An investigation of regional cerebral blood flow and tissue structure changes after acute administration of antipsychotics in healthy male volunteers.

Chronic administration of antipsychotic drugs has been linked to structural brain changes observed in patients with schizophrenia. Recent MRI studies have shown rapid changes in regional brain volume following just a single dose of these drugs. However, it is not clear if these changes represent real volume changes or are artefacts ("apparent" volume changes) due to drug-induced physiological changes, such as increased cerebral blood flow (CBF).

Aberrant resting-state cerebellar blood flow in major depression.

Background: Abnormal cortical cerebral blood flow and gray matter volume have been frequently reported in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). In contrast, although the role of the cerebellum in MDD pathophysiology has attracted considerable interest more recently, studies investigating both functional and structural aspects of cerebellar integrity are scarce.

Methods: In this study, we used structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate cerebellar volume and regional cerebellar blood flow (rCBF) at rest in clinically acute MDD patients (n = 22) and healthy controls (n = 18).

Effect of eplerenone on markers of bone turnover in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism - The randomized, placebo-controlled EPATH trial.

Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonism may affect bone turnover via direct and indirect pathways involving parathyroid hormone, but randomized controlled trials are lacking. In a pre-specified analysis of the "Eplerenone in primary hyperparathyroidism" placebo-controlled, randomized trial (ISRCTN 33941607), effects of eight weeks MR-blockade with eplerenone on bone turnover markers in 97 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism were tested. Mean age was 67.

Microalbuminuria and plasma aldosterone levels in nondiabetic treatment-naïve patients with hypertension.

Objectives: Identification of factors that contribute to urinary albumin losses in hypertensive nephropathy is crucial for prevention of renal deterioration. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of low-grade albuminuria with plasma aldosterone levels in treatment-naïve hypertensive patients free of additional comorbidities that might affect renal function.

Methods: In 242 newly diagnosed patients with uncomplicated primary hypertension, we obtained duplicate 24-h urine collections for measurement of urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) and measured plasma aldosterone levels.

Plasma parathyroid hormone and cardiovascular disease in treatment-naive patients with primary hyperparathyroidism: The EPATH trial.

Patients with primary hyperparathyroidism are at increased risk for high blood pressure, vascular stiffening, and left ventricular hypertrophy, but previous studies have failed to demonstrate the direct associations with circulating parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels. The authors investigated cross-sectional relationships between PTH and 24-hour pulse wave velocity, nocturnal systolic blood pressure, and left ventricular mass index in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism who were treatment-naive with cinacalcet, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system inhibitors, and thiazide or loop diuretics. In 76 patients, mean±SD of pulse wave velocity, nocturnal systolic blood pressure, and left ventricular mass index values were 9.

Pharmacokinetic drug evaluation of lacosamide for the treatment of partial-onset seizures.

The goal of pharmacologic therapy with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is to reduce the frequency of seizures and achieve a seizure-free state with minimal side effects. However 30% of patients treated with available AEDs continue to experience uncontrolled seizures. There is still need for new AEDs with enhanced effectiveness and tolerability.

Investigational therapies for the treatment of narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by a pentad of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), cataplexy, sleep paralysis, hypnagogic/hypnopompic hallucinations, and disturbed nocturnal sleep. While non-pharmacological treatments are sometimes helpful, more than 90% of narcoleptic patients require a pharmacological treatment. Areas covered: The present review is based on an extensive Internet and PubMed search from 1994 to 2017.

Efficacy and Safety of Hexanic Lipidosterolic Extract of Serenoa repens (Permixon) in the Treatment of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Due to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Context: A recent Cochrane Collaboration meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of different extracts of Serenoa repens in relieving lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) concluded that these extracts were no more effective than placebo. However, among all Serenoa repens extracts, Permixon (Pierre Fabre Medicament, Paris, France) has the highest activity and the most accurate standards of drug preparation and extraction.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Permixon in the treatment of LUTS/BPH.

Renal Preservation and Partial Nephrectomy: Patient and Surgical Factors.

Context: Optimization of the partial nephrectomy (PN) procedure in terms of preservation of functional outcomes is of special importance.

Objective: To review the most important patient and surgical factors that may influence the three elements that ultimately define the preservation of renal function (RF) after PN: preoperative RF, quantity of parenchyma preserved, and nephron recovery from ischemic insult.

Evidence Acquisition: A nonsystematic review of the literature was conducted.

Serum Interleukin-10 Levels Correlate with Cerebrospinal Fluid Amyloid Beta Deposition in Alzheimer Disease Patients.

Background And Objective: In Alzheimer disease (AD) inflammation becomes evident throughout the course of the disease. However, the association between inflammation, cognitive impairment, and cerebrospinal biomarkers (Aβ42, t-tau, p-tau181, and Aβ42/p-tau181 ratio) is poorly understood.

Methods: A large panel of inflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-1ra, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, and vascular endothelial growth factor) was analyzed using a multiplex immunoassay in 27 patients with a diagnosis of AD dementia and in 18 control subjects.

Prevalence of Restless Legs Syndrome in Migraine Patients: A Case-Control Study. Analysis of Risk Factors for Restless Legs Syndrome in Migraine Patients.

Background: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensorimotor disorder. It can be idiopathic, associated to other diseases or to pharmacologic treatments. RLS has been reported to occur more frequently in migraine patients, but a clear pathogenetic link seems still under debate.

Telomerase reverse transcriptase germline mutations and hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

In an increasing proportion of cases, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) develops in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Mutations in telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) are associated with familial liver diseases. The aim of this study was to examine telomere length and germline hTERT mutations as associated with NAFLD-HCC.

MBOAT7 rs641738 variant and hepatocellular carcinoma in non-cirrhotic individuals.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents an emerging cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), especially in non-cirrhotic individuals. The rs641738 C > T MBOAT7/TMC4 variant predisposes to progressive NAFLD, but the impact on hepatic carcinogenesis is unknown. In Italian NAFLD patients, the rs641738 T allele was associated with NAFLD-HCC (OR 1.

Decreased fibrinolytic activity is associated with carotid artery stiffening in arterial hypertension.

Background: A prothrombotic state is associated with the presence and severity of organ damage in hypertensive patients. In these patients, evidence of subclinical carotid functional changes anticipates major cardiovascular events. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of hemostatic markers with carotid artery stiffness in hypertension.

Facial emotion recognition and borderline personality pathology.

The impact of borderline personality pathology on facial emotion recognition has been in dispute; with impaired, comparable, and enhanced accuracy found in high borderline personality groups. Discrepancies are likely driven by variations in facial emotion recognition tasks across studies (stimuli type/intensity) and heterogeneity in borderline personality pathology. This study evaluates facial emotion recognition for neutral and negative emotions (fear/sadness/disgust/anger) presented at varying intensities.

Distinct Role of Striatal Functional Connectivity and Dopaminergic Loss in Parkinson's Symptoms.

Degeneration of dopaminergic neurons is a hallmark of Parkinson's disease. However, its link to Parkinson's disease symptoms remains unclear. Striatal resting state functional connectivity differentiates between Parkinson's disease patients and healthy controls and might be a potential mediator of the effects of striatal dopaminergic degeneration onto Parkinson's disease symptoms.

Headache and endovascular procedures.

The International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3 beta) includes headache attributed to intracranial endovascular procedures (EVPs). The aim of this review is to describe the clinical and pathophysiological aspects of headache related to vascular lesions and EVPs. Current studies regarding this issue are contradictory, although generally favouring headache improvement after EVPs.

The BCR-ABL1 transcript type influences response and outcome in Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia patients treated frontline with imatinib.

The most frequent BCR-ABL1 fusion transcripts in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) are the e13a2 (b2a2) and the e14a2 (b3a2) ones. In the imatinib era few studies addressing the prognostic significance of the BCR-ABL1 transcript type in early chronic phase CML have been published. Overall, these studies suggest that in e14a2 patients the response to imatinib is faster and deeper.

Investigation on acute effects of enzyme replacement therapy and influence of clinical severity on physiological variables related to exercise tolerance in patients with late onset Pompe disease.

Exercise intolerance is one of the clinical hallmarks of late-onset Pompe disease (LOPD). We studied the acute effects of ERT on the physiological variables associated with exercise tolerance in patients chronically ERT treated. Moreover, we assessed the influence of clinical severity on the investigated variables.

Assessment of the interlaboratory variability and robustness of JAK2V617F mutation assays: A study involving a consortium of 19 Italian laboratories.

To date, a plenty of techniques for the detection of JAK2V617F is used over different laboratories, with substantial differences in specificity and sensitivity. Therefore, to provide reliable and comparable results, the standardization of molecular techniques is mandatory.A network of 19 centers was established to 1) evaluate the inter- and intra-laboratory variability in JAK2V617F quantification, 2) identify the most robust assay for the standardization of the molecular test and 3) allow consistent interpretation of individual patient analysis results.

SNCA 3'UTR genetic variants in patients with Parkinson's disease and REM sleep behavior disorder.

REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is an early marker of Parkinson's disease (PD); however, it is still unclear which patients with RBD will eventually develop PD. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 3'untranslated region (3'UTR) of alpha-synuclein (SNCA) have been associated with PD, but at present, no data is available about RBD. The 3'UTR hosts regulatory regions involved in gene expression control, such as microRNA binding sites.

Post-translational Modifications and Protein Quality Control in Motor Neuron and Polyglutamine Diseases.

Neurodegenerative diseases, including motor neuron and polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases, are a broad class of neurological disorders. These diseases are characterized by neuronal dysfunction and death, and by the accumulation of toxic aggregation-prone proteins in the forms of inclusions and micro-aggregates. Protein quality control is a cellular mechanism to reduce the burden of accumulation of misfolded proteins, a function that results from the coordinated actions of chaperones and degradation systems, such as the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and autophagy-lysosomal degradation system.

Relationship between bone turnover and left ventricular function in primary hyperparathyroidism: The EPATH trial.

Observational studies suggested a link between bone disease and left ventricular (LV) dysfunction that may be pronounced in hyperparathyroid conditions. We therefore aimed to test the hypothesis that circulating markers of bone turnover correlate with LV function in a cohort of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT). Cross-sectional data of 155 subjects with pHPT were analyzed who participated in the "Eplerenone in Primary Hyperparathyroidism" (EPATH) Trial.

Feasibility of allogeneic stem-cell transplantation after azacitidine bridge in higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes and low blast count acute myeloid leukemia: results of the BMT-AZA prospective study.

Background: Allogeneic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only curative treatment in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Azacitidine (AZA) is increasingly used prior to HSCT, however in Europe it is only approved for patients who are not eligible for HSCT.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a phase II multicenter study to prospectively evaluate the feasibility of HSCT after treatment with AZA in 70 patients with a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), 19 with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and 8 with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML).