Publications by authors named "Raffaele Giovanni Maletta"
Background: Dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy is a hereditary neurodegenerative disease prevalently reported in Japan but rare in Caucasians. The objective of this study was to reconstruct the pedigree of Italian dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy familial cases describing their clinical features.
Methods: We investigated 6 apparently unrelated dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy families comprising a total of 51 affected individuals: 13 patients were clinically examined, and for 38 patients clinical data were collected from clinical sources.
Article Synopsis
- An amendment to the original paper has been released.
- You can find the amendment through a link provided at the top of the paper.
- This update may contain important changes or additional information related to the original content.
Article Synopsis
- Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is the most common type of dementia and is influenced by genetics.
- Researchers studied a lot of people (94,437) to find specific genes that may increase the risk of developing LOAD, confirming 20 known ones and discovering 5 new ones.
- They also found that certain genetic traits related to the immune system and how the brain processes proteins are linked to a higher risk of LOAD, suggesting there are more rare genes yet to be identified that could also play a role.
Article Synopsis
- * Our research uncovered three significant variants: a protective variant in the PLCG2 gene and risk variants in ABI3 and TREM2, known for their roles in Alzheimer's susceptibility.
- * The findings emphasize the importance of microglia, immune cells in the brain, suggesting that their genetic variations may contribute directly to the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
We identified the novel PSEN1 pathogenic mutation M84V in 3 patients belonging to a large kindred affected by autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease (AD). The clinical phenotype was characterized by early onset dementia in 14 affected subjects over 3 generations. Detailed clinical, imaging and genetic assessment was performed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Several neurological and systemic diseases can cause dementia, beyond Alzheimer's disease. Rare genetic causes are often responsible for dementia with atypical features. Recently, mutations causative for Niemann-Pick type C disease (NPC) have also been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBeta-amyloid accumulation in brain is a driving force for Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) represents a critical player in beta-amyloid homeostasis, but its role in disease progression is controversial. We previously reported that the acute-phase protein haptoglobin binds ApoE and impairs its function in cholesterol homeostasis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFrontotemporal dementia (FTD) has a strong genetic basis, with familial forms occurring in 30-50% of cases. Causative genes have been identified, with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance. Notwithstanding, in a number of cases with positive family history no pathogenetic mutation has been reported, and the role of genetics in sporadic cases is still unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Frontotemporal dementia is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous syndrome. Mutations in two genes, Microtubule Associated Protein Tau (MAPT) and Progranulin (PGRN), and rarely Presenilin mutations, have been causally linked to this disorder.
Objective: To investigate the presence of PGRN, PSEN1, PSEN2 and APP mutations in a group of familial early-onset frontotemporal dementia (f-EOFTD) patients negative for MAPT gene mutations.