Inflammation, Infectious Triggers, and Parkinson's Disease.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta with a reduction of dopamine concentration in the striatum. The complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors seems to play a role in determining susceptibility to PD and may explain the heterogeneity observed in clinical presentations. The exact etiology is not yet clear, but different possible causes have been identified.

Differential expression of miRNA 155 and miRNA 146a in Parkinson's disease patients.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder and its etiology is unknown, numerous studies show how different environmental factors can influence the development of disease. miRNAs are involved in several pathologies and their dysregulation contribute to different pathologies, also in neurodegenerative such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In this study, we profiled the expression of different candidate miRNAs: miR-155, miR-26a, miR-146a, and miR132, in PBMCs of L-dopa treated Parkinson patients and unaffected controls (HCs).

High levels of antibodies against PtpA and PknG secreted by Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis are present in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and multiple sclerosis patients.

Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (Map) is the etiological agent of Paratuberculosis in ruminants. Protein tyrosine phosphatase A (PtpA) and protein kinase G (PknG) are secreted proteins necessary for the survival of the pathogen within macrophages.

Antibody response against HERV-W env surface peptides differentiates multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.

Background: A specific humoral immune response against HERV-W envelope surface (env-su) glycoprotein antigens has been reported in serum of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, it has not been evaluated to date in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD).

Objective: The objective of this paper is to investigate whether antibody (Ab) response against HERV-W env-su antigenic peptides differs between NMOSD and MS.

subsp. and associated risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease in Iranian patients.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is described as a relapsing condition with high morbidity and uncertain complex pathogenesis. The association of ssp. (MAP) with Crohn's disease (CD) in human has been debated for decades, however there is no confirmed data to verify such relations in Iran.

Serum BAFF levels, Methypredsinolone therapy, Epstein-Barr Virus and Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection in Multiple Sclerosis patients.

Elevated B lymphocyte activating factor BAFF levels have been reported in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients; moreover, disease-modifying treatments (DMT) have shown to influence blood BAFF levels in MS patients, although the significance of these changes is still controversial. In addition, BAFF levels were reported increased during infectious diseases. In our study, we wanted to investigate on the serum BAFF concentrations correlated to the antibody response against Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and their human homologous epitopes in MS and in patients affected with other neurological diseases (OND), divided in Inflammatory Neurological Diseases (IND), Non Inflammatory Neurological Diseases (NIND) and Undetermined Neurological Diseases (UND), in comparison to healthy controls (HCs).

Soluble BAFF Level Is Not Correlated to Mycobacterium avium Subspecies Paratuberculosis Antibodies and Increases After Interferon-β Therapy in Multiple Sclerosis Patients.

B cells are being recognized as one of the major players in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). The B cell activating factor (BAFF) system plays an essential role in B cell homeostasis and function in the periphery. Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) has been previously associated to MS in Sardinia.

Natalizumab Therapy Modulates miR-155, miR-26a and Proinflammatory Cytokine Expression in MS Patients.

MicroRNAs fine-tune the regulation of Th1/Th17 lymphocyte subsets in multiple sclerosis. We investigated the expression of miRNAs (previously associated with mycobacterial and viral infections) in MS patients and healthy donors (HD) following 6 months natalizumab therapy. In addition, Th1/Th17 cytokines and the presence of anti-EBNA1/VCA IgG in MS patients with different pattern of miRNA expression have been evaluated.

Is there a role for Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in Parkinson's disease?

In Parkinson's disease (PD) ZnT proteins play an important role. Zinc is a co-factor of numerous enzymes and stabilizes the tertiary structure of several proteins. Nothing is known about previous infections mediated by Mycobacterium avium subsp.

Type 1 Diabetes at-risk children highly recognize Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis epitopes homologous to human Znt8 and Proinsulin.

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) has been previously associated to T1D as a putative environmental agent triggering or accelerating the disease in Sardinian and Italian populations. Our aim was to investigate the role of MAP in T1D development by evaluating levels of antibodies directed against MAP epitopes and their human homologs corresponding to ZnT8 and proinsulin (PI) in 54 T1D at-risk children from mainland Italy and 42 healthy controls (HCs). A higher prevalence was detected for MAP/ZnT8 pairs (62,96% T1D vs.

Humoral cross reactivity between α-synuclein and herpes simplex-1 epitope in Parkinson's disease, a triggering role in the disease?

Environmental factors are implicated in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). We have investigated on the role of molecular mimicry between HSV1 and α-synuclein that could foster the progression of PD. The antibody response against homologous peptides in PD patients and healthy controls was evaluated, showing that these antibodies are highly prevalent among PD patients to healthy controls.

Natalizumab modulates the humoral response against HERV-Wenv73-88 in a follow-up study of Multiple Sclerosis patients.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a heterogeneous disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) that begins as an inflammatory autoimmune disorder mediated by auto-reactive lymphocyte followed by microglial activation and chronic degeneration. The etiology of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is unknown but several data support the hypothesis of possible infectious agents which may act as a trigger for the pathogenic cascade. Human endogenous retrovirus (HERV-W/MSRV), Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) and Mycobacterium avium ss.