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Lazzarini R, Eléxpuru-Zabaleta M, Piva F, Giulietti M, Fulgenzi G, Tartaglione MF, Zingaretti L, Tagliabracci A, Valentino M, Santarelli L, Bracci M. Effects of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields on human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells: proteomic characterization. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2023; 253:114650. [PMID: 36805133 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.114650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Revised: 01/29/2023] [Accepted: 02/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-MF) can modify the cell viability and regulatory processes of some cell types, including breast cancer cells. Breast cancer is a multifactorial disease where a role for ELF-MF cannot be excluded. ELF-MF may influence the biological properties of breast cells through molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways that are still unclear. This study analyzed the changes in the cell viability, cellular morphology, oxidative stress response and alteration of proteomic profile in breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) exposed to ELF-MF (50 Hz, 1 mT for 4 h). Non-tumorigenic human breast cells (MCF-10A) were used as control cells. Exposed MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells increased their viability and live cell number and showed a higher density and length of filopodia compared with the unexposed cells. In addition, ELF-MF induced an increase of the mitochondrial ROS levels and an alteration of mitochondrial morphology. Proteomic data analysis showed that ELF-MF altered the expression of 328 proteins in MDA-MB-231 cells and of 242 proteins in MCF-10A cells. Gene Ontology term enrichment analysis demonstrated that in both cell lines ELF-MF exposure up-regulated the genes enriched in "focal adhesion" and "mitochondrion". The ELF-MF exposure decreased the adhesive properties of MDA-MB-231 cells and increased the migration and invasion cell abilities. At the same time, proteomic analysis, confirmed by Real Time PCR, revealed that transcription factors associated with cellular reprogramming were upregulated in MDA-MB-231 cells and downregulated in MCF-10A cells after ELF-MF exposure. MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells exposed to 1 mT 50 Hz ELF-MF showed modifications in proteomic profile together with changes in cell viability, cellular morphology, oxidative stress response, adhesion, migration and invasion cell abilities. The main signaling pathways involved were relative to focal adhesion, mitochondrion and cellular reprogramming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raffaella Lazzarini
- Occupational Medicine, Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
| | - Maria Eléxpuru-Zabaleta
- Research Group on Foods, Nutritional Biochemistry and Health, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain.
| | - Francesco Piva
- Department of Specialistic Clinical and Odontostomatological Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy.
| | - Matteo Giulietti
- Department of Specialistic Clinical and Odontostomatological Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy.
| | - Gianluca Fulgenzi
- Experimental Pathology, Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
| | - Maria Fiorella Tartaglione
- Occupational Medicine, Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
| | - Laura Zingaretti
- Occupational Medicine Unit, Marche University Hospital, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy.
| | - Matteo Valentino
- Occupational Medicine, Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
| | - Lory Santarelli
- Occupational Medicine, Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
| | - Massimo Bracci
- Occupational Medicine, Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
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Turchi C, Melchionda F, Alessandrini F, Onofri V, Pesaresi M, Buscemi L, Tagliabracci A. Pitfalls, challenges and caveats in whole mitochondrial genome sequencing from hair shafts by MPS: Where, when and how to address them. Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigss.2022.10.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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Carlier J, Malaca S, Huestis MA, Tagliabracci A, Tini A, Busardò FP. Biomarkers of 4-hydroxy- N,N-methylpropyltryptamine (4-OH-MPT) intake identified from human hepatocyte incubations. Expert Opin Drug Metab Toxicol 2022; 18:831-840. [PMID: 36609205 DOI: 10.1080/17425255.2022.2166826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND 4-Hydroxy-N,N-methylpropyltryptamine (4-OH-MPT) is a psychedelic tryptamine whose use is regulated in several countries. Due to unspecific effects, consumption can be ascertained only through toxicological analyses. However, the trace amounts of tryptamines are usually challenging to detect in biological samples. 4-OH-MPT metabolism was characterized to identify optimal metabolite markers of intake in clinical/forensic toxicology. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS 4-OH-MPT was incubated with 10-donor-pooled human hepatocytes to simulate in vivo conditions; samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS), and data were processed with Compound Discoverer from Thermo Scientific. LC-HRMS/MS and data mining were supported by in silico metabolite predictions (GLORYx). RESULTS Three phase I and four phase II metabolites were identified, including N-oxidation and N-demethylation at the alkylamine chain, and O-glucuronidation and sulfation at the hydroxylindole core. CONCLUSIONS 4-OH-MPT metabolic fate was consistent with the human metabolism of tryptamine analogues: we suggest 4-OH-MPT-N-oxide and 4-hydroxy-N,N-propyltryptamine (4-OH-PT) as metabolite biomarkers of 4-OH-MPT consumption after glucuronide/sulfate hydrolysis in biological samples to improve detection of 4-OH-MPT and phase I metabolites; 4-OH-MPT-glucuronide is suggested as an additional biomarker when hydrolysis is not performed. Further research on the metabolism of structural analogues is necessary to evaluate the specificity of 4-OH-MPT metabolite biomarkers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy Carlier
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, Unit of Forensic Toxicology, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy
| | - Sara Malaca
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, Unit of Forensic Toxicology, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy
| | - Marilyn A Huestis
- Institute of Emerging Health Professions, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, Unit of Forensic Toxicology, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy
| | - Anastasio Tini
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, Unit of Forensic Toxicology, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy
| | - Francesco P Busardò
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, Unit of Forensic Toxicology, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy
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Pigliasco F, Malaca S, Lo Faro AF, Tini A, Cangemi G, Cafaro A, Barco S, Riva A, Pisati A, Amadori E, Striano P, Tagliabracci A, Huestis MA, Busardò FP. Cannabidiol, ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and metabolites in human blood by volumetric absorptive microsampling and LC-MS/MS following controlled administration in epilepsy patients. Front Pharmacol 2022; 13:1038754. [PMID: 36353497 PMCID: PMC9637868 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.1038754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Cannabidiol (CBD) exhibits anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic, antiseizure, and neuroprotective proprieties without addictive or psychotropic side effects, as opposed to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). While recreational cannabis contains higher THC and lower CBD concentrations, medical cannabis contains THC and CBD in different ratios, along with minor phytocannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids and other chemicals. A volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS) method combined with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry in tandem for quantification of CBD, THC and their respective metabolites: cannabidiol-7-oic acid (7-COOH-CBD); 7-hydroxy-cannabidiol (7-OH-CBD); 6-alpha-hydroxy-cannabidiol (6-α-OH-CBD); and 6-beta-hydroxycannabidiol (6-β-OH-CBD); 11- Hydroxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (11-OH-THC) and 11-Nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH). After overnight enzymatic glucuronide hydrolysis at 37°C, samples underwent acidic along with basic liquid-liquid extraction with hexane: ethyl acetate (9:1, v/v). Chromatographic separation was carried out on a C18 column, with the mass spectrometer operated in multiple reaction monitoring mode and negative electrospray ionization. Seven patients with intractable epilepsy were dosed with various CBD-containing formulations and blood collected just before their daily morning administration. The method was validated following international guidelines in toxicology. Linear ranges were (ng/ml) 0.5–25 THC, 11-OH-THC, THCCOOH, 6-α-OH-CBD and 6-β-OH-CBD; 10–500 CBD and 7-OH-CBD; and 20–5000 7-COOH-CBD. 7-COOH-CBD was present in the highest concentrations, followed by 7-OH-CBD and CBD. This analytical method is useful for investigating CBD, THC and their major metabolites in epilepsy patients treated with CBD preparations employing a minimally invasive microsampling technique requiring only 30 µL blood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Pigliasco
- Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Sara Malaca
- Department of Excellence-Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Alfredo Fabrizio Lo Faro
- Department of Excellence-Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Anastasio Tini
- Department of Excellence-Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Giuliana Cangemi
- Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry Section, Central Laboratory of Analyses, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
| | - Alessia Cafaro
- Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry Section, Central Laboratory of Analyses, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Internal Medicine, Pharmacology & Toxicology Unit, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Sebastiano Barco
- Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry Section, Central Laboratory of Analyses, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
- *Correspondence: Sebastiano Barco,
| | - Antonella Riva
- Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Angelica Pisati
- Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Amadori
- Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Pasquale Striano
- Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- Paediatric Neurology and Muscular Disease Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Department of Excellence-Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Marilyn Ann Huestis
- Institute of Emerging Health Professions, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Francesco Paolo Busardò
- Department of Excellence-Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
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Melchionda F, Silvestrini B, Robino C, Bini C, Fattorini P, Martinez-Labarga C, De Angelis F, Tagliabracci A, Turchi C. Development and Validation of MPS-Based System for Human Appearance Prediction in Challenging Forensic Samples. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13101688. [PMID: 36292573 PMCID: PMC9601425 DOI: 10.3390/genes13101688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 09/10/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) provides the ability to predict the human external traits from unknown sample donors, directly from minute amounts of DNA found at the crime scene. We developed a MPS multiplex assay, with the aim of genotyping all 41 DNA markers included in the HIrisPlex-S system for simultaneous prediction of eye, hair and skin colours. Forensic samples such as blood, skeletal remains, touch DNA, saliva swab, artificially degraded samples together with individuals with known phenotypes and a set of 2800 M control DNA were sequenced on the Ion Torrent platform in order to evaluate the concordance testing results and the forensic suitability of the 41-plex MPS assay. The panel was evaluated by testing a different number of PCR cycles and the volume of reagents for library preparation. The study demonstrated that full and reliable profiles were obtained with 0.1–5 ng, even with high degraded DNA. The increment of the number of PCR cycles results in an improvement of correctly genotyping and phenotyping for samples with low amounts of degraded DNA but higher frequencies of artefacts were found. The high DNA degradation level did not influence the correct genotyping and phenotyping and the critical parameter affecting the result is the quantity of input DNA. Eye and hair colour was predicted in 92.60% of individuals and skin colour in 85.15% of individuals. The results suggest that this MPS assay is robust, highly sensitive and useful for human pigmentation prediction in the forensic genetic field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filomena Melchionda
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-071-596-5044
| | - Beatrice Silvestrini
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy
- Department of Surgical, Medical, Molecular Pathology, and Critical Area, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Carlo Robino
- Department of Public Health Sciences and Pediatrics, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy
- S.C. Medicina Legale, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza, 10126 Turin, Italy
| | - Carla Bini
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Section of Legal Medicine, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Paolo Fattorini
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Health, University of Trieste, Strada di Fiume 447, 34149 Trieste, Italy
| | - Cristina Martinez-Labarga
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00173 Rome, Italy
| | - Flavio De Angelis
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00173 Rome, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy
| | - Chiara Turchi
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy
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Colleluori G, Graciotti L, Pesaresi M, Di Vincenzo A, Perugini J, Di Mercurio E, Caucci S, Bagnarelli P, Zingaretti CM, Nisoli E, Menzo S, Tagliabracci A, Ladoux A, Dani C, Giordano A, Cinti S. Visceral fat inflammation and fat embolism are associated with lung’s lipidic hyaline membranes in subjects with COVID-19. Int J Obes (Lond) 2022; 46:1009-1017. [PMID: 35082385 PMCID: PMC8790008 DOI: 10.1038/s41366-022-01071-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Revised: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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Natanti A, Palpacelli M, Valsecchi M, Tagliabracci A, Pesaresi M. Mycobacterium chimaera: a report of 2 new cases and literature review. Int J Legal Med 2021; 135:2667-2679. [PMID: 34185152 PMCID: PMC8523431 DOI: 10.1007/s00414-021-02630-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2020] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Mycobacterium chimaera is a non-tuberculous mycobacterium, member of the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), which has become a global public health concern due to infection following cardiac surgery performed with contaminated heater-cooler units. M. chimaera infection is characterized by a long latency, non-specific signs and symptoms and high mortality rates. Thus, the diagnosis is still challenging both for forensic pathologists and for clinicians. Clinical manifestations of M. chimaera infection include endocarditis, hepatitis, nephritis, encephalitis and chorioretinitis. A constant histopathologic finding is the presence of non-caseating granulomas, with multinucleated giant cells and histiocytes. Hereby, we present two cases of fatal disseminated M. chimaera infection following aortic valve surgery reporting clinical history and post-mortem findings. Further, we provide a brief overview of the literature with a special focus on histopathological characteristics of M. chimaera infection. The aim of this article is to provide a complete synopsis of histopathological characteristics useful for forensic pathologists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Natanti
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence SBSP-Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Università Politecnica delle Marche of Ancona, Conca 71, Street, Ancona, Italy
| | - Marco Palpacelli
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence SBSP-Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Università Politecnica delle Marche of Ancona, Conca 71, Street, Ancona, Italy
| | - Marco Valsecchi
- SOD of Legal Medicine, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Ospedali Riuniti "Umberto I G M Lancisi G Salesi", Ancona, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence SBSP-Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Università Politecnica delle Marche of Ancona, Conca 71, Street, Ancona, Italy
| | - Mauro Pesaresi
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence SBSP-Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Università Politecnica delle Marche of Ancona, Conca 71, Street, Ancona, Italy.
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La Maida N, Di Trana A, Giorgetti R, Tagliabracci A, Busardò FP, Huestis MA. A Review of Synthetic Cathinone-Related Fatalities From 2017 to 2020. Ther Drug Monit 2021; 43:52-68. [PMID: 32881779 DOI: 10.1097/ftd.0000000000000808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 07/24/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Synthetic cathinones (SCs) are designer analogs of the natural active principle of khat. Since their appearance on the black market in 2003, their popularity has increased annually, and they have become the most seized class of new psychoactive substances reported to the UNODC Early Warning Advisory system. The constant introduction of newly synthesized molecules makes this issue difficult to monitor. The authors reviewed the most recent SC-related fatalities worldwide to highlight new trends of consumption, reporting acute pharmacological and toxicological symptoms, scene investigations, analytical methods, and reported SC concentrations in diverse biological matrices. METHODS A literature search was performed using scientific databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Research Gate to identify relevant scientific publications from 2017 to 2020. In addition, a search was conducted through the EU EWS. RESULTS From 2017 to 2020, 31 different SCs were identified in 75 reported fatal intoxications in the literature, alone or in combination with other substances. The most abused SCs were N-ethylpentylone, N-ethylhexedrone, and 4-chloromethcathinone. The EU EWS included less detail on 72 additional SC-related fatalities from 2017 to 2020. CONCLUSIONS New SCs continuously replace older natural and synthetic stimulant drugs, making determining the cause of death difficult. Analytical methods and high-performance mass spectrometry instruments are essential to detect the low concentrations of these potent new SCs. Little data are available on the pharmacology of these new drugs; the evaluation of toxicological antemortem and postmortem findings provides critical data on the drug's pharmacology and toxicology and for the interpretation of new SC cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nunzia La Maida
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Science and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy ; and
| | - Annagiulia Di Trana
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Science and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy ; and
| | - Raffaele Giorgetti
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Science and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy ; and
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Science and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy ; and
| | - Francesco P Busardò
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Science and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy ; and
| | - Marilyn A Huestis
- Institute of Emerging Health Professions, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Natanti A, Mazzanti R, Palpacelli M, Turchi C, Tagliabracci A, Pesaresi M. Death following extreme temperature exposure: Histological, biochemical and immunohistochemical markers. Med Sci Law 2021; 61:36-41. [PMID: 33591877 DOI: 10.1177/0025802420942423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Defining extreme temperatures as the cause of death remains challenging. It is mostly based on circumstantial, macroscopic and microscopic features. METHODS We retrospectively compared groups of cases of fatal hypothermia, fatal hyperthermia and non-extreme temperature-related deaths. We analysed specific histological findings, focusing on samples from the liver, pancreas and kidney. RESULTS Between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2016, 15 autopsies were performed for deaths related to extreme temperatures. They included 11 cases of fatal hypothermia (group A), four cases of fatal hyperthermia (group B) and eight controls (group C). Perinuclear hepatocyte vacuolisation was observed in seven cases of hypothermia, one case of hyperthermia and four controls. Pancreatic cytoarchitecture was well preserved in two cases of hypothermia, one case of hyperthermia and two controls. No particular microscopic feature was found in pancreatic samples. Renal epithelial tubular cell vacuolisation was observed in seven cases of hypothermia and one case of hyperthermia, while it was absent in all controls. Chromogranin A (CgA) was markedly positive in the pancreatic tissue of five cases of fatal hypothermia and one control, and mildly positive in one case of fatal hyperthermia. No significant p-values were observed for any comparisons (p > 0.05), except when hypothermia cases group were compared to the control group for the Armanni-Ebstein phenomenon test (p = 0.0078). CONCLUSIONS Although our study did not find a specific microscopic marker, hepatocyte vacuolisation, the Armanni-Ebstein phenomenon and pancreatic CgA positivity, taken together, may be useful tools to confirm hypo- and hyperthermia-related deaths, in addition to circumstantial and macroscopic findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Natanti
- Università Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Sanità Pubblica, Italy
| | - Roberta Mazzanti
- Università Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Sanità Pubblica, Italy
| | - Marco Palpacelli
- Università Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Sanità Pubblica, Italy
| | - Chiara Turchi
- Università Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Sanità Pubblica, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Università Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Sanità Pubblica, Italy
| | - Mauro Pesaresi
- Università Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Sanità Pubblica, Italy
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Palazzo C, Pelletti G, Fais P, Giorgetti A, Boscolo-Berto R, Gaudio RM, Pirani F, Tagliabracci A, Pelotti S. Application of aquatic decomposition scores for the determination of the Post Mortem Submersion Interval on human bodies recovered from the Northern Adriatic Sea. Forensic Sci Int 2020; 318:110599. [PMID: 33279762 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Revised: 10/31/2020] [Accepted: 11/12/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE The decomposition process of human bodies in marine environment is not well understood, and it is influenced by external variables related to the geographical area where the body is submerged. We report the application of two decomposition scores, the Heaton's score and the van Daalen's score, on a casuistry of human bodies recovered from the Northern Adriatic Sea. The aims of this study are to verify whether the marine environment of a Mediterranean climate area may affect the applicability of both scores and to develop a prediction model that can be applied on bodies recovered in salt water. METHODS A retrospective study was performed on 61 human bodies recovered between 2005 and 2019 from coastal water of the Northern Adriatic Sea nearby the Italian regions Emilia-Romagna and Marche. For each of the 61 cases included, the Total Aquatic Decomposition Score (TADS) was calculated with the Heaton's score and the Van Daalen's score. The prediction model was assessed through multiple regression analyses, and the determination coefficients (r2) between TADS and PMSI (expressed in days) and between TADS and Accumulate Degrees Days (ADD) were studied. The prediction model was applied to the entire case sample, to bodies recovered during the warm season and to bodies recovered during the cold season. RESULTS All bodies were recovered floating, and a very poor scavenging activity was observed. The regression analyses showed a strong correlation between the TADS and the total case sample using both scores and both independent variables (PMSI and ADD). The determination coefficients were greater than 0.95 also when considering the total case sample. DISCUSSION The proposed prediction models are not significantly influenced by seasonality, contrarily to what observed on bodies recovered in fresh water in the same climate area. However, the ADD model, which also consider the water temperature, should be preferred for higher decomposition stages. This study helps increase the accuracy of PMSI estimation in bodies recovered from a marine environment of the Northern Adriatic Sea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Palazzo
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Unit of Legal Medicine, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 49, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
| | - Guido Pelletti
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Unit of Legal Medicine, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 49, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
| | - Paolo Fais
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Unit of Legal Medicine, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 49, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
| | - Arianna Giorgetti
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Unit of Legal Medicine, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 49, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
| | - Rafael Boscolo-Berto
- Institute of Human Anatomy, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
| | - Rosa Maria Gaudio
- Legal Medicine, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Italy.
| | - Filippo Pirani
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, University "Politecnica delle Marche" of Ancona, via conca 71, 60124, Ancona, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, University "Politecnica delle Marche" of Ancona, via conca 71, 60124, Ancona, Italy.
| | - Susi Pelotti
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Unit of Legal Medicine, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 49, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
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11
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Turchi C, Previderè C, Bini C, Carnevali E, Grignani P, Manfredi A, Melchionda F, Onofri V, Pelotti S, Robino C, Sorçaburu-Ciglieri S, Tagliabracci A, Fattorini P. Assessment of the Precision ID Identity Panel kit on challenging forensic samples. Forensic Sci Int Genet 2020; 49:102400. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2020.102400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 08/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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12
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Melchionda F, Stanciu F, Buscemi L, Pesaresi M, Tagliabracci A, Turchi C. Searching the undetected mtDNA variants in forensic MPS data. Forensic Sci Int Genet 2020; 49:102399. [PMID: 33038616 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2020.102399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2020] [Revised: 08/27/2020] [Accepted: 09/21/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The efficiency of MPS in forensic mtDNA analysis has been thoroughly proven, although a reliable and well established data evaluation still remains a critical point. Numerous bioinformatics tools have been developed, but most of them require specific operating systems and high costs, while free open-source programs with user-friendly interfaces are few. In this study, 43 full mtGenomes were sequenced using the Ion Personal Genome Machine™ (PGM™) System and analyzed utilizing the plug-in Variant Caller (TVC) of the Ion Torrent Software Suite and the mtDNA-Server (mDS), a free web-based mitochondrial analysis tool for MPS data. The outcomes of these two different analysis tools were compared to variants noted after manual inspection of the aligned reads performed using Integrative Genomics Viewer (IGV). The comparison highlighted the presence of thirty-nine discordant variant calls, which were resolved by Sanger sequencing that confirmed the presence of all variants, except for 7 deletions. The combined adoption of IGV and Sanger type sequencing confirmatory steps, in addition of TVC and mDS analysis, resulted in a more accurate variants assignment with the detection of 32 additional true polymorphisms, which were noted in the final dataset. Regarding the heteroplasmy issue, out of a total of thirty heteroplasmic variants, twenty-eight were detected by the TVC, while the mDS detected twenty-two. Overall, none of the used bioinformatics tools were the perfect choice and a secondary analysis with an expert's opinion in complete mtGenome MPS data evaluation is still required in forensic genetic analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filomena Melchionda
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy - Via Tronto, 60126 Torrette Ancona, Italy.
| | - Florin Stanciu
- Romanian National DNA Database, National Forensic Science Institute, General Inspectorate of Romanian Police, Bucharest, Romania.
| | - Loredana Buscemi
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy - Via Tronto, 60126 Torrette Ancona, Italy.
| | - Mauro Pesaresi
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy - Via Tronto, 60126 Torrette Ancona, Italy.
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy - Via Tronto, 60126 Torrette Ancona, Italy.
| | - Chiara Turchi
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy - Via Tronto, 60126 Torrette Ancona, Italy.
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13
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Alessandrini F, Caucci S, Onofri V, Melchionda F, Tagliabracci A, Bagnarelli P, Di Sante L, Turchi C, Menzo S. Evaluation of the Ion AmpliSeq SARS-CoV-2 Research Panel by Massive Parallel Sequencing. Genes (Basel) 2020; 11:E929. [PMID: 32806776 PMCID: PMC7463572 DOI: 10.3390/genes11080929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Revised: 07/30/2020] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Deep knowledge of the genetic features of SARS-CoV-2 is essential to track the ongoing pandemic through different geographical areas and to design and develop early diagnostic procedures, therapeutic strategies, public health interventions, and vaccines. We describe protocols and first results of the Ion AmpliSeq™ SARS-CoV-2 Research Panel by a massively parallel sequencing (MPS) assay. The panel allows for targeted sequencing by overlapping amplicons, thereby providing specific, accurate, and high throughput analysis. A modified reverse transcription reaction, which consists of the use of a SARS-CoV-2 specific primers pool from the Ion AmpliSeq SARS-CoV-2 Research Panel, was assessed in order to promote viral RNA specific reverse transcription. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Ion AmpliSeq™ SARS-CoV-2 Research Panel in sequencing the entire viral genome in different samples. SARS-CoV-2 sequence data were obtained from ten viral isolates and one nasopharyngeal swab from different patients. The ten isolate samples amplified with 12 PCR cycles displayed high mean depth values compared to those of the two isolates amplified with 20 PCR cycles. High mean depth values were also obtained for the nasopharyngeal swab processed by use of a target-specific reverse transcription. The relative depth of coverage (rDoC) analysis showed that when 12 PCR cycles were used, all target regions were amplified with high sequencing coverage, while in libraries amplified at 20 cycles, a poor uniformity of amplification, with absent or low coverage of many target regions, was observed. Our results show that the Ion AmpliSeq SARS-CoV-2 Research Panel can achieve rapid and high throughput SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing from 10 ng of DNA-free viral RNA from isolates and from 1 ng of DNA-free viral RNA from a nasopharyngeal swab using 12 PCR cycles for library amplification. The modified RT-PCR protocol yielded superior results on the nasopharyngeal swab compared to the reverse transcription reaction set up according to the manufacturer's instructions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Alessandrini
- Legal Medicine Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy; (F.A.); (F.M.); (A.T.)
| | - Sara Caucci
- Virology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy; (S.C.); (P.B.); (L.D.S.); (S.M.)
| | - Valerio Onofri
- Legal Medicine Unit, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy;
| | - Filomena Melchionda
- Legal Medicine Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy; (F.A.); (F.M.); (A.T.)
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Legal Medicine Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy; (F.A.); (F.M.); (A.T.)
| | - Patrizia Bagnarelli
- Virology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy; (S.C.); (P.B.); (L.D.S.); (S.M.)
| | - Laura Di Sante
- Virology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy; (S.C.); (P.B.); (L.D.S.); (S.M.)
| | - Chiara Turchi
- Legal Medicine Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy; (F.A.); (F.M.); (A.T.)
| | - Stefano Menzo
- Virology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy; (S.C.); (P.B.); (L.D.S.); (S.M.)
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14
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Lo Faro AF, Pirani F, Paratore A, Tagliabracci A, Busardò FP. Corrigendum to "Fatal inhalation of nitrogen inside a closed environment: toxicological issues about the cause of death" [Forensic Sci. Int. 302C (2019) 109871]. Forensic Sci Int 2020; 314:110421. [PMID: 32718861 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Filippo Pirani
- Section of Legal Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
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15
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Lai A, Bergna A, Caucci S, Clementi N, Vicenti I, Dragoni F, Cattelan AM, Menzo S, Pan A, Callegaro A, Tagliabracci A, Caruso A, Caccuri F, Ronchiadin S, Balotta C, Zazzi M, Vaccher E, Clementi M, Galli M, Zehender G. Molecular Tracing of SARS-CoV-2 in Italy in the First Three Months of the Epidemic. Viruses 2020; 12:v12080798. [PMID: 32722343 PMCID: PMC7472216 DOI: 10.3390/v12080798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2020] [Revised: 07/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/21/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study is the characterization and genomic tracing by phylogenetic analyses of 59 new SARS-CoV-2 Italian isolates obtained from patients attending clinical centres in North and Central Italy until the end of April 2020. All but one of the newly-characterized genomes belonged to the lineage B.1, the most frequently identified in European countries, including Italy. Only a single sequence was found to belong to lineage B. A mean of 6 nucleotide substitutions per viral genome was observed, without significant differences between synonymous and non-synonymous mutations, indicating genetic drift as a major source for virus evolution. tMRCA estimation confirmed the probable origin of the epidemic between the end of January and the beginning of February with a rapid increase in the number of infections between the end of February and mid-March. Since early February, an effective reproduction number (Re) greater than 1 was estimated, which then increased reaching the peak of 2.3 in early March, confirming the circulation of the virus before the first COVID-19 cases were documented. Continuous use of state-of-the-art methods for molecular surveillance is warranted to trace virus circulation and evolution and inform effective prevention and containment of future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia Lai
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Luigi Sacco, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy; (A.B.); (C.B.); (M.G.); (G.Z.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-0250319775
| | - Annalisa Bergna
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Luigi Sacco, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy; (A.B.); (C.B.); (M.G.); (G.Z.)
| | - Sara Caucci
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Virology Unit, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy; (S.C.); (S.M.)
| | - Nicola Clementi
- Microbiology and Virology Unit, “Vita-Salute” San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy; (N.C.); (M.C.)
| | - Ilaria Vicenti
- Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy; (I.V.); (F.D.); (M.Z.)
| | - Filippo Dragoni
- Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy; (I.V.); (F.D.); (M.Z.)
| | - Anna Maria Cattelan
- Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria di Padova, 35128 Padua, Italy;
| | - Stefano Menzo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Virology Unit, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy; (S.C.); (S.M.)
| | - Angelo Pan
- Infectious Diseases, ASST Cremona, 26100 Cremona, Italy;
| | - Annapaola Callegaro
- Microbiology and Virology Laboratory, ASST Papa Giovanni XXIII, 24127 Bergamo, Italy;
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Section of Legal Medicine, Universita Politecnica delle Marche, 60126 Ancona, Italy;
| | - Arnaldo Caruso
- Microbiology Unit, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia and ASST Spedali Civili Hospital, 25123 Brescia, Italy; (A.C.); (F.C.)
| | - Francesca Caccuri
- Microbiology Unit, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia and ASST Spedali Civili Hospital, 25123 Brescia, Italy; (A.C.); (F.C.)
| | | | - Claudia Balotta
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Luigi Sacco, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy; (A.B.); (C.B.); (M.G.); (G.Z.)
| | - Maurizio Zazzi
- Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy; (I.V.); (F.D.); (M.Z.)
| | - Emanuela Vaccher
- Medical Oncology and Immune-related Tumors, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO), IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy;
| | - Massimo Clementi
- Microbiology and Virology Unit, “Vita-Salute” San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy; (N.C.); (M.C.)
| | - Massimo Galli
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Luigi Sacco, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy; (A.B.); (C.B.); (M.G.); (G.Z.)
| | - Gianguglielmo Zehender
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Luigi Sacco, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy; (A.B.); (C.B.); (M.G.); (G.Z.)
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16
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Pesaresi M, Pirani F, Tagliabracci A, Valsecchi M, Procopio AD, Busardò FP, Graciotti L. SARS-CoV-2 identification in lungs, heart and kidney specimens by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24:5186-5188. [PMID: 32432787 DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202005_21217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
From two COVID-19-related deaths, samples of lung, heart and kidney were collected and processed for Transmission and Scanning Electron Microscopy (TEM and SEM) with the aim of identifying the virus. Virions of SARS-CoV-2 were found in all tissues by TEM and SEM, corroborating the hypothesis that the virus enters the cells of different organs. This is the first report identifying SARS-CoV-2 in different human tissues by TEM and SEM.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Pesaresi
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, University "Politecnica delle Marche" of Ancona, Ancona, Italy.
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17
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Gaetani S, Monaco F, Alessandrini F, Tagliabracci A, Sabbatini A, Bracci M, Valentino M, Neuzil J, Amati M, Santarelli L, Tomasetti M. Mechanism of miR-222 and miR-126 regulation and its role in asbestos-induced malignancy. Int J Biochem Cell Biol 2020; 121:105700. [PMID: 32006662 DOI: 10.1016/j.biocel.2020.105700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2019] [Revised: 01/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
MiR-222 and miR-126 are associated with asbestos exposure and the ensuing malignancy, but the mechanism(s) of their regulation remain unclear. We evaluated the mechanism by which asbestos regulates miR-222 and miR-126 expression in the context of cancer etiology. An 'in vitro' model of carcinogen-induced cell transformation was used based on exposing bronchial epithelium BEAS-2B cells to three different carcinogens including asbestos. Involvement of the EGFR pathway and the role of epigenetics have been investigated in carcinogen-transformed cells and in malignant mesothelioma, a neoplastic disease associated with asbestos exposure. Increased expression of miR-222 and miR-126 were found in asbestos-transformed cells, but not in cells exposed to arsenic and chrome. Asbestos-mediated activation of the EGFR pathway and macrophages-induced inflammation resulted in miR-222 upregulation, which was reversed by EGFR inhibition. Conversely, asbestos-induced miR-126 expression was affected neither by EGFR modulation nor inflammation. Rather than methylation of the miR-126 host gene EGFL7, epigenetic mechanism involving DNMT1- and PARP1-mediated chromatin remodeling was found to upregulate of miR-126 in asbestos-exposed cells, while miR-126 was downregulated in malignant cells. Analysis of MM tissue supported the role of PARP1 in miR-126 regulation. Therefore, activation of the EGFR pathway and the PARP1-mediated epigenetic regulation both play a role in asbestos-induced miRNA expression, associated with in asbestos-induced carcinogenesis and tumor progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona Gaetani
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Federica Monaco
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Federica Alessandrini
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Armando Sabbatini
- Division of Thoracic Surgery, United Hospitals, Ancona, 60126, Italy
| | - Massimo Bracci
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Matteo Valentino
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Jiri Neuzil
- Mitochondria, Apoptosis and Cancer Research Group, School of Medical Science, Griffith University, Southport, 4222, Qld, Australia; Molecular Therapy Group, Institute of Biotechnology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague-West, 252 50, Czech Republic
| | - Monica Amati
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Lory Santarelli
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60020, Ancona, Italy.
| | - Marco Tomasetti
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60020, Ancona, Italy.
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18
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Alessandrini F, Brenciani A, Fioriti S, Melchionda F, Mingoia M, Morroni G, Tagliabracci A. Validation of a universal DNA extraction method for human and microbiAL DNA analysis. Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigss.2019.09.098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Turchi C, Melchionda F, Pesaresi M, Fattorini P, Tagliabracci A. Performance of a massive parallel sequencing microhaplotypes assay on degraded DNA. Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigss.2019.10.176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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20
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Lo Faro AF, Di Trana A, La Maida N, Tagliabracci A, Giorgetti R, Busardò FP. Biomedical analysis of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) of natural origin. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2019; 179:112945. [PMID: 31704129 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2019.112945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2019] [Revised: 10/16/2019] [Accepted: 10/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
New psychoactive substances (NPS) can be divided into two main groups: synthetic molecules and active principles of natural origin. With respect to this latter group, a wide range of alkaloids contained in plants, mainly from Asia and South America, can be included in the class of NPS of natural origin. The majority NPS of natural origin presents stimulant and/or hallucinogenic effects (e.g. Catha edulis and Ayahuasca, respectively) while few of them show sedative and relaxing properties (e.g. kratom). Few information is available in relation to the analytical identification of psychoactive principles contained in the plant material. Moreover, to our knowledge, scarce data are present in literature, about the characterization and quantification of the parent drug in biological matrices from intoxication and fatality cases. In addition, the metabolism of natural active principles has not been yet fully investigated for most of the psychoactive substances from plant material. Consequently, their identification is not frequently performed and produced metabolites are often unknown. To fill this gap, we reviewed the currently available analytical methodologies for the identification and quantification of NPS of natural origin in plant material and, whenever possible, in conventional and non-conventional biological matrices of intoxicated and dead subjects. The psychoactive principles contained in the following plants were investigated: Areca catechu, Argyreia nervosa, Ayahuasca, Catha edulis, Ipomoea violacea, Mandragora officinarum, Mitragyna speciosa, Pausinystalia yohimbe, Piper methisticum, Psilocybe, Rivea corymbosa, Salvia divinorum, Sceletium tortuosum, Lactuca virosa. From the results obtained, it can be evidenced that although several analytical methods for the simultaneous quantification of different molecules from the same plants have been developed and validated, a comprehensive method to detect active compounds from different natural specimens both in biological and non-biological matrices is still lacking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfredo Fabrizio Lo Faro
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, University "Politecnica delle Marche" of Ancona, Via Tronto 71, Ancona, Italy
| | - Annagiulia Di Trana
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, University "Politecnica delle Marche" of Ancona, Via Tronto 71, Ancona, Italy
| | - Nunzia La Maida
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, University "Politecnica delle Marche" of Ancona, Via Tronto 71, Ancona, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, University "Politecnica delle Marche" of Ancona, Via Tronto 71, Ancona, Italy
| | - Raffaele Giorgetti
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, University "Politecnica delle Marche" of Ancona, Via Tronto 71, Ancona, Italy
| | - Francesco Paolo Busardò
- Department of Excellence of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, University "Politecnica delle Marche" of Ancona, Via Tronto 71, Ancona, Italy.
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21
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Monaco F, Gaetani S, Alessandrini F, Tagliabracci A, Bracci M, Valentino M, Neuzil J, Amati M, Bovenzi M, Tomasetti M, Santarelli L. Exosomal transfer of miR-126 promotes the anti-tumour response in malignant mesothelioma: Role of miR-126 in cancer-stroma communication. Cancer Lett 2019; 463:27-36. [PMID: 31400405 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2019.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2019] [Revised: 07/26/2019] [Accepted: 08/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
MiR-126 has been shown to suppress malignant mesothelioma (MM) by targeting cancer-related genes without inducing toxicity or histopathological changes. Exosomes provide the opportunity to deliver therapeutic cargo to cancer stroma. Here, a tumour stromal model composed of endothelial cells (HUVECs), fibroblasts (IMR-90 cells), non-malignant mesothelial cells (Met-5A cells) and MM cells (H28 and MM-B1 cells) was used. The cells were treated with exosomes from HUVECs carrying endogenous (exo-HUVEC) and enriched miR-126 (exo-HUVECmiR-126), and the uptake/turnover of exosomes; miR-126 distribution within the stroma; and effect of miR-126 on cell signalling, angiogenesis and cell proliferation were evaluated. Based on the sensitivity of MM cells to exo-HUVEC miR-126 treatment, miR-126 was distributed differently across stromal cells. The reduced miR-126 content in fibroblasts in favour of endothelial cells reduced angiogenesis and suppressed cell growth in an miR-126-sensitive environment. Conversely, the accumulation of miR-126 in fibroblasts and the reduced level of miR-126 in endothelial cells induced tube formation in an miR-126-resistant environment via VEGF/EGFL7 upregulation and IRS1-mediated cell proliferation. These findings suggest that transfer of miR-126 via HUVEC-derived exosomes represents a novel strategy to inhibit angiogenesis and cell growth in MM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Monaco
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Simona Gaetani
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Federica Alessandrini
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Massimo Bracci
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Matteo Valentino
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Jiri Neuzil
- Mitochondria, Apoptosis and Cancer Research Group, School of Medical Science, Griffith University, Southport, 4222, Qld, Australia; Molecular Therapy Group, Institute of Biotechnology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague-West, 252 50, Czech Republic
| | - Monica Amati
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Massimo Bovenzi
- Department of Medical Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Marco Tomasetti
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy.
| | - Lory Santarelli
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Experimental and Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/A, 60126, Ancona, Italy.
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Lorenzi T, Sagrati A, Montanari E, Tagliabracci A, Barbaresi P, Fabri M, Morroni M. Letter: The Indusium Griseum: Anatomic Study with Potential Application to Callosotomy. Neurosurgery 2019; 85:E621-E622. [DOI: 10.1093/neuros/nyz236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Lorenzi
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine Section of Neuroscience and Cell Biology School of Medicine Università Politecnica delle Marche Ancona, Italy
| | - Andrea Sagrati
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine Section of Neuroscience and Cell Biology School of Medicine Università Politecnica delle Marche Ancona, Italy
| | - Eva Montanari
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health Section of Legal Medicine Università Politecnica delle Marche Ancona, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health Section of Legal Medicine Università Politecnica delle Marche Ancona, Italy
| | - Paolo Barbaresi
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine Section of Neuroscience and Cell Biology School of Medicine Università Politecnica delle Marche Ancona, Italy
| | - Mara Fabri
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine Section of Neuroscience and Cell Biology School of Medicine Università Politecnica delle Marche Ancona, Italy
| | - Manrico Morroni
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine Section of Neuroscience and Cell Biology School of Medicine Università Politecnica delle Marche Ancona, Italy
- Electron Microscopy Unit United Hospitals Ancona, Italy
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Turchi C, Melchionda F, Pesaresi M, Tagliabracci A. Evaluation of a microhaplotypes panel for forensic genetics using massive parallel sequencing technology. Forensic Sci Int Genet 2019; 41:120-127. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2019.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2019] [Revised: 04/30/2019] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Pichini S, Zaami S, Pacifici R, Tagliabracci A, Busardò FP. Editorial: The Challenge Posed by New Synthetic Opioids: Pharmacology and Toxicology. Front Pharmacol 2019; 10:563. [PMID: 31164825 PMCID: PMC6536647 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2019.00563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 05/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Simona Pichini
- National Centre on Addiction and Doping, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Simona Zaami
- Section of Legal Medicine - SAIMLAL Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Roberta Pacifici
- National Centre on Addiction and Doping, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence SBSP - University "Politecnica delle Marche", Ancona, Italy
| | - Francesco Paolo Busardò
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence SBSP - University "Politecnica delle Marche", Ancona, Italy
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Busardò FP, Di Trana A, Montanari E, Mauloni S, Tagliabracci A, Giorgetti R. Is etizolam a safe medication? Effects on psychomotor perfomance at therapeutic dosages of a newly abused psychoactive substance. Forensic Sci Int 2019; 301:137-141. [PMID: 31153990 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.05.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2018] [Revised: 03/27/2019] [Accepted: 05/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Etizolam is a drug from the thienotriazoldiazepine class, widely prescribed as anxiolytic due to its apparently secure toxicological profile. Nevertheless, some recent cases of etizolam dependence, intoxications and fatalities associated to its abuse have been reported in the international literature. For this reason, the drug listed as new psychoactive substance (NPS) by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2015. Euphoric effect at high dosage is the first cause of its recreational use that has determined a wider distribution in the illicit market. An experimental study was performed to obtain evidence that etizolam at low therapeutic dosages is a drug with negligible influence on the psychomotor performances involved in driving. The psychomotor performance was assessed by performing different tests, such as critical tracking task (CTT), critical flicker fusion (CFF), choice reaction time (CRT), visual vigilance task (VVT), response competition test (RCT) in a group of 16 healthy volunteers after a single administration of etizolam at two different dosages (0.25 mg or 1.00 mg) in comparison to placebo. The test results showed that etizolam at 0.25 mg and 1.00 mg had no significant effect on vigilance, short term memory, psychomotor coordination or speed in decision making. Differently, abuse of etizolam to obtain the euphoric effects at presumably high dosages or in combination with other psychoactive substances could be fatal. The negligible side effects on mental and behavioral function demonstrated by this study, could represent an incitement to abuse, which can be strongly discouraged with correct information on differences between its correct use and its misuse.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Annagiulia Di Trana
- Section of Legal Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Eva Montanari
- Section of Legal Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Simona Mauloni
- Section of Legal Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | | | - Raffaele Giorgetti
- Section of Legal Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
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Wilde M, Pichini S, Pacifici R, Tagliabracci A, Busardò FP, Auwärter V, Solimini R. Metabolic Pathways and Potencies of New Fentanyl Analogs. Front Pharmacol 2019; 10:238. [PMID: 31024296 PMCID: PMC6461066 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2019.00238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Up to now, little is known about the metabolic pathways of new fentanyl analogs that have recently emerged on the drug markets worldwide with high potential for producing addiction and severe adverse effects including coma and death. For some of the compounds, limited information on the metabolism has been published, however, for others so far no information is available. Considering the well characterized metabolism of the pharmaceutically used opioid fentanyl and the so far available data, the metabolism of the new fentanyl analogs can be anticipated to generally involve reactions like hydrolysis, hydroxylation (and further oxidation steps), N- and O-dealkylation and O-methylation. Furthermore, phase II metabolic reactions can be expected comprising glucuronide or sulfate conjugate formation. When analyzing blood and urine samples of acute intoxication cases or fatalities, the presence of metabolites can be crucial for confirmation of the uptake of such compounds and further interpretation. Here we present a review on the metabolic profiles of new fentanyl analogs responsible for a growing number of severe and fatal intoxications in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan in the last years, as assessed by a systematic search of the scientific literature and official reports.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maurice Wilde
- Department of Forensic Toxicology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.,Hermann Staudinger Graduate School, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Simona Pichini
- National Centre on Addiction and Doping, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Roberta Pacifici
- National Centre on Addiction and Doping, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Unit of Forensic Toxicology, Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence SBSP, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Francesco Paolo Busardò
- Unit of Forensic Toxicology, Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence SBSP, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Volker Auwärter
- Department of Forensic Toxicology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Renata Solimini
- National Centre on Addiction and Doping, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
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Busardò FP, Carlier J, Giorgetti R, Tagliabracci A, Pacifici R, Gottardi M, Pichini S. Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Assay for Quantifying Fentanyl and 22 Analogs and Metabolites in Whole Blood, Urine, and Hair. Front Chem 2019; 7:184. [PMID: 31001514 PMCID: PMC6454115 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2019.00184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2019] [Accepted: 03/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently, synthetic opioid-related overdose fatalities, led by illicitly manufactured fentanyl and analogs, increased at an alarming rate, posing a global public health threat. New synthetic fentanyl analogs have been constantly emerging onto the drug marked for the last few years, to circumvent the laws and avoid analytical detection. Analytical methods need to be regularly updated to keep up with the new trends. In this study, we aimed to develop a new method for detecting the newest fentanyl analogs with a high sensitivity, in whole blood, urine, and hair. The method is intended to provide to clinical and forensic toxicologists a tool for documenting consumption. We developed a comprehensive ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for quantifying fentanyl and 22 analogs and metabolites. Urine samples were simply diluted before injection; a liquid-liquid extraction was performed for blood testing; and a solid phase extraction was performed in hair. The chromatographic separation was short (8 min). The method was validated with a high sensitivity; limits of quantifications ranged from 2 to 6 ng/L in blood and urine, and from 11 to 21 pg/g in hair. The suitability of the method was tested with 42 postmortem blood, urine, or hair specimens from 27 fatalities in which fentanyl analogs were involved. Average blood concentrations (±SD) were 7.84 ± 7.21 and 30.0 ± 18.0 μg/L for cyclopropylfentanyl and cyclopropyl norfentanyl, respectively (n = 8), 4.08 ± 2.30 μg/L for methoxyacetylfentanyl, (n = 4), 40.2 ± 38.6 and 44.5 ± 21.1 μg/L for acetylfentanyl and acetyl norfentanyl, respectively (n = 3), 33.7 and 7.17 μg/L for fentanyl and norfentanyl, respectively (n = 1), 3.60 and 0.90 μg/L for furanylfentanyl and furanyl norfentanyl, respectively (n = 1), 0.67 μg/L for sufentanil (n = 1), and 3.13 ± 2.37 μg/L for 4-ANPP (n = 9). Average urine concentrations were 47.7 ± 39.3 and 417 ± 296 μg/L for cyclopropylfentanyl and cyclopropyl norfentanyl, respectively (n = 11), 995 ± 908 μg/L for methoxyacetylfentanyl, (n = 3), 1,874 ± 1,710 and 6,582 ± 3,252 μg/L for acetylfentanyl and acetyl norfentanyl, respectively (n = 5), 146 ± 318 and 300 ± 710 μg/L for fentanyl (n = 5) and norfentanyl (n = 6), respectively, 84.0 and 23.0 μg/L for furanylfentanyl and furanyl norfentanyl, respectively (n = 1), and 50.5 ± 50.9 μg/L for 4-ANPP (n = 10). Average hair concentrations were 2,670 ± 184 and 82.1 ± 94.7 ng/g for fentanyl and norfentanyl, respectively (n = 2), and 10.8 ± 0.57 ng/g for 4-ANPP (n = 2).
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jeremy Carlier
- Unit of Forensic Toxicology, Università la Sapienza, Rome, Italy
| | - Raffaele Giorgetti
- Section of Legal Medicine, Università Politecnica Delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | | | - Roberta Pacifici
- National Centre on Addiction and Doping, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Simona Pichini
- National Centre on Addiction and Doping, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
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Zaami S, Tagliabracci A, Berretta P, Busardò FP, Marinelli E. Use of Methylphenidate Analogues as Cognitive Enhancers: The Prelude to Cosmetic Neurology and an Ethical Issue. Front Psychiatry 2019; 10:1006. [PMID: 32038333 PMCID: PMC6989549 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.01006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Simona Zaami
- Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic, and Orthopedic Sciences, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence-Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Ancona, Italy
| | - Paolo Berretta
- National Centre on Addiction and Doping, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco Paolo Busardò
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Excellence-Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Ancona, Italy
| | - Enrico Marinelli
- Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic, and Orthopedic Sciences, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
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Tomasetti M, Re M, Monaco F, Gaetani S, Rubini C, Bertini A, Pasquini E, Bersaglieri C, Bracci M, Staffolani S, Colomba M, Gregorini A, Valentino M, Tagliabracci A, Bovenzi M, Neuzil J, Amati M, Santarelli L. MiR-126 in intestinal-type sinonasal adenocarcinomas: exosomal transfer of MiR-126 promotes anti-tumour responses. BMC Cancer 2018; 18:896. [PMID: 30223817 PMCID: PMC6142309 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-018-4801-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2018] [Accepted: 09/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Intestinal-type sinonasal adenocarcinomas (ITACs) are aggressive malignancies related to wood dust and leather exposure. ITACs are generally associated with advanced stage at presentation due to the insidious growth pattern and non-specific symptoms. Therefore, biomarkers that can detect the switch from the benign disease to malignancy are needed. Essential for tumour growth, angiogenesis is an important step in tumour development and progression. This process is strictly regulated, and MiR-126 considered its master modulator. Methods We have investigated MiR-126 levels in ITACs and compared them to benign sinonasal lesions, such as sinonasal-inverted papillomas (SIPs) and inflammatory polyps (NIPs). The tumour-suppressive functions of MiR-126 were also evaluated. Results We found that MiR-126 can significantly distinguish malignancy from benign nasal forms. The low levels of MiR-126 in ITACs point to its role in tumour progression. In this context, restoration of MiR-126 induced metabolic changes, and inhibited cell growth and the tumorigenic potential of MNSC cells. Conclusions We report that MiR-126 delivered via exosomes from endothelial cells promotes anti-tumour responses. This paracrine transfer of MiRs may represent a new approach towards MiR-based therapy. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-018-4801-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Tomasetti
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/a, 60020, Ancona, Italy. .,International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE), Arezzo, Italy.
| | - Massimo Re
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Otorhinolaryngology, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Federica Monaco
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/a, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Simona Gaetani
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/a, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Corrado Rubini
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Anatomical Pathology, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Andrea Bertini
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Otorhinolaryngology, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Ernesto Pasquini
- Surgical Department, ENT Metropolitan Unit, Bellaria & Budrio Hospital, Bologna, Italy
| | - Cristiana Bersaglieri
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/a, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Massimo Bracci
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/a, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Sara Staffolani
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/a, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Mariastella Colomba
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", Urbino, PU, Italy
| | - Armando Gregorini
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", Urbino, PU, Italy
| | - Matteo Valentino
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/a, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Massimo Bovenzi
- Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Unit of Occupational Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Jiri Neuzil
- School of Medical Science, Griffith University, Southport, Australia.,Institute of Biotechnology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague-West, Czech Republic
| | - Monica Amati
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/a, 60020, Ancona, Italy
| | - Lory Santarelli
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Tronto 10/a, 60020, Ancona, Italy.
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Montanari E, Polonara G, Montalti R, Vivarelli M, Ricciuti RA, Giorgetti R, Tagliabracci A. Delayed Intracerebral Hemorrhage After Pseudoaneurysm of Middle Meningeal Artery Rupture: Case Report, Literature Review, and Forensic Issues. World Neurosurg 2018; 117:394-410. [PMID: 29966779 DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2018.06.158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2018] [Revised: 06/18/2018] [Accepted: 06/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Traumatic pseudoaneurysm of the middle meningeal artery (PMMA) is rare. Its rupture is associated with high mortality, so an early diagnosis is recommended for this risky condition. In the absence of a specific guideline, computed tomography (CT), digital subtraction angiography, and CT angiography (CTA) are proposed for its diagnosis. CTA is the technique of choice even if it is almost never performed, especially in mild head injury. We report a rare case of a delayed rupture of PMMA, analyzed from a forensic point of view. METHODS Fifteen days after mild blunt head trauma, characterized by temporal fracture and a small hemorrhage near the rim, a wide intraparenchymal hemorrhage (IPH) occurred. The onset of IPH was marked by neurologic deterioration and arm paralysis. Immediate head CT showed IPH, and CTA showed PMMA. Prompt surgery could not help patient survival. The goal of autopsy was to formulate the cause of death and to individuate potential medical negligence. RESULTS In the literature, 16 cases of 54 are related to PMMA (26%) and are associated with IPH. IPH can be acute or delayed. Eight cases of acute IPH and 8 cases of delayed IPH (including our case), both coexisting with PMMA, are described. The literature review showed that the association of temporal rim fracture and a small hemorrhage nearby is highly predictive of PMMA formation. CONCLUSIONS Therefore, in the presence of these 2 risk factors after heat trauma, CTA is strongly suggested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Montanari
- Section of Legal Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy.
| | - Gabriele Polonara
- Division of Neuroradiology, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Roberto Montalti
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Abdominal Transplantation Surgery, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona
| | - Marco Vivarelli
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Abdominal Transplantation Surgery, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona
| | | | - Raffaele Giorgetti
- Section of Legal Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
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Montanari E, Bonasoni MP, Licata M, Salomone A, Gerace E, Vivarelli M, Giorgetti R, Tagliabracci A. Toxicological and histological analyses for a stillborn delivered by a mother under methadone maintenance therapy. Forensic Toxicol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s11419-017-0402-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Giorgetti R, Tagliabracci A, Schifano F, Zaami S, Marinelli E, Busardò FP. When "Chems" Meet Sex: A Rising Phenomenon Called "ChemSex". Curr Neuropharmacol 2018; 15:762-770. [PMID: 27855594 PMCID: PMC5771052 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x15666161117151148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2016] [Revised: 06/17/2016] [Accepted: 11/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: The term “chemsex” was coined to indicate the voluntary intake of psychoactive and non psychoactive drugs in the context of recreational settings to facilitate and/or to enhance sexual intercourses mostly among men who have sex with other men (MSM). Objective: The authors aimed to review the mechanisms of action, the toxicity and the pattern of use and abuse of substances involved in “chemsex” practice together with the sociocultural background underlying it and the health-related consequences that they may have. Results: Gamma-hydroxybutyrate, gamma-butyrolactone,1,4-butanediol, mephedrone, methamphetamine, sildenafil, tadalafil, vardenafil and alkyl nitrites have been described in their role of “chemsex drugs” including pharmacological action and in their implication to impair capacities to chose sexual partners and consensual sex. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that sexual activity over protracted length of time under the influence of chemsex drugs can result in rectal trauma or penile abrasions and a significant increase of the risk of transmission of sexual transmitted diseases, especially in case of condomless intercourses, which are frequent in this context, representing therefore a serious health threat. Conclusion: One of the major problems to establish health policy priority interventions for chemsex is the lack of available epidemiological data on the issue. Finally, social actions should be taken in order to break down the barriers that currently exist among chemsex drug users in accessing services, including the shame and stigma often associated with drug use. In conclusion, more specific resources to face high risks of infections and HIV transmission are required in bisexual and homosexual individuals having SUID: sex under the influence of drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raffaele Giorgetti
- Section of Legal Medicine, Universita Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona. Italy
| | | | - Fabrizio Schifano
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, College Lane Campus, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Herts, AL10 9AB. United Kingdom
| | - Simona Zaami
- Unit of Forensic Toxicology (UoFT), Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic and Orthopedic Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome. Italy
| | - Enrico Marinelli
- Unit of Forensic Toxicology (UoFT), Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic and Orthopedic Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome. Italy
| | - Francesco Paolo Busardò
- Unit of Forensic Toxicology (UoFT), Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic and Orthopedic Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome. 0
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Turchi C, Pesaresi M, Tagliabracci A. A microhaplotypes panel for forensic genetics using massive parallel sequencing. Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigss.2017.09.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Giorgetti R, di Muzio M, Giorgetti A, Girolami D, Borgia L, Tagliabracci A. Flutamide-induced hepatotoxicity: ethical and scientific issues. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2017; 21:69-77. [PMID: 28379593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Flutamide (FLU) is a non-steroidal antiandrogen drug approved for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. While this indication limits the use to male patients, FLU is widely prescribed to women, off-label, for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (POCS) related hirsutism and acne. According to the literature, its assumption is associated with a higher incidence of adverse events in women than in male patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS A literature search was conducted in main databases targeting unwilling FLU effects in hepatic and reproductive function. References in the selected paper were also considered as an additional source of data. Human- and animal-based studies were separately considered. RESULTS Twenty-three human-based studies were evaluated: ten were case reports, six were retrospective studies, four were prospective, two were surveillance studies, while the last was an observational study. Nine animal-based studies were also evaluated. CONCLUSIONS Scientific contributions highlight that FLU is responsible for specific hepatotoxic profiles in the female gender. From the ethical point of view, off-label prescribing of FLU in women is not only substantially unlawful, but also, without major safeguards being granted, a potential source of liability for prescribers.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Giorgetti
- Section of Legal Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
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Turchi C, Stanciu F, Paselli G, Buscemi L, Parson W, Tagliabracci A. The mitochondrial DNA makeup of Romanians: A forensic mtDNA control region database and phylogenetic characterization. Forensic Sci Int Genet 2016; 24:136-142. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2016.06.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2016] [Revised: 05/26/2016] [Accepted: 06/18/2016] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
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Papi M, Giorgetti R, Tagliabracci A. New boundaries of prescription: focus on section 13 of the new Italian code of medical ethics. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2016; 20:2758-2759. [PMID: 27424969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- M Papi
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
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Tisè M, Ferrante L, Mora S, Tagliabracci A. A biochemical approach for assessing cutoffs at the age thresholds of 14 and 18 years: a pilot study on the applicability of bone specific alkaline phosphatase on an Italian sample. Int J Legal Med 2016; 130:1149-1158. [PMID: 27169674 DOI: 10.1007/s00414-016-1382-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2015] [Accepted: 05/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The majority of age estimation methods analyze morphological changes of specific skeletal (or dental) structures reflecting global bone development (biological parameter) in order to estimate a chronological value. This morphological and structural development is the consequence of a very active tissue metabolism and intensive modeling process which involve both bone formation and bone resorption. Several biochemical markers of bone formation and bone resorption are available, and specific biochemical tests can be performed on blood or urine samples, but such markers of bone turnover have never been employed for age estimation in living individuals for forensic purposes. The aim of this study was to ascertain the applicability of serum bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP) concentration in the age estimation for forensic purposes. We focused on the legal age thresholds of 14 and 18 years (LAT) because, in Italy, the former is considered the minimum age for criminal responsibility and the latter defines adult age and the possibility of applying general criminal laws. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study analyzed, from a forensic point of view, BALP and Tanner stages of 202 healthy white individuals (116 females and 86 males) between the ages of 10 and 30 years. We derived a linear logistic model to estimate the probability that an individual was older or younger than LAT using two variables: BALP concentration and Tanner stages. The predictive accuracy of the test was assessed by the determination of the receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC curve). The test was performed to identify a threshold (cutoff) that could be used to assign an individual to the population of those younger or older than LAT. RESULTS ROC curve showed that the use of both serum BALP concentration and Tanner stages has a very good level of reliability in age assessment (the area under the ROC curve, AUC, ranged from 0.918 to 0.962). Best results were obtained in the assessment of male over 18 years of age (sensibility and specificity respectively of 0.90 and 0.93 with an accuracy of 0.92). Worst results were obtained in the assessment of female over 18 years of age (sensibility and specificity respectively of 0.87 and 0.82 with an accuracy of 0.84). We also calculated the probability of the correctness in the age estimation. CONCLUSION The results showed that the use of serum BALP concentration in the age assessment could be a promising and integrative method to established ones, but more research has to be done to validate the value of the proposed method in the forensic practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Tisè
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60020, Torrette di Ancona, Italy
| | - Luigi Ferrante
- Center of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Medical Information Technology, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60020, Torrette di Ancona, Italy
| | - Stefano Mora
- Laboratory of Pediatric Endocrinology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60020, Torrette di Ancona, Italy.
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Buscemi L, Alessandrini F, Perna G, Tagliabracci A. Next-generation sequencing of 68 genes in sudden unexplained death of young individuals in forensics. Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigss.2015.09.056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Purps J, Siegert S, Willuweit S, Nagy M, Alves C, Salazar R, Angustia SMT, Santos LH, Anslinger K, Bayer B, Ayub Q, Wei W, Xue Y, Tyler-Smith C, Bafalluy MB, Martínez-Jarreta B, Egyed B, Balitzki B, Tschumi S, Ballard D, Court DS, Barrantes X, Bäßler G, Wiest T, Berger B, Niederstätter H, Parson W, Davis C, Budowle B, Burri H, Borer U, Koller C, Carvalho EF, Domingues PM, Chamoun WT, Coble MD, Hill CR, Corach D, Caputo M, D'Amato ME, Davison S, Decorte R, Larmuseau MHD, Ottoni C, Rickards O, Lu D, Jiang C, Dobosz T, Jonkisz A, Frank WE, Furac I, Gehrig C, Castella V, Grskovic B, Haas C, Wobst J, Hadzic G, Drobnic K, Honda K, Hou Y, Zhou D, Li Y, Hu S, Chen S, Immel UD, Lessig R, Jakovski Z, Ilievska T, Klann AE, García CC, de Knijff P, Kraaijenbrink T, Kondili A, Miniati P, Vouropoulou M, Kovacevic L, Marjanovic D, Lindner I, Mansour I, Al-Azem M, Andari AE, Marino M, Furfuro S, Locarno L, Martín P, Luque GM, Alonso A, Miranda LS, Moreira H, Mizuno N, Iwashima Y, Neto RSM, Nogueira TLS, Silva R, Nastainczyk-Wulf M, Edelmann J, Kohl M, Nie S, Wang X, Cheng B, Núñez C, Pancorbo MMD, Olofsson JK, Morling N, Onofri V, Tagliabracci A, Pamjav H, Volgyi A, Barany G, Pawlowski R, Maciejewska A, Pelotti S, Pepinski W, Abreu-Glowacka M, Phillips C, Cárdenas J, Rey-Gonzalez D, Salas A, Brisighelli F, Capelli C, Toscanini U, Piccinini A, Piglionica M, Baldassarra SL, Ploski R, Konarzewska M, Jastrzebska E, Robino C, Sajantila A, Palo JU, Guevara E, Salvador J, Ungria MCD, Rodriguez JJR, Schmidt U, Schlauderer N, Saukko P, Schneider PM, Sirker M, Shin KJ, Oh YN, Skitsa I, Ampati A, Smith TG, Calvit LSD, Stenzl V, Capal T, Tillmar A, Nilsson H, Turrina S, De Leo D, Verzeletti A, Cortellini V, Wetton JH, Gwynne GM, Jobling MA, Whittle MR, Sumita DR, Wolańska-Nowak P, Yong RYY, Krawczak M, Nothnagel M, Roewer L. A global analysis of Y-chromosomal haplotype diversity for 23 STR loci. Forensic Sci Int Genet 2014; 12:12-23. [PMID: 24854874 PMCID: PMC4127773 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2014.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 189] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2014] [Accepted: 04/19/2014] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
In a worldwide collaborative effort, 19,630 Y-chromosomes were sampled from 129 different populations in 51 countries. These chromosomes were typed for 23 short-tandem repeat (STR) loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385ab, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635, GATAH4, DYS481, DYS533, DYS549, DYS570, DYS576, and DYS643) and using the PowerPlex Y23 System (PPY23, Promega Corporation, Madison, WI). Locus-specific allelic spectra of these markers were determined and a consistently high level of allelic diversity was observed. A considerable number of null, duplicate and off-ladder alleles were revealed. Standard single-locus and haplotype-based parameters were calculated and compared between subsets of Y-STR markers established for forensic casework. The PPY23 marker set provides substantially stronger discriminatory power than other available kits but at the same time reveals the same general patterns of population structure as other marker sets. A strong correlation was observed between the number of Y-STRs included in a marker set and some of the forensic parameters under study. Interestingly a weak but consistent trend toward smaller genetic distances resulting from larger numbers of markers became apparent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josephine Purps
- Department of Forensic Genetics, Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sabine Siegert
- Department of Statistical Genetics and Bioinformatics, Cologne Center for Genomics, University of Cologne, Germany
| | - Sascha Willuweit
- Department of Forensic Genetics, Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marion Nagy
- Department of Forensic Genetics, Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Cíntia Alves
- Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto (IPATIMUP), Porto, Portugal
| | - Renato Salazar
- Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto (IPATIMUP), Porto, Portugal; Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal
| | | | - Lorna H Santos
- Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory, Quezon City, Philippines
| | - Katja Anslinger
- Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany
| | - Birgit Bayer
- Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany
| | - Qasim Ayub
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | - Wei Wei
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | - Yali Xue
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | - Chris Tyler-Smith
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | | | | | - Balazs Egyed
- GenoID Forensic DNA Laboratory, Department of Genetics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Beate Balitzki
- Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universität Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - David Ballard
- Department of Forensic and Analytical Science, King's College London, London, UK
| | | | - Xinia Barrantes
- Forensic Sciences Department, Poder Judicial, Heredia, Costa Rica
| | | | - Tina Wiest
- Landeskriminalamt Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Burkhard Berger
- Institute of Legal Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria
| | | | - Walther Parson
- Institute of Legal Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria; Penn State Eberly College of Science, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Carey Davis
- Institute of Applied Genetics and Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, Ft. Worth, USA
| | - Bruce Budowle
- Institute of Applied Genetics and Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, Ft. Worth, USA; Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research (CEGMR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Helen Burri
- Forensische Genetik, Kantonsspital Aarau AG, Switzerland
| | - Urs Borer
- Forensische Genetik, Kantonsspital Aarau AG, Switzerland
| | | | - Elizeu F Carvalho
- Laboratorio de Diagnósticos por DNA, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Patricia M Domingues
- Laboratorio de Diagnósticos por DNA, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | - Michael D Coble
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, USA
| | - Carolyn R Hill
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, USA
| | - Daniel Corach
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquimica, Servicio de Huellas Digitales Genetica and CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mariela Caputo
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquimica, Servicio de Huellas Digitales Genetica and CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Maria E D'Amato
- University of the Western Cape, Biotechnology Department, Forensic DNA Laboratory, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Sean Davison
- University of the Western Cape, Biotechnology Department, Forensic DNA Laboratory, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Ronny Decorte
- KU Leuven, Department of Imaging & Pathology, Laboratory of Forensic Genetics and Molecular Archaeology, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maarten H D Larmuseau
- KU Leuven, Department of Imaging & Pathology, Laboratory of Forensic Genetics and Molecular Archaeology, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Claudio Ottoni
- KU Leuven, Department of Imaging & Pathology, Laboratory of Forensic Genetics and Molecular Archaeology, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Olga Rickards
- Centre of Molecular Antropology For Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy
| | - Di Lu
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Judicial Civilization, Institute of Evidence Law and Forensic Science, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, China
| | - Chengtao Jiang
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Judicial Civilization, Institute of Evidence Law and Forensic Science, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, China
| | - Tadeusz Dobosz
- Institute of Forensic Medicine, Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Anna Jonkisz
- Institute of Forensic Medicine, Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - William E Frank
- Illinois State Police, Research & Development Laboratory, Springfield, USA
| | - Ivana Furac
- Department of Forensic Medicine and Criminology, University of Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Christian Gehrig
- University Center of Legal Medicine, Lausanne-Geneva, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Vincent Castella
- University Center of Legal Medicine, Lausanne-Geneva, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Branka Grskovic
- Forensic Science Centre "Ivan Vucetic", General Police Directorate, Ministry of Interior, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Cordula Haas
- Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universität Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Jana Wobst
- Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universität Zürich, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Katsuya Honda
- Department of Legal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Yiping Hou
- Institute of Forensic Medicine, West China School of Basic Science and Forensic Medicine Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Di Zhou
- Institute of Forensic Medicine, West China School of Basic Science and Forensic Medicine Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yan Li
- Institute of Forensic Medicine, West China School of Basic Science and Forensic Medicine Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Shengping Hu
- Molecular Biology and Forensic Genetics Laboratory, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China
| | - Shenglan Chen
- Molecular Biology and Forensic Genetics Laboratory, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China
| | | | | | - Zlatko Jakovski
- Institute for Forensic Medicine and Criminalistics, Medical Faculty, University "Ss. Cyril and Methodius", Skopje, Macedonia
| | - Tanja Ilievska
- Institute for Forensic Medicine and Criminalistics, Medical Faculty, University "Ss. Cyril and Methodius", Skopje, Macedonia
| | - Anja E Klann
- Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universitätsmedizin Greifswald, Germany
| | | | - Peter de Knijff
- Forensic Laboratory for DNA Research, Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Thirsa Kraaijenbrink
- Forensic Laboratory for DNA Research, Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Aikaterini Kondili
- Subdivision of Biological and Biochemical Examinations and Analyses F.S.D. - Hellenic Police, Athens, Greece
| | - Penelope Miniati
- Subdivision of Biological and Biochemical Examinations and Analyses F.S.D. - Hellenic Police, Athens, Greece
| | - Maria Vouropoulou
- Subdivision of Biological and Biochemical Examinations and Analyses F.S.D. - Hellenic Police, Athens, Greece
| | - Lejla Kovacevic
- Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
| | - Damir Marjanovic
- Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
| | - Iris Lindner
- Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universität Rostock, Germany
| | - Issam Mansour
- Molecular Biology Laboratory, American University of Science and Technology Beirut, Lebanon and School of Criminal Justice, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Mouayyad Al-Azem
- Molecular Biology Laboratory, American University of Science and Technology Beirut, Lebanon and School of Criminal Justice, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Ansar El Andari
- Molecular Biology Laboratory, American University of Science and Technology Beirut, Lebanon and School of Criminal Justice, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Miguel Marino
- Laboratorio de Análisis de ADN, FCM - National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Sandra Furfuro
- Laboratorio de Análisis de ADN, FCM - National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Laura Locarno
- Laboratorio de Análisis de ADN, FCM - National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Pablo Martín
- Instituto Nacional de Toxicología y Ciencias Forenses, Madrid, Spain
| | - Gracia M Luque
- Instituto Nacional de Toxicología y Ciencias Forenses, Madrid, Spain
| | - Antonio Alonso
- Instituto Nacional de Toxicología y Ciencias Forenses, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Helena Moreira
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Natsuko Mizuno
- National Research Institute of Police Science, Chiba, Japan
| | | | - Rodrigo S Moura Neto
- Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and DIMAV/INMETRO, Brazil
| | | | - Rosane Silva
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | | | - Michael Kohl
- Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universität Leipzig, Germany
| | - Shengjie Nie
- School of Forensic Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Xianping Wang
- Department of Criminal Investigation, Xuanwei Public Security Bureau, Xuanwei, China
| | - Baowen Cheng
- Department of Criminal Investigation, Yunnan Provincial Public Security Bureau, Kunming, China
| | - Carolina Núñez
- BIOMICs Research Group, Universidad del País Vasco, Vitoria, Spain
| | | | - Jill K Olofsson
- Section of Forensic Genetics, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Niels Morling
- Section of Forensic Genetics, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Valerio Onofri
- Section of Legal Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | | | - Horolma Pamjav
- DNA Laboratory, Institute for Forensic Medicine, Network of Forensic Science Institutes, Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Antonia Volgyi
- DNA Laboratory, Institute for Forensic Medicine, Network of Forensic Science Institutes, Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Gusztav Barany
- DNA Laboratory, Institute for Forensic Medicine, Network of Forensic Science Institutes, Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Ryszard Pawlowski
- Forensic Genetics Laboratory, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Maciejewska
- Forensic Genetics Laboratory, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland
| | - Susi Pelotti
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Institute of Legal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Witold Pepinski
- Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Bialystok, Poland
| | | | - Christopher Phillips
- Unidade de Xenética Forense, Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Facultade de Medicina, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Jorge Cárdenas
- Unidade de Xenética Forense, Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Facultade de Medicina, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Danel Rey-Gonzalez
- Unidade de Xenética Forense, Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Facultade de Medicina, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Antonio Salas
- Unidade de Xenética Forense, Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Facultade de Medicina, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Francesca Brisighelli
- Unidade de Xenética Forense, Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Facultade de Medicina, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Forensic Genetics Laboratory, Institute of Legal Medicine, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Cristian Capelli
- Unidade de Xenética Forense, Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Facultade de Medicina, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Ulises Toscanini
- Unidade de Xenética Forense, Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Facultade de Medicina, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain; PRICAI-Fundación Favaloro, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Andrea Piccinini
- Forensic Genetics Laboratory, Department of Human Morphology and Biomedical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
| | - Marilidia Piglionica
- Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Section of Legal Medicine, University of Bari, Italy
| | - Stefania L Baldassarra
- Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Section of Legal Medicine, University of Bari, Italy
| | - Rafal Ploski
- Department of Medical Genetics, Warsaw Medical University, Poland
| | | | | | - Carlo Robino
- Department of Public Health Sciences and Pediatrics, University of Turin, Italy
| | - Antti Sajantila
- Institute of Applied Genetics and Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, Ft. Worth, USA; Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jukka U Palo
- Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Evelyn Guevara
- Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jazelyn Salvador
- DNA Analysis Laboratory, Natural Sciences Research Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines
| | - Maria Corazon De Ungria
- DNA Analysis Laboratory, Natural Sciences Research Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines
| | - Jae Joseph Russell Rodriguez
- DNA Analysis Laboratory, Natural Sciences Research Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines; Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
| | - Ulrike Schmidt
- Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Germany
| | | | - Pekka Saukko
- Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Turku, Finland
| | - Peter M Schneider
- Institute of Legal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Germany
| | - Miriam Sirker
- Institute of Legal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Germany
| | - Kyoung-Jin Shin
- Department of Forensic Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Yu Na Oh
- Department of Forensic Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Iulia Skitsa
- Athens Dept. of Legal Medicine, DNA Analysis Laboratory, Athens, Greece
| | - Alexandra Ampati
- Athens Dept. of Legal Medicine, DNA Analysis Laboratory, Athens, Greece
| | - Tobi-Gail Smith
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica
| | | | - Vlastimil Stenzl
- Laboratory of Forensic Genetics, Institute of Criminalistics, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Thomas Capal
- Laboratory of Forensic Genetics, Institute of Criminalistics, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Andreas Tillmar
- Department of Forensic Genetics and Forensic Toxicology, National Board of Forensic Medicine, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Helena Nilsson
- Department of Forensic Genetics and Forensic Toxicology, National Board of Forensic Medicine, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Stefania Turrina
- Sezione di Medicina Legale, Dipartimento di Medicina e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Verona, Italy
| | - Domenico De Leo
- Sezione di Medicina Legale, Dipartimento di Medicina e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Verona, Italy
| | - Andrea Verzeletti
- Istituto di Medicina Legale, Universitá degli Studi di Brescia, Italy
| | | | - Jon H Wetton
- Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, UK
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Rita Y Y Yong
- Defence Medical & Environmental Research Institute, DSO National Laboratories, Singapore
| | - Michael Krawczak
- Institute of Medical Informatics and Statistics, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Germany
| | - Michael Nothnagel
- Department of Statistical Genetics and Bioinformatics, Cologne Center for Genomics, University of Cologne, Germany
| | - Lutz Roewer
- Department of Forensic Genetics, Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
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Ballantyne KN, Ralf A, Aboukhalid R, Achakzai NM, Anjos MJ, Ayub Q, Balažic J, Ballantyne J, Ballard DJ, Berger B, Bobillo C, Bouabdellah M, Burri H, Capal T, Caratti S, Cárdenas J, Cartault F, Carvalho EF, Carvalho M, Cheng B, Coble MD, Comas D, Corach D, D'Amato ME, Davison S, de Knijff P, De Ungria MCA, Decorte R, Dobosz T, Dupuy BM, Elmrghni S, Gliwiński M, Gomes SC, Grol L, Haas C, Hanson E, Henke J, Henke L, Herrera-Rodríguez F, Hill CR, Holmlund G, Honda K, Immel UD, Inokuchi S, Jobling MA, Kaddura M, Kim JS, Kim SH, Kim W, King TE, Klausriegler E, Kling D, Kovačević L, Kovatsi L, Krajewski P, Kravchenko S, Larmuseau MHD, Lee EY, Lessig R, Livshits LA, Marjanović D, Minarik M, Mizuno N, Moreira H, Morling N, Mukherjee M, Munier P, Nagaraju J, Neuhuber F, Nie S, Nilasitsataporn P, Nishi T, Oh HH, Olofsson J, Onofri V, Palo JU, Pamjav H, Parson W, Petlach M, Phillips C, Ploski R, Prasad SPR, Primorac D, Purnomo GA, Purps J, Rangel-Villalobos H, Rębała K, Rerkamnuaychoke B, Gonzalez DR, Robino C, Roewer L, Rosa A, Sajantila A, Sala A, Salvador JM, Sanz P, Schmitt C, Sharma AK, Silva DA, Shin KJ, Sijen T, Sirker M, Siváková D, Skaro V, Solano-Matamoros C, Souto L, Stenzl V, Sudoyo H, Syndercombe-Court D, Tagliabracci A, Taylor D, Tillmar A, Tsybovsky IS, Tyler-Smith C, van der Gaag KJ, Vanek D, Völgyi A, Ward D, Willemse P, Yap EPH, Yong RYY, Pajnič IZ, Kayser M. Toward male individualization with rapidly mutating y-chromosomal short tandem repeats. Hum Mutat 2014; 35:1021-32. [PMID: 24917567 PMCID: PMC4145662 DOI: 10.1002/humu.22599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2014] [Accepted: 05/26/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Relevant for various areas of human genetics, Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) are commonly used for testing close paternal relationships among individuals and populations, and for male lineage identification. However, even the widely used 17-loci Yfiler set cannot resolve individuals and populations completely. Here, 52 centers generated quality-controlled data of 13 rapidly mutating (RM) Y-STRs in 14,644 related and unrelated males from 111 worldwide populations. Strikingly, >99% of the 12,272 unrelated males were completely individualized. Haplotype diversity was extremely high (global: 0.9999985, regional: 0.99836–0.9999988). Haplotype sharing between populations was almost absent except for six (0.05%) of the 12,156 haplotypes. Haplotype sharing within populations was generally rare (0.8% nonunique haplotypes), significantly lower in urban (0.9%) than rural (2.1%) and highest in endogamous groups (14.3%). Analysis of molecular variance revealed 99.98% of variation within populations, 0.018% among populations within groups, and 0.002% among groups. Of the 2,372 newly and 156 previously typed male relative pairs, 29% were differentiated including 27% of the 2,378 father–son pairs. Relative to Yfiler, haplotype diversity was increased in 86% of the populations tested and overall male relative differentiation was raised by 23.5%. Our study demonstrates the value of RM Y-STRs in identifying and separating unrelated and related males and provides a reference database.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaye N Ballantyne
- Department of Forensic Molecular Biology, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Office of the Chief Forensic Scientist, Victoria Police Forensic Services Department, Macleod, Victoria, Australia
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Lariccia V, Nasti AA, Alessandrini F, Pesaresi M, Gratteri S, Tagliabracci A, Amoroso S. Identification and functional analysis of a new putative caveolin-3 variant found in a patient with sudden unexplained death. J Biomed Sci 2014; 21:58. [PMID: 24917393 PMCID: PMC4109384 DOI: 10.1186/1423-0127-21-58] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2014] [Accepted: 06/03/2014] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is the clinical outcome of a lethal arrhythmia that can develop on the background of unrecognized channelopathies or cardiomyopathies. Several susceptibility genes have been identified for the congenital forms of these cardiac diseases, including caveolin-3 (Cav-3) gene. In the heart Cav-3 is the main component of caveolae, plasma membrane domains that regulate multiple cellular processes highly relevant for cardiac excitability, such as trafficking, calcium homeostasis, signal transduction and cellular response to injury. Here we characterized a new putative Cav-3 variant, Cav-3 V82I, found in a patient with SCD. Results In heterologous systems Cav-3 V82I was expressed at significantly higher level than Cav-3 WT and accumulated within the cells. Cells expressing Cav-3 V82I exhibited a decreased activation of extracellular-signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) and were more vulnerable to sub-lethal osmotic stress. Conclusion Considering that abnormal loss of myocytes can play a mechanistic role in lethal cardiac diseases, we suggest that the detrimental effect of Cav-3 V82I variant on cell viability may participate in determining the susceptibility to cardiac death.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Salvatore Amoroso
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, School of Medicine, University "Politecnica delle Marche", Ancona, Italy.
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Nardi B, Marini A, Turchi C, Arimatea E, Tagliabracci A, Bellantuono C. Role of 5-HTTLPR polymorphism in the development of the inward/outward personality organization: a genetic association study. PLoS One 2013; 8:e82192. [PMID: 24358153 PMCID: PMC3864855 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2013] [Accepted: 10/22/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Reciprocity with primary caregivers affects subjects' adaptive abilities toward the construction of the most useful personal meaning organization (PMO) with respect to their developmental environment. Within cognitive theory the post-rationalist approach has outlined two basic categories of identity construction and of regulation of cognitive and emotional processes: the Outward and the Inward PMO. The presence of different, consistent clinical patterns in Inward and Outward subjects is paralleled by differences in cerebral activation during emotional tasks on fMRI and by different expression of some polymorphisms in serotonin pathways. Since several lines of evidence support a role for the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism in mediating individual susceptibility to environmental emotional stimuli, this study was conducted to investigate its influence in the development of the Inward/Outward PMO. PMO was assessed and the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism investigated in 124 healthy subjects who were subdivided into an Inward (n = 52) and an Outward (n = 72) group. Case-control comparisons of short allele (S) frequencies showed significant differences between Inwards and Outwards (p = 0.036, χ2 test; p = 0.026, exact test). Genotype frequencies were not significantly different although values slightly exceeded p≤0.05 (p = 0.056, χ2 test; p = 0.059, exact test). Analysis of the 5-HTTLPR genotypes according to the recessive inheritance model showed that the S/S genotype increased the likelihood of developing an Outward PMO (p = 0.0178, χ2 test; p = 0.0143, exact test; OR = 3.43, CI (95%) = 1.188–9.925). A logistic regression analysis confirmed the association between short allele and S/S genotypes with the Outward PMO also when gender and age were considered. However none of the differences remained significant after correction for multiple testing, even though using the recessive model they approach significance. Overall our data seem to suggest a putative genetic basis for interindividual differences in PMO development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernardo Nardi
- Psychiatric Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Alessandra Marini
- Psychiatric Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Chiara Turchi
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Emidio Arimatea
- Psychiatric Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Cesario Bellantuono
- Psychiatric Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
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Giampaoli S, Alessandrini F, Berti A, Ripani L, Choi A, Crab R, De Vittori E, Egyed B, Haas C, Lee HY, Korabecná M, Noel F, Podini D, Tagliabracci A, Valentini A, Romano Spica V. Forensic interlaboratory evaluation of the ForFLUID kit for vaginal fluids identification. J Forensic Leg Med 2013; 21:60-3. [PMID: 24365693 DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2013.10.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2013] [Revised: 10/02/2013] [Accepted: 10/27/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Identification of vaginal fluids is an important step in the process of sexual assaults confirmation. Advances in both microbiology and molecular biology defined technical approaches allowing the discrimination of body fluids. These protocols are based on the identification of specific bacterial communities by microfloraDNA (mfDNA) amplification. A multiplex real time-PCR assay (ForFLUID kit) has been developed for identifying biological fluids and for discrimination among vaginal, oral and fecal samples. In order to test its efficacy and reliability of the assay in the identification of vaginal fluids, an interlaboratory evaluation has been performed on homogeneous vaginal swabs. All the involved laboratories were able to correctly recognize all the vaginal swabs, and no false positives were identified when the assay was applied on non-vaginal samples. The assay represents an useful molecular tool that can be easily adopted by forensic geneticists involved in vaginal fluid identification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saverio Giampaoli
- University of Rome "Foro Italico", Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, Public Health Unit, P.zza L. De Bosis, 6, 00135 Rome, Italy
| | - Federica Alessandrini
- Sezione di Medicina Legale, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Sanità Pubblica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Conca - Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy
| | - Andrea Berti
- Carabinieri, Reparto Investigazioni Scientifiche di Roma, V.le di Tor di Quinto, 119, 00191 Roma, Italy
| | - Luigi Ripani
- Carabinieri, Reparto Investigazioni Scientifiche di Roma, V.le di Tor di Quinto, 119, 00191 Roma, Italy
| | - Ajin Choi
- Department of Forensic Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, South Korea
| | - Roselien Crab
- National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, Vilvoordsesteenweg 100, 1120 Brussel, Belgium
| | - Elisabetta De Vittori
- University of Rome "Foro Italico", Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, Public Health Unit, P.zza L. De Bosis, 6, 00135 Rome, Italy
| | - Balazs Egyed
- Department of Genetics, Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Pazmany Peter stny. 1/C, Hungary; GenoID - Forensic DNA Laboratory, H-1023, Budapest, Lajos utca 28-32, Hungary
| | - Cordula Haas
- Universität Zürich, Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Winterthurerstrasse 190/52, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Hwan Young Lee
- Department of Forensic Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, South Korea
| | - Marie Korabecná
- Institute of Biology and Medical Genetics of the First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University in Prague, Albertov 4, Praha 2 128 00, Czech Republic
| | - Fabrice Noel
- National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, Vilvoordsesteenweg 100, 1120 Brussel, Belgium
| | - Daniele Podini
- Department of Forensic Sciences, The George Washington University, 2100 Foxhall Road NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Sezione di Medicina Legale, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Sanità Pubblica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Conca - Torrette, 60126 Ancona, Italy
| | - Alessio Valentini
- Molecular Digital Diagnostics (MDD) s.r.l., Via de Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Romano Spica
- University of Rome "Foro Italico", Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, Public Health Unit, P.zza L. De Bosis, 6, 00135 Rome, Italy.
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Prieto L, Alves C, Zimmermann B, Tagliabracci A, Prieto V, Montesino M, Whittle M, Anjos M, Cardoso S, Heinrichs B, Hernandez A, López-Parra A, Sala A, Saragoni V, Burgos G, Marino M, Paredes M, Mora-Torres C, Angulo R, Chemale G, Vullo C, Sánchez-Simón M, Comas D, Puente J, López-Cubría C, Modesti N, Aler M, Merigioli S, Betancor E, Pedrosa S, Plaza G, Masciovecchio M, Schneider P, Parson W. GHEP-ISFG proficiency test 2011: Paper challenge on evaluation of mitochondrial DNA results. Forensic Sci Int Genet 2013; 7:10-5. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2012.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2011] [Revised: 04/06/2012] [Accepted: 04/20/2012] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Buscemi L, Turchi C, Onori N, Ramberti F, Tagliabracci A. Heroin addictions in Italians: Evaluation of OPRM1 genetic variants by case–control association study. Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigss.2013.10.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Tagliabracci A, Onofri V, Previderè C, Schneider PM, De Stefano F. The Ge.F.I. DNA Proficiency Test: Year-one experience. Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigss.2013.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Nardi B, Piva F, Turchi C, Giulietti M, Castellucci G, Arimatea E, Rocchetti D, Rocchetti G, Principato G, Tagliabracci A, Bellantuono C. HTR2A gene polymorphisms and Inward and Outward Personal Meaning Organisations. Acta Neuropsychiatr 2012; 24:336-43. [PMID: 25287175 DOI: 10.1111/j.1601-5215.2011.00644.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Nardi B, Piva F, Turchi C, Giulietti M, Castellucci G, Arimatea E, Rocchetti D, Rocchetti G, Principato G, Tagliabracci A, Bellantuono C. HTR2A gene polymorphisms and Inward and Outward Personal Meaning Organisations.Objective:Caregiver behaviours and emotional expressions may induce development of two basic categories of constructing identity and of regulating cognitive and emotional processes: an Inward or an Outward Personal Meaning Organisation (PMO). Inwards read environmental signals through their internal activations. Their emotions are more distinct, and reciprocity is more based on physical distance (protection, loneliness). Outwards read internal activations through the environment. Their emotions are more blurred, and reciprocity is more based on a semantic sight of relations (approval, rules).It has recently been shown that PMO development may also have physiological and genetic bases. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, Inward and Outward subjects showed different amygdala activation patterns and an association with the SLC6A4 serotonin transporter gene 5-HTTLPR polymorphism.Methods:In this work, 149 healthy subjects were examined with respect to Inward and Outward PMOs. We explored the association with 10 serotonin receptor 2A (HTR2A) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) selected by bioinformatics methods.Results:An intronic SNP (rs55948462) was found to be significantly associated with an Inward and an Outward PMOs development. However, after statistical adjustments, these results did not remain significant.Conclusion:We did not find associations between considered SNPs and Inward/Outward PMOs. However, the role of HTR2A polymorphisms was not considered in this study and that of the other serotonin-related genes should be valued.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernardo Nardi
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Francesco Piva
- Department of Specialized Clinical Sciences and Odontostomatology, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Chiara Turchi
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Matteo Giulietti
- Department of Specialized Clinical Sciences and Odontostomatology, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Gianni Castellucci
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Emidio Arimatea
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - David Rocchetti
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Gianfranco Rocchetti
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Giovanni Principato
- Department of Specialized Clinical Sciences and Odontostomatology, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Adriano Tagliabracci
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Cesario Bellantuono
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
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Turchi C, Piva F, Solito G, Principato G, Buscemi L, Tagliabracci A. ADH4 intronic variations are associated with alcohol dependence. Pharmacogenet Genomics 2012; 22:79-94. [PMID: 22044940 DOI: 10.1097/fpc.0b013e32834d05c8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
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Montesino M, Tagliabracci A, Zimmermann B, Gusmao L, Burgos G, Heinrichs B, Prieto V, Paredes M, Hernandez A, Cardoso S, Vullo C, Marino M, Whittle M, Velázquez M, Sánchez-Simón M, Maxud K, Anjos M, Vargas-Díaz L, López-Parra A, Bobillo C, García-Segura R, Puente J, Pedrosa S, Streintenberger E, Moreno F, Chemale G, Pestano J, Merigioli S, Espinoza M, Comas D, López-Cubría C, Bogus M, Prieto L, Parson W. GHEP-ISFG Proficiency Test 2011: Paper challenge on evaluation of mitochondrial DNA results. Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigss.2011.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Tisè M, Mazzarini L, Fabrizzi G, Ferrante L, Giorgetti R, Tagliabracci A. Applicability of Greulich and Pyle method for age assessment in forensic practice on an Italian sample. Int J Legal Med 2011; 125:411-6. [PMID: 21221985 DOI: 10.1007/s00414-010-0541-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2010] [Accepted: 12/15/2010] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The main importance in age estimation lies in the assessment of criminal liability and protection of unaccompanied minor immigrants, when their age is unknown. Under Italian law, persons are not criminally responsible before they reach the age of 14. The age of 18 is important when deciding whether juvenile or adult law must be applied. In the case of unaccompanied minors, it is important to assess age in order to establish special protective measures, and correct age estimation may prevent a person over 18 from benefiting from measures reserved for minors. OBJECTIVE Since the Greulich and Pyle method is one of the most frequently used in age estimation, the aim of this study was to assess the reproducibility and accuracy of the method on a large Italian sample of teenagers, to ascertain the applicability of the Atlas at the critical age thresholds of 14 and 18 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS This retrospective study examined posteroanterior X-ray projections of hand and wrist from 484 Italian-Caucasian young people (125 females, 359 males) between 11 and 19 years old. All radiographic images were taken from trauma patients hospitalized in the Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Ospedali Riuniti of Ancona (Italy) between 2006 and 2007. Two physicians analyzed all radiographic images separately. The blind method was used. RESULTS In the case of an estimated age of 14 years old, the true age ranged from 12.2 to 15.9 years (median, 14.3 years, interquartile range, 1.0 years) for males, and 12.6 to 15.7 years (median, 14.2 years, interquartile range, 1.7 years) for females. In the case of an estimated age of 18 years, the true age ranged from 15.6 to 19.7 years (median, 17.7 years, interquartile range, 1.4 years) for males, and from 16.2 to 20.0 years (median, 18.7 years, interquartile range, 1.8 years) for females. CONCLUSION Our study shows that although the GPM is a reproducible and repeatable method, there is a wide margin of error in the estimation of chronological age, mainly in the critical estimated ages of 14 and 18 years old in both males and females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Tisè
- Institute of Legal Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Conca 71, 60126, Ancona, Italy
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