Interest in preventative dietary interventions for human health has increasingly focused on the endocannabinoid (eCB)-like compound palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), a bioactive lipid mediator with anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and neuroprotective properties. This Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020-compliant systematic review aimed at collecting and comprehensively discussing all available data from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy and tolerability of PEA supplementation across human illnesses in patient populations. Overall, 48 eligible outputs from 47 RCTs were extracted, covering neuropsychiatric ( = 15), neurological ( = 17), somatic ( = 13), and visceral ( = 11) disturbances, as well as PEA effects on blood/plasma or other tissue biomarkers ( = 10).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo date, no psychotropic medication has shown to effectively halt progression to psychosis among individuals at Clinical High-Risk for psychosis (CHR), fueling the search for novel therapeutic agents. Recent evidence supports Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) signaling as a potential psychosis biomarker, also indicating a therapeutic role for its supplementation in the treatment of psychotic disorders. Nonetheless, the effect of sustained PEA intake in CHR subjects has never been explored so far.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Today more and more people search the web for health-related information, risking to come across misinformation and biased content that may affect their treatment decisions. Cannabidiol (CBD) is among the products for which beneficial effects have been claimed, often at the expense of the risks; further keeping in mind unreliable information reported on products themselves.
Objective: This study evaluated the quality of information retrieved by Google on the potential effects of CBD on weight management, also comparing Italian and English contents, hypothesizing generally low quality and language-driven differences in offered information.
The aim of this study was to investigate aggression-related work accidents in an inpatient psychiatric unit before and after implementing a no-restraint policy in Italy. Results revealed that, over the study period (2007-2022), 113 accidents occurred, mostly related to physical aggression (81.4%), with healthcare assistants and psychiatric nurses being the most affected and more accidents occurring during the morning shift (49.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To identify the COVID-19 pandemic impact on well-being/mental health, coping strategies, and risk factors in adolescents worldwide.
Method: This study was based on an anonymous online multi-national/multi-language survey in the general population (representative/weighted non-representative samples, 14-17 years of age), measuring change in well-being (World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index [WHO-5]/range = 0-100) and psychopathology (validated composite P-score/range = 0-100), WHO-5 <50 and <29, pre- vs during COVID-19 pandemic (April 26, 2020-June 26, 2022). Coping strategies and 9 a priori- defined individual/cumulative risk factors were measured.
Despite promise of its supplementation as both monotherapy and add-on treatment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the biobehavioral effects of Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) in autistic adults have never been explored so far. We discussed the cases of two autistic adults with different degrees of severity (level 1 and level 2) presenting with symptoms of psychic distress, who were treated with ultramicronized-PEA (um-PEA) 600 mg/day monotherapy for a sustained period of 4 months. The level 1 autistic patient showed improved depressive symptoms and social engagement at a 12-week follow-up, in parallel to a tendency toward reduced inflammatory response and enhanced endocannabinoid (eCB) signaling, partially relapsing after um-PEA discontinuation at four months.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDandy-Walker complex (DWC) consists of a continuum of brain malformations involving the posterior fossa, often leading to psychiatric manifestations during adulthood. We discussed the case of a young woman with Dandy-Walker variant (DWV) and a comorbid complex neuropsychiatric presentation, who was diagnosed with an eating disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a tic disorder. Afterwards, we conducted a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020-compliant systematic review reappraising all evidence of psychiatric outcomes in adults with DWC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile insomnia symptoms may be a risk factor for mental disturbances, few studies evaluated "Insomnia Disorder" and its relationship with perinatal psychopathology. Pregnant women were recruited during their last routine assessment before being hospitalized for delivery during the 3rd trimester at the Gynaecological Unit of the University Hospital of Ferrara and Udine, Italy, from January 2022 to January 2023. Our assessment included baseline evaluation (T0), and evaluations at 1 month (T1) and 3 months (T2) in the postpartum period, with specific questionnaires for insomnia disorder, such as Sleep Condition Indicator, mood and anxiety symptoms and psychosocial functioning, such as Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Mood Disorder Questionnaire, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Work and Social Adjustment Scale.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To assess the prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms 2 years after the COVID-19 acute phase and to identify biobehavioral risk factors.
Methods: This 2-year prospective study assessed adult individuals with COVID-19 via face-to-face interview and laboratory testing at onset, and via telephone interview at 2-year follow-up. Data collected included COVID-19 severity and management at onset, as well as depression, anxiety, insomnia, cognitive failure, and fatigue at follow-up using standardized assessment tools.
Peri-prosthetic infection (PJI) represents one of the most devastating complications of total hip arthroplasty (THA). The aim of this study is to assess the reliability of different PJI risk assessment scales between two matched pairs of THA groups. This study included 37 patients with PJI following THA performed between 2012 and 2020 (Group A).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 has been used to reduce the severity of COVID-19 disease and the incidence of new cases. However, a significant proportion of people have shown vaccination hesitancy.
Methods: This study explored psychological factors related to vaccination hesitancy in a sample of Italian COVID-19 patients ( = 54), hospitalized during 2021, after vaccines had been made available and while the vaccination campaign was on-going.
Introduction: The endocannabinoid (eCB) system disruption has been suggested to underpin the development of psychosis, fueling the search for novel, better-tolerated antipsychotic agents that target the eCB system. Among these, palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), an N-acylethanolamine (AE) with neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic properties, has drawn attention for its antipsychotic potential.
Methods: This Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020-compliant systematic review aimed at reappraising all clinical and preclinical studies investigating the biobehavioral role of PEA in psychosis.
Background: The diathesis-stress paradigm and the cannabinoid-hypothesis have been proposed as possible pathophysiological models of schizophrenia. However, they have historically been studied independently of each other.
Objective: This PRISMA 2020-compliant systematic review aimed at reappraising the interplay between the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the endocannabinoid (eCB) system in psychosis- spectrum disorder risk and outcome.