Background/Objectives The economic impact of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in Italy is not well defined. This analysis assessed the economic outcomes of RSV-hospitalized patients aged ≥ 60 years in Italy. Methods: Healthcare resource utilization and direct healthcare costs during the first RSV hospitalization and 12-month follow-up were collected from Italian administrative databases. A propensity-score-matched (PSM) analysis was performed between patients hospitalized for RSV and those hospitalized for any cause (without an RSV diagnosis). Results: Among 201 patients, an average of 1.95 hospitalizations, 19.38 prescriptions, and 7.11 outpatient services were reported during the first RSV hospitalization and the following 12 months. The mean direct healthcare costs were EUR 11,599 (related to hospitalization [79%], prescriptions [16%], and outpatient services [5%]). Following PSM analyses, direct healthcare costs were 15% higher for RSV-hospitalized patients versus those hospitalized for any cause (EUR 9369 versus EUR 8173; p < 0.05), driven by differences in hospitalizations (EUR 7477 versus EUR 6327; p < 0.05) and intensive care unit admissions (EUR 818 versus EUR 178; p = 0.001). Conclusions: Despite a limited sample size, this study reports a substantial economic burden associated with RSV-hospitalized patients aged ≥ 60 years in Italy. The results provide important evidence to inform preventative RSV strategies to reduce the economic burden on the Italian National Health Service.

Recovery of nutritional and bioactive molecules by pomegranate peel (PP) has found wide applications in food and pharmaceutical industries. We investigated protective effects of a PP extract (PPE) from Mediterranean (Mazara del Vallo, Italy) on intestinal inflammation by using in vitro and ex vivo models. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, as well as tight junction protein-1 (ZO-1) expression, were determined in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-injured Caco-2 cells treated with PPE. We evaluated anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of PPE in isolated colon specimens of adult male mouse (C57/BL6) stimulated by LPS. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), as well as catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (i-NOS) gene expression was determined. We also characterized phytochemical composition of the extract through chromatographic (HPLC-UV) and spectrophotometric techniques. PPE was rich in punicalagins A and B, along with other polyphenols such as hydroxytyrosol (HT), catechin, p-coumaric acid, and rosmarinic acid. In Caco-2 cells, PPE reduced ROS generation and LDH release, restoring intestinal barrier integrity by upregulating ZO-1 expression. In addition, PPE increased SOD, CAT, and GPX and suppressed COX-2, NF-kB, TNF-α, IL-1β and i-NOS LPS-induced gene expression in colon. PPE mitigates inflammation and oxidative stress, restoring intestinal barrier function. The beneficial effects induced by the extract could be related to the pattern of polyphenolic composition, with particular regard to HT, rosmarinic acid, p-coumaric acid, catechin, as well as punicalagins A and B.

Germline Whole-Exome Sequencing (WES) has emerged as a powerful genomic approach for investigating Hereditary Cancer predisposition through the comprehensive analysis of coding regions across the genome. Although multigene panels currently represent the standard diagnostic approach for Hereditary Cancer assessment, a substantial proportion of high-risk individuals and families remain molecularly unexplained. In this setting, germline WES may serve as a valuable second-tier strategy by identifying pathogenic variants in genes not routinely included in conventional testing panels and by addressing part of the unresolved “missing heritability” observed across Hereditary Cancer syndromes. Increasing evidence supports its application in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, Lynch-like syndrome, colorectal polyposis, hereditary diffuse gastric cancer, and ovarian cancer predisposition, where WES has contributed to the identification of additional susceptibility genes and improved molecular characterization. Beyond Hereditary Cancer diagnostics, exome-based approaches have also been explored for tumour profiling, homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) assessment, biomarker discovery, and therapeutic stratification. However, despite its significant potential, the clinical implementation of WES remains challenging because of the high burden of variants of uncertain significance (VUS), difficulties in variant interpretation, incidental findings, and the need for robust functional validation of candidate genes. This review critically examines the current evidence supporting the clinical utility of germline WES in Hereditary Cancer syndromes, focusing on the clinical scenarios in which WES may provide meaningful additional information beyond multigene panels, its diagnostic yield, limitations, and future perspectives in precision oncology.