Neuronutrition and Its Impact on Post-Stroke Neurorehabilitation: Modulating Plasticity Through Diet.

The recovery of neurological deficits after ischemic stroke largely depends on the brain's ability to reorganize its undamaged neuronal circuits and neuronal plasticity phenomena. The consolidated evidence highlights the involvement of the patient's impaired nutritional conditions in post-stroke recovery and unsatisfying rehabilitative outcomes. Standardized nutritional protocols usually applied in hospitalized patients in a rehabilitation setting aim mainly to improve the general health conditions of patients, do not consider the high inter-individual variability in neurorehabilitation outcomes, and are not sufficiently modifiable to provide neuroprotective and restorative dietary patterns that could promote neuronal plasticity and functional recovery during neurorehabilitation.

Influence of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation on Nutritional Status and Neural Plasticity: New Perspectives on Post-Stroke Neurorehabilitative Outcome.

Beyond brain deficits caused by strokes, the effectiveness of neurorehabilitation is strongly influenced by the baseline clinical features of stroke patients, including a patient's current nutritional status. Malnutrition, either as a pre-stroke existing condition or occurring because of ischemic injury, predisposes patients to poor rehabilitation outcomes. On the other hand, a proper nutritional status compliant with the specific needs required by the process of brain recovery plays a key role in post-stroke rehabilitative outcome favoring neuroplasticity mechanisms.

Identification of Determinants of Biofeedback Treatment's Efficacy in Treating Migraine and Oxidative Stress by ARIANNA (ARtificial Intelligent Assistant for Neural Network Analysis).

Migraines are a public health problem that impose severe socioeconomic burdens and causes related disabilities. Among the non-pharmacological therapeutic approaches, behavioral treatments such as biofeedback have proven effective for both adults and children. Oxidative stress is undoubtedly involved in the pathophysiology of migraines.

Rehabilitation outcomes in Huntington disease patients with low body mass index.

Objectives: A catabolic state and a progressive body weight loss are a well-documented hallmark of Huntington Disease (HD). No study is still available on the effectiveness of intensive in-hospital rehabilitation in HD patients with low body mass index (BMI).

Methods: Twenty HD patients with low BMI value were enrolled in this study.

Influence of neurorehabilitation on stroke-induced modifications of the quadriceps muscle in elderly subacute stroke patients with paresis.

The influence of intensive multifunctional neurorehabilitation on post-stroke changes at the level of the paretic leg quadriceps muscle was examined in elderly subacute stroke patients. We assessed paretic leg muscle mass thickness and muscle fatty infiltration thickness, as well as clinical outcome measures (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, modified Ranking Scale, and Barthel Index) both before and after neurorehabilitation. Improved outcome measures (p ≤ 0.

Effectiveness of intensive neurorehabilitation in obese subacute stroke patients.

The relationship between abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness (aSAT), body fat percentage (BFP), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and body mass index (BMI) and outcome measures of neurological deficit and functional recovery was evaluated in obese subacute stroke patients before and after neurorehabilitation. Decreased National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (p = 0.0001) and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) (p= 0.

Influence of intensive multifunctional neurorehabilitation on neuronal oxidative damage in patients with Huntington's disease.

The influence of intensive multifunctional neurorehabilitation on serum levels of Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), as markers of oxidative damage, was evaluated in symptomatic patients with Huntington's disease (HD). Improved clinical outcome measures were observed after neurorehabilitation. Baseline levels of Cu/Zn-SOD, NSE and 8-OHdG were higher than those observed in controls.

Uric acid and Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase: potential strategies and biomarkers in functional recovery of post-acute ischemic stroke patients after intensive neurorehabilitation.

No evidence is currently provided on the involvement of uric acid (UA) and Cu/Zn Superoxide Dismutase (Cu/Zn SOD) in functional recovery of stroke patients after neurorehabilitation. For this purpose, the relationship between UA and Cu/Zn SOD plasma levels and clinical and functional outcome measures were analysed in twenty-five post-acute stroke patients undergoing intensive neurorehabilitation. UA and Cu/Zn SOD plasma levels were evaluated in fifteen healthy subjects as control values.

Peripheral biomarkers of oxidative stress and their limited potential in evaluation of clinical features of Huntington's patients.

Context: Peripheral oxidative biomarkers could be useful for monitoring clinical features of Huntington's disease (HD).

Materials And Methods: Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD), neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxoGua) serum levels were analysed in 18 HD patients and 10 controls. Clinical measures were recorded from each HD patients.

Effectiveness of intensive neurorehabilitation in patients with Huntington's disease.

Background: Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor, cognitive, and behavioral impairments that differ in their presentation and progression across subjects. Studies validating the effectiveness of intensive neurorehabilitation such as a strategy to reducing functional impairments and to improving motor capacities in HD patients are limited and heterogeneous.

Aim: To design and test an intensive multifunctional neurorehabilitative protocol in symptomatic patients with HD in the attempt to limit the progression of neurological deficits and to preserve and maintain independence in the activities of daily living.

Evidence of redox unbalance in post-acute ischemic stroke patients.

Measurements of the redox balance after the ischemic stroke occurrence might be useful to monitor the outcome of patients who suffered an ischemic stroke in terms of stroke recurrence and other vascular events. For this purpose, fifteen patients (mean age 71.40±2.

Moderate consumption of red wine and human platelet responsiveness.

Available studies showed an inverse association between red wine consumption and prevalence of vascular risk factors in coronary hearth disease and stroke. Effects were mainly associated to wine antioxidant and antiaggregant properties. Actually, in vitro studies indicate a favourable effect of wine and/or of its non-alcoholic components in decreasing platelet sensitivity and aggregability.

Oxidative stress in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer.

Objective: The aim was to verify whether oxidative stress could represent a common key factor of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer (PCa).

Subjects And Methods: 15 patients affected by BPH, 15 with PCa and 15 controls were enrolled. Blood samples were withdrawn systemically and locally during radical retropubic prostatectomy in patients with PCa and during transvesical retropubic adenomectomy in patients diagnosed with BPH.

Relationship between biofeedback and oxidative stress in patients with chronic migraine.

Chronic migraine (1.5.1) is burdened with headache-related disability.

Detrimental effects of anabolic steroids on human endothelial cells.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects in vitro induced by androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS) (testosterone, nandrolone, androstenedione, norandrostenedione, and norandrostenediol) used illicitly in sport competitions, on the proliferation ability, apoptosis and the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), selected as a prototype of a biological target system whose structure and function can be affected by steroids. For this purpose, we evaluated the proliferation inhibition by cytotoxic assay expressed as the concentration of drug inducing a 50% decrease in growth (IC50). The IC50 was reached for testosterone at 100 microM, androstenedione at 375 microM, nandrolone at 9 microM, norandrostenedione at 500 microM.

Impairment of plasma nitric oxide availability in senescent healthy individuals: apparent involvement of extracellular superoxide dismutase activity.

To verify the potential involvement of the age-dependent modifications of EC-SOD activity in the impairment of plasma NO availability with advancing age, 40 healthy men divided into 4 age groups for the purpose of comparison (young: 27.4 +/- 1.5 years; middle: 50.

Persistence of the altered polymorphonuclear leukocyte rheological and metabolic variables after 12 months in juvenile myocardial infarction.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is associated with an elevated polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) count and a PMN rheological impairment. In this study we evaluated two major rheological aspects (membrane fluidity and cytosolic Ca2+ concentration) in a group of young adults with AMI. We enrolled 41 AMI patients (39 men and 2 women; mean age 41.

Polymorphonuclear leukocyte membrane fluidity and cytosolic Ca2+ concentration in subjects with vascular atherosclerotic disease subdivided according to its extent.

An abnormal activation state of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) plays a key role in organ injury induced by vascular atherosclerotic disease (VAD) and diabetes mellitus (DM). PMN membrane fluidity and cytosolic Ca2+ content can be considered markers of PMN activation. In this research we evaluated the PMN membrane fluidity and cytosolic Ca2+ content in VAD subjects with and without type 2 DM and examined the association between these parameters and the mono- or polyvascular localization.

Preventive non-pharmacological treatment and nitric oxide in chronic migraine.

In chronic migraine the central sensitisation and the changes of regional cerebral blood flow are mediated by nitric oxide (NO) and oxygen free radicals. Biofeedback is considered a preventive non-pharmacological treatment decreasing migraine attacks. We investigated whether biofeedback effectiveness is related to relaxation processes and its influence on oxidative stress.

Deep venous thrombosis: behaviour of the polymorphonuclear leukocyte integrin pattern at baseline and after in vitro activation.

In a group of 18 subjects with acute deep venous thrombosis (DVT), evidenced by clinical examination and echo-color-Doppler, we examined the phenotypical expression of the polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) beta2-integrins (CD11a, CD11b, CD11c, CD18), obtained by using a flow cytofluorimeter. The evaluation was performed before and after in vitro activation (prolonged for 5 and 15 minutes) with 4-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP). In DVT subjects, at baseline, the phenotypical expression of CD11b was decreased and that of CD11c was increased when compared with normal controls; no difference was found in CD11a and CD18 expression.

Possible involvement of oxidative stress in exercise-mediated platelet activation.

In this study, we have attempted to verify whether a single bout of strenuous exercise performed by sedentary healthy individuals may interfere with the mechanisms controlling platelet sensitivity through exercise-related modifications of plasma oxidant/antioxidant equilibrium. Strenuous exercise resulted in an increased ADP- and collagen-evoked platelet aggregation associated with modified membrane fluidity and ion homeostasis. We also observed an enhanced plasma accumulation of secondary products of lipid peroxidation together with an increased susceptibility of low density lipoprotein (LDL) to in vitro oxidation and a decreased total plasma antioxidant potential.

Flunarizine effects on oxidative stress in migraine patients.

Prophylactic activity of flunarizine in migraine is attributed to its antioxidant properties and to the relief of cerebral vasospasm in which nitric oxide (NO) is involved. We investigated the antimigraine activity of flunarizine and its influence on NO and oxidative marker bioavailability in 25 subjects suffering from migraine without aura and in 25 healthy controls. Urinary samples collected before and after treatment with flunarizine (5 mg orally per day for 6 months) were assayed for NO stable metabolites (NOx) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS).

Possible involvement of plasma antioxidant defences in training-associated decrease of platelet responsiveness in humans.

The aim of this study was to evaluate in sedentary individuals the effects of a 20-week exercise training program on ex vivo platelet responsiveness and the possible involvement of plasma antioxidant defences in relation to the mechanisms controlling platelet sensitivity. A statistically significant decrease in ADP- and collagen-evoked platelet aggregation was observed after physical training together with an increase in plasma total antioxidant capacity (TEAC), superoxide dismutase activity, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration. Additionally, a rise in lag time for in vitro low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation as well as a decreased plasma level of secondary products of lipid peroxidation were observed after training, and the values for lag time were significantly correlated with TEAC and HDL-C.

Urinary nitric oxide metabolites and lipid peroxidation by-products in migraine.

Enhanced endothelium nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide anion release may cause migraine through related cerebral blood flow changes. Thirty subjects suffering from migraine with and without aura and 20 healthy controls were investigated. Urine samples collected for 24 h during and after the migraine attack, and during the headache-free period, were assayed for urinary NO stable metabolites (NOx) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS).

Helicobacter pylori infection and migraine.

The study is aimed to ascertain whether the Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection is responsible for the vulnerability to oxidative stress observed in migraineurs. Hp serological positivity was assessed by ELISA evaluation of specific IgA and IgG antibodies in 30 subjects (11 males and 19 females) suffering from migraine without aura during the headache-free period. The Hp infection was detected in 16.