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Serious flaws in the scientific evaluation in the RAR incorrectly characterise the potential for a carcinogenic hazard from exposure to glyphosate. Since the RAR is the basis for the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) conclusion, 4 it is critical that these shortcomings are corrected. [...]the WG also saw a significant increase in the incidence of pancreatic islet cell adenomas in two studies in male Sprague-Dawley rats. 14-16 In one of these rat studies, thyroid gland adenomas in females and liver adenomas in males were also increased.

Few studies have explored whether smoke-free homes (SFH) can promote reductions of smoking onset in children, particularly in households with smoking parents. The aim of this study was to determine whether youths living in SFH were less likely to progress to smoking. We conducted a longitudinal, 11-year, two-wave study on 778 children aged 6-7 years and 985 adolescents aged 13-14 in 2002. At baseline, youths were asked whether or not adults smoked at home (SFH); at follow-up, in 2012-2014, whether a household smoking ban (HSB) had been implemented during the course of the study. Logistic regression was used to investigate SFH effects on youth smoking behaviors. Sixty-nine percent of children and 54% of adolescents reported SFH at baseline; 80% of children and 71% of adolescents reported HSB at follow-up. Youths living in non-SFH at baseline were twice as likely to become established smokers at follow-up compared with those living in SFH (children + adolescents: odds ratio [OR] = 1.99; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.39-2.94; adolescents: OR = 2.15; 95% CI = 1.36-3.42; children: OR = 1.69; 95% CI = 0.80-3.56), either for youths living with nonsmoking parents at baseline and follow-up (OR for both children and adolescents = 3.06; 95% CI = 1.70-5.51) or for youths with ≥1 smoking parent at baseline and follow-up (OR = 2.12, 95% CI = 1.01-4.46). The effect was greater in youths living in the worst situation (non-SFH at baseline + non-HSB at follow-up) compared with those in the best situation (SFH at baseline + HSB at follow-up; children: OR = 3.20; 95% CI = 1.10-9.35; adolescents: OR = 5.41; 95% CI = 2.66-10.97). Household smoke-free policies had a significant impact in protecting youths from becoming established smokers. The results of the SIDRIAT longitudinal study showed that youths living in homes where people smoked at baseline were twice as likely to become established smokers 11 years later at follow-up, compared with youths living in SFH. The lower number of established smokers among youths living in SFH at baseline was recorded not only in households with nonsmoking parents but also in those with smoking parents. Implementing a home smoking ban is recommended in all households. Living in homes with no ban may be a risk factor for smoking initiation, which is independent of having smoking parents.

Families with lower socioeconomic status are less likely to adopt household smoking bans (HSB). The aim of this study was to determine whether socioeconomic disparities in HSB prevalence in Italy decreased 7–9 years after the introduction of the Italian ban on smoking in public places. A longitudinal, 12-year, two-wave study was conducted on a sample of 3091 youths aged 6–14 years in 2002; 1763 (57%) were re-interviewed in 2012–2014. A Poisson regression with a robust error variance was used to assess the association between socioeconomic disparities and HSB prevalence. The adoption of HSBs significantly increased from 60% in 2002 to 75% in 2012–2014, with the increase recorded in youths with ≥1 smoking parent only (from 22% at baseline to 46% at follow-up). The presence of HSBs at baseline was more likely in families with ≥1 graduate parent compared to those with no graduate parents (prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.15–1.57), either in families with ≥1 smoking parent (PR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.17–1.58) or in families with non-smoking parents (PR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.01–2.56). Conversely, at follow-up socioeconomic disparities dropped since families with no graduate parents were 1.5-fold more likely to introduce a HSB between the two waves. The Italian ban on smoking in public places may have increased the adoption of smoke-free homes in families with smoking and non-graduate parents, causing the drop of the socioeconomic gap in smoke-free homes.

Introduction: Hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection remains a significant global health challenge due to its severity and high risk of progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Bulevirtide, a novel HDV entry inhibitor, has shown promise in managing chronic hepatitis D by blocking viral entry into hepatocytes. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of bulevirtide in reducing HDV RNA levels and improving liver function in a real-life cohort of Italian patients with HDV infection. Methods: This multicenter prospective trial enrolled 108 consecutive patients with chronic HDV infection, from June 2023 to June 2024, who received 2 mg/day of bulevirtide in combination with a nucleoside/nucleotide analogue for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Patients with any stage of liver fibrosis or compensated cirrhosis were included. Data collected included demographic and clinical characteristics, liver function tests, HDV RNA levels, and adverse events at baseline and 6 months. Results: The virological response was achieved in 54.6% of patients (n = 59), with 36 demonstrating undetectable HDV RNA levels. Among responders, ALT levels decreased significantly from 67.0 U/mL [IQR 44.0–116.3] to 31.5 U/mL [IQR 24.0–36.5, p = 0.001], and AST levels from 66.0 U/mL [IQR 46.5–91.0] to 32.5 U/mL [IQR 28.0–38.0, p = 0.021]. Median HDV RNA dropped from 29,800 IU/mL [IQR 3100–375,000] to 0 IU/mL [IQR 0–291, p < 0.001]. No significant predictors of response emerged. Mild adverse events, including pruritus (5.6%) and injection-site reactions (1.9%) and flu-like syndrome (0.9) were reported, with no treatment discontinuation. Conclusions: Bulevirtide effectively reduces HDV RNA levels and improves liver function with a favorable safety profile, offering a promising therapeutic option for chronic hepatitis D. Further large-scale studies are needed to confirm these findings and explore long-term outcomes.

Background Few data are available concerning the effects on clinical outcome and left ventricular function of abciximab administration in patients undergoing rescue percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) after failed thrombolysis for acute myocardial infarction. The aim of the study was to investigate such effects. Methods Eighty-nine consecutive patients referred to our laboratory from other hospitals for rescue PTCA within 24 hours from the onset of chest pain were prospectively randomized before the procedure to abciximab treatment (44 patients) or placebo (45 patients). No significant differences in baseline characteristics were observed between the 2 groups. Study end points were the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) such as death, reinfarction, congestive heart failure, target lesion revascularization, or recurrent ischemia at 30-day and 6-month follow-up and the occurrence of periprocedural bleeding. Results Mean time from symptom onset to reperfusion was 8.5 ± 5.4 hours; rescue PTCA was successful in 96% of patients. The incidence of major, moderate, and minor bleeding was similar in the 2 groups. At 30-day follow-up, the echocardiographic left ventricular wall motion score index showed a significantly higher improvement in the abciximab group versus the placebo group (P <.001). At 6-month follow-up, the incidence of MACE was 11% in the abciximab group versus 38% in the placebo group (P =.004). Abciximab administration (P =.003) and cardiogenic shock (P =.005) were the only independent predictors of the occurrence of MACE at multivariable analysis. Conclusion Treatment with abciximab during rescue PTCA positively affects clinical outcome at 6-month follow-up without increasing periprocedural bleeding. (Am Heart J 2002;143:334-41.)

The recent development of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) to treat severe aortic stenosis (AS) offers a viable option for high-risk patients categories. Our aim is to evaluate the early effects of implantation of CoreValve aortic valve prosthesis on arterial-ventricular coupling by two dimensional echocardiography. Sixty five patients with severe AS performed 2D conventional echocardiography before, immediately after TAVI, at discharge (mean age: 82.6 ± 5.9 years; female: 60%). The current third generation (18-F) CoreValve Revalving system (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) was used in all cases. Vascular access was obtained by percutaneous approach through the common femoral artery; the procedure was performed with the patient under local anesthesia. We calculated, apart the conventional parameters regarding left ventricular geometry and the Doppler parameters of aortic flow (valvular load), the vascular load and the global left ventricular hemodynamic load. After TAVI we showed, by echocardiography, an improvement of valvular load. In particular we observed an immediate reduction of transaortic peak pressure gradient ( P  < 0.0001), of mean pressure gradient ( P  < 0.0001) and a concomitant increase in aortic valve area (AVA) (0.97 ± 0.3 cm 2 ). Left ventricular ejection fraction improved early after TAVI (before: 47 ± 11, after: 54 ± 11; P  < .0001). Vascular load, expressed by systemic arterial compliance, showed a low but significant improvement after procedure ( P  < 0.01), while systemic vascular resistances showed a significant reduction after procedure ( P  < 0.001). As a global effect of the integrated changes of these hemodynamic parameters, we observed a significant improvement of global left ventricular hemodynamic load, in particular through a significant reduction of end-systolic meridional stress (before: 80 ± 34 and after: 55 ± 29, P  < 0.0001). The arterial-valvular impedance showed a significant reduction (before: 7.6 ± 2 vs after: 5.8 ± 2; P  < 0.0001. Furthermore we observed a significant reduction with a normalization of arterial-ventricular coupling ( P  < 0.005). With regard to left ventricular (LV) efficiency, we observed, after the procedure, a significant reduction of stroke work ( P  < 0.001) and potential energy ( P  < 0.001), with a significant increase of work efficiency early after the procedure ( P  < 0.001). Our results showed that the TAVI procedure was able to determine an early improvement of the global left ventricular hemodynamic load, allowing a better global LV performance. Further follow-up investigations are needed to evaluate these results in a more prolonged time observation.