About the Authors

Ylenia Ingrasciotta

Affiliation Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

Janet Sultana

Affiliation Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

Francesco Giorgianni

Affiliation Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

Achille Patrizio Caputi

Affiliation Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

Vincenzo Arcoraci

Affiliation Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

Daniele Ugo Tari

Affiliation Caserta Local Health Service, Caserta, Italy

Claudio Linguiti

Affiliation Caserta Local Health Service, Caserta, Italy

Margherita Perrotta

Affiliation Caserta Local Health Service, Caserta, Italy

Andrea Nucita

Affiliation Department of Cognitive Science, Educational and Cultural Studies (CSECS), University of Messina, Messina, Italy

Fabio Pellegrini

Affiliation Unit of Biostatistics, IRCCS "Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza", San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy

Andrea Fontana

Affiliation Unit of Biostatistics, IRCCS "Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza", San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy

Lorenzo Cavagna

Affiliation Division of Rheumatology, University and IRCCS Foundation Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy

Domenico Santoro

Affiliation Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

Gianluca Trifirò

trifirog@unime.it

Affiliation Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: GT DS. Performed the experiments: FG YI JS. Analyzed the data: FG GT AF FP. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: GT VA. Wrote the paper: YI JS GT VA AN MP AF CL DUT APC LC.