Common aspects between glaucoma and brain neurodegeneration.

Neurodegeneration can be defined as progressive cell damage to nervous system cells, and more specifically to neurons, which involves morphologic alterations and progressive loss of function until cell death. Glaucoma exhibits many aspects of neurodegenerative disease. This review examines the pathogenesis of glaucoma, comparing it with that of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), highlighting their common features. Indeed, in all three diseases there are not only the same types of pathogenic events, but also similarities of temporal cadences that determine neuronal damage. All three age-related illnesses have oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction as the first pathogenic steps. The consequence of these alterations is the death of visual neurons in glaucoma, cognitive neurons in AD and regulatory motor neurons (substantia nigra) in PD. The study of these common pathogenic events (oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, protein degradation, apoptosis and autophagy) leads us to consider common therapeutic strategies for the treatment and prevention of these diseases. Also, examination of the genetic aspects of the pathways involved in neurodegenerative processes plays a key role in shedding light on the details of pathogenesis and can suggest new treatments. This review discusses the common molecular aspects involved in these three oxidative-stress and age-related diseases.

[The History of Beta Thalassaemia in Sardinia: The Contribution of the Italian Schools of Pediatrics] / La storia della beta talassemia in Sardegna: Il contributo delle Scuole Italiane di pediatria

Beta thalassaemia represents one of the most common autosomal recessive disorders worldwide. High prevalence is present in the Mediterranean, Middle East and Far East. The highest incidences are reported in Cyprus, South East Asia and Sardinia and are most likely related to the selective pressure from Pl. falciparum, the causative agent of malaria. In Sardinia, because of the health relevance of beta thalassaemia and haemoglobinopathies and after the publication of the first scientific research on Cooley's anaemia, important Schools of Paediatrics and Clinical Genetics have been set up, which have contributed to defining diagnostic criteria, therapeutic and preventive measures (especially, newborn screening). The aim of the present study is to examine the results of the first scientific research made by the Sardinian Schools of Paediatrics and Clinical Genetics, from 1929 to 1957.

The Fight Against Tuberculosis in the Mid-nineteenth Century: The Pivotal Contribution of Edoardo Maragliano (1849-1940).

The second half of the nineteenth century saw the development of new medical "specialties", which, like the idea of constitutional disease, had a profound influence on medical practice. Against this lively "backdrop", Edoardo Maragliano played a central role in medicine's "renaissance" in Italy. Having graduated in medicine in 1870 at the University of Naples, he worked as an assistant in the University Medical Clinic. After beginning his academic career as professor of pathology at the Faculty of Medicine in Genoa in 1877, he became full professor of internal medicine in 1881. While he studied all fields of internal medicine, his research focused mainly on tuberculosis.His experiments in the medical clinic enabled Maragliano to announce the possibility of immunization against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Although criticized for using an inactivated vaccine, Maragliano continued to advocate vaccination with any type of vaccine.In the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy, Maragliano actively debated social, economic and sanitary questions, without neglecting his duties as a physician and professor. As an officer during the First World War, he organized military health services and taught medicine at the Military University of Padua.In 1924, Maragliano created the first Italian specialty school in the study of tuberculosis, which provided physicians with specific training in the diagnosis, therapy and prevention of the disease. His scientific zeal and his vision of modern medicine prompted the introduction of new specializations, such as radiology and, especially, pneumology, which led to the creation of one of Europe's most renowned medical schools.