Long-term safety of gantenerumab in participants with Alzheimer's disease: A phase III, open-label extension study (SCarlet RoAD).

Background: Gantenerumab is a fully human anti-amyloid-β (Aβ) immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody for subcutaneous (SC) administration. The efficacy and safety of low-dose (105 mg or 225 mg) gantenerumab were investigated in SCarlet RoAD (SR; NCT01224106), a Phase III, double-blind (DB), placebo-controlled study in participants with prodromal Alzheimer's disease. Following a pre-planned futility analysis, SR was converted into an open-label extension (OLE) study.

Long-Term Safety of Gantenerumab in Participants with Alzheimer's Disease: A Phase III, Double-Blind, and Open-Label Extension Study (Marguerite RoAD).

Background: Gantenerumab is an anti-amyloid-β immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody for subcutaneous (SC) administration. The efficacy and safety of low-dose (105 mg or 225 mg) gantenerumab were investigated in Marguerite RoAD (MR; NCT02051608), a Phase III, double-blind (DB), placebo-controlled study in participants with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia. Following a preplanned futility analysis of the SCarlet RoAD study (NCT01224106), MR was converted into an open-label extension (OLE).

Italian report on RARE epilepsies (i-RARE): A consensus on multidisciplinarity.

Objective: Rare and complex epilepsies encompass a diverse range of disorders characterized by seizures. We aimed to establish a consensus on key issues related to these conditions through collaboration among experienced neurologists, neuropediatricians, and patient advocacy representatives.

Methods: Employing a modified Delphi method, a scientific board comprising 20 physicians and 4 patient advocacy representatives synthesized existing literature with their expertise to formulate statements on contentious topics.

Adjunctive cenobamate in people with focal onset seizures: Insights from the Italian Expanded Access Program.

Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness/tolerability of adjunctive cenobamate, variations in the load of concomitant antiseizure medications (ASMs) and predictors of clinical response in people with focal epilepsy.

Methods: This was a retrospective study at 21 centers participating in the Italian Expanded Access Program. Effectiveness outcomes included retention and responder rates (≥50% and 100% reduction in baseline seizure frequency).

Perampanel in post-stroke epilepsy: Clinical practice data from the PERampanel as Only Concomitant antiseizure medication (PEROC) study.

Introduction: Post-stroke epilepsy (PSE) is one of the most common causes of acquired epilepsy. Nevertheless, there is limited evidence regarding the clinical profile of antiseizure medications (ASMs) in PSE. This study aims to evaluate the 12-month effectiveness and tolerability of perampanel (PER) used as only add-on treatment in patients with PSE in a real-world setting.

Inflammasomes: emerging therapeutic targets in hidradenitis suppurativa?

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by recurrent inflammatory lesions, which affect skin and hair follicles in intertriginous areas. HS has a multifactorial aetiology resulting in barrier dysfunction associated with aberrant immune activation. There is increased evidence for the role of inflammasomes in the pathophysiology of inflammatory skin diseases, including HS.

Patient-reported outcomes in epilepsy: a case study exploring their usage and impact.

Background: This study aimed to obtain insights from epilepsy specialists on the use of Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) measures and how they can affect the management of people with epilepsy and healthcare resource utilization.

Methods: The heads of two referral units for people with epilepsy at one tertiary care hospital were invited to respond to a structured survey.

Results: Paper-based questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were the main modalities used to measure the quality of life of people with epilepsy.

Sex Differences in Adverse Effects of Antiseizure Medications in Adults with Epilepsy: A Systematic Review.

Background: Sex differences in epilepsy have been described in prevalence, seizure propensity and response to treatment. Therefore, taking into account sex-based differences in epilepsy is important for both diagnostic purposes and therapeutic considerations. However, little is known about sex differences in adverse effects of antiseizure medications (ASMs).

Brivaracetam use in clinical practice: a Delphi consensus on its role as first add-on therapy in focal epilepsy and beyond.

Background: Antiseizure medications remain the cornerstone of treatment for epilepsy, although a proportion of individuals with the condition will continue to experience seizures despite appropriate therapy. Treatment choices for epilepsy are based on variables related to both the individual patient and the available medications. Brivaracetam is a third-generation agent antiseizure medication.

Cenobamate as add-on therapy for drug resistant epilepsies: effectiveness, drug to drug interactions and neuropsychological impact. What have we learned from real word evidence?

Cenobamate (CNB) is an anti-seizure medication (ASM) approved in 2021 in Europe for adjunctive treatment of focal-onset seizures in adults who were not adequately controlled with at least two previous ASMs. seizure outcome, treatment-emergent adverse events, neuropsychological profile, and blood levels of CNB and concomitant ASM were analyzed in a real world setting in two different Italian epilepsy centers in the context of CNB early access program. All patients performed a general cognitive evaluation, while 32 patients underwent the administration of a battery of neuropsychological tests at baseline and 6 months after CNB treatment.

Adjunctive brivaracetam and sustained seizure frequency reduction in very active focal epilepsy.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of brivaracetam (BRV) according to baseline seizure frequency and past treatment history in subjects with focal epilepsy who were included in the Brivaracetam Add-On First Italian Network Study (BRIVAFIRST).

Methods: BRIVAFIRST was a 12-month retrospective, multicenter study including adults prescribed adjunctive BRV. Study outcomes included sustained seizure response (SSR), sustained seizure freedom (SSF), and the rates of treatment discontinuation and adverse events (AEs).

A real-world comparison among third-generation antiseizure medications: Results from the COMPARE study.

Objective: There are few comparative data on the third-generation antiseizure medications (ASMs). We aimed to assess and compare the effectiveness of brivaracetam (BRV), eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL), lacosamide (LCM), and perampanel (PER) in people with epilepsy (PWE). Efficacy and tolerability were compared as secondary objectives.

Comparative mutant analyses reveal a novel mechanism of ARF regulation in land plants.

A major challenge in plant biology is to understand how the plant hormone auxin regulates diverse transcriptional responses throughout development, in different environments, and in different species. The answer may lie in the specific complement of auxin signaling components in each cell. The balance between activators (class-A AUXIN RESPONSE FACTORS) and repressors (class-B ARFs) is particularly important.

A Combination of Conformation-Specific RAF Inhibitors Overcome Drug Resistance Brought about by RAF Overexpression.

Cancer cells often adapt to targeted therapies, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying adaptive resistance remain only partially understood. Here, we explore a mechanism of RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK (MAPK) pathway reactivation through the upregulation of RAF isoform (RAFs) abundance. Using computational modeling and in vitro experiments, we show that the upregulation of RAFs changes the concentration range of paradoxical pathway activation upon treatment with conformation-specific RAF inhibitors.

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: A critical view of the literature.

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a sudden, unexpected, witnessed or unwitnessed, non-traumatic and non-drowning death, occurring in benign circumstances, in an individual with epilepsy, with or without evidence for a seizure and excluding documented status epilepticus in which postmortem examination does not reveal other causes of death. Lower diagnostic levels are assigned when cases met most or all of these criteria, but data suggested more than one possible cause of death. The incidence of SUDEP ranged from 0.

Case report: associated cortical malformations: Case report of a novel stop-gain variant and literature review.

Malformations of cortical development (MCDs) can lead to peculiar neuroradiological patterns and clinical presentations (i.e., seizures, cerebral palsy, and intellectual disability) according to the specific genetic pathway of the brain development involved; and yet a certain degree of phenotypic heterogeneity exists even when the same gene is affected.

Use of cenobamate for the treatment of focal epilepsy: an Italian expert opinion paper.

Introduction: Cenobamate is a new antiseizure medication (ASM) recently introduced in the USA for the treatment of adults with focal-onset seizures. In March 2021, the European Commission authorized its use for the adjunctive treatment of focal-onset seizures with or without secondary generalization (focal seizures with or without progression to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures, according to current ILAE terminology) in adults with epilepsy not adequately controlled despite the treatment with at least two ASMs.

Areas Covered: This review summarizes the mechanism of action, efficacy, and safety of Cenobamate.

Governance of the clinical pathway and management of the patient suffering from epilepsy and drug-resistant epilepsy.

Epilepsy is a diffuse chronic neurological disease affecting around 50 million people worldwide. The diagnostic criteria by the International League against Epilepsy must be fulfilled to diagnose the disease, which is characterized by brief and transient episodes of abnormal neuronal activity involving one or both hemispheres, depending on the epilepsy type. The diagnosis of epilepsy should be properly and timely made because patients suffering from the disease are affected not only by seizure recurrence but also by epilepsy-related psychiatric and/or cognitive comorbidities that may have a huge impact with severe professional and social implications.

Treatment with Cenobamate in Adult Patients with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome: A Case Series.

. Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is a developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) in which drug resistance to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is common. Focal-onset seizures (FOS) are among the seizure types characterizing LGS.

Current safety concerns about the use of antiseizure medications in pregnancy.

Introduction: Given the high prevalence of epilepsy in women of childbearing potential (15 million out of 50 million people worldwide), antiseizure medication (ASM) use in pregnancy is common. Identifying the safest and most effective ASM to use during pregnancy is often difficult, but also crucially important. The challenge is to balance two needs: maintaining seizure control while minimizing teratogenicity.

A case of repeated focal motor seizures as expression of an inflammatory cerebral process with suspected dysimmune etiology.

Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is a condition of severe brain inflammation with a complex differential diagnosis. The identification of a specific neuronal antibody (NA) is not mandatory to diagnose AE. Moreover, even when a NA is detected, the clinical picture can be inconsequential (i.