universita' degli Studi di Milano
,
Università degli Studi di Milano
,
Università degli Studi di Pavia
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2021
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 27-06-2018
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.5048
Abstract: RNA sequencing analysis has demonstrated bidirectional changes in metabolism, structural and immune pathways during early induction of defocus induced myopia. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate whether similar gene pathways are also related to the more excessive axial growth, ultrastructural and elemental microanalytic changes seen during the induction and recovery from form-deprivation myopia (FDM) in chicks and predicted by the RIDE model of myopia. Archived genomic transcriptome data from the first three days of induction of monocularly occluded form deprived myopia (FDMI) in chicks was obtained from the GEO database (accession # GSE6543 ) while data from chicks monocularly occluded for 10 days and then given up to 24 h of normal visual recovery (FDMR) were collected. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) software was used to determine enriched pathways during the induction (FDMI) and recovery (FDMR) from FD. Curated gene-sets were obtained from open access sources. Clusters of significant changes in mitochondrial energy metabolism, neurotransmission, ion channel transport, G protein coupled receptor signalling, complement cascades and neuron structure and growth were identified during the 10 days of induction of profound myopia and were found to correlate well with change in axial dimensions. Bile acid and bile salt metabolism pathways (cholesterol/lipid metabolism and sodium channel activation) were significantly upregulated during the first 24 h of recovery from 10 days of FDM. The gene pathways altered during induction of FDM are similar to those reported in defocus induced myopia and are established indicators of oxidative stress, osmoregulatory and associated structural changes. These findings are also consistent with the choroidal thinning, axial elongation and hyperosmotic ion distribution patterns across the retina and choroid previously reported in FDM and predicted by RIDE.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 17-02-2023
DOI: 10.3390/APPLIEDCHEM3010008
Abstract: Nuts are dry, single-seeded fruits with a combination of beneficial compounds that aid in disease prevention and treatment. The aims of this research are to evaluate the total antioxidant activity (AI) by ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, fatty acids by acid-catalyzed esterification method, and minerals by inductively coupled plasma optical emission (ICP-OE) spectrometer in hazelnuts, pistachios, and almond seeds and skins. Considering total AI, the results demonstrated that the highest activity was found in hazelnut and pistachio skin. The results considering minerals demonstrated that manganese, zinc, and iron levels are high in almond and hazelnut skins, copper is dominant in pistachio skin and hazelnut seed, and selenium is high in pistachio and almond skins and seed. Finally, the results showed palmitic acid is present in almond skin and pistachio seed, palmitoleic acid is high in almond and pistachio skins, and stearic acid is present in almond and hazelnut skins. Oleic acid was found in hazelnut seeds and their skin, linoleic acid in almond skin and pistachio seeds, and α-linolenic acid in almond and pistachio skins. In conclusion, hazelnut, pistachio, and almond skins are a great source of antioxidants, minerals, and healthy fatty acids, making them useful for nutraceutical development.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 26-09-2023
DOI: 10.3390/LIFE13101968
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 30-01-2022
DOI: 10.3390/NU14030620
Abstract: This review aims to define the effectiveness of the ketogenic diet (KD) for the management of sarcopenic obesity. As the combination of sarcopenia and obesity appears to have multiple negative metabolic effects, this narrative review discusses the effects of the ketogenic diet as a possible synergic intervention to decrease visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and fatty infiltration of the liver as well as modulate and improve the gut microbiota, inflammation and body composition. The results of this review support the evidence that the KD improves metabolic health and expands adipose tissue γδ T cells that are important for glycaemia control during obesity. The KD is also a therapeutic option for in iduals with sarcopenic obesity due to its positive effect on VAT, adipose tissue, cytokines such as blood biochemistry, gut microbiota, and body composition. However, the long-term effect of a KD on these outcomes requires further investigations before general recommendations can be made.
Publisher: American Physiological Society
Date: 05-0004
Abstract: Electroretinogram (ERG) studies have demonstrated that the retinal response to temporally modulated fast-ON and fast-OFF sawtooth flicker is asymmetric. The response to spatiotemporal sawtooth stimuli has not yet been investigated. Perceptually, such drifting gratings or diamond plaids shaded in a sawtooth pattern appear brighter when movement produces fast-OFF relative to fast-ON luminance profiles. The neural origins of this illusion remain unclear (although a retinal basis has been suggested). Thus we presented toad eyecups with sequential epochs of sawtooth, sine-wave, and square-wave gratings drifting horizontally across the retina at temporal frequencies of 2.5–20 Hz. All ERGs revealed a sustained direct-current (DC) transtissue potential during drift and a peak at drift offset. The litudes of both phenomena increased with temporal frequency. Consistent with the human perceptual experience of sawtooth gratings, the sustained DC potential effect was greater for fast-OFF cf. fast-ON sawtooth. Modeling suggested that the dependence of temporal luminance contrast on stimulus device frame rate contributed to the temporal frequency effects but could not explain the ergence in response litudes for the two sawtooth profiles. The difference between fast-ON and fast-OFF sawtooth profiles also remained following pharmacological suppression of postreceptoral activity with tetrodotoxin (TTX), 2-amino-4-phosphonobutric acid (APB), and 2,3 cis-piperidine dicarboxylic acid (PDA). Our results indicate that the DC potential difference originates from asymmetries in the photoreceptoral response to fast-ON and fast-OFF sawtooth profiles, thus pointing to an outer retinal origin for the motion-induced drifting sawtooth brightness illusion.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2022
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 27-02-2023
Abstract: Refractive errors (myopia and hyperopia) are the most common visual disorders and are severe risk factors for secondary ocular pathologies. The development of refractive errors has been shown to be associated with changes in ocular axial length, suggested to be induced by outer retinal elements. Thus, the present study systematically reviewed the literature examining retinal function as assessed using global flash electroretinograms (gfERGs) in human clinical refractive error populations. Electronic database searching via Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Psych INFO, and CINAHL retrieved 981 unique records (last searched on the 29 May 2022). Single case studies, s les with ocular comorbidities, drug trials, and reviews were excluded. Demographic characteristics, refractive state, gfERG protocol details, and waveform characteristics were extracted for the eight studies that met the inclusion criteria for the review and were judged to have acceptable risk of bias using the OHAT tool (total N = 552 participants age 7 to 50). Study synthesis suggests that myopia in humans involves attenuation of gfERG photoreceptor (a-wave) and bipolar cell (b-wave) function, consistent with the animal literature. Meaningful interpretation of the overall findings for hyperopia was limited by inconsistent reporting, highlighting the need for future studies to report key aspects of gfERG research design and outcomes more consistently for myopic and hyperopic refractive errors.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-07-2023
DOI: 10.1111/EJN.16087
Abstract: Migraine is a leading cause of disability in young adults. It occurs more frequently in females, often comorbidly with stress disorders, suggesting an association with hypothalamic sex and stress hormonal function and a likely interaction with autonomic nervous system activation. Thus, this study aimed to meta‐analyse current literature pertaining to female and male sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone and testosterone concentration), hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA axis) cortisol responses and heart rate variability (HRV) in migraineurs and controls aged 13–65 years. A systematic search of MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL and Web of Science databases on 29/08/2022 identified 29 studies for meta‐analysis (encompassing 719 migraineur and 592 control participants) that met inclusion and NHLBI risk of bias criteria. Results demonstrated that estrogen concentrations of female migraineurs were reduced ( g = −.60, 95% CI [−.91, −.29], p .001) in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, compared to controls. No differences were found in progesterone levels overall in female migraineurs, nor in testosterone levels in male migraineurs compared to controls. Further, early diurnal cortisol concentrations were elevated ( g = .32, 95% CI [.00, .63], p = .036) in female and male migraineurs compared to controls, though no differences were found in HRV of female or male migraineurs compared to controls. These findings of dysregulation of estrogen in females and cortisol dysregulation in female and male migraineurs indicate perturbed hypothalamic function and highlight the association of migraine with stress and the need for further rigorous investigation of hypothalamic neuroendocrine functions in migraineurs of both sexes.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-08-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2022
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 19-02-2021
DOI: 10.3390/NU13020666
Abstract: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to assess the effectiveness of probiotics in inducing body weight loss in patients with overweight or obesity with related metabolic diseases. The research was carried out on PubMed and Scopus, focusing on studies reporting the effect on anthropometric measures (weight, body mass Index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and hip circumference (HC) after administration of various probiotic strains compared to placebo. Twenty randomized controlled trials, that included 1411 patients, were considered. The meta-analyzed mean differences (MD) for random effects showed no significant decrease in body weight after probiotic supplementation (−0.26 kg [−075, 0.23], p = 0.30), while a significant BMI decrease was found (−0.73 kg/m2 [−1.31, −0.16], p = 0.01). For WC and HC, the meta-analyzed MD for random effects showed a significant decrease (WC: −0.71 cm [−1.24 −0.19], p = 0.008 and HC: −0.73 cm [−1.16 −0.30], p = 0.0008). The risk of bias was also evaluated considering a high risk and a low risk according to PRISMA criteria. In conclusion, the results of this meta-analysis highlight a positive trend of probiotics supplementation on the amelioration of anthropometric measures of overweight and obese patients with related metabolic diseases. However, further research is needed before recommending the use of probiotics as a therapeutic strategy for these patients. The focus of the future research should be to evaluate the efficacy of different probiotic strains, the quantities to be administered, and the duration of the intervention.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-08-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-017-10277-2
Abstract: Myopia (short-sightedness) and hyperopia (long-sightedness) occur when the eye grows too long or short, respectively, for its refractive power. There are currently approximately 1.45 billion myopes worldwide and prevalence is rising dramatically. Although high myopia significantly increases the risk of developing a range of sight-threatening disorders, the molecular mechanisms underlying ocular growth regulation and its relationship to these secondary complications remain poorly understood. Thus, this study meta-analyzed transcriptome datasets collected in the commonly used chick model of optically-induced refractive error. Fifteen datasets (collected across five previous studies) were obtained from GEO, preprocessed in Bioconductor, and ided into 4 conditions representing early (≤1 day) and late ( day) myopia and hyperopia induction. Differentially expressed genes in each condition were then identified using Rank Product meta-analysis. The results provide novel evidence for transcriptional activation of the complement system during both myopia and hyperopia induction, and confirm existing literature implicating cell signaling, mitochondrial, and structural processes in refractive error. Further comparisons demonstrated that the meta-analysis results also significantly improve concordance with broader omics data types (i.e., human genetic association and animal proteomics studies) relative to previous transcriptome studies, and show extensive similarities with the genes linked to age-related macular degeneration, choroidal neovascularization, and cataract.
Publisher: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
Date: 30-01-2017
Abstract: To identify commonalities between the genes in close proximity to genome-wide association study (GWAS) refractive error and axial length loci, and the genes and proteins differentially expressed in animal models of optically induced refractive error. The GWAS catalog was searched for loci significantly (P ≤ 5*10-8) associated with refractive error or axial length. PubMed was searched for exploratory animal transcriptome and proteomics studies of optically induced refractive error. A total of 15 GWAS, 7 transcriptome, and 9 proteomics studies met inclusion criteria. Ensembl's BioMart was used to identify human orthologs for the differentially expressed genes and proteins from animal studies. These orthologs were then compared to the protein-coding genes within 1 megabase (Mb), 500 kilobases (kb), and 250 kb of human GWAS loci by using the GeneOverlap R package, and Benjamini-Hochberg-adjusted P values and odds ratios (ORs) were calculated for each intersection. The genes near human GWAS loci overlapped significantly with the genes downregulated during early myopia induction in animals (1Mb: OR = 1.56, P = 0.025 500 kb: OR = 1.92, P = 0.010 250 kb: OR = 2.33, P = 0.010). There was also significant overlap between the genes and proteins differentially expressed in late myopia (OR = 4.12, P = 0.018). When animal study results were segregated by methodologic parameters, GWAS candidate genes overlapped significantly with the genes differentially expressed at early (OR = 1.50, P = 0.010) but not late (OR = 1.04, P = 0.684) induction time-points. Gene and protein expression responses also appeared well conserved across model species, and there was no evidence of greater GWAS-transcriptome concordance in similar species to humans (e.g., primates or mammals). These findings suggest that genetic and environmental factors control ocular growth via similar biological pathways across species, and support the continued use of animal models for investigating the biological mechanisms underlying human myopia development.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 30-08-2016
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 29-05-2021
DOI: 10.3390/LIFE11060501
Abstract: The Retinal Ion-Driven Fluid Efflux (RIDE) model theorizes that phototransduction-driven changes in trans-retinal ion and fluid transport underlie the development of myopia (short-sightedness). In support of this model, previous functional studies have identified the attenuation of outer retinal contributions to the global flash electroretinogram (gfERG) following weeks of myopia induction in chicks, while discovery-driven transcriptome studies have identified changes to the expression of ATP-driven ion transport and mitochondrial metabolism genes in the retina/RPE/choroid at the mid- to late-induction time-points. Less is known about the early time-points despite biometric analyses demonstrating changes in eye growth by 3 h in the chick lens defocus model. Thus, the present study compared gfERG and transcriptome profiles between 3 h and 3 days of negative lens-induced myopia and positive lens-induced hyperopia in chicks. Photoreceptor (a-wave and d-wave) and bipolar (b-wave and late-stage d-wave) cell responses were suppressed following negative lens-wear, particularly at the 3–4 h and 3-day time-points when active shifts in the rate of ocular growth were expected. Transcriptome measures revealed the up-regulation of oxidative phosphorylation genes following 6 h of negative lens-wear, concordant with previous reports at 2 days in this model. Signal transduction pathways, with core genes involved in glutamate and G-protein coupled receptor signalling, were down-regulated at 6 h. These findings contribute to a growing body of evidence for the dysregulation of phototransduction and mitochondrial metabolism in animal models of myopia.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2023
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 17-10-2022
DOI: 10.3390/NUTRACEUTICALS2040023
Abstract: Nuts are dry, single-seeded fruits, with a combination of beneficial compounds that aid in disease prevention and treatment. This review aims to summarize the antioxidant components and the nutraceutical properties and applications of hazelnut, almond, and pistachio skins, as well as discuss their ability to prevent and treat specific diseases based on in vitro and in vivo studies. The search strategy included searching PubMed database and Google Scholar for relevant articles published in English. Research articles focusing on hazelnut, pistachio, and almond were included. The nut skin extracts were considered and other by-products were excluded from this search. Pistachio and almond skin hydroalcoholic extracts have antibacterial effects and decrease the risk of liver cancer by eliminating reactive oxygen species. Moreover, hazelnut skin can lower plasma against low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, thus reducing the risk of colon cancer, and its polyphenolic extract can also decrease the formation of advanced glycation end products in vitro with multidimensional effects. Overall, hazelnut, pistachio, and almond skins are a great source of antioxidants, making them suitable for nutraceuticals’ development.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2023
No related grants have been discovered for Simone Perna.