The Relationships Between Ataxia and Cognition in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 2.

The clinical spectrum of spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 includes motor manifestations and cognitive disturbances in executive functions, memory, and visuoconstructive skills. The relationships between severity of motor disturbances and altered cognition are poorly known. In this study, we assessed patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 and age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects by a test battery including the Mini-mental State Examination, the Wisconsin Card Sorting test, and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised.

Rest tremor in Parkinson's disease: Body distribution and time of appearance.

Objective: To assess body distribution and timing of appearance of rest tremor in Parkinson's disease.

Methods: Information was obtained by a computerized database containing historical information collected at the first visit and data collected during the subsequent follow-up visits. Information on rest tremor developed during the follow-up could be therefore obtained by our own observation in a proportion of patients.

Effect of antiviral therapy on pro-angiogenic hematopoietic and endothelial progenitor cells in HIV-infected people.

Background: HIV infection is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. HIV-sustained impairment of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) could contribute to this process, so that it is important to assess whether antiviral therapy (ART) is able to revert these abnormalities.

Methods: We quantified in 21 naïves and 34 treated patients two functionally distinct clonogenic progenitors which have been acknowledged important for vascular repair: the hematopoietic progenitor colony forming unit - endothelial cells (CFU-EC) and the true endothelial progenitor, the endothelial colony forming cells (ECFC).

The epidemiology of pain in Parkinson's disease.

Pain occurring in Parkinson's disease (PD) may affect a large proportion of patients. Based on the results of the methodologically more robust case-control studies that detected a significantly greater frequency of pain in PD patients than in control subjects, pain should now be considered as a non-motor symptom of PD. The heterogeneous quality of pain, the variable relationship of pain with parkinsonian motor signs, and the mixed response of pain to dopaminergic drugs suggest complex mechanisms for pain in PD.

Induction with ribavirin in a relapsing patient with chronic HCV hepatitis.

In this case, a new possible strategy for treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) relapsing patients is described. The target of anti-HCV therapy is sustained viral response, but strategies for improving sustained viral response in relapsing patients would be useful, and ribavirin is crucial for obtaining viral response. Six weeks of induction therapy with ribavirin were used to improve efficacy of standard combined antiviral therapy in a patient relapsing to standard therapy.

Antihypertensive and metabolic effects of telmisartan in hypertensive HIV-positive patients.

Background: Hypertension is more prevalent among HIV-infected individuals than in the general population and contributes to increased cardiovascular risk. The angiotensin II receptor blocker telmisartan is also a partial peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ agonist with documented effects on glucose and lipid homeostasis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antihypertensive and metabolic effects of telmisartan in hypertensive HIV-positive patients.

Cystatin C, adipokines and cardiovascular risk in HIV infected patients.

Objectives: To value the role of leptin, adiponectin and cystatin C in HIV infected patients treated with combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) subdivided for cardiovascular risk (CVR).

Methods: 56 HIV+ cART treated patients were screened by Framingham score and subdivided in 2 groups: A) 15 with "high" CVR (>10%) and B) 41 with "low" CVR (<10%). Viro-immunological parameters, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol, blood pressure, microalbuminuria, fasting glucose, insulinemia, HOMA-IR, CRP, cystatin C, IL-18, IL-6, leptin, adiponectin, antropometric parameters and total abdominal tissue (TAT), subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral abdominal tissue (VAT) were measured.

Use of hematopoietic growth factor in the management of hematological side effects associated to antiviral treatment for HCV hepatitis.

Haematological abnormalities are common during combination antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C. Although dose reduction or discontinuation can easily treat these side effects, they can adversely affect the efficacy of combination antiviral therapy reducing the likelihood of a sustained viral response (SVR). To avoid potentially diminishing a patient's chance of response, many physicians have begun using growth factors off-label to manage anaemia and neutropenia in hepatitis C.

Use of epoetin beta during combination therapy of infection with hepatitis c virus with ribavirin improves a sustained viral response.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of epoetin-beta on anemia and sustained viral response in patients with chronic hepatitis C receiving treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Forty-two Caucasian patients with chronic hepatitis C infection, treated with pegylated interferon alpha-2a or alpha-2b plus ribavirin, who experienced at least a 2 log decline in HCV-RNA in the first month of therapy and a > or =2.5 g/dl hemoglobin drop from baseline, were recruited.

Quality of life, depression, and cytokine patterns in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with antiviral therapy.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of chronic hepatitis C and antiviral therapy on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), depression symptoms and cytokine patterns.

Methods: Twenty HCV+ patients treated with peginterferon plus ribavirin were enrolled in this cohort study and invited to complete SF-12 and BDI questionnaires prior to (T0) and at the end of the treatment (T1). HCV-RNA, serum levels of ALT, AST, haemoglobin, ferritin and IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10 were evaluated at T0 and T1.

Treatment with silybin-vitamin E-phospholipid complex in patients with hepatitis C infection.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the hepatoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects of silybin-phospholipids and vitamin E complex (SPV complex), by determining cytokine patterns and various markers of liver disease. Forty Caucasian patients with chronic HCV infection were recruited and divided into two groups: 30 were treated with SPV complex for 3 months, while the other 10 did not receive any treatment. Ten other subjects without HCV infection but with staeatosic diagnosis were recruited and treated with SPV complex.

Inguinal lymphadenopathy due to Bartonella henselae.

The bacterium Bartonella henselae causes cat scratch disease, a self-limited zoonotic disease which is common among children and adolescents. The most typical clinical presentation is a regional lymphadenopathy that commonly involves only a single node of cervical and axillary lymph nodes. Inguinal localization is rarely described.

Infected atrial myxoma: a rare cause of fever.

We report the case of a patient complaining of intermittent fever for two years. After three episodes which were well controlled in a few days by antibiotic therapy, in October 2004 she came to our observation for the reappearance of fever. Our findings included high levels of inflammation indexes, a left atrial power at ECG, and an enlargement of the heart at chest radiography.

High dose of erythropoietin in management of interferon/ribavirin induced anemia.

Accumulating evidence now supports the use of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) to manage anemia in PEG-IFN/RBV treated patients, with the objective of maintaining the RBV dose, but currently no official guidelines exist. Actually, rHuEPO exact utilizable dose in PEG-IFN/RBV treated patients is not known. We describe the case of a patient with severe ribavirin-induced anemia.

Inflammatory cytokines and S-100b protein in patients with hepatitis C infection and cryoglobulinemias.

Objective: To investigate a predictive role for the protein S-100b and serum circulating levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with and without mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC).

Methods: Sixty chronically HCV-infected patients were divided into two groups: 30 with and 30 without MC. Patients with MC presented detectable mixed cryoglobulins and clinical weakness, purpura and arthralgias.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) endocarditis treated with linezolid.

Linezolid is not yet recognized as a standard therapy for infective endocarditis but its use becomes a necessity when infection is due to multidrug-resistant microorganisms. This report describes 1 patient with endocarditis treated with linezolid and 45 similar cases from the medical literature.

Cytokine patterns correlate with liver damage in patients with chronic hepatitis B and C.

T-cell immunoregulatory cytokines influence the persistence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronic infection and the extent of liver damage. Th1 cytokines positively correlate with hepatic inflammation in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The pro-inflammatory, cytokines IL-6 and IL-18, are involved in viral clearance and in metabolic and viral hepatic diseases, respectively.

Associations between hypertriglyceridemia and serum ghrelin, adiponectin, and IL-18 levels in HIV-infected patients.

HIV-related metabolic abnormalities include hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, insulin resistance, and diabetes mellitus. Recent studies suggest a role of ghrelin in promoting the deposition of triglycerides (TG) in the liver and regulating the metabolic action of adiponectin. Visceral fat is a key regulator of inflammation and it secretes proinflammatory cytokines (eg, interleukin-18, IL-18), with potential atherogenic activity.