Interictal amylin levels in chronic migraine patients: A case-control study.

Background: Recently, amylin and its receptors were found in different structures involved in migraine pathophysiology. Here, we evaluate interictal concentrations of amylin and calcitonin gene-related peptide in peripheral blood as biomarkers for chronic migraine.

Methods: We prospectively recruited patients with episodic migraine, chronic migraine and healthy controls.

RNU6-1 in circulating exosomes differentiates GBM from non-neoplastic brain lesions and PCNSL but not from brain metastases.

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common malignant primary brain tumor in adults. Circulating biomarkers may assist in the processes of differential diagnosis and response assessment. GBM cells release extracellular vesicles containing a subset of proteins and nucleic acids.

Elevated circulating metalloproteinase 7 predicts recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with carotid stenosis: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Major adverse cardiovascular events are the main cause of morbidity and mortality over the long term in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy. There are few reports assessing the prognostic value of markers of inflammation in relation to the risk of cardiovascular disease after carotid endarterectomy. Here, we aimed to determine whether matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9 and MMP-10), tissue inhibitor of MMPs (TIMP-1) and in vivo inflammation studied by F-FDG-PET/CT predict recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with carotid stenosis who underwent endarterectomy.

Excess abdominal fat is associated with cutaneous allodynia in individuals with migraine: a prospective cohort study.

Objective: To investigate the specific relationship between cutaneous allodynia (CA) and the percentages of body fat (BF) and abdominal fat in migraineurs. Additionally, we compared serum levels of inflammatory biomarkers in patients with and without CA.

Background: Excess abdominal fat might facilitate progressive changes in nociceptive thresholds causing central sensitization, clinically reflected as CA, which could drive migraine progression.

VEMPs and Dysautonomia Assessment in Definite Cerebellar Ataxia, Neuropathy, Vestibular Areflexia Syndrome (CANVAS): a Case Series Study.

Cerebellar ataxia with neuropathy and vestibular areflexia syndrome (CANVAS) is a recently described slowly progressive ataxia with severe imbalance due to the compromise of three of the four sensory inputs for balance, leaving only vision unaffected. Bilateral vestibulopathy is present but saccular and utricular function, measured by vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs), has not been widely studied in these patients. Dysautonomia has been reported but is not among the diagnostic criteria.

Amylin as a potential link between type 2 diabetes and alzheimer disease.

Objective: Alzheimer disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, and although its etiology remains unclear, it seems that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and other prediabetic states of insulin resistance could contribute to the appearance of sporadic AD. As such, we have assessed whether tau and β-amyloid (Aβ) deposits might be present in pancreatic tissue of subjects with AD, and whether amylin, an amyloidogenic protein deposited in the pancreas of T2DM patients, might accumulate in the brain of AD patients.

Methods: We studied pancreatic and brain tissue from 48 individuals with no neuropathological alterations and from 87 subjects diagnosed with AD.

Epicardial Adipose Tissue in the General Middle-aged Population and Its Association With Metabolic Syndrome.

Introduction And Objectives: There is currently increasing interest in epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) as a marker of cardiovascular disease. Our purpose was to describe EAT, measured by transthoracic echocardiography, and to assess its association with metabolic syndrome (MS) in the RIVANA population-based study.

Methods: Physical examination was performed in 880 participants aged 45 to 74 years (492 of them with MS according to the harmonized definition).

Citicoline for Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Systematic Review and Formal Meta-analysis of Randomized, Double-Blind, and Placebo-Controlled Trials.

Background: Citicoline is a drug approved for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Although evidence of its efficacy has been reported, recently published results of a large placebo-controlled clinical trial did not show differences. This study aims to assess whether starting citicoline treatment within 14 days after stroke onset improves the outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke, as compared with placebo.

[ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DIETARY GLYCEMIC INDEX AND GLYCEMIC LOAD AND INTIMA MEDIA THICKNESS IN A POPULATION AT HIGH CARDIOVASCULAR RISK: A SUBGROUP ANALYSIS IN THE PREDIMED TRIAL].

Background: increased carotid íntima-media thickness (IMT) is a marker of atherosclerosis and a predictor of future cardiovascular events. Although a beneficial effect of Mediterranean diets, in particular, enhanced with virgin olive oil and nuts, on longitudinal changes in IMT has been reported, the association between carbohydrates and the development of atherosclerosis is still unclear.

Objective: to assess the association between glycemic index (IG) and glycemic load (CG) of the diet and intima media thickness (GIMC) in a population at high cardiovascular risk with no clinical symptoms.

Monitoring the Effect of Immunotherapy in Autoimmune Limbic Encephalitis Using 18F-FDG PET.

A 70-year-old woman with a history of autoimmune hepatitis and renal cell carcinoma presented with subacute cognitive impairment. A brain MRI revealed mild leukoaraiosis, whereas brain F-FDG PET/CT showed diffuse cerebral hypometabolism that resembled some of the patterns described in limbic encephalitis and neurodegenerative diseases. With the suspicion of autoimmune encephalitis, the patient received immunotherapy with dramatic improvement of cognitive function and metabolic normalization at the 2-month follow-up on brain F-FDG PET/CT.

[What is the optimal dose for the prophylactic treatment of chronic migraine patients?].

Introduction: OnabotulinumtoxinA (OnabotA) is indicated for headache prophylaxis in patients with chronic migraine. However, there is some controversy about what is the minimum effective dose for treating chronic migraine patients.

Aim: To determine the optimal dose of OnabotA for the prophylactic treatment of patients with chronic migraine.

[Predictive factors of the response to treatment with onabotulinumtoxinA in refractory migraine].

Aim: To identify the clinical features that predict a favourable response to onabotulinumtoxinA (OnabotA) treatment in patients with refractory migraine.

Patients And Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients with refractory migraine who underwent at least two pericranial injections of OnabotA between 2008 and 2012. Patients were divided into responders and non-responders.

The neuroprotection exerted by memantine, minocycline and lithium, against neurotoxicity of CSF from patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is antagonized by riluzole.

In a recent study we found that cerebrospinal fluids (CSFs) from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients caused 20-30% loss of cell viability in primary cultures of rat embryo motor cortex neurons. We also found that the antioxidant resveratrol protected against such damaging effects and that, surprisingly, riluzole antagonized its protecting effects. Here we have extended this study to the interactions of riluzole with 3 other recognized neuroprotective agents, namely memantine, minocycline and lithium.

Cephalalgia alopecia or nummular headache with trophic changes? A new case with prolonged follow-up.

Cephalalgia alopecia is a rare and recently described headache syndrome in which recurrent, burning head and neck pain is associated with hair loss from areas of scalp affected by the pain. We here report the case of a 33-year-old woman with continuous unilateral occipital pain and colocalized alopecia, only responsive to onabotulinumtoxin A injections. We hypothesize whether this clinical phenotype may correspond to either cephalalgia alopecia or nummular headache with trophic changes, conditions that might represent 2 manifestations of the same spectrum of disorders.

Chronic migraine: a therapeutic challenge for clinicians.

Chronic migraine is a common disabling condition. Severe migraine attacks should be treated with triptans, but these agents are contraindicated in patients with vascular problems and may not be effective or tolerated in around one third of the patients. New acute migraine therapies without vasoconstrictive activity and triptan-specific side effects are emerging.

Citicoline in the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke: an international, randomised, multicentre, placebo-controlled study (ICTUS trial).

Background: Citicoline is approved in some countries for the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke. The drug has shown some evidence of efficacy in a pooled analysis. We sought to confirm the efficacy of citicoline in a larger trial.

[Clinical experience of treatment with onabotulinumtoxin A in patients with refractory migraine].

Aim: To analyse our experience in the treatment of refractory chronic migraine, episodic frequent refractory migraine (≥10 days/month), with onabotulinumtoxin A (OnabotA).

Patients And Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients with refractory migraine who underwent, at least two sessions of OnabotA pericranial injections following the PREEMPT protocol between 2008 and 2012. The efficacy of OnabotA was evaluated comparing the basal situation with 12-16 weeks after the second session.

Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome induced by adrenaline.

Introduction: Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) is characterized by acute severe thunderclap headaches and evidence of multifocal, segmental, reversible vasoconstrictions of the cerebral arteries. Several precipitating factors have been identified and reported, including the use of recreational substances or sympathomimetic drugs and the postpartum state.

Case Description: Here we present the case of a woman who developed RCVS after the administration of adrenaline (epinephrine) in the setting of an anaphylactic reaction during antibiotic allergy testing.

Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis: prognostic value of clinical, cerebrospinal fluid, and neuroimaging features.

Introduction: Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LC) is a devastating complication occurring in 5% of all patients with cancer. To date there are no well-established prognostic markers in patients with LC, except for the presence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) blocks and the Karnofsky performance status scale (KPS). We aimed to identify clinical, neuroradiologic and CSF prognostic factors related to LC survival and to develop an easy-to-use Prognostic Scoring Scale (PSS) to identify patients who are more likely to benefit from receiving treatment.

The influence of obesity on the assessment of carotid intima-media thickness.

Background: The assessment of carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) may improve cardiovascular risk prediction. The optimal protocol for CIMT measurement is unclear. CIMT may be measured in the common carotid artery (CCA), carotid bifurcation (CB), and internal carotid artery (ICA), but measurements from CB and ICA are more difficult to obtain.

Refractory migraine in a headache clinic population.

Background: Many migraineurs who seek care in headache clinics are refractory to treatment, despite advances in headache therapies. Epidemiology is poorly characterized, because diagnostic criteria for refractory migraine were not available until recently. We aimed to determine the frequency of refractory migraine in patients attended in the Headache Unit in a tertiary care center, according to recently proposed criteria.

Carotid intima-media thickness changes with Mediterranean diet: a randomized trial (PREDIMED-Navarra).

Objective: Observational studies have reported inverse associations between adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) and atherosclerotic disease. We tested the effect of two types of MedDiet on progression of subclinical carotid atherosclerosis.

Methods: We randomized 187 high-cardiovascular-risk asymptomatic subjects (51% women, mean age 67 years) to three treatment arms: MedDiet with supplemental virgin olive oil (VOO), n=66; MedDiet with supplemental nuts, n=59; and control diet, n=62.