Colchicine treatment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: safety, biological and clinical effects in a randomized clinical trial.

In preclinical studies, the anti-inflammatory drug colchicine, which has never been tested in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, enhanced the expression of autophagy factors and inhibited accumulation of transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 kDa, a known histopathological marker of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This multicentre, randomized, double-blind trial enrolled patients with probable or definite amyotrophic lateral sclerosis who experienced symptom onset within the past 18 months. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive colchicine at a dose of 0.

Baseline benzodiazepine exposure is associated with greater risk of transition in clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR-P): a meta-analysis.

Background: Emerging meta-analytical evidence indicates that baseline exposure to antipsychotics and to antidepressants in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR-P) have opposite prognostic effects as regards imminent transition to psychosis, with antipsychotics associated with higher risk and antidepressants associated with a lower risk in comparison to not-exposed individuals. Despite their common use, baseline exposure to benzodiazepines (BDZ) in CHR-P has surprisingly received poor attention as a potential risk modulator for transition to psychosis. The current systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to fix such a knowledge gap.

Regional spreading pattern is associated with clinical phenotype in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Increasing evidence shows that disease spreading in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) follows a preferential pattern with more frequent involvement of contiguous regions from the site of symptom onset. The aim of our study was to assess if: (i) the burden of upper (UMN) and lower motor neuron (LMN) involvement influences directionality of disease spreading; (ii) specific patterns of disease progression are associated with motor and neuropsychological features of different ALS subtypes (classic, bulbar, primary lateral sclerosis, UMN-predominant, progressive muscular atrophy, flail arm, flail leg); and (iii) specific clinical features may help identify ALS subtypes, which remain localized to the site of onset for a prolonged time (regionally entrenching ALS). A single-centre, retrospective cohort of 913 Italian ALS patients was evaluated to assess correlations between directionality of the disease process after symptom onset and motor/neuropsychological phenotype.

Identification of HSPB8 modulators counteracting misfolded protein accumulation in neurodegenerative diseases.

Aims: The small Heat Shock Protein B8 (HSPB8) is the core component of the Chaperone-Assisted Selective Autophagy (CASA) complex. This complex selectively targets, transports, and tags misfolded proteins for their recognition by autophagy receptors and insertion into the autophagosome for clearance. CASA is essential to maintain intracellular proteostasis, especially in heart, muscle, and brain often exposed to various types of cell stresses.

Spectrally resolved autofluorescence imaging in posterior uveitis.

Clinical discrimination of posterior uveitis entities remains a challenge. This exploratory, cross-sectional study investigated the green (GEFC) and red emission fluorescent components (REFC) of retinal and choroidal lesions in posterior uveitis to facilitate discrimination of the different entities. Eyes were imaged by color fundus photography, spectrally resolved fundus autofluorescence (Color-FAF) and optical coherence tomography.

Lysosomes Dysfunction Causes Mitophagy Impairment in PBMCs of Sporadic ALS Patients.

Mitochondria alterations are present in tissues derived from patients and animal models, but no data are available for peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of ALS patients. This work aims to investigate mitophagy in PBMCs of sporadic (sALS) patients and how this pathway can be tuned by using small molecules. We found the presence of morphologically atypical mitochondria by TEM and morphological abnormalities by MitoTracker™.

Clot-Based Radiomics Predict a Mechanical Thrombectomy Strategy for Successful Recanalization in Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Background And Purpose: Mechanical thrombectomy (MTB) is a reference treatment for acute ischemic stroke, with several endovascular strategies currently available. However, no quantitative methods are available for the selection of the best endovascular strategy or to predict the difficulty of clot removal. We aimed to investigate the predictive value of an endovascular strategy based on radiomic features extracted from the clot on preinterventional, noncontrast computed tomography to identify patients with first-attempt recanalization with thromboaspiration and to predict the overall number of passages needed with an MTB device for successful recanalization.

MRI with DWI for the Detection of Posttreatment Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Why Morphologic MRI Criteria Matter.

Background And Purpose: Although diffusion-weighted imaging combined with morphologic MRI (DWIMRI) is used to detect posttreatment recurrent and second primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, the diagnostic criteria used so far have not been clarified. We hypothesized that precise MRI criteria based on signal intensity patterns on T2 and contrast-enhanced T1 complement DWI and therefore improve the diagnostic performance of DWIMRI.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed 1.

Application of a recombinant protein for the serological diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis.

This work reports the results obtained by a new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test developed for the serological diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis. The new ELISA is based on a recombinant protein obtained by joining different antigens of Leishmania infantum. Test performances have been evaluated through the screening 227 sera of dogs, infected and uninfected by L.