Effects of anandamide in migraine: data from an animal model.

Systemic nitroglycerin (NTG) produces spontaneous-like migraine attacks in migraine sufferers and induces a condition of hyperalgesia in the rat 4 h after its administration. Endocannabinoid system seems to be involved in the modulation of NTG-induced hyperalgesia, and probably, in the pathophysiological mechanisms of migraine. In this study, the analgesic effect of anandamide (AEA) was evaluated by means of the formalin test, performed in baseline conditions and following NTG-induced hyperalgesia in male Sprague-Dawley rats.

Temporal profile of vascular changes induced by systemic nitroglycerin in the meningeal and cortical districts.

Background: Clinical studies indicated that nitric oxide (NO) donors cause regional changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF), similar to those reported in spontaneous migraine. Systemic nitroglycerin (NTG), a NO donor, is a well-accepted experimental model of migraine. In this study we have examined the effects of NTG on the meningeal and cortical blood flow in rats.

The endocannabinoid system and migraine.

The recently discovered endocannabinoid system (ECS), which includes endocannabinoids and the proteins that metabolize and bind them, has been implicated in multiple regulatory functions both in health and disease. Several studies have suggested that ECS is centrally and peripherally involved in the processing of pain signals. This finding is corroborated by the evidence that endocannabinoids inhibit, through a cannabinoid type-1 receptor (CB1R)-dependent retrograde mechanism, the release of neurotransmitters controlling nociceptive inputs and that the levels of these lipids are high in those regions (such as sensory terminals, skin, dorsal root ganglia) known to be involved in transmission and modulation of pain signals.

Time course of oxidant markers and antioxidant defenses in subgroups of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.

Oxidative stress markers have been found in nervous and peripheral tissues of familial and sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. Here, we evaluated the activity of some antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase in erythrocyte, the marker of non-enzymatic antioxidant response (total antioxidant status), as well as plasma reactive oxygen species, at the enrolment and during disease progression in 88 patients affected by the sporadic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Our study has been performed along 72 months by grouping the patients according to the ALS functional rating score or rate of disease progression.

Broad screening for human herpesviridae DNA in multiple sclerosis cerebrospinal fluid and serum.

Members of the human herpesviridae family are candidates for representing the macroenvironmental factors associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis. Real-time PCR was used to search for DNA of herpes simplex virus type-1/-2, varicella-zoster virus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), human herpesvirus 6 type A/B in paired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples from 54 patients with MS, 34 of whom with active disease, 10 patients with other non-infectious neurological diseases, and 15 healthy individuals. All the CSF and serum samples were negative for the examined herpesviruses DNA, except one CSF sample from an MS patient, which was positive for EBV DNA.

Clinico-pathological findings in a patient with progressive cerebellar ataxia, autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome, hepatocellular carcinoma and anti-GAD autoantibodies.

Objective: To report clinical and pathological findings of a patient with late onset insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), progressive cerebellar ataxia (PCA) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Patient: A 64-year-old woman, with a long lasting IDDM, progressively developed a severe cerebellar syndrome and died 2 years after the onset of the symptoms for a systemic infection. Autoantibodies to antigastric parietal cell and anti-pancreatic islet cell resulted positive.

A narrative review on the management of medication overuse headache: the steep road from experience to evidence.

The management of medication overuse headache (MOH) is based essentially on the withdrawal of the overused drug(s). Drug withdrawal is performed according to widely differing protocols, both within and across countries; therefore, therapeutic recommendations for the acute phase of detoxification vary considerably among studies. Basically, the aims of MOH management are: (a) to withdraw the overused drug(s); (b) to alleviate withdrawal symptoms by means of a bridge therapy, which includes pharmacological and non-pharmacological support, designed to help the patient to tolerate the withdrawal process; (c) to prevent relapse.

Alterations of the endocannabinoid system in an animal model of migraine: evaluation in cerebral areas of rat.

Endocannabinoids are involved in the modulation of pain and hyperalgesia. In this study we investigated the role of the endocannabinoid system in the migraine model based on nitroglycerin-induced hyperalgesia in the rat. Male rats were injected with nitroglycerin (10 mg/kg, i.

Genetic basis for idiosyncratic reactions to antiepileptic drugs.

Purpose Of Review: In recent years, there has been an explosion of genetic research in epilepsy, including a search for genetic markers of adverse reactions to antiepileptic drugs. This article will focus on recent findings concerning genetic factors affecting susceptibility to idiosyncratic reactions to antiepileptic drugs.

Recent Findings: Recent studies have investigated the role of genetic factors in the development of antiepileptic drug-induced cutaneous reactions, carbamazepine and valproate-induced liver toxicity, vigabatrin-induced visual field defects, and antiepileptic drug-induced teratogenicity.

From drug-induced headache to medication overuse headache. A short epidemiological review, with a focus on Latin American countries.

Medication overuse headache (MOH) is a daily or almost-daily type of headache that results from the chronicization, usually migraine or tension-type headache, as a consequence of the progressive increase of intake of symptomatic drugs. MOH is now the third most frequent type of headache and affects a percentage of 1-1.4% of the general population.

Multiple memory-guided saccades: movement memory improves the accuracy of memory-guided saccades.

Memory-guided saccades (MGSs) with 3 s memorization delay were recorded in healthy subjects using four different paradigms: two "regular" MGS paradigms with the peripheral target lit for 0.2 s (MGS2) and for 1.8 s (MGS18); a multiple memory-guided saccade (MMGS) paradigm with the target lit for 1.

ICHD-II diagnostic criteria for Tolosa-Hunt syndrome in idiopathic inflammatory syndromes of the orbit and/or the cavernous sinus.

A bibliographical search was conducted for papers published between 1999 and 2007 to verify the validity of International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD)-II criteria for the Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (THS) in terms of (i) the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); (ii) which steroid treatment should be considered as adequate; and (iii) the response to treatment. Of 536 articles, 48, reporting on 62 patients, met the inclusion criteria. MRI was positive in 92.

Cytokines and chemokines in cerebrospinal fluid and serum of adult patients with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.

Cytokines and chemokines contribute to the pathogenesis of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). Using a multiplex immunochemiluminescence ELISA, we measured 8 Th1/Th2 cytokines and 18 chemokines in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of 17 ADEM patients, 14 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, and 7 healthy controls (HCs). Relative to HCs, ADEM patients had significantly high mean CSF concentrations of chemokines with attractant/activating properties towards neutrophils (CXCL1 and CXCL7), monocytes/T cells (CCL3 and CCL5), Th1 cells (CXCL10), and Th2 cells (CCL1, CCL22, and CCL17).

Interferon-gamma- and interleukin-4-producing T cells in Down's syndrome.

Down's syndrome (DS) associates with genetic-dependent dysregulation of the interferon (IFN) system. We used intracellular cytokine staining to analyse the percentages of IFN-gamma- and interleukin (IL)-4-producing T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with DS, individuals with mental retardation (MR), and healthy controls (HCs). The percentages of IFN-gamma-producing CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells (IFGCs), namely Th1 (mean, 21.

Analysis of Chlamydia pneumoniae-specific oligoclonal bands in multiple sclerosis and other neurologic diseases.

Objective: Paired serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens were investigated for Chlamydia pneumoniae-specific oligoclonal bands (OCBs) to determine band specificity in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Material And Methods: Serum and CSF samples were collected from patients with relapsing-remitting MS (n = 56), other inflammatory (n = 18) or non-inflammatory (n = 15) neurologic diseases, and from 10 healthy controls. OCBs were determined with affinity immunoblotting of C.

Parthenolide is the component of tanacetum parthenium that inhibits nitroglycerin-induced Fos activation: studies in an animal model of migraine.

Tanacetum parthenium (TP) is a member of the Asteracee family long used empirically as a herbal remedy for migraine. So far, however, clinical trials have failed to prove consistently the effectiveness of TP extracts in preventing migraine attacks, probably as a consequence of the uncertainty as regards the active principle. In this study, the biological effects of different TP extracts and purified parthenolide were tested in an animal model of migraine based on the quantification of neuronal activation induced by nitroglycerin.

Activation of the transcription factor NF-kappaB in the nucleus trigeminalis caudalis in an animal model of migraine.

The infusion of nitroglycerin (NTG) induces an inflammatory state in perivascular meningeal tissues of rat via the activation, inter alia, of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB). This phenomenon has been related to the mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of migraine, a common neurovascular disorder. In the present study, we sought to elucidate whether NF-kappaB activation might have a role in the determinism of migraine attacks also at the neuronal level.

Early haemostatic therapy for spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage.

Intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) accounts for approximately 10%-15% of all strokes and is associated with the highest mortality rate and with the highest degree of disability among the survivors compared to all other strokes. The role of surgical and medical treatment is controversial. Recently, a parallel-group trial design between early surgery versus initial conservative treatment in patients with ICH showed no overall benefit from surgery.

Seizure frequency and cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) levels in women with epilepsy receiving antiepileptic drug treatment.

Purpose: Hormonal changes occur in epilepsy because of seizures themselves and of antiepileptic drug (AED) effects on steroid production, binding, and metabolism. Conversely, steroids may influence neuron activity and excitability by acting as neuroactive steroids. This cross-sectional observational study aimed to evaluating cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) levels in female epilepsy patients with different disease severity, as assessed by a seizure frequency score (SFS).

Biological markers in multiple sclerosis.

Advances in treatments for MS and the prospect of more (and increasingly effective) therapies make the search for disease-related biomarkers essential and urgent. Markers are needed for subtyping the disease itself, and for detecting disease-specific inflammation, axonal damage, remyelination and individual responses to therapies. The current dearth of reliable markers reflects our lack of knowledge of MS aetiology and pathogenesis.

Chromosome 10p deletion in a patient with hypoparathyroidism, severe mental retardation, autism and basal ganglia calcifications.

Chromosome 10p terminal deletions have been associated with a DiGeorge like phenotype. Haploinsufficiency of the region 10p14-pter, results in hypoparathyroidism, sensorineural deafness, renal anomaly, that is the triad that features the HDR syndrome. Van Esch (2000) identified in a HDR patient, within a 200 kb critical region, the GATA3 gene, a transcription factor involved in the embryonic development of the parathyroids, auditory system and kidneys.

Measurement of skeletal muscle mass in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: use of 24-h creatinine excretion.

Creatinine concentration in 24-h urine has been proposed as an indirect measure of body skeletal muscle mass (SMM). We attempted to correlate urinary creatinine levels with SMM in eight patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive disease in which the degree of muscle wasting parallels the rate of progression. Magnetic resonance imaging and a newly developed protocol for image analysis were used for the measurement of SMM.

Patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, alone or epilepsy-associated, share a psychological profile distinct from that of epilepsy patients.

The aim of this study was twofold: 1 - to identify a psychological profile of patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNESs) that is possibly distinct from that of subjects affected by epileptic seizures (ESs) alone; 2 - to detect the possible differences between the clinical features and psychological profile of patients affected by PNESs alone and those of subjects in whom PNESs are associated with epileptic seizures (ES/PNES patients). We assessed the psychological profiles of 2 different groups of subjects. The first group was of 38 patients who had all developed PNESs after epileptic seizures (ES\PNES, group 1).