Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neuromuscular disease, characterized by progressive degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons in the cortex and spinal cord. Although the pathogenesis of ALS remains unclear, evidence on the role of the clonotypic immune system is growing. Adaptive immunity cells often appear changed in number or activation profile peripherally and centrally. However, their role in ALS appears conflicting. Data, from human and animal model studies, currently reported in literature show that each subset of lymphocytes and their mediators may mediate a protective or toxic mechanism in ALS, affecting both its progression and risk of death. In the present review article and attempt is made to shed light on the actual role of the cellular clonotypic immunity in ALS by integrating recent clinical studies and experimental observations.

Takotsubo syndrome (TTS), recognized as stress’s cardiomyopathy, or better as left ventricular apical balloon syndrome in the recent years, is a rare pathology, described for the first time by Japanese researchers in 1990. TTS is characterized by an interindividual heterogeneity in onset and progression, and by the strong predominance in postmenopausal women. The clear causes of these TTS features are uncertain, given the reduced understanding of this intriguing syndrome until now. However, the increasing frequency of TTS cases in the last years, and particularly correlated to SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, leads us to imperative necessity both of a complete knowledge of TTS pathophysiology for identifying biomarkers facilitating its management, and targets for specific and effective treatments. The suspect of a genetic basis in TTS pathogenesis has been evidenced. Accordingly, familial form of TTS has been described. But a systematic and comprehensive characterization of the genetic or epigenetic factors significantly associated with TTS is lacking. Thus, we, here, conducted a systematic review of literature before June 2021, to contribute to identify potential genetic and epigenetic factors associated with TTS. Interesting data were evidenced, but of reduced number and with diverse limitations. Consequently, we concluded further work is needed to address the gaps discussed, and probably a clear evidence may arrive using multi-omics investigations.

Abstract: The pathobiology of ascending aorta aneurysms (AAA) onset and progression is not well understood and only partially characterized. AAA are also complicated in case of bicuspid aorta valve (BAV) anatomy. There is emerging evidence about the crucial role of endothelium-related pathways, which show in AAA an altered expression and function. Here, we examined the involvement of ERG-related pathways in the differential progression of disease in aortic tissues from patients having a BAV or tricuspid aorta valve (TAV) with or without AAA. Our findings identified ERG as a novel endothelial-specific regulator of TGF-β-SMAD, Notch, and NO pathways, by modulating a differential fibrotic or calcified AAA progression in BAV and TAV aortas. We provided evidence that calcification is correlated to different ERG expression (as gene and protein), which appears to be under control of Notch signaling. The latter, when increased, associated with an early calcification in aortas with BAV valve and aneurysmatic, was demonstrated to favor the progression versus severe complications, i.e., dissection or rupture. In TAV aneurysmatic aortas, ERG appeared to modulate fibrosis. Therefore, we proposed that ERG may represent a sensitive tissue biomarker to monitor AAA progression and a target to develop therapeutic strategies and influence surgical procedures.

Background: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is the most common arrhythmia after cardiac surgery in conventional extracorporeal circulation (CECC), with an incidence of 15-50%. The POAF pathophysiology is not known, and no blood biomarkers exist. However, an association between increased ferritin levels and increased AF risk, has been demonstrated. Based on such evidence, here, we evaluated the effectiveness of ferritin and other haemato-chemical parameters as a POAF onset biomarker in subjected to cardiac surgery. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 90 patients (mean age= 66.9±2.8 years; 40 men and 20 females) with diverse heart pathologies and subjected to cardiothoracic surgery. Their blood samples were collected and used to determine haemato-chemical parameters. The tree test approach was used to detect the best data-driven ferritin cuff-off value (=141 ng/ml) to predict POAF risk. Results: The data obtained demonstrated significant higher concentrations, absolute values, and percentages, of ferritin, RDW, PLTs, in POAF patients. However, the ferritin resulted to be the independent factor associated with the onset POAF risk. Thus, we detected the ferritin cut-off value, which, when ≥ 141 ng/ml identifies the subjects at the highest POAF risk. Conclusions: Ferritin values≥ 141 ng/ml might be used as predictive POAF biomarker.