Glitches in the brain: the dangerous relationship between radiotherapy and brain fog.

Up to approximately 70% of cancer survivors report persistent deficits in memory, attention, speed of information processing, multi-tasking, and mental health functioning, a series of symptoms known as "brain fog." The severity and duration of such effects can vary depending on age, cancer type, and treatment regimens. In particular, every year, hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide undergo radiotherapy (RT) for primary brain tumors and brain metastases originating from extracranial tumors.

Discovery of RC-752, a Novel Sigma-1 Receptor Antagonist with Antinociceptive Activity: A Promising Tool for Fighting Neuropathic Pain.

Neuropathic pain (NP) is a chronic condition resulting from damaged pain-signaling pathways. It is a debilitating disorder that affects up to 10% of the world's population. Although opioid analgesics are effective in reducing pain, they present severe risks; so, there is a pressing need for non-opioid pain-relieving drugs.

Cancer-Associated Fibroblast: Role in Prostate Cancer Progression to Metastatic Disease and Therapeutic Resistance.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancers in European males. Although therapeutic approaches have changed in recent years, and several new drugs have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) remains the standard of care. Currently, PCa represents a clinical and economic burden due to the development of resistance to ADT, paving the way to cancer progression, metastasis, and to long-term side effects induced by ADT and radio-chemotherapeutic regimens.

Novel S1R agonists counteracting NMDA excitotoxicity and oxidative stress: A step forward in the discovery of neuroprotective agents.

Sigma-1 receptor (S1R) has been considered a promising therapeutic target for several neurodegenerative diseases and S1R agonists have shown neuroprotective activity against glutamate excitotoxicity and oxidative stress. Starting from a previously identified low nanomolar S1R agonist, in this work we prepared and tested novel benzylpiperidine/benzylpiperazine-based compounds designed by applying a ring opening strategy. Among them, 4-benzyl-1-(2-phenoxyethyl)piperidine 6b (S1R Ki = 0.

Repurposing the Antiplatelet Agent Ticlopidine to Counteract the Acute Phase of ER Stress Condition: An Opportunity for Fighting Coronavirus Infections and Cancer.

Different pathological conditions, including viral infections and cancer, can have a massive impact on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), causing severe damage to the cell and exacerbating the disease. In particular, coronavirus infections, including SARS coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for COVID-19, cause ER stress as a consequence of the enormous amounts of viral glycoproteins synthesized, the perturbation of ER homeostasis and the modification of ER membranes. Therefore, ER has a central role in the viral life cycle, thus representing one of the Achilles' heels on which to focus therapeutic intervention.

Sociodemographic factors in fibromyalgia: results from the Italian Fibromyalgia Registry.

Objectives: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic musculoskeletal pain syndrome of unknown aetiopathogenesis. Its development and maintenance are related to the interplay of biological, psychological, and contextual factors. Among the contextual factors, sociodemographic aspects are poorly elucidated.

Fibromyalgia severity according to age categories: results of a cross-sectional study from a large national database.

Objectives: The role of age in influencing the severity of fibromyalgia (FM) is still controversial. The aim of this study is to define the contribution of age in the severity of FM from data from a large national database.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included adult patients with FM diagnosed according to the 2010/2011 American College of Rheumatology criteria.

The association between body mass index and fibromyalgia severity: data from a cross-sectional survey of 2339 patients.

Objective: Various studies have shown that overweight and obesity are central features of FM, but the real impact of a high BMI on clinical severity in patients with FM is still controversial. The aim of this study was to analyse the relationships between BMI categories and measures of symptom severity and functional impairment using data from a Web-based registry of patients with FM.

Methods: Adult patients with an ACR 2010/2011 diagnosis of FM underwent a complete physical examination and laboratory tests and were asked to complete a package of questionnaires covering their sociodemographic and treatment details, in addition to the following disease-specific questionnaires: the revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR), the modified Fibromyalgia Assessment Status questionnaire (ModFAS) and the Polysymptomatic Distress Scale (PDS).

A Parsonage-Turner Syndrome secondary to Parvovirus B19 infection.

Parvovirus B19 (PVB19) is a small DNA virus that causes the fifth disease in children; however it can also affect adults. The infection can be asymptomatic in about a quarter of healthy subjects. Typical clinical manifestations are: short lived fever accompanied by asthenia, myalgias and pharyngodynia; symmetrical acute polyarthritis; megalo-erytema in child; maculopulotic rash and/or fleeting purpuric at the extremities in adult; adenopathies in the cervical area.

ActivinA: a new leukemia-promoting factor conferring migratory advantage to B-cell precursor-acute lymphoblastic leukemic cells.

B-cell precursor-acute lymphoblastic leukemia modulates the bone marrow (BM) niche to become leukemia-supporting and chemo-protective by reprogramming the stromal microenvironment. New therapies targeting the interplay between leukemia and stroma can help improve disease outcome. We identified ActivinA, a TGF-β family member with a well-described role in promoting several solid malignancies, as a factor favoring leukemia that could represent a new potential target for therapy.