http://elea.unisa.it/xmlui/handle/10556/437 2026-04-14T15:01:47Z 2026-04-14T15:01:47Z Guida, Maurizio Marra, Marialuisa Palatucci, Valeria Pascale, Renato Visconti, Federica Zullo, Fulvio http://elea.unisa.it/xmlui/handle/10556/518 2025-04-30T14:03:14Z 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z

Emergency contraception: an updated review Guida, Maurizio; Marra, Marialuisa; Palatucci, Valeria; Pascale, Renato; Visconti, Federica; Zullo, Fulvio Emergency contraception is a common practice now. Many categories of drugs are marketed with modifications in dosage, in combination and even in the timing of administration. Recent re-analysis suggests that there is still no uniformity of opinion on the actual mechanism of action and this has often fueled the ethical controversy. This review analyzes the most common emergency contraception drugs: levonorgestrel, mifepristone and ulipristal acetate about their action underlining that the hormonal products, when used in emergency contraception, play different roles depending on the phase of the menstrual cycle during which they are administered.This review aims to examine rigorously the most accredited literature to verify if a evidence-based uniformity of opinions has been achieved about the biological effects of hormones administered after the sexual intercourse.

2011-01-01T00:00:00Z La Torre, Domenico Aguennouz, Mhammed Conti, Alfredo Giusa, Maria Raffa, G. Abbritti, R. V. Germanò, Antonino Angileri, Filippo Flavio http://elea.unisa.it/xmlui/handle/10556/517 2025-04-30T14:02:52Z 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z

Potential clinical role of telomere length in human glioblastoma La Torre, Domenico; Aguennouz, Mhammed; Conti, Alfredo; Giusa, Maria; Raffa, G.; Abbritti, R. V.; Germanò, Antonino; Angileri, Filippo Flavio Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is the most common and lethal of human primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Due to the tumour’s intrinsic clinical and molecular heterogeneity, choice of initial treatment, prediction of survival, stratification of patients, prediction and monitoring of response to therapy, represent some of the greatest challenges in the management of GBM patients. Patients, despite optimal surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, still have a median survival of 14-16 months. A reason for this dismal prognosis is because of the relative inaccuracy of current prognostic markers, so far based on clinical or pathological variables. Molecular markers that effectively predict response to therapy and survival outcomes are limited. Consequently, there is a strong need to develop novel and independent markers of prognosis. Ideal biomarkers for solid tumors would serve one or more important functions. Telomeres, guanine-rich tandem DNA repeats of the chromosomal end, provide chromosomal stability, regulates important cellular processes, and seem to be implicated in human carcinogenesis. Recently, telomeres have been shown either to be associated with clinical markers of disease progression or to be independent markers of cancer prognosis in solid tumours, including GBM. Nevertheless, a corresponding comprehensive discussion of these promising developments in brain tumours has not yet been available in the literature. Therefore, here we reviewed studies focused on the assessment of telomeric length in brain tumours with the aim to emphasized those findings indicating a potential clinical role of telomeres in GBM. With the aim to enhance the awareness of the potential clinical role of telomeres’ length information in GBM, using a southern blot analysis, telomeric length in excised tumour samples was analyzed. Moreover, an attempt to correlated telomere length with patients’ overall survival, was also performed. The findings here reviewed shows some contradictory results, due to different tissues used as controls, but mainly to cellular and molecular heterogeneity in GBMs that drive molecular mechanisms controlling telomere length, included telomerase and Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT), through multiple mechanisms. However, overall these studies, including our own, are consistent with the hypothesis that GBMs’ telomeres were always shorter when compared with Normal Brain Tissue (NBT), and together with higher telomerase activity seem to be associated with malignancy and poor outcome; while tumours with ALT phenotype have longer telomeres, “less malignant” behaviour and better prognosis. We conclude that, although not entirely consistent in the type of telomere alteration, i.e., attrition vs. elongation, and unclear on the underlying mechanisms, multiple studies in brain tumours have shown that Translational Medicine @ UniSa, - ISSN 2239-9747 2011, 1(1): 243-270 245 Università degli Studi di Salerno telomere dysfunctions are associated with parameters of clinical outcome in patients with GBMs and therefore will be part of novel risk assessment and prognostic modalities for patients with these still dismal disease.

2011-01-01T00:00:00Z Servillo, Giuseppe Vargas, Maria http://elea.unisa.it/xmlui/handle/10556/516 2025-04-30T14:02:52Z 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z

End of life in intensive care unit Servillo, Giuseppe; Vargas, Maria

2011-01-01T00:00:00Z De Robertis, Edoardo Iannuzzi, Michele Tufano, Rosalba Piazza, Ornella http://elea.unisa.it/xmlui/handle/10556/515 2025-04-30T14:02:52Z 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z

Pre-and in-hospital non-invasive ventilation De Robertis, Edoardo; Iannuzzi, Michele; Tufano, Rosalba; Piazza, Ornella

2011-01-01T00:00:00Z