1,721,062 research outputs found
Autoimmunity in intervertebral disc herniation: from bench to bedside
No full textIntroduction: The cause of low back pain and the pathophysiology of lumbar pain and sciatica have recently been reconsidered basing on current knowledge on cellular and molecular mediators of inflammation. Several cytokines have been considered as potential therapeutic targets to contrast sciatica in patients with disc herniation, and supportive studies suggest a leading role of TNF-α in this contest: therefore, clinical trials have tested TNF-α inhibitors in the clinical setting of the patient with radicular pain secondary to an herniated disc. Areas covered: The current review deals with the autoimmune theory of disc herniation and its role in determining radiculopathy and neuropathic pain. It also reports the recent evidences that led to the introduction of anti-TNF-α drugs into the clinical setting as a biological therapy for radiculopathy and disc herniation. Expert opinion: Targeting the TNF-α pathway has demonstrated controversial effects in the tested study population and available results only report a short-term follow-up. More confirmatory studies in terms of long-term clinical results, complications, more effective route of administration and cost-effective analysis are required to establish the real role of this biological therapy in the treatment of patients with disc herniation and neuropathy. © 2013 Informa UK, Ltd
Cytoskeletal and extracellular matrix alterations in limb girdle muscular dystrophy 2I muscle fibers
No full textIn this detailed muscle biopsy study of a patient with molecularly confirmed diagnosis of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 2I (LGMD2I) we show some new data, that is the presence of altered expression pattern of costamere components as integrin 7B and integrin 1D associated with vinculin costameric derangement and basal lamina ultrastructural abnormalities as detachments and discontinuities suggesting that different cellular compartments are involved in LGMD2I and the altered basement membrane-plasmalemma-cytoskeleton binding can underlie muscle degeneration
Editorial: Muscle-Tendon-Innervation Unit: Degeneration and Aging—Pathophysiological and Regeneration Mechanisms
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Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Sarcopenia in Aging and in Muscular Dystrophy: a Translational Approach
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Central sensitization in chronic low back pain: A narrative review
No full textLow back pain is one of the four most common disorders in all regions, and the greatest contributor to disability worldwide, adding 10.7% of total years lost due to this health state. The etiology of chronic low back pain is, in most of the cases (up to 85%), unknown or nonspecific, while the specific causes (specific spinal pathology and neuropathic/radicular disorders) are uncommon. Central sensitization has been recently recognized as a potential pathophysiological mechanism underlying a group of chronic pain conditions, and may be a contributory factor for a sub-group of patients with chronic low back pain. The purposes of this narrative review are twofold. First, to describe central sensitization and its symptoms and signs in patients with chronic pain disorders in order to allow its recognition in patients with nonspecific low back pain. Second, to provide general treatment principles of chronic low back pain with particular emphasis on pharmacotherapy targeting central sensitization
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Correlazione morfo-funzionale del coinvolgimento muscolare in pazienti con Malattia di Pompe late-onset
No full textInheritance of a 38 kb fragment in an apparently sporadic case of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD)
No full textFacioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD) is an autosomal-dominant muscular disorder associated with a short ([removed
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