Effect of the 50 bp deletion polymorphism in the SOD1 promoter on SOD1 mRNA levels in Italian ALS patients.

The genetic association between homozygosity for a 50 bp deletion polymorphism in the SOD1 promoter, 1684 bp upstream of the ATG, and an increased age of symptom onset was observed in various populations of ALS patients. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that this deletion reduces SOD1 expression in vitro. The objective of the present study was to test whether the observed association is replicated in patients from an Italian population and to check whether the deletion correlates with reduced SOD1 mRNA expression in vivo.

Pisa syndrome in Parkinson's disease: clinical, electromyographic, and radiological characterization.

Abnormal postures of the trunk are a typical feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). These include Pisa syndrome (PS), a tonic lateral flexion of the trunk associated with slight rotation along the sagittal plane. In this study we describe clinical, electromyographic (EMG), and radiological features of PS in a group of 20 PD patients.

DTI and MR Volumetry of Hippocampus-PC/PCC Circuit: In Search of Early Micro- and Macrostructural Signs of Alzheimers's Disease.

Hippocampal damage, by DTI or MR volumetry, and PET hypoperfusion of precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex (PC/PCC) were proposed as biomarkers of conversion from preclinical (MCI) to clinical stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study evaluated structural damage, by DTI and MR volumetry, of hippocampi and tracts connecting hippocampus to PC/PCC (hipp-PC/PCC) in 10 AD, 10 MCI, and 18 healthy controls (CTRL). Normalized volumes, mean diffusivity (MD), and fractional anisotropy (FA) were obtained for grey matter (GM), white matter (WM), hippocampi, PC/PCC, and hipp-PC/PCC tracts.

Neuropsychological evaluation and follow up in jcv- and non-jcv-related leukoencephalopathies in HIV infection.

The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy does not seem to have altered the incidence of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in HIV infection. Moreover, the occurrence of a HIV-related leukoencephalopathy, called not determined leukoencephalopaties (NDLE), has been reported. As neuropsychological impairment remains highly prevalent in HIV infection, the aim of this study is to describe the neuropsychological profile of PML and NDLE patients, analyzing the time-related changes.

SOD1 Transcriptional and Posttranscriptional Regulation and Its Potential Implications in ALS.

Copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) is a detoxifying enzyme localized in the cytosol, nucleus, peroxisomes, and mitochondria. The discovery that mutations in SOD1 gene cause a subset of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS) has attracted great attention, and studies to date have been mainly focused on discovering mutations in the coding region and investigation at protein level. Considering that changes in SOD1 mRNA levels have been associated with sporadic ALS (SALS), a molecular understanding of the processes involved in the regulation of SOD1 gene expression could not only unravel novel regulatory pathways that may govern cellular phenotypes and changes in diseases but also might reveal therapeutic targets and treatments.

Anti-Ma2/Ta antibodies in a woman with primary lateral sclerosis-like phenotype and Sjögren syndrome.

Anti-Ma2/Ta antibodies are rare paraneoplastic antibodies, which are mostly associated with limbic encephalitis in male patients with testicular cancer. We report on a 50-year-old woman with a pure progressive spastic paraparesis. Next, she was diagnosed as having a Sjögren syndrome, with serological positivity for anti-SS-Ro antibodies.

Prolonged sporadic hemiplegic migraine associated with a novel de novo missense ATP1A2 gene mutation.

Hemiplegic migraine is a rare form of migraine characterized by periodic attacks of migraine with neurologic aura and transient hemiplegia. There are familial and sporadic cases, both on a genetic basis; we describe the case of a 6-year-old boy affected by sporadic hemiplegic migraine, showing a novel ATP1A2 gene missense mutation (p.Gly715Arg) in exon 16.

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.

Systemic sclerosis in aquaporin-4 antibody-positive longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis.

We report on the first patient with a relapsing, anti-aquaporin-4 (AQP-4) antibody-positive, longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (LETM) who developed systemic sclerosis (SSc). A 62-year-old woman, who presented with bilateral, distal lower limb and perineal numbness, developed clinical manifestations and paraclinical features of SSc. Spinal cord imaging revealed lesions that were consistent with LETM.

Acute transient inflammatory leukoencephalopathy in HIV.

HIV-related acute inflammatory leukoencephalopathy of undetermined origin (AIL) is characterized by abrupt onset of symptoms generally associated with focal brain lesions and inflammatory CSF findings. A previously asymptomatic 31-year-old HIV+ woman presented with acute cognitive difficulties, right hemiparesis and dysphasia. Brain MRI showed a large contrast-enhancing lesion in the left frontal lobe; brain biopsy revealed an inflammatory process.

Cerebrospinal BAFF and Epstein-Barr virus-specific oligoclonal bands in multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory demyelinating neurological diseases.

We measured circulating serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of B lymphocyte activating factor of the tumour necrosis factor superfamily (BAFF), and determined total and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific oligoclonal IgG bands (OCBs) in 43 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), 23 patients with other inflammatory demyelinating neurological diseases, and 20 patients with non-inflammatory neurological diseases. Serum and CSF BAFF concentrations did not differ in the three studied groups. In MS, the highest BAFF concentrations were found in the CSF samples with more than 6 OCBs (233.

Flavin-containing monooxygenase mRNA levels are up-regulated in als brain areas in SOD1-mutant mice.

Flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMOs) are a family of microsomal enzymes involved in the oxygenation of a variety of nucleophilic heteroatom-containing xenobiotics. Recent results have pointed to a relation between Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and FMO genes. ALS is an adult-onset, progressive, and fatal neurodegenerative disease.

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.

G93A SOD1 alters cell cycle in a cellular model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative multifactorial disease characterized, like other diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) or frontotemporal dementia (FTD), by the degeneration of specific neuronal cell populations. Motor neuron loss is distinctive of ALS. However, the causes of onset and progression of motor neuron death are still largely unknown.

Comparison of three methods for genotyping of prothrombotic polymorphisms.

Several methods have been developed to detect common prothrombotic mutations, including factor V Leiden (G1691), prothrombin G20210A, and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677C. In this study, we compared the accuracy of three different molecular techniques, i.e.

SOD1 mRNA expression in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The mutated Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase gene (SOD1) (E.C. No.

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.

Peripheral expression of key regulatory kinases in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

Alteration of key regulatory kinases may cause aberrant protein phosphorylation and aggregation in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). In this study, we investigated expression and phosphorylation status of glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3), protein kinase B (Akt) and tau protein in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 20 AD, 25 PD patients and 20 healthy controls. GSK-3 was increased in AD and PD patients.

Effects of early and delayed treatment with an mGluR5 antagonist on motor impairment, nigrostriatal damage and neuroinflammation in a rodent model of Parkinson's disease.

The loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons that characterizes Parkinson's disease (PD) causes complex functional alterations in the basal ganglia circuit. Increased glutamatergic activity at crucial points of the circuit may be central to these alterations, thereby contributing to the onset of PD motor symptoms. Signs of neuroinflammation accompanying the neuronal loss have also been observed; also in this case, glutamate-mediated mechanisms may be involved.

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.

Clinical experiences with levodopa methylester (melevodopa) in patients with Parkinson disease experiencing motor fluctuations: an open-label observational study.

Introduction: Slow gastric emptying decreasing levodopa (LD) bioavailability contributes to motor fluctuations in Parkinson disease (PD). Melevodopa (LD methylester), ensuring rapid duodenal absorption, has been proposed as rescue therapy for afternoon off periods.

Objective: To assess daily motor fluctuations by multiple administrations of Sirio (Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA, Parma, Italy) (melevodopa/carbidopa) in PD patients.

Transplantation of undifferentiated human mesenchymal stem cells protects against 6-hydroxydopamine neurotoxicity in the rat.

Stem cells have been increasingly recognized as a potential tool to replace or support cells damaged by the neurodegenerative process that underlies Parkinson's disease (PD). In this frame, human adult mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) have been proposed as an attractive alternative to heterologous embryonic or neural precursor cells. To address this issue, in this study we implanted undifferentiated hMSCs into the striatum of rats bearing a lesion of the nigrostriatal pathway induced by local injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), a widely recognized rodent model of PD.