Intrinsic electrical activity drives small-cell lung cancer progression.

Elevated or ectopic expression of neuronal receptors promotes tumour progression in many cancer types; neuroendocrine (NE) transformation of adenocarcinomas has also been associated with increased aggressiveness. Whether the defining neuronal feature, namely electrical excitability, exists in cancer cells and impacts cancer progression remains mostly unexplored. Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an archetypal example of a highly aggressive NE cancer and comprises two major distinct subpopulations: NE cells and non-NE cells.

Excitation-contraction coupling inhibitors potentiate the actions of botulinum neurotoxin type A at the neuromuscular junction.

Background And Purpose: Botulinum neurotoxin type A1 (BoNT/A) is one of the most potent neurotoxins known. At the same time, it is also one of the safest therapeutic agents used for the treatment of several human disorders and in aesthetic medicine. Notwithstanding great effectiveness, strategies to accelerate the onset and prolong BoNT/A action would significantly ameliorate its pharmacological effects with beneficial outcomes for clinical use.

Agonists of melatonin receptors strongly promote the functional recovery from the neuroparalysis induced by neurotoxic snakes.

Snake envenoming is a major, but neglected, tropical disease. Among venomous snakes, those inducing neurotoxicity such as kraits (Bungarus genus) cause a potentially lethal peripheral neuroparalysis with respiratory deficit in a large number of people each year. In order to prevent the development of a deadly respiratory paralysis, hospitalization with pulmonary ventilation and use of antivenoms are the primary therapies currently employed.

Attitude and concerns of healthy individuals regarding post-mortem brain donation. A qualitative study on a nation-wide sample in Italy.

Background: Collecting post-mortem brain tissue is essential, especially from healthy "control" individuals, to advance knowledge on increasingly common neurological and mental disorders. Yet, healthy individuals, on which this study is focused, are still understudied. The aim of the study was to explore, among healthy potential brain donors and/or donors' relatives, attitude, concerns and opinion about post-mortem brain donation (PMBD).

An agonist of CXCR4 induces a rapid recovery from the neurotoxic effects of Vipera ammodytes and Vipera aspis venoms.

People bitten by Alpine vipers are usually treated with antivenom antisera to prevent the noxious consequences caused by the injected venom. However, this treatment suffers from a number of drawbacks and additional therapies are necessary. The venoms of Vipera ammodytes and of Vipera aspis are neurotoxic and cause muscle paralysis by inducing neurodegeneration of motor axon terminals because they contain a presynaptic acting sPLA neurotoxin.

Environmental effects on brain functional networks in a juvenile twin population.

The brain's intrinsic organization into large-scale functional networks, the resting state networks (RSN), shows complex inter-individual variability, consolidated during development. Nevertheless, the role of gene and environment on developmental brain functional connectivity (FC) remains largely unknown. Twin design represents an optimal platform to shed light on these effects acting on RSN characteristics.

Stability and change in genetic and environmental influences on depressive symptoms in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The rapid spread of the new Coronavirus and the consequent restrictions to contain transmission generated an unprecedented psychological impact on the general population. The Italian Twin Registry performed a longitudinal study to investigate to what extent genetic and environmental influences contributed to changes in depressive symptoms.

Methods: Data from adult twins were collected.

A Twin Study of the Relationships between Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome and Anxiety Phenotypes in Childhood and Adolescence.

Data on the etiological factors underlying the co-occurrence of Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome (CDS) with anxiety symptoms are very limited. The present study investigated the nature of latent shared etiological elements in 400 Italian twin pairs aged 8-18, explaining the covariation between CDS and anxiety symptoms. Preliminary analysis demonstrated significant correlations between Child Behaviour Checklist/6-18 Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Scale and two (Somatic Anxiety, Generalized Anxiety) out of five Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders anxiety subscales.

A Combination of Caffeine Supplementation and Enriched Environment in an Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model.

A variety of factors has been associated with healthy brain aging, and epidemiological studies suggest that physical activity and nutritional supplements such as caffeine may reduce the risk of developing dementia and, in particular, Alzheimer's disease (AD) in later life. Caffeine is known to act as a cognitive enhancer but has been also shown to positively affect exercise performance in endurance activities. We have previously observed that chronic oral caffeine supplementation and a treatment paradigm encompassing physical and cognitive stimulation by enriched environment (EE) housing can improve learning and memory performance and ameliorate hippocampal neuron loss in the Tg4-42 mouse model of AD.

Age-Related Variations of Genetic and Environmental Contributions to the Covariation of Fear, Distress and Externalizing Symptoms: A Twin Study in Childhood and Adolescence.

The frequency with which Internalizing and Externalizing symptoms co-occur suggests that, behind both domains, there may be a common susceptibility represented by a general psychopathology factor. However, it's still unclear whether this common susceptibility is affected by age-related variations. Internalizing (i.

Hydrogen peroxide induced by nerve injury promotes axon regeneration via connective tissue growth factor.

Regeneration of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) leverages on extensive exchange of factors released from motor axon terminals (MATs), muscle fibers and perisynaptic Schwann cells (PSCs), among which hydrogen peroxide (HO) is a major pro-regenerative signal. To identify critical determinants of NMJ remodeling in response to injury, we performed temporal transcriptional profiling of NMJs from 2 month-old mice during MAT degeneration/regeneration, and cross-referenced the differentially expressed genes with those elicited by HO in SCs. We identified an enrichment in extracellular matrix (ECM) transcripts, including Connective Tissue Growth Factor (Ctgf), which is usually expressed during development.

An Italian Twin Study of Non-Cancer Chronic Pain as a Wide Phenotype and Its Intensity.

: Non-cancer chronic pain (CP) results from the interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Twin studies help to estimate genetic and environmental contributions to complex traits such as CP. To date, twin studies on the heritability of pain phenotypes have relied almost exclusively on specific diagnoses, neglecting pain intensity.

Neurotransmission Recovery by Melatonin Measured by CMAP.

Compound muscle action potential (CMAP) recordings provide a sensitive electromyographic approach to measure nerve conduction and assess neuromuscular junction functionality in humans and rodents. In humans, it represents a diagnostic tool for neuromuscular disorders. In rodents, this approach is widely employed to dissect the molecular mechanisms driving peripheral nerve degeneration/regeneration, as well as to evaluate the effect of candidate pro-regenerative compounds.

Recovery from the Neuroparalysis Caused by the Venom Is Accelerated by an Agonist of the CXCR4 Receptor.

Snake envenoming is a major but neglected human disease in tropical and subtropical regions. Among venomous snakes in the Americas, coral snakes of the genus are particularly dangerous because they cause a peripheral neuroparalysis that can persist for many days or, in severe cases, progress to death. Ventilatory support and the use of snake species-specific antivenoms may prevent death from respiratory paralysis in most cases.

Association of Assisted Reproductive Technology With Offspring Growth and Adiposity From Infancy to Early Adulthood.

Importance: People conceived using assisted reproductive technology (ART) make up an increasing proportion of the world's population.

Objective: To investigate the association of ART conception with offspring growth and adiposity from infancy to early adulthood in a large multicohort study.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study used a prespecified coordinated analysis across 26 European, Asia-Pacific, and North American population-based cohort studies that included people born between 1984 and 2018, with mean ages at assessment of growth and adiposity outcomes from 0.

Development and Validation of the Italian "Brief Five-Item Chronic Pain Questionnaire" for Epidemiological Studies.

Background: Chronic pain (CP) prevalence estimates addressing a wide phenotype are still quite fragmented and may vary widely due to the lack of standardized tools of investigation. There is an urgent need to update general population CP estimates.

Methods: For this purpose, the Brief Five-item Chronic Pain Questionnaire was developed through experts' consultations for design and content validity assessment; literature analysis of measures used to investigate CP for general population surveys; understandability evaluation through a survey on a convenience sample of affected and non-affected individuals; reliability assessment by means of two double-wave online surveys carried out by the Italian Twin Registry; criterion and construct validity assessment through the third wave of the 2019 European Health Interview Survey (Ehis).

Genetic and environmental contributions to psychopathological symptoms stability and change across the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several longitudinal studies investigated changes in mental health related to the pandemic event. However, little research has focused on the mediating role of environmental and genetic factors. The current prospective study aimed to evaluate the genetic and environmental contributions to the stability of symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress during the COVID-19 crisis.

Combined long-term enriched environment and caffeine supplementation improve memory function in C57Bl6 mice.

Regular physical activity has been associated with healthy brain aging, reflected by beneficial effects on cognition and learning and memory. Nutritional supplements such as caffeine have been shown to act as cognitive enhancers and may possess neuroprotective properties. Interestingly, caffeine also improves athletic capabilities and is widely used by athletes because of its performance-enhancing effect, while information on potential additive beneficial effects of physical activity and caffeine on cognitive performance is scarce.

A new Montanide™ Seppic IMS1313-adjuvanted autogenous vaccine as a useful emergency tool to resolve a subsp. serovar abortus equi abortion outbreak in mares.

Background: In Italy, an autogenous registered vaccine, adjuvanted with aluminum hydroxide, can be administrated to contrast subsp serovar abortus equi infection, coupled to a specific antimicrobial treatment.

Case Description: Here, we report the case of an abortion outbreak by abortus equi in Central Italy where mares were vaccinated but immediately developed a strong local reaction, maybe due to the adjuvant. Promptly, another autogenous vaccine, substituting the aluminum hydroxide with a new generation adjuvant (Montanide™ Seppic IMS1313), was produced and administrated.

Latrotoxin-Induced Neuromuscular Junction Degeneration Reveals Urocortin 2 as a Critical Contributor to Motor Axon Terminal Regeneration.

We used α-Latrotoxin (α-LTx), the main neurotoxic component of the black widow spider venom, which causes degeneration of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) followed by a rapid and complete regeneration, as a molecular tool to identify by RNA transcriptomics factors contributing to the structural and functional recovery of the NMJ. We found that Urocortin 2 (UCN2), a neuropeptide involved in the stress response, is rapidly expressed at the NMJ after acute damage and that inhibition of CRHR2, the specific receptor of UCN2, delays neuromuscular transmission rescue. Experiments in neuronal cultures show that CRHR2 localises at the axonal tips of growing spinal motor neurons and that its expression inversely correlates with synaptic maturation.

A case of generalised cutaneous apocrine cystomatosis in a Pekingese dog.

Clinical, histological and immunohistochemical examination of a 13-year-old male client-owned Pekingese dog revealed an uncommon presentation of apocrine cutaneous cystomatosis. This is a rare non-neoplastic condition of uncertain cause, characterised by multiple cystically dilated apocrine sweat glands. We aimed to describe the features of this unusual case of generalised cutaneous apocrine cystomatosis in the dog, which can be useful to distinguish it from multifocal benign cystic apocrine tumours.

Prenatal exposure to PM and changes in DNA methylation and telomere length in cord blood.

Background: Air pollution exposure in pregnancy can cause molecular level alterations that might influence later disease susceptibility.

Objectives: We investigated DNA methylation (DNAm) and telomere length (TL) in the cord blood in relation to gestational PM exposure and explored potential gestational windows of susceptibility.

Methods: Cord blood epigenome-wide DNAm (N = 384) and TL (N = 500) were measured in children of the Italian birth cohort Piccolipiù, using the Infinium Methylation EPIC BeadChip and qPCR, respectively.

Genetic and Environmental Architecture of Five Factor Model and Super-Factors: An Italian Twin Study.

No previous research explored the genetic and environmental structure of Big Five dimensions of personality and higher-order factors in a single twin study, except, in part, for just one study. We used the twin design to estimate the effects of genes and environment on both Five Factor model and related second- and third-order factors (i.e.

Long-term caffeine treatment of Alzheimer mouse models ameliorates behavioural deficits and neuron loss and promotes cellular and molecular markers of neurogenesis.

Epidemiological studies indicate that the consumption of caffeine, the most commonly ingested psychoactive substance found in coffee, tea or soft drinks, reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). Previous treatment studies with transgenic AD mouse models reported a reduced amyloid plaque load and an amelioration of behavioral deficits. It has been further shown that moderate doses of caffeine have the potential to attenuate the health burden in preclinical mouse models of a variety of brain disorders (reviewed in Cunha in J Neurochem 139:1019-1055, 2016).