Delphi-based recommendations for the management of cardiovascular comorbidities in patients with psoriatic arthritis and moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

The aim of this study was to generate practical recommendations to assist rheumatologists and dermatologists in the management of cardiovascular (CV) comorbidities in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis (MS-PSO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). A two-round Delphi study was conducted. A panel of experts rated their agreement with a set of statements (n = 52) on a nine-point Likert scale (1 = totally disagree; 9 = totally agree).

Rats with minimal hepatic encephalopathy show reduced cGMP-dependent protein kinase activity in hypothalamus correlating with circadian rhythms alterations.

Patients with liver cirrhosis show disturbances in sleep and in its circadian rhythms which are an early sign of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE). The mechanisms of these disturbances are poorly understood. Rats with porta-caval shunt (PCS), a model of MHE, show sleep disturbances reproducing those of cirrhotic patients.

Gender differential effects of developmental exposure to methyl-mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls 126 or 153, or its combinations on motor activity and coordination.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and methylmercury (MeHg) are persistent organic pollutants accumulating in the food chain. Pre- and neonatal exposure to these neurotoxicants may affect brain development and lead to long-lasting alterations in cerebral function, which can result in motor alterations in youth and/or adulthood. Some neurotoxicants induce gender specific effects.

Chronic hyperammonemia alters the circadian rhythms of corticosteroid hormone levels and of motor activity in rats.

Patients with liver cirrhosis may present hepatic encephalopathy with a wide range of neurological disturbances and alterations in sleep quality and in the sleep-wake circadian rhythm. Hyperammonemia is a main contributor to the neurological alterations in hepatic encephalopathy. We have assessed, in an animal model of chronic hyperammonemia without liver failure, the effects of hyperammonemia per se on the circadian rhythms of motor activity, temperature, and plasma levels of adrenal corticosteroid hormones.

Polychlorinated biphenyls PCB 153 and PCB 126 impair the glutamate-nitric oxide-cGMP pathway in cerebellar neurons in culture by different mechanisms.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants present in human blood and milk. Exposure to PCBs during pregnancy and lactation leads to cognitive impairment in children. Perinatal exposure to PCB 153 or PCB 126 impairs the glutamate-nitric oxide-cGMP pathway in cerebellum in vivo and learning ability in adult rats.

Transport of AMPA receptors during long-term potentiation is impaired in rats with hepatic encephalopathy.

Cognitive function is impaired in patients with hepatic encephalopathy. Learning ability is also impaired in rats with hepatic encephalopathy due to portacaval shunts. Long-term potentiation (LTP) in hippocampus, considered the basis of some forms of learning and memory, is impaired in rats with portacaval shunt.

Mechanisms of cognitive alterations in hyperammonemia and hepatic encephalopathy: therapeutical implications.

Patients with liver diseases (e.g. cirrhosis) may present hepatic encephalopathy (HE), an alteration in cerebral function which is a consequence of previous failure of liver function.

Glutamatergic and gabaergic neurotransmission and neuronal circuits in hepatic encephalopathy.

Patients with hepatic encephalopathy (HE) may present different neurological alterations including impaired cognitive function and altered motor activity and coordination. HE may lead to coma and death. Many of these neurological alterations are the consequence of altered neurotransmission.

Neuroinflammation contributes to hypokinesia in rats with hepatic encephalopathy: ibuprofen restores its motor activity.

Patients with hepatic encephalopathy show altered motor function, psychomotor slowing, and hypokinesia, which are reproduced in rats with portacaval shunts (PCS). Increased extracellular glutamate in substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) is responsible for hypokinesia in PCS rats. The mechanisms by which liver failure leads to increased extracellular glutamate in SNr remain unclear.

Acute liver failure-induced death of rats is delayed or prevented by blocking NMDA receptors in brain.

Developing procedures to delay the mechanisms of acute liver failure-induced death would increase patients' survival by allowing time for liver regeneration or to receive a liver for transplantation. Hyperammonemia is a main contributor to brain herniation and mortality in acute liver failure (ALF). Acute ammonia intoxication in rats leads to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation in brain.

IL-6 and IL-18 in blood may discriminate cirrhotic patients with and without minimal hepatic encephalopathy.

Background And Aims: Patients with liver cirrhosis may present minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) that can be unveiled using specific neuropsychologic examination. Evaluation of MHE in cirrhotic patients might have prognostic value. The psychometric HE score (PHES) has been recommended as the "gold standard" in the diagnosis of MHE.

Developmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls PCB153 or PCB126 impairs learning ability in young but not in adult rats.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants present in the food chain and in human blood and milk. Exposure to PCBs during pregnancy and lactation leads to cognitive impairment in children. The underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

NMDA receptors in hyperammonemia and hepatic encephalopathy.

The NMDA type of glutamate receptors modulates learning and memory. Excessive activation of NMDA receptors leads to neuronal degeneration and death. Hyperammonemia and liver failure alter the function of NMDA receptors and of some associated signal transduction pathways.

Inflammation and hepatic encephalopathy: ibuprofen restores learning ability in rats with portacaval shunts.

Unlabelled: One of the neurological alterations in patients with minimal or overt hepatic encephalopathy is cognitive impairment. This impairment is reproduced in rats with chronic liver failure due to portacaval shunt (PCS). These rats show decreased ability to learn a conditional discrimination task in a Y-maze, likely due to reduced function of the glutamate-nitric oxide (NO)-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway in brain.

Chronic liver failure in rats impairs glutamatergic synaptic transmission and long-term potentiation in hippocampus and learning ability.

Cognitive function is impaired in patients with liver disease by unknown mechanisms. Long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus is considered the basis of some forms of learning and memory. The aims of this work were to assess (i) whether chronic liver failure impairs hippocampal LTP; (ii) if this impairment may be due to alterations in glutamatergic neurotransmission, and (iii) if impairment of LTP is associated with reduced learning ability.

The function of the glutamate-nitric oxide-cGMP pathway in brain in vivo and learning ability decrease in parallel in mature compared with young rats.

Aging is associated with cognitive impairment, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We have recently reported that the ability of rats to learn a Y-maze conditional discrimination task depends on the function of the glutamate-nitric oxide-cGMP pathway in brain. The aims of the present work were to assess whether the ability of rats to learn this task decreases with age and whether this reduction is associated with a decreased function of the glutamate-nitric oxide-cGMP pathway in brain in vivo, as analyzed by microdialysis in freely moving rats.

Glutamate-induced activation of nitric oxide synthase is impaired in cerebral cortex in vivo in rats with chronic liver failure.

It has been proposed that impairment of the glutamate-nitric oxide-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway in brain contributes to cognitive impairment in hepatic encephalopathy. The aims of this work were to assess whether the function of this pathway and of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) are altered in cerebral cortex in vivo in rats with chronic liver failure due to portacaval shunt (PCS) and whether these alterations are due to hyperammonemia. The glutamate-nitric oxide-cGMP pathway function and NOS activation by NMDA was analysed by in vivo microdialysis in cerebral cortex of PCS and control rats and in rats with hyperammonemia without liver failure.

Activation of soluble guanylate cyclase by nitric oxide in lymphocytes correlates with minimal hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhotic patients.

Patients with liver cirrhosis with normal neurological and mental status examination may present minimal forms of hepatic encephalopathy, showing intellectual function impairment that cannot be detected through general clinical examination but can be unveiled using specific neuropsychological or neurophysiological examination. Evaluation of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) in cirrhotic patients would have prognostic value. The psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score (PHES) has been recommended as the "gold standard" in the diagnosis of MHE.

A single transient episode of hyperammonemia induces long-lasting alterations in protein kinase A.

Hepatic encephalopathy in patients with liver disease is associated with poor prognosis. This could be due to the induction by the transient episode of hepatic encephalopathy of long-lasting alterations making patients more susceptible. We show that a single transient episode of hyperammonemia induces long-lasting alterations in signal transduction.

Role of extracellular cGMP and of hyperammonemia in the impairment of learning in rats with chronic hepatic failure. Therapeutic implications.

Hepatic encephalopathy is a complex neuropsychiatric syndrome present in patients with chronic or acute liver disease. We review here some recent advances in the study, in animal models, of the mechanisms involved in the impairment in intellectual function in hepatic encephalopathy. These studies show that the function of the glutamate-nitric oxide-cGMP pathway is impaired in brain in vivo in rats with chronic hyperammonemia or liver failure and from patients died in hepatic encephalopathy.