Hyperhomocysteinemia in levodopa-treated patients with Parkinson's disease dementia.

Dementia is a frequent non-motor feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). Elevated plasma homocysteine (Hcy) levels have been associated with both cognitive impairment and dementia. Increased Hcy levels have been observed in levodopa-treated patients with PD.

Nitric oxide deficiency determines global chromatin changes in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The present study provides evidence that abnormal patterns of global histone modification are present in the skeletal muscle nuclei of mdx mice and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients. A combination of specific histone H3 modifications, including Ser-10 phosphorylation, acetylation of Lys 9 and 14, and Lys 79 methylation, were found enriched in muscle biopsies from human patients affected by DMD and in late-term fetuses, early postnatal pups, or adult mdx mice. In this context, chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments showed an enrichment of these modifications at the loci of genes involved in proliferation or inflammation, suggesting a regulatory effect on gene expression.

Clinical and [123I]FP-CIT SPET imaging follow-up in patients with drug-induced parkinsonism.

We recently found that patients with drug-induced parkinsonism (DIP) may have normal (group I) or abnormal (group II) putamen [(123)I]FP-CIT DAT (dopamine transporter) binding. In this study we reassessed clinical features and DAT binding in 19 of the original 32 patients (10 of group I and 9 of group II) after a 19-39-month follow-up period and tested the effects of chronic levodopa treatment in both cohorts of patients. In group I patients, [(123)I]FP-CIT SPET (single photon emission tomography) was still normal in all patients at follow-up; DAT binding and UPDRS (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale) motor score values did not differ from baseline.

Adherence to antiparkinson medication in a multicenter European study.

Two small studies reported suboptimal therapy adherence in Parkinson's disease. We conducted a larger multicenter European study to assess medicine-taking behavior. Parkinson's disease patients taking dopaminergic therapy were enrolled in 8 centers in 5 countries, and disease severity and demographics recorded.

Single photon-emission computed tomography imaging in early Parkinson's disease.

Current diagnostic criteria for Parkinson's disease (PD) rely on the presence of motor signs, but it is now evident that they require months or years to become clinically manifest. By contrast, initial manifestations of PD may involve several nonmotor domains, such as cognition, mood, smell or sleep, and their recognition is critical if one is aiming for early diagnosis to provide neuroprotection. In this context, imaging tracers are gaining relevance as they are increasingly recognized as biological markers of disease progression.

Functional abnormalities underlying pathological gambling in Parkinson disease.

Background: Pathological gambling (PG) may develop in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) during dopamine replacement therapy, but the underlying neural correlates are still unclear.

Objective: To investigate resting state brain perfusion in PD patients with active PG compared with matched PD controls and healthy controls.

Design: Case-control study.

HDAC2 blockade by nitric oxide and histone deacetylase inhibitors reveals a common target in Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment.

The overlapping histological and biochemical features underlying the beneficial effect of deacetylase inhibitors and NO donors in dystrophic muscles suggest an unanticipated molecular link among dystrophin, NO signaling, and the histone deacetylases (HDACs). Higher global deacetylase activity and selective increased expression of the class I histone deacetylase HDAC2 were detected in muscles of dystrophin-deficient MDX mice. In vitro and in vivo siRNA-mediated down-regulation of HDAC2 in dystrophic muscles was sufficient to replicate the morphological and functional benefits observed with deacetylase inhibitors and NO donors.

New strategies in motor parkinsonism.

A satisfactory motor control can be achieved for many years in Parkinson's disease (PD). Clinical management is more complex when disease progresses and occurrence of motor fluctuations and dyskinesias negatively impacts on patients' quality of life. Mobility depends increasingly on levodopa peripheral bioavailability.

Clinical and cerebral activity changes induced by subthalamic nucleus stimulation in advanced Parkinson's disease: a prospective case-control study.

Background: High-frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) improves motor symptoms in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD), but the mechanisms are still unclear. Functional imaging evidenced pathological overactivity in motor cortical areas in advanced PD that can be normalized by effective therapies.

Patients And Methods: We studied resting state cerebral blood flow pre-operatively and 12 months after surgery in 40 patients with advanced PD using ECD-SPECT.

[Outlook and problems of microbiological sampling in public catering establishments in light of the new European regulations].

Modern society is structured in such a way that more food is eaten outside the home and therefore the hygienic standards of food production and organoleptic characteristics of foods provided by catering establishments is of increasing importance. In order to obtain a complete view of the hygienic standards of the food production cycle, however, it is not sufficient to show that pathogenic microroganisms are absent, but it is also useful to measure the number of microroganisms which do not constitute a hazard to health but whose presence may alter the quality of food products or be an index of inadequate hygienic practices. Microbiological testing plays a fundamental role in the evaluation of the quality of a food product and according to the Codex Alimentarius, limits should be set based on absolute criteria, according to legislation requirements or on relative criteria based on contamination trends over time within the production process The new European food hygiene regulations CE 852/04 e 2073/05 promote a more advanced and correct view of microbiological controls, with respect to pre-existing national legislation, placing emphasis also on the production process of foodstuffs and not only on the final product.

Optical efficiency of solar concentrators by a reverse optical path method.

A method for the optical characterization of a solar concentrator, based on the reverse illumination by a Lambertian source and measurement of intensity of light projected on a far screen, has been developed. It is shown that the projected light intensity is simply correlated to the angle-resolved efficiency of a concentrator, conventionally obtained by a direct illumination procedure. The method has been applied by simulating simple reflective nonimaging and Fresnel lens concentrators.

Cost-effectiveness of 123I-FP-CIT SPECT in the differential diagnosis of essential tremor and Parkinson's disease in Italy.

Economic evaluation (Italian NHS perspective) modeling (123)I-FP-CIT SPECT (DaTSCAN) compared to clinical judgment alone for differentiating essential tremor (ET) from Parkinson's Disease (PD). A 5-year Markov model was constructed to assess the cost-effectiveness of (123)I-FP-CIT SPECT to differentiate ET from PD in patients referred to a movement disorder specialist in Italy. Published data and a double-round, Delphi panel of 12 specialists populated the model.

Pain as a nonmotor symptom of Parkinson disease: evidence from a case-control study.

Objective: To determine whether pain is more frequent among people with Parkinson disease (PD) than among age-matched controls.

Design: Case-control study.

Patients And Methods: Logistic regression models taking into account type of pain, time between pain and PD onset, and possible confounders were used to compare 402 PD patients with 317 age-matched healthy control subjects.

[123I]FP-CIT SPET imaging in drug-induced Parkinsonism.

We assessed the status of dopamine nerve terminals in patients treated with dopamine receptor blocking agents (DRBAs) who had developed drug-induced parkinsonism (DIP). We performed [(123)I]FP-CIT SPET in 32 consecutive patients who were on DRBAs for at least 6 months and developed extrapyramidal signs. The UPDRS-III was used to assess clinical severity.

Predictive value of nigrostriatal dysfunction in isolated tremor: a clinical and SPECT study.

The overlap among tremor disorders is wide and complex because essential tremor patients may present resting tremor coexisting with postural tremor, while postural may coexist with resting tremor in Parkinson's disease. We investigated dopamine transporter binding in 61 subjects presenting with isolated atypical tremors defined as unilateral either postural, resting, or mixed (i.e.

COMT inhibition with tolcapone in the treatment algorithm of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD): relevance for motor and non-motor features.

Levodopa is the most effective treatment in Parkinson's disease and the association with COMT inhibitors widens its plasma bioavailability and effectiveness. Tolcapone is a potent COMT inhibitor whose utilization in PD is limited due to safety concerns on liver toxicity. However, recent data indicate that if liver function is actively monitored, tolerability is no worse than other currently available therapies.

Long-term intracerebral infusion of fibroblast growth factors restores motility and enhances F-DOPA uptake in parkinsonian monkeys.

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are important for dopamine neurons in health and disease. Acidic (aFGF) and basic (bFGF) fibroblast growth factors increase the survival and growth of dopamine cells. Nigrostriatal dopamine neurons, the target cells for degeneration in Parkinson's disease, display receptors for basic fibroblast growth factor and these receptors are decreased in the brain of parkinsonian patients.

Parkin analysis in early onset Parkinson's disease.

We analysed the parkin gene in a large consecutive series (146) of unrelated early onset Parkinson's disease (onset ?40 years of age) patients. Twelve cases (8.2%) had homozygous or compound heterozygous point mutations and/or exon rearrangements, while a single mutation was found in four subjects (2.

A voxel-based PET study of dopamine transporters in Parkinson's disease: relevance of age at onset.

We used positron emission tomography (PET) and the dopamine transporter (DAT) ligand [(11)C]FECIT to measure loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons in early phase of early onset (EOPD) and late onset Parkinson's disease (LOPD). The analysis was carried out with both regions of interest and voxelwise method (SPM2), at group and single subject levels. Genetic analysis tested for the mutations occurring most frequently in Caucasian population.

The PRIAMO study: background, methods and recruitment.

PRIAMO (PaRkinson And non Motor symptOms) is an epidemiology study aimed to assess the prevalence and incidence of non-motor symptoms (NMS) in patients with parkinsonism. PRIAMO consists of two phases: (1) a transversal assessment of the prevalence of NMS and (2) a longitudinal observation with two follow-up visits at 12 and 24 months to establish the incidence of NMS. A secondary aim of PRIAMO is to study the relationship between NMS and quality of life.

Loss of thalamic serotonin transporters in early drug-naïve Parkinson's disease patients is associated with tremor: an [(123)I]beta-CIT SPECT study.

In vitro studies revealed serotonin transporter (5-HTT) decline in Parkinson's disease (PD). Yet, few studies investigated thalamic 5-HTT in vivo and its effect on PD heterogeneity. We analyzed thalamic [(123)I]beta-CIT binding (mainly reflecting 5-HTT binding) in 32 drug-naïve PD patients and 13 controls with SPECT.

PINK1 heterozygous rare variants: prevalence, significance and phenotypic spectrum.

Heterozygous rare variants in the PINK1 gene, as well as in other genes causing autosomal recessive parkinsonism, have been reported both in patients and healthy controls. Their pathogenic significance is uncertain, but they have been suggested to represent risk factors to develop Parkinson disease (PD). The few large studies that assessed the frequency of PINK1 heterozygotes in cases and controls yielded controversial results, and the phenotypic spectrum is largely unknown.