Marta Allesina

Dr. Marta Allesina

Health Sciences, University of Eastern Piedmont Amedeo Avogadro, Novara, Piedmont, Italy

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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21 February 2024 in Nutrients
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Journal Article
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MMMarta Mellai
Marta Mellai
MAMarta Allesina
Marta Allesina
BEBenedetto Edoardo
Benedetto Edoardo
FCFederica Cascella
Federica Cascella
Vincenzo NobileVincenzo Nobile
Vincenzo Nobile
Puoci PuociPuoci Puoci
Puoci Puoci
Gut dysbiosis refers to an imbalance in gut microbiota composition and function. Opuntia ficus-indica extract has been shown to modulate gut microbiota by improving SCFA production in vivo and gastrointestinal discomfort (GD) in humans. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the efficacy of OdiliaTM on gastrointestinal health by changing the microbial diversity of species involved in inflammation, immunity, oxidation, and the brain–gut–muscle axis. A randomized, double-blind clinical trial was conducted in 80 adults with gut dysbiosis. The intervention consisted of a 300 mg daily intake of OdiliaTM (n = 40) or maltodextrin as a placebo (n = 40), administered for 8 weeks. Intervention effect was evaluated using 16S metagenomics and GIQLI/GSAS scores at baseline, at 4 and 8 weeks. Eight weeks of OdiliaTM supplementation positively modulates gut microbiota composition with a significant reduction in the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio (p = 0.0012). Relative abundances of beneficial bacteria (Bacteroides and Clostridium_XIVa) were significantly increased (p < 0.001), in contrast to a significant reduction in pro-inflammatory bacteria (p < 0.001). Accordingly, GIQLI and GSAS scores revealed successful improvement in GD. OdiliaTM may represent an effective and well-tolerated treatment in subjects with gut dysbiosis.

6 September 2021 in Diagnostics
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Journal Article
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MMMarta Mellai
Marta Mellai
OPOmar Porrini Prandini
Omar Porrini Prandini
AMAurora Mustaccia
Aurora Mustaccia
VFValentina Fogazzi
Valentina Fogazzi
MAMarta Allesina
Marta Allesina
RBRenzo Boldorini
Renzo Boldorini
Background: The role of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene promoter mutations (pTERT) in atypical and anaplastic meningiomas remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate their impact on the histologic diagnosis and prognosis in a retrospective series of 74 patients with atypical and anaplastic meningioma, including disease progression and relapse. A supplementary panel of 21 benign tumours was used as a control cohort. Materials and Methods: The mutation rate of the pTERT gene was assessed by Sanger sequencing. ATRX protein expression was detected by immunohistochemistry. The phenotypic and genotypic intra-tumour heterogeneity was studied in a sub-group of 12 cases using a Molecular Machines & Industries (MMI) CellCut laser microdissection (LMD) system. Results: pTERT mutations were detected in 12/74 (17.6%) malignant meningiomas. The mutation rate was significantly higher in anaplastic meningiomas (7/23, 30.4%) compared to atypical tumours (5/48, 10.4%) (p = 0.0443). In contrast, the mutation rate was < 5% in benign tumours. All pTERT mutant cases retained nuclear ATRX immunoreactivity. pTERT mutations were significantly associated with the histologic grade (p = 0.0443) and were adverse prognostic factors for anaplastic tumours (p = 0.06). Conclusion: We reported on the pTERT mutation spectrum in malignant meningiomas, supporting their use in the prognostic classification.

22 May 2026 in Preprints.org
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Paola ZanettaPaola Zanetta
Paola Zanetta
MCMatteo Calgaro
Matteo Calgaro
MMMarta Mellai
Marta Mellai
Alessia VignoliAlessia Vignoli
Alessia Vignoli
MMMonica Marotta
Monica Marotta
BABarbara Azzimonti
Barbara Azzimonti
Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory oral disease associated with immune dysregulation and malignant transformation risk. Vitamin D and probiotics may modu-late immune and microbial pathways involved in OLP. In this study, we evaluated their effects on clinical outcomes and multi-omics profiles in 25 adult OLP patients. Vitamin D-deficient patients received 2,000 IU/day vitamin D3, and all participants received a probiotic blend (Limosilactobacillus reuteri LRE11, Lactica-seibacillus rhamnosus LR04, and Lacticaseibacillus casei LC04) for 16 weeks. Clinical assess-ments and analyses of saliva, serum, oral swabs, and stool samples were performed be-fore and after treatment. Following the intervention, 76% of participants achieved clinical remission. Significant metabolomic changes were observed mainly in saliva and feces. Serum cytokines, me-tabolites, and lipoproteins showed no significant differences. Microbiome profiling demonstrated treatment-related compositional shifts in oral and fecal samples, including increased Lacticaseibacillus abundance. Multi-omics integration identified coordinated in-teractions among microbial, metabolic, immune, and lipid pathways, highlighting inter-connected gut-oral biological responses. Combined vitamin D and probiotic supplementation was associated with clinical im-provement and coordinated oral-intestinal multi-omics changes, supporting a sys-tems-level understanding of OLP remission. These findings suggest that modulating the microbiota-metabolism-immunity axis could represent a promising therapeutic strategy for achieving sustained disease control and clinical remission.

Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Paola ZanettaPaola Zanetta
Paola Zanetta
MCMatteo Calgaro
Matteo Calgaro
MMMarta Mellai
Marta Mellai
Alessia VignoliAlessia Vignoli
Alessia Vignoli
MMMonica Marotta
Monica Marotta
Barbara AzzimontiBarbara Azzimonti
Barbara Azzimonti
Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory oral disease associated with immune dysregulation and malignant transformation risk. Vitamin D and probiotics may modulate immune and microbial pathways involved in OLP. In this study, we evaluated their effects on clinical outcomes and multi-omics profiles in 25 adult OLP patients (median age: 68 years). Vitamin D-deficient patients received 2000 IU/day vitamin D3, and all participants received a probiotic blend (Limosilactobacillus reuteri LRE11, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus LR04, and Lacticaseibacillus casei LC04) for 16 weeks. Clinical assessments and analyses of saliva, serum, oral swabs, and stool samples were performed before and after treatment. Clinical outcomes improved significantly, with reductions in lesion number (p < 0.001), lesion size (p = 0.004), and bleeding lesions (p = 0.014); 76% of patients were classified as in remission. Vitamin D levels increased significantly among deficient patients receiving correction (p < 0.01). Salivary and fecal metabolomics showed significant remodeling of amino acid and carbohydrate pathways, including decreases in branched-chain amino acids in saliva and modulation of nicotinamide- and amino acid-related metabolites in feces. Microbiome α-diversity remained stable, whereas β-diversity shifted significantly across oral and fecal sites, with enrichment of Lacticaseibacillus and other context-dependent commensals. Multi-omics integration identified three latent factors linking salivary cytokines, microbial taxa, metabolites, and systemic lipid profiles, suggesting coordinated mucosal–metabolic–immune remodeling across the oral–gut axis.