Molecular Pathogenesis of Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Strokes: Background and Therapeutic Approaches.

Stroke represents one of the neurological diseases most responsible for death and permanent disability in the world. Different factors, such as thrombus, emboli and atherosclerosis, take part in the intricate pathophysiology of stroke. Comprehending the molecular processes involved in this mechanism is crucial to developing new, specific and efficient treatments.

Pathogenetic Mechanisms of Hypertension-Brain-Induced Complications: Focus on Molecular Mediators.

There is growing evidence that hypertension is the most important vascular risk factor for the development and progression of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The brain is an early target of hypertension-induced organ damage and may manifest as stroke, subclinical cerebrovascular abnormalities and cognitive decline. The pathophysiological mechanisms of these harmful effects remain to be completely clarified.

Diabetes and Ischemic Stroke: An Old and New Relationship an Overview of the Close Interaction between These Diseases.

Diabetes mellitus is a comprehensive expression to identify a condition of chronic hyperglycemia whose causes derive from different metabolic disorders characterized by altered insulin secretion or faulty insulin effect on its targets or often both mechanisms. Diabetes and atherosclerosis are, from the point of view of cardio- and cerebrovascular risk, two complementary diseases. Beyond shared aspects such as inflammation and oxidative stress, there are multiple molecular mechanisms by which they feed off each other: chronic hyperglycemia and advanced glycosylation end-products (AGE) promote 'accelerated atherosclerosis' through the induction of endothelial damage and cellular dysfunction.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of cardiovascular risk in rheumatological disease: Symptomatic and non-symptomatic events in rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Although each autoimmune disease is associated with specific tissue or organ damage, rheumatic diseases share a pro-inflammatory pattern that might increase cardiovascular risk. Retrospective and prospective studies on patients affected by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) highlighted the concept of "accelerated atherosclerosis". Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is the assessment of symptomatic or asymptomatic cardiovascular events among patients with rheumatic diseases as RA and SLE.

Assessment of heart rate variability (HRV) in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus with and without diabetic foot: correlations with endothelial dysfunction indices and markers of adipo-inflammatory dysfunction.

Background: Some studies have suggested that patients with diabetes and foot complications have worse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk profiles, higher degrees of endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness and a higher inflammatory background than patients with diabetes without diabetic foot complications. Patients with diabetes mellitus have an alteration in the sympathovagal balance as assessed by means of heart rate variability (HRV) analysis, which is also related to the presence of endothelial dysfunction. Other studies suggest a possible role of inflammation coexisting with the alteration in the sympathovagal balance in favor of the atherosclerotic process in a mixed population of healthy subjects of middle and advanced age.

A case of infective colitis due to Yersinia enterocolitica complicated by microliver abscesses mimicking multiple liver occult metastases: a case report.

Background: We report an unusual case of infective colitis by Yersinia enterocolitica complicated by microliver abscesses mimicking multiple liver metastases in a 79 yr old female without any risk factors for bacteriaemia by this pathogen.

Case Presentation: The patient was admitted to the Internal Medicine with Stroke Care ward of University Policlinico "P. Giaccone" in Palermo because of the appearance of diarrhoea.

Neuroinflammatory Mechanisms in Ischemic Stroke: Focus on Cardioembolic Stroke, Background, and Therapeutic Approaches.

One of the most important causes of neurological morbidity and mortality in the world is ischemic stroke. It can be a result of multiple events such as embolism with a cardiac origin, occlusion of small vessels in the brain, and atherosclerosis affecting the cerebral circulation. Increasing evidence shows the intricate function played by the immune system in the pathophysiological variations that take place after cerebral ischemic injury.

Protective and causative killer Ig-like receptor (KIR) and metalloproteinase genetic patterns associated with Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) encephalitis occurrence.

Background: The cerebral innate immune system has a critical role in control processes of viral replication in the brain after primary infactivo and immunologic disregulation and inflammation has been reported as a primary determinant of pathogenesis and prognosis of subsequent HSV-1 related encephalitis (HSE). Interaction linking LTR3-activated DCs is also represented by the killer Ig-like receptor (KIR) + pathways on NK cells. Only a few studies analyzed the role of of MMP-9 activity regulating genetic polymorphism on clinical outcome of viral infections.