Davide Grassi

• Professor
• University of L'Aquila

Dermatological diseases such as acne, hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), and psoriasis are driven by chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. Emerging evidence highlights the role of nutrition in modulating these conditions, particularly through dietary patterns rich in antioxidants, polyphenols, and unsaturated fatty acids. Recent Findings The Medi...

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a serious health concern with an estimated prevalence of about 13.4% worldwide. It is cause and consequence of various comorbidities, including cardiovascular diseases. In parallel, common pathological conditions closely related to ageing and unhealthy dietary habits increase the risk of CKD development and progressi...

Purpose of Review In an attempt to clarify the most appropriate nomenclature for the very low-calorie ketogenic diets (VLCKD), we propose to change the nomenclature and acronym of this medical nutrition therapy. The new definition and acronym proposed by the "KetoNut" panel of experts of the Italian Society of Nutraceuticals (SINut) and the Italian...

Objective To assess the blood pressure (BP) lowering effect and the safety profile of treatment with bisoprolol and hydrochlorothiazide in patients affected by hypertension. Design and method The study was designed in according to guidelines of the 2020 preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement. A system...

Introduction: Cocoa flavonoids have been described to reduce the cardiovascular risk. Nevertheless, the involved mechanisms should be clarified and the dose-effect relation has never been evaluated. Aim: To investigate the dose-dependent effects of cocoa flavonoids on markers of endothelial and platelet activation and oxidative stress. Methods:...

PaO 2 /FiO 2 (P/F ratio) is considered a marker of hypoxia/hypoxemia and mortality. Several prothrombotic changes are associated with the decrease of P/F ratio. The role of P/F ratio in patients with arterial and venous thrombosis remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the associat...

We employed a multifaceted computational strategy to identify the genetic factors contributing to increased risk of severe COVID-19 infection from a Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) dataset of a cohort of 2000 Italian patients. We coupled a stratified k -fold screening, to rank variants more associated with severity, with the training of multiple super...

Objective New-onset immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) and flares of pre-existing IMIDs have been reported following anti- SARS-CoV2 vaccination. Our study aimed at describing a retrospective cohort of patients developing new-onset IMIDs or flares of known IMIDs within 30 days after any anti-SARS-CoV2 vaccine dose. Methods We evaluated...

The cardiovascular (CV) system can often be affected during SARS-CoV-2 infection and several acute manifestations, such as myocardial infarction, pericarditis, myocarditis and arrhythmias have been described. We provide a retrospective overview of electrocardiographic (ECG) features and their relationship with clinical outcomes in a cohort of patie...

Background: Diagnosis and treatment of hypertension emergency (HE) and urgency (HU) may vary according to the physicians involved and the setting of the treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in management of HE and HU according to the work setting of the physicians. Methods: The young investigators of the Italian Societ...

Background In recent years, increasing evidence on the role of diet on chronic conditions, including cardiovascular diseases (CV) and rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) has accrued. Most studies exploring the possible role of nutrients and dietary patterns on both the risk to develop RMDs in the general population and the natural history...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237297.].

Background A significant proportion of individuals clinically diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), but without any disease‐causing mutation, are likely to have polygenic hypercholesterolemia. We evaluated the distribution of a polygenic risk score, consisting of 12 low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C)‐raising variants (polygeni...

Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-related pneumonia is associated with venous and arterial thrombosis. Aim of the study was to find out a new score for predicting thrombosis in patients with SARS-CoV-2. Methods We included a cohort of 674 patients affected by SARS-CoV-2, not requiring intensive care units, and...

Toll-like receptors (TLR) are crucial components in the initiation of innate immune responses to a variety of pathogens, triggering the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and type I and II interferons, which are responsible for innate antiviral responses. Among the different TLRs, TLR7 recognizes several single-stranded RNA viruses including...

The primary and secondary prevention strategies of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) largely rely on the management of arterial hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, two major risk factors possibly linked in pathophysiological terms by the renin-angiotensin system activation and that often coexist in the same patient synergistically i...

The combined impact of common and rare exonic variants in COVID-19 host genetics is currently insufficiently understood. Here, common and rare variants from whole-exome sequencing data of about 4000 SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals were used to define an interpretable machine-learning model for predicting COVID-19 severity. First, variants were conv...

Objectives: The relationship between dietary patterns, including the Mediterranean diet, and rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) has been increasingly assessed but data on patients with established primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is lacking. The aim of the study was to explore the adherence to the Mediterranean diet and its relationship...

With the emerging success of the COVID-19 vaccination programs, the incidence of acute COVID-19 will decrease. However, given the high number of people who contracted SARS-CoV-2 infection and recovered, we will be faced with a significant number of patients with persistent symptoms even months after their COVID-19 infection. In this setting, long C...

IntroductionLifestyle changes present a fundamental role in cardiovascular prevention. Nutraceuticals also supplementing diet could help in controlling the cardiometabolic risk.Aim(1) to evaluate acute effects of a combination of nutraceuticals (cNUT) on vascular function, BP, metabolism in dyslipidaemic patients before and after smoking; (2) to ev...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237297.].

With the demographic shift toward advanced ages, it is imperative to understand the biological mechanisms behind common, disabling age-related diseases such as cognitive impairment in its mild form to overt dementia. Hypertension, a major cardiovascular risk factor, is epidemiologically linked to vascular and Alzheimer-type dementia, with possible...

Background The coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) is characterised by a heterogeneous clinical presentation and a wide range of imaging findings, depending on disease severity and time course. The pathophysiology is complex, involving immune and hematologic systems, epithelial cells and vascular system and to date reliable biomarkers aimed at stra...

Objective: Altered coagulation parameters in COVID-19 patients is associated with a poor prognosis. We tested whether COVID-19 patients on chronic oral anticoagulants (cOACs) for thromboembolism prophylaxis could receive protection from developing more severe phenotypes of the disease. Approach and Results: We searched the database of the SARS-RAS...

Cardiovascular prevention represents one of the most important strategies of public health, since cardiovascular diseases are the first cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Measures to promote a healthy lifestyle and an adequate control of risk factors need be highlighted also during the COVID-19 outbreak, which has dramatically changed the...

During the COVID-19 2020 outbreak, a large body of data has been provided on general management and outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Yet, relatively little is known on characteristics and outcome of patients managed in Internal Medicine Units (IMU). To address this gap, the Italian Society of Internal Medicine has conducted a nationwide...

IntroductionHypertesion is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, worldwide, and its prevalence has been increasing in several countries, including Italy.AimsTo assess hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control in a real-world sample of adults with self-reported diabetes compared with nondiabetic individuals.Methods Following...

Objective Preliminary data indicate a reduction in hospitalizations for acute coronary syndromes during the Covid19 outbreak in Northern Italy. We investigated whether the albeit marginal Covid19 burden in the province of L Aquila, in Central Italy, had an impact on cardiovascular hospitalizations and outcomes. Design and method We retrospectively...

Objective To investigate differences for management and treatment of hypertension emergency (HE) (HU) and urgency among emergency physician and doctors working in other departments. Design and method The young investigator research group of the Italian Society of Hypertension developed a 23-item questionnaire spread by E-mail invitation to the mem...

Objective The prevalence of hypertension is estimated at around 30% of the adult population in industrialized countries and is much higher in patients with diabetes mellitus. The global percentage of hypertensive individuals whose condition is treated and controlled is currently low. We analyzed data from a nationwide, cross-sectional epidemiologic...

The coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) is characterised by a heterogeneous clinical presentation, a complex pathophysiology and a wide range of imaging findings, depending on disease severity and time course. We conducted a retrospective evaluation of hospitalized patients with proven SARS-CoV-2 infection, clinical signs of COVID-19 and computed t...

In recent years, an increasing interest in the influence of diet in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) led to the publication of several articles exploring the role of food/nutrients in both the risk of developing these conditions in normal subjects and the natural history of the disease in patients with established RMDs. Diet may be a p...

During the last few years increasing interest has been focused on antioxidants as potentially useful agents in the prevention of the onset and progression of cognitive dysfunction. In this randomized, double-blind, controlled, parallel arm study, the effects of daily consumption of an antioxidant mix on cognitive function in healthy older adults we...

Objective: The burst of COVID-19 epidemics in Italy prompted the Italian Society of Hypertension to start an observational study to explore the characteristics of the hospitalized victims of the disease. The current analysis aimed to investigate the predictors of healing among Italian COVID-19 patients. We also assessed the effect of angiotensin-c...

The coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) is characterised by a heterogeneous clinical presentation, a complex pathophysiology and a wide range of imaging findings, depending on disease severity and time course. We conducted a retrospective evaluation of hospitalized patients with proven SARS-CoV-2 infection, clinical signs of COVID-19 and computed to...

Background The global rate of intensive care unit (ICU) admission during the COVID-19 pandemic varies within countries and is among the main challenges for health care systems worldwide. Conflicting results have been reported about the response to coronavirus infection and COVID-19 outcomes in men and women. Understanding predictors of intensive ca...

Fabry is an X-linked disorder of glycosphingolipid metabolism that is caused by variants of the GLA gene that codes for α-galactosidase A, leading to lysosomal accumulation of globotriaosylceramide in many cell types. As a result, affected patients manifest with an increased risk of developing ischemic stroke, peripheral neuropathy, cardiac dysfunc...

The province of L'Aquila (Central Italy) was marginally affected by COVID‐19 pandemic, but changes in health care seeking behaviors were noticed. The authors retrospectively analyzed de‐identified data concerning all‐cause and cardiovascular hospitalizations, cardiovascular acute phase treatments, and in‐hospital cardiovascular deaths in the provin...

Objectives To evaluate the clinical pictures, laboratory tests and imaging of patients with lung involvement, either from severe COVID-19 or macrophage activation syndrome (MAS), in order to assess how similar these two diseases are. Methods The present work has been designed as a cross-sectional single-centre study to compare characteristics of p...

Several factors have been proposed to explain the high death rate of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, including hypertension and hypertension-related treatment with Renin Angiotensin System inhibitors. Also, age and multimorbidity might be confounders. No sufficient data are available to demonstrate their independent role. We desig...

Introduction Red yeast rice (RYR) is an effective cholesterol-lowering nutraceutical reversibly inhibiting the 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase. As liver damage is a possible (albeit rare) side effect of HMG-CoA inhibitors, it make sense to focus on the liver tolerability of RYR extracts. The aim of this paper is to offer an expe...

Oxidative stress is considered the common effector of the cascade of degenerative events in many neurological conditions. Thus, in this paper we tested different nutraceuticals in H2O2 in vitro model to understand if could represent an adjuvant treatment for neurological diseases. In this study, nutraceuticals bacopa, lycopene, astaxanthin, and vit...

Cocoa has been reported to have medicinal properties. It contains a wide range of phytochemicals, including polyphenols, which have been shown to exert anti-inflammatory and antioxidant actions, and also to have a positive effect on pain. Other components of cocoa might be able to positively influence pain perception through various mechanisms. Des...

Systemic inflammation is a common denominator to a variety of cardiovascular (CV) and nonCV diseases and relative risk factors, including hypertension and its control, metabolic diseases, rheumatic disorders, and those affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Besides medications, a nonpharmacological approach encompassing lifestyle changes and other c...

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9)-related discoveries of the turn of the century have translated into substantial novelty in dyslipidemia treatment in the last 5 years. With chronic preventable atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD) representing an epidemic of morbidity and mortality worldwide, low-density lipoprotein c...

Эссенциальная гипертензия по-прежнему представляет собой наиболее распространенный фактор риска сердечно-сосудистой системы, отвечающий за большую часть глобального бремени заболеваний во всем мире. Антигипертензивная терапия, направленная на снижение уровня артериального давления (АД) в рекомендованных терапевтических целях, доказала снижение риск...

Essential hypertension still represents the most common cardiovascular risk factor, which is responsible for the vast majority of global burden of disease, worldwide. Antihypertensive treatment aimed at lowering blood pressure (BP) levels to the recommended therapeutic targets has demonstrated to reduce risk of developing major cardiovascular, cere...

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of a combination of berberine and silymarin on serum lipids and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) through a systematic review of literature and meta‐analysis of the available randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled clinical trials (RCTs). A systematic literature search in SCOPUS, PubMed‐Medline, ISI Web...

Increasing evidence suggests that uric acid (UA) is a relevant risk factor for arteriolosclerosis and recent studies have demonstrated the positive relationship between UA concentrations and the severity of leukoaraiosis. However, the association between lacunar infarcts (LI) and UA levels has seldom been reported in the literature. The aim of our...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death today. Many of the biochemical alterations associated with the pathophysiology of CVD can be modified by adequate intakes of bioactive nutrients through a correct diet or supplementation. Recently, there has been growing public and clinical interest in cocoa polyphenols (CPs) and omega...

Background: The aging of western societies is leading to a dramatic increase in the prevalence of chronic conditions, threatening the health status and then the sustainability of our healthcare systems. In particular, dementia is being increasingly recognized as a public health priority, given its enormous socioeconomic burdens further amplified b...

Background: Numerous studies have reported sex and gender differences in the prevalence and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. However, sex differences in the therapy of hypertension have not been completely examined. Objective: To estimate the gender-specific dissimilarity in outcomes among patients following antihypertensive treatment, usin...

(1) Background: Endothelial dysfunction predicts cardiovascular events. Circulating angiogenic cells (CACs) maintain and repair the endothelium regulating its function. Tea flavonoids reduce cardiovascular risk. We investigated the effects of black tea on the number of CACs and on flow-mediated dilation (FMD) before and after an oral fat in hyperte...

Punica granatum L. (Pomegranate) has been claimed to provide several health benefits. Pomegranate juice is a polyphenol-rich fruit juice with high antioxidant capacity. Several studies suggested that pomegranate juice can exert antiatherogenic, antioxidant, antihypertensive, and anti-inflammatory effects. Nevertheless, the potential cardioprotectiv...

Objective: To systematically review and meta-analyze available evidence from randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of pomegranate juice consumption and blood pressure (BP). Design and method: A comprehensive literature search in Medline and Scopus was carried out to identify eligible RCTs. A meta-analysis of eligi...

Introduction: Asymptomatic hyperuricemia is not a current indication for therapy as the definite role of serum uric acid elevation as a cardiovascular risk factor is extremely likely but still controversial. Aim: We designed a double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study to assess the effects of a combination of nutraceuticals (ZinutriK(®)...

There is still a considerable debate concerning whether uric acid is neuroprotective or neurotoxic agent. To clarify this topic we tested the effects of uric acid on neuronal cells biology by using differentiated SHSY5Y neuroblastoma cells incubated with amyloid ß to reproduce an in vitro model of Alzheimer's disease. The incubation of cells with u...

The beneficial effects of statin therapy in reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality is not merely explained by the lipid-modulating effects. Although adipokines levels have been associated with cardiometabolic disorders, a few studies have explored the effect of statin on resistin and visfatin. We aimed to evaluate the impact of statin ther...

Background: Sleep deprivation is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Cocoa flavonoids exert cardiovascular benefits and neuroprotection. Whether chocolate consumption may mitigate detrimental effects of sleep loss on cognitive performance and cardiovascular parameters has never been studied. Aim: We investigated the effects of flavanol-ric...

Aim: Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors are an emerging class of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)-lowering agents. In spite of their known effects on lipids, the impact of these drugs on systemic inflammation is less known. We aimed to investigate the effect of PCSK9 inhibitors on high sensitivity C-reactiv...

Background: Transport of oxidized low-density lipoprotein across the endothelium into the artery wall is considered a fundamental priming step for the atherosclerotic process. Recent studies reported potential therapeutic effects of micronutrients found in natural products, indicating positive applications for controlling the pathogenesis of chron...

Cognitive decline and dementia are major public health social problems, suggesting the specific need to provide research into risk factors for cognitive decline as priority topic. Increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that oxidative stress and neuroinflammation might play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of cognitive decline. Further, co...

Both high arterial blood pressure (BP) and elevated levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution have been associated with an increased risk for several cardiovascular (CV) diseases, including stroke, heart failure, and myocardial infarction. Given that PM2.5 and high BP are each independently leading risk factors for premature mortality...

Experimental and clinical evidences reported that polyphenols-rich natural products, like nutraceuticals and food supplements, may offer opportunities for prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes, due to their biological properties. Natural products have been suggested to modulate the carbohydrate metabolism by various mechanisms, such as restor...

High blood pressure is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular events worldwide. Clinical and epidemiological studies suggest that cocoa rich products reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. According to this, cocoa has a high content in polyphenols, especially flavanols. Flavanols have been described to exert favo...

Vitamin D deficiency is commonly associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with an inverse correlation between Disease Activity Score (DAS28) and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). Vitamin D is known to have a systemic anti-inflammatory action. We aimed to evaluate the effects of vitamin D supplementation on biomarkers of inflammation and endo...

Objective: We studied 91 patients aged 65 years or more (72.5 +/- 5.7 years) from our angiology unit. At enrolment, patients underwent ultrasonography of the neck vessels using a 7-8 MHz linear probe; images were stored on magneto-optical disk and subsequently used to calculate the grey scale median (GSM) using Adobe Photoshop 5.0. The calculation...

Recent evidence has indicated that flavanol consumption may have many health benefits in humans, including improved cognitive activities. The aim was to evaluate the effect of flavanol consumption on cognitive performance in cognitively intact elderly subjects. This was a double-blind, controlled, parallel-arm study conducted in 90 elderly individu...

Hypertension and arterial stiffening are independent predictors of cardiovascular mortality. Flavonoids may exert some vascular protection. We investigated the effects of black tea on blood pressure (BP) and wave reflections before and after fat load in hypertensives. According to a randomized, double-blind, controlled, cross-over design, 19 patien...

Background: Cocoa flavonoids exert beneficial vascular effects and reduce the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Nevertheless, the involved mechanisms have not been clarified and no study has yet focused on the dose-response effects. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the effects of different doses of cocoa flavonoids on flow-media...

Objectives: To date it is not known whether the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive functions can be mitigated by cocoa flavanols. In this study we investigated the effects of flavanol-rich cocoa consumption on cognitive skills in healthy subjects who underwent one night of sleep deprivation. Methods: Thirty-two subjects (age rang...

Several experimental and clinical studies reported that hyperuricemiamay trigger hypertension, metabolicsyndrome, vascular damage and renal disease. Furthermore, a substantialproportion of epidemiological studies are compatible withthe hypothesis that hyperuricemia may be an indipendent risk factor for cardiovascular diseaseas wellas for an increas...

Gout is currently one of the most common causes of inflammatory arthritis in most industrialised countries. Apart from its high frequency, gout is associated with disability, poor quality of life and increased mortality and therefore represents an ever increasing public health concern. Substantial experimental and epidemiological evidence exists su...

There is an increasing prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia worldwide. Gout confers a significant individual and social burden and is increasingly recognized as a prevalent chronic disease state requiring appropriate long-term management. Gout and hyperuricemia appear to be independent risk factors for incident hypertension, renal disease and cardi...

Cardiovascular disease is the first cause of human death worldwide. Thus, preventing and eventually improving the treatment of cardiovascular risk by lifestyle changes has been suggested as a valid and attractive cost-effective strategy. Several epidemiological studies that have examined the relationship between the extent of polyphenol-rich food c...

Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of mortality both in developed and developing countries, killing an estimated 17 million people each year [1, 2]. In particular, hypertension is one of the most important cardiovascular disease risk factors, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all strokes and half of all ischemic heart disease [1-3]. It is a...

Several studies have suggested that tea consumption might protect against the development and progression of cardiovascular disease, one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The endothelium plays a pivotal role in arterial homeostasis. Reduced nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability with endothelial dysfunction is considered the ea...

Relationship between cocoa consumption and cardiovascular disease, particularly focusing on clinical implications resulting from the beneficial effects of cocoa consumption on endothelial function and insulin resistance. This could be of clinical relevance and may suggest the mechanistic explanation for the reduced risk of cardiovascular events rep...

Numerous studies have indicated an increased risk of vascular disease among migraineurs. Alterations in endothelial and arterial function, which predispose to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases, have been suggested as an important link between migraine and vascular disease. However, the available evidence is inconsistent. We aimed to revie...

Arterial stiffness and wave reflection are independent predictors of cardiovascular events. This study compared the effect on arterial stiffness and wave reflection of a combination therapy with an ACE-inhibitor plus calcium channel blocker or thiazide diuretic in essential hypertensive patients with metabolic syndrome uncontrolled by ACE-inhibitor...

Oxidative stress has been linked to endothelial dysfunction and angiotensin II stimulates the reactive oxygen species production contributing to several cardiovascular diseases. We have studied the chain of events induced by angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) activation in vascular umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) by using an ACE inhibito...