Effectiveness of Ocrelizumab in Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: a Multicenter, Retrospective, Real-world Study (OPPORTUNITY).

Ocrelizumab is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody selectively targeting CD20-expressing B cells. The effect of ocrelizumab on primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) has been evaluated during phase 3 trials that enrolled patients under 55 years with a maximum Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) of 6.5.

Real-World Effectiveness of Cladribine for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Sicilian Multicentric Experience (Rewind Study).

Background: Cladribine tablets are a highly effective option for the treatment of relapsingremitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

Objective: The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of cladribine in a real-world setting.

Methods: This prospective real-world study consecutively screened all RRMS patients from seven different MS centers in Sicily (Italy) who completed the 2-year treatment course of cladribine tablets in the period between 11 March 2019 and 31 October 2021.

Comparison of the Intestinal Microbiome of Italian Patients with Multiple Sclerosis and Their Household Relatives.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system, caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. In recent years, a role in MS pathogenesis was assigned to the gut microbiota. However, different signatures of gut dysbiosis have been shown to depend on environmental factors, like diet and lifestyle.

Real world experience with teriflunomide in multiple sclerosis: the TER-Italy study.

Objective: To identify baseline factors associated with disease activity in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) under teriflunomide treatment.

Methods: This was an independent, multi-centre, retrospective post-marketing study. We analysed data of 1,507 patients who started teriflunomide since October 2014 and were regularly followed in 28 Centres in Italy.

Toxic effects on astrocytes of extracellular vesicles from CSF of multiple sclerosis patients: a pilot in vitro study.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune and degenerative disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) that causes a progressive loss of motor and cognitive performances. Moreover, since the earlier phases, axonal loss as well as neuronal degeneration and a failure of oligodendrocytes to promote myelin repair have been demonstrated. In previous studies, it has been shown that the treatment of rat neuronal primary cultures with serum from MS patients can be toxic for neurons.

Klotho and vitamin D in multiple sclerosis: an Italian study.

Introduction: Low vitamin D levels have been recognised as an important risk factor for autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a multifactorial disease, the pathogenesis of which contributes both to genetic and environmental factors. Polymorphisms in genes codifying molecules involved in vitamin D homeostasis have been associated with hypovitaminosis D.

Four cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in iatrogenic immunocompromised patients.

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) caused by John Cunningham Virus (JCV). We report four PML cases in immunocompromised patients, respectively treated with (1) Natalizumab, (2) Rituximab, (3) autologous stem-cell transplantation, and (4) Tacrolimus. All patients underwent neurological examination, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), JCV-DNA research on biological samples, and lymphocytes subpopulation study.

Efficacy of different rituximab therapeutic strategies in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders.

Objective: To evaluate disease activity according to rituximab (RTX) induction and maintenance regimens in a multicenter real-life dataset of NMOSD patients.

Methods: This is an observational-retrospective multicentre study including patients with NMOSD treated with RTX in 21 Italian and 1 Swiss centers. Demographics, relapse rate and adverse events over the follow-up were summarized taking into account induction strategy (two-1 g infusions at a 15-day interval (IND-A) vs.

Treatment of multiple sclerosis with rituximab: A multicentric Italian-Swiss experience.

Background: Rituximab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody leading to B lymphocyte depletion, is increasingly used as an off-label treatment option for multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness and safety of rituximab in relapsing-remitting (RR) and progressive MS.

Methods: This is a multicenter, retrospective study on consecutive MS patients treated off-label with rituximab in 22 Italian and 1 Swiss MS centers.

Application of tRNS to improve multiple sclerosis fatigue: a pilot, single-blind, sham-controlled study.

We evaluated the effects of transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) on fatigue in 17 subjects with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis with low physical disability. Two different patient groups underwent real or sham stimulation for 10 days, targeting the primary motor cortex of the dominant side or contralateral to the most compromised limb. In the 'real group', beneficial effects were observed using the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (p = 0.

Differences in Intercellular Communication During Clinical Relapse and Gadolinium-Enhanced MRI in Patients With Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: A Study of the Composition of Extracellular Vesicles in Cerebrospinal Fluid.

This study was designed based on the hypothesis that changes in both the levels and surface marker expression of extracellular vesicles (EVs) isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may be associated with the clinical form, disease activity, and severity of multiple sclerosis (MS). The analyzes were performed on subjects affected by MS or other neurological disorders. EVs, which were isolated by ultracentrifugation of CSF samples, were characterized by flow cytometry.

Moral Cognition and Multiple Sclerosis: A Neuropsychological Study.

Objectives: Recent literature proved that social cognition impairments may characterize the neuropsychological profile of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. However, little is still known about moral cognition in MS. In this study, we evaluated non-social, social, and moral cognitive performances in 45 relapsing-remitting MS patients.

Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation over the right hemisphere improves auditory comprehension in a case of dementia.

Background: Noninvasive transcranial stimulation methods have been increasingly employed in order to improve cognitive performance in neurological patients. In previous studies with both stroke patients and healthy subjects, noninvasive stimulation of temporal-parietal regions and their homologue produced an improvement in linguistic tasks.

Objective: The aim of the current study was to evaluate if anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over Brodmann areas 39/40 (angular and supramarginal gyri) could promote the recovery of linguistic functions, in particular comprehension and naming, in a single patient affected by dementia.

Association between multiple sclerosis, cancer risk, and immunosuppressant treatment: a cohort study.

Background: The association between multiple sclerosis (MS) and cancer has long been investigated with conflicting results. Several reports suggest an increased cancer risk among MS patients treated with immunosuppressant (IS) drugs.

Methods: We performed a cohort study including MS patients recruited at the Neurological Department of the University of Palermo.

Natalizumab Discontinuation and Treatment Strategies in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS): A Retrospective Study from Two Italian MS Centers.

Introduction: Natalizumab (NTZ) discontinuation can be followed by multiple sclerosis (MS) disease reactivation. Currently no disease-modifying drug (DMD) has been shown to be able to abolish disease reactivation. The aims of the current study were: (1) to determine the frequency of MS reactivation after NTZ discontinuation; (2) to evaluate predictors of reactivation risk, and (3) to compare the effect of different treatments in reducing this risk.

In patient's with Parkinson disease, autonomic symptoms are frequent and associated with other non-motor symptoms.

Background: Autonomic symptoms and sleep disorders are common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD), which are correlated with poor quality of life for patients.

Purpose: To assess the frequency of autonomic symptoms in a consecutive series of PD patients and to correlate them with other motor and non-motor symptoms.

Methods: All consecutive non-demented PD patients who underwent an extensive evaluation including Hoehn and Yahr staging, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, Beck's Depression Inventory, Neuropsychiatric Inventory, PDQ-39 Scale, the Parkinson's diseases Sleep Scale, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and SCOPA-AUT scale were enrolled.

A novel task assessing intention and emotion attribution: Italian standardization and normative data of the Story-based Empathy Task.

Theory of Mind (ToM), the process by which an individual imputes mental states to himself and others, is presently considered as a multidimensional cognitive domain, with two main facets (i.e., cognitive and affective ToM) accounting, respectively, for the ability to understand others' intention (intention attribution-IA) and emotions (emotion attribution-EA).

Social cognition dysfunctions in patients with epilepsy: Evidence from patients with temporal lobe and idiopathic generalized epilepsies.

Background And Aim: Despite an extensive literature on cognitive impairments in focal and generalized epilepsy, only a few number of studies specifically explored social cognition disorders in epilepsy syndromes. The aim of our study was to investigate social cognition abilities in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE).

Materials And Methods: Thirty-nine patients (21 patients with TLE and 18 patients with IGE) and 21 matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited.

Lesion load may predict long-term cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis patients.

Background: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques provided evidences into the understanding of cognitive impairment (CIm) in Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

Objectives: To investigate the role of white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) in predicting long-term CIm in a cohort of MS patients.

Methods: 303 out of 597 patients participating in a previous multicenter clinical-MRI study were enrolled (49.

Treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis after 24 doses of natalizumab: evidence from an Italian spontaneous, prospective, and observational study (the TY-STOP Study).

Importance: The evaluation of therapeutic choices is needed after 24 doses of natalizumab in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: To evaluate the effect of therapeutic choices on the mean annualized relapse rate and on magnetic resonance imaging MS activity after 24 doses of natalizumab in patients with relapsing-remitting MS.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The TY-STOP study, which recruited participants between October 22, 2010, and October 22, 2012, at 8 Italian MS centers (secondary care outpatient clinics) among 124 adult patients who demonstrated no clinical or magnetic resonance imaging MS activity after 24 doses of natalizumab.

Neurofunctional correlates of attention rehabilitation in Parkinson's disease: an explorative study.

The effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation (CR) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is in its relative infancy, and nowadays there is insufficient information to support evidence-based clinical protocols. This study is aimed at testing a validated therapeutic strategy characterized by intensive computer-based attention-training program tailored to attention deficits. We further investigated the presence of synaptic plasticity by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Emotion recognition from facial expressions: a normative study of the Ekman 60-Faces Test in the Italian population.

The Ekman 60-Faces (EK-60F) Test is a well-known neuropsychological tool assessing emotion recognition from facial expressions. It is the most employed task for research purposes in psychiatric and neurological disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases, such as the behavioral variant of Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD). Despite its remarkable usefulness in the social cognition research field, to date, there are still no normative data for the Italian population, thus limiting its application in a clinical context.

Early and late mortality of spontaneous hemorrhagic transformation of ischemic stroke.

Background: Hemorrhagic transformation (HT), a complication of ischemic stroke (IS), might influence patient's prognosis. Our aim is to evaluate, in a hospital-based series of patients not treated with thrombolysis, the relationship between HT and mortality.

Methods: We compared mortality of individuals with spontaneous HT with that of individuals without.