52 research outputs found
Stroke in Italy: a disease to prevent
No full textStroke, a disease determining an increasing socioeconomic burden in aging populations, represents the second cause of mortality, worldwide and the third cause of mortality in western countries. In our study, crude annual incidence rate of stroke was 2931 100,000. Several conditions and life-style factors have been identified as risk factors for stroke. Their recognition is important to prevent stroke. Atherothrombosis contributes a large proportion of cases; however, conventional stroke risk factors do not fully account for the risk of stroke, and often stroke victims with documented atherosclerosis may, not show any conventional risk factor. A major goal is to promote prevention of stroke through identification and clarification of new risk factors and pathogenic mechanisms. Moreover, early stroke prevention requires a comprehensive multidisciplinary strategy to educate and promote adherence to preventive protocols
5-HT3 Receptors in Rat Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons: Ca(2+) Entry and Modulation of Neurotransmitter Release
No full textRat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons express 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors (5-HT3Rs). To elucidate their physiological role in the modulation of sensory signaling, we aimed to quantify their functional expression in newborn and adult rat DRG neurons, as well as their ability to modulate the Ca(2+)-dependent neurotransmitter release, by means of electrophysiological techniques combined with fluorescence-based Ca(2+) imaging. The selective 5-HT3R agonist mCPBG (10 μM) elicited whole-cell currents in 92.5% of adult DRG neurons with a significantly higher density current than in responding newborn cells (52.2%), suggesting an increasing serotoninergic modulation on primary afferent cells during development. Briefly, 5-HT3Rs expressed by adult DRG neurons are permeable to Ca(2+) ions, with a measured fractional Ca(2+) current (i.e., the percentage of total current carried by Ca(2+) ions, Pf) of 1.0%, similar to the value measured for the human heteromeric 5-HT3(A/B) receptor (P(f) = 1.1%), but lower than that of the human homomeric 5-HT3(A) receptor (P(f) = 3.5%). mCPBG applied to co-cultures of newborn DRG and spinal neurons significantly increased the miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) frequency in a subset of recorded spinal neurons, even in the presence of Cd(2+), a voltage-activated Ca(2+) channel blocker. Considered together, our findings indicate that the Ca(2+) influx through heteromeric 5-HT3Rs is sufficient to increase the spontaneous neurotransmitter release from DRG to spinal neurons
Symptoms of gait and coordination impairment in a patient with COVID-19 interstitial pneumonia
No full textOlfactory and neurological evaluation in aMCI patients
No full textOBJECTIVES: Patients with amnesic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) have a higher risk to develop Alzheimer disease (AD) than general elderly population. The aim of this study is to evaluate the olfactory decrease in patients with aMCI and its correlation with neurocognitive decline. METHODS: 29 aMCI patients (19 women and 10 men, mean age 70.8±5.7) were enrolled in the study and examined at baseline (T0) and at 12 months follow-up (T1). All patients had ENT examination, neuropsycological evaluation, olfactory test and neuroimaging study of the brain. Olfactory function was evaluated by the Sniffin' Sticks Extended Test (SSET) to assess olfactory threshold, discrimination and identification. Neurocognitive functions were assessed by the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Mental Deterioration Battery (MDB). Spearman non parametric correlation was used to evaluate correlation between variables.
RESULTS: Based on the olfactory score 8 patients were normosmic (27.6 %), 20 hyposmic (68.9%) and 1 anosmic (3.5%) at T0. 3 patients were normosmic (10.3 %), 25 hyposmic (86.2 %) and 1 anosmic (3.5%) at T1. 9 of the 29 aMCI patients (31%) developed AD. The higher statistically significant relationship was found between olfactory discrimination and visuo-spatial ability (0.52; p=0.004) and language skill (0.46; p=0.01) of MDB.
CONCLUSIONS: we suggest to introduce the clinical routine use of the SSET test to correlate olfactory and cognitive function in the progression of the decline from aMCI to AD
Ca2+ permeability of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors from rat dorsal root ganglion neurones
No full textCa2+ entry through neuronal nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs) modulates many biological processes in nervous tissue. In order to study the functional role of nAChRs in peripheral sensory signalling,wemeasuredtheirCa2+ permeability inrat dorsal rootganglion(DRG)neurones, and analysed the effects of nAChR-mediated Ca2+ influx on the function of the vanilloid receptor TRPV1. The fractional Ca2+ current (Pf, i.e. the percentage of current carried by Ca2+ ions) flowing through nAChR channels was measured by Ca2+ imaging fluorescence microscopy in combination with the patch-clamp technique. Functional nAChRs were expressed in a subset of adult DRG neurones (about 24% of the cells), typically with small to medium size as measured by their capacitance (40±3 pF). In most cells, ACh evoked slowly desensitizing currents, insensitive to methyllycaconitine (MLA, 10 nM), a potent antagonist of homomeric nAChRs. Fast decaying currents, probably mediated by α7∗-nAChRs (i.e. native α7-containing nAChRs), were observed in 15% of ACh-responsive cells, in which slowly decaying currents, mediated by heteromeric nAChRs, were simultaneously present. The nAChRs of adult DRG neurones exhibited a Pf value of 2.2±0.6% in the presence of MLA and 1.9±0.6% (P >0.1) in the absence of MLA, indicating that homomeric MLA-sensitive nAChRs do not contribute to Ca2+ entry into adult DRG neurones. Conversely, 10% of neonatal DRG neurones showed ACh-evoked currents completely blocked byMLA. In these neurones,nAChRs showed a larger Pf value (9.5±1.5%), indicating the expression of bona fide α7∗-nAChRs. Finally, we report that Ca2+ influx through nAChRs in adultDRGneurones negativelymodulated the TRPV1-mediated responses, representing a possible mechanism underlying the analgesic properties of nicotinic agonists on sensory neurones
Ruolo dello specialista ORL nella valutazione degli stadi preclinici della malattia di Alzheimer
No full textCon la standardizzazione dei test olfattometrici lo specialista otorinolaringoiatra viene ad assumere un ruolo determinante nella diagnosi delle malattie neurodegenerative ed in particolare negli stadi preclinici della malattia di Alzheimer (AD). Sulla base di queste nuove acquisizioni si propone che la valutazione otorinolaringoiatrica e la somministrazione del test olfattometrico da parte dello specialista venga introdotta nella batteria di test diagnostici per gli stadi preclinici dell’AD. In questo lavoro evidenziamo il ruolo dello Sniffin’ Sticks Screening Test (SSST) nella valutazione del paziente affetto da malattie neurodegenerative anche alla luce dei risultati ottenuti nelle predemenze ed in particolare nei pazienti con amnesic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI)
smell and preclinical Alzheimer disease: study of 29 patients with amnesic mild cognitive impairment
No full textObjectives: To evaluate the olfactory function in patients with amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and the relationship to
the progression from aMCI to Alzheimer disease (AD.
Design: Cohort prospective study on aMCI patients at the first evaluation (T0) and at the 18-month follow-up (T1.
Setting: Alzheimer Unit of the University of L’Aquila, Italy.
Methods: Twenty-nine aMCI patients were enrolled in this study.
Main Outcome Measures: Olfactory function was studied with the Sniffin’ Sticks Screening Test (SSST) and the Sniffin’ Sticks
Extended Test (SSET). Olfactory functions were related to neurocognitive functions assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination
(MMSE) and the Mental Deterioration Battery (MDB.
Results: At T0, aMCI patients showed an olfactory impairment and all of the aMCI patients had lower olfaction scores at T1. At
T1, 9 of the 29 aMCI patients (31%) developed AD and had lower mean SSST and SSET scores than 20 aMCI patients who did not develop AD. The most significant relationship was found between olfactory discrimination and visuospatial ability, language skill,
and the Rey Immediate test of the MDB and between olfactory identification and the Rey Delayed test.
Conclusion: Odour discrimination and identification performance correlated more prominently than detection thresholds with
performance on neuropsychological tests. We concluded that the olfactory deficit occurs early in aMCI, so we suggest introducing
the clinical routine use of the olfactory test for early identification of the progression of the decline from aMCI to AD
An experience-based review of HIFU in functional interventional neuroradiology: transcranial MRgFUS thalamotomy for treatment of tremor
No full textTremor is a common and very disabling symptom in patients with essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease. In the recent years, transcranial ablation of thalamic nuclei using magnetic resonance guided high-intensity focused ultrasound has emerged as a minimally invasive treatment for tremor. The aim of this review is to discuss, in the light of our single-center experience, the technique, current applications, results, and future perspectives of this novel technology
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