The Carers' Needs Assessment for Dementia (CNA-D): a validation study in the Italian population.

Background: Dementia has devastating consequences for families with important physical, psychological, social, and financial effects. Evaluation of caregiver's needs may be an important step to reduce the burden of family caregivers of dementia patients. An Austrian scale, the Carers' Needs Assessment for Dementia, is now available for measuring the caregiver's needs.

Metacognitive impairment in patients with episodic and chronic migraine.

Migraine is one of the most common medical disorder in the world. Metacognition is the ability to monitor one's own cognitive functioning and consequently direct one's behavior. In adult migraine patients, the neuropsychological profile has been poorly investigated, and metacognitive functions have never been assessed.

Investigating the role of adipokines in chronic migraine.

Background and aims Adiponectin, leptin, and resistin are adipocyte-derived secretory factors involved in endothelial function, weight, inflammation, and insulin resistance. Recent studies suggested a role for adipokines in episodic migraine as mediators of inflammatory processes. The aim of this study was to investigate plasma concentrations of adiponectin, leptin, and resistin in patients with chronic migraine.

Is HCRTR2 a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease?

Backgrounds/aims: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the main types of dementia affecting about 50-55% of all demented patients. Sleep disturbances in AD patients are associated with the severity of dementia and are often the primary reason for institutionalization. These sleep problems partly resemble the core symptoms of narcolepsy, a sleep disorder caused by a general loss of the neurotransmitter hypocretin.

Genes and primary headaches: discovering new potential therapeutic targets.

Genetic studies have clearly shown that primary headaches (migraine, tension-type headache and cluster headache) are multifactorial disorders characterized by a complex interaction between different genes and environmental factors. Genetic association studies have highlighted a potential role in the etiopathogenesis of these disorders for several genes related to vascular, neuronal and neuroendocrine functions. A potential role as a therapeutic target is now emerging for some of these genes.

Apolipoprotein E polymorphisms in frontotemporal lobar degeneration: a meta-analysis.

Objective: Case-control studies have not been consistent in showing association between apolipoprotein E (APOE) polymorphisms and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), producing contradictory findings. The study objective was to define and quantify further the disease risk associated with the carriage of different APOE alleles to determine whether APOE gene polymorphism is a risk factor for FTLD.

Methods: A systematic review of all case-control studies investigating the association between the APOE gene and FTLD up to December 2011 was conducted.

Genetic variants in the NOTCH4 gene influence the clinical features of migraine.

Background: Recent studies suggested an important role for vascular factors in migraine etiopathogenesis. Notch4 belongs to a family of transmembrane receptors that play an important role in vascular development and maintenance. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that polymorphisms of the NOTCH4 gene would modify the occurrence and the clinical features of migraine.

Association between major mood disorders and the hypocretin receptor 1 gene.

Background: Recent studies suggested a role for hypocretins in the neurobiology of Major Mood Disorders (MMD). The purpose of this study was to investigate hypocretin involvement in MMD evaluating whether particular alleles or genotypes of the hypocretin pathway genes (HCRT, HCRTR1 and HCRTR2) would modify the occurrence and clinical features of the disease.

Methods: We selected for the study 229 MMD patients and 259 healthy age-, sex- and ethnicity-matched controls.

Cluster headache is associated with the alcohol dehydrogenase 4 (ADH4) gene.

Background/objectives: Alcohol is a well-known trigger factor for cluster headache attacks during the active phases of the disease. The alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) pathway, which converts alcohol to the toxic substance acetaldehyde, is responsible for most of the alcohol breakdown in the liver. Humans have 7 ADH genes, tightly clustered on chromosome 4q21-q25, that encode different ADH isoforms.

Hypocretins and primary headaches: neurobiology and clinical implications.

Hypocretins (or orexins) are two neuropeptides synthesized by neurons located exclusively in the hypothalamus. Hypocretin-containing neurons have widespread projections throughout the CNS; with particularly dense excitatory projections to monoaminergic and serotonergic brainstem centers. The hypocretin system influences a wide range of physiological processes in mammals, such as feeding, arousal, rewards and drug addiction.

Association between the G1246A polymorphism of the hypocretin receptor 2 gene and cluster headache: a meta-analysis.

The objective of this study was to investigate the association between polymorphisms of the hypocretin receptor 2 gene (HCRTR2) and the risk of cluster headache (CH). The study is a meta-analysis of published case-control studies investigating the association between polymorphisms of the HCRTR2 gene and CH. Pooled odds ratios (OR) were estimated using both random (RE) and fixed effects (FE) models.

Attachment styles and headache.

The internal working model on attachment dimensions changes with significant emotional experiences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if and how the internal working models correlate with primary headaches. Attachment dimensions of subjects suffering from primary headaches were studied.

Association between migraine and HLA-DRB1 gene polymorphisms.

We examined the distribution of HLA-DRB1 alleles in a cohort of 255 Italian migraine patients and in a control group of 325 healthy subjects. The frequency of DRB1*12 allele was found to be significantly reduced (p=0.02) in patients with migraine while the DRB1*16 allele was significantly increased (p=0.

Prevalence of HFE (hemochromatosis) gene mutations in patients with cluster headache.

Objective: To evaluate whether polymorphisms of the HFE gene would modify the occurrence and the clinical features of cluster headache (CH).

Background: Recent studies suggested that iron metabolism may be involved in the pathophysiology of primary headaches. The HFE gene encodes for a protein that modulates iron absorption.