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Chitosan polymer as a bioactive carrier has an emerging importance due to its great versatility. Many strategies are reported for enhancing its properties. Herein, chitosan hydrogels modified by dodecenylsuccinic anhydride (DDSA) are prepared, characterized by SEM, FTIR, 13C NMR while their mechanical properties and cytotoxicity are assessed. Chitosan modification was studied by FTIR and 13C NMR. According to rheological measurements, modified chitosan hydrogels present a predominantly elastic behavior and exert a higher compressive strength than chitosan hydrogels. Furthermore, this work evaluates thymol incorporation, its release profile as well as its in vivo performance in a periodontitis rat model. In vitro studies reveal that thymol‐loaded‐DDSA‐chitosan hydrogels possess antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa for 2 days and antioxidant activity for 5 days. The incorporation of hydrophobic chains improves thymol release profile; however, DDSA‐chitosan hydrogels cytotoxicity is greater when compared to chitosan hydrogels. Finally, in a preliminary in vivo study, the local application of thymol‐loaded hydrogels is evaluated during a one‐week period. The histomorphometric measurements indicate that periodontal damage is lower when thymol is administrated in chitosan hydrogels in comparison to DDSA‐chitosan hydrogels. Nevertheless, DDSA‐chitosan hydrogels could still be useful for the sustained local delivery of hydrophobic drugs.

Background: Curcumin (Cur) is a natural yellow polyphenol extracted from the turmeric rhizome (Curcuma longa). Cur is known for its potential therapeutic properties as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, hepatoprotective, and anti-mutagenic, although some of these biological activities remain unproven. Epidemiological studies have shown a positive relationship between high-fat diets and diet-related chronic diseases. We hypothesized that some adverse effects of consuming atherogenic or high-fat diets (AD) can be ameliorated by Cur supplementation. Using an experimental model of rats, this study investigated the significance of Cur when it is given as a supplement in an AD.Methods: Healthy adult Wistar rats were randomly assigned to one of three groups. Controls (C) received a standard diet and experimental rats were fed with AD or AD+Cur for 5 weeks. Cur (100 mg/kg body weight) was given orally daily, plus piperine (5 mg/kg body weight). The effect of Cur supplementation was studied on zoometrics, visceral fat content, serum lipids profile, hepatosteatosis, liver function and oxidative status. Results: Diets did not alter energy consumption. As compared to the other groups, AD+Cur group showed a lower total visceral fat content, percentage of perirenal, mesenteric, and pelvic fat, and body weight gain (P< 0.05). Serum total cholesterol (P<0.0001), non-HDL-C (P<0.0001) levels were significantly higher in AD groups as compared with C. Serum triglycerides and HDL-C levels remained similar among groups (P>0.05). AD induced a liver injury with macrovesicular steatosis and portal inflammation. AD+Cur rats presented microvesicular steatosis with no inflammation, achieving the lowest level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT; P<0.0001) and reductions of aspartate aminotransferase (AST; P<0.0001). Liver homogenates from AD+Cur showed that Cur supplementation reduced the dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) oxidation rate induced by AD by 25 % and deferoxamine and superoxide dismutase inhibited DCFH-DA. Conclusion: Cur as a dietary supplement showed a protective effect against obesity and inflammation, but its cardioprotective ability remained unproved. Cur may develop as a promising therapeutic agent for liver diseases induced by oxidative stress. This study provides supporting evidence to confirm the beneficial effects of curcumin from the point of view of functional food science.  Keywords: curcumin, liver injury, ROS, atherogenic diet, visceral fat, obesity

The immigrant population in Italy is currently increasing, particularly, foreigners in East Piedmont raised by 16,8 % last year. We aim to compare immigrant and Italian patients' Emergency Room (ER) admissions due to psychiatric symptoms. Results: Of the 658 admissions we observed, 13.1 % of ER contacts concerned immigrants mostly coming from Russia, Albania, Morocco and Romania, consistently with migration streams in East Piedmont. Compared to the Italians, immigrant patients were younger (35.70; SD = 10.56 versus 44.78; SD = 16.57) and more frequently admitted for alcohol and substance abuse/withdrawal. Italians had a higher probability of having a psychiatric history including previous hospitalizations and contacts with Mental Health Services (OR = 2.60; CI 95 %: 1.64-4.12). The presence of social/relational problems associated with admission was significantly lower among the Italians (OR = 0.55; CI 95 %: 0.35-0.88). Conclusions: Preliminary data suggest that ER utilisation by immigrants may represent their main way to primary health care. Monitoring ER contacts may provide relevant information for the development of culturally sensitive Mental Health Services. Methods: We considered Italian and immigrant patients with psychiatric symptoms who were admitted to the ER Department of Novara during a period of 13 months. We compared sociodemographic (gender, age, education, occupational history, marital status, living circumstances) clinical-anamnestic (history of psychiatric illness, presentation symptoms, previous contacts with Substance Abuse/Mental Health Services, social/relational problems) and admission (type of admission, intervention and discharge) characteristics of the two groups (Italians versus immigrants).

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