Comparison of Olfactory Identification Patterns among Parkinson's Disease Patients from Different Countries.

Olfactory function assessment is an important screening tool and also may differentiate Parkinson's disease (PD) patients from other parkinsonisms, including nondegenerative ones, such as, normal pressure hydrocephalus, vascular, drug induced, or infectious parkinsonism. Several authors in different countries have reported various sets of odors that best differentiate between these conditions. It is debated if distinctive patterns of "restrictive" or "selective" hyposmia in PD may be affected by cultural aspects.

Melatonin Contributes to the Seasonality of Multiple Sclerosis Relapses.

Seasonal changes in disease activity have been observed in multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder that affects the CNS. These epidemiological observations suggest that environmental factors influence the disease course. Here, we report that melatonin levels, whose production is modulated by seasonal variations in night length, negatively correlate with multiple sclerosis activity in humans.

Olfactory Dysfunction Evaluation Is Not Affected by Comorbid Depression in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Olfactory function assessment is an important screening tool for Parkinson's disease (PD) diagnosis. It is debated whether olfaction is affected by comorbid depression. We assessed the relationship between depression and olfaction in PD and determined whether depression may limit the usefulness of olfactory testing for PD diagnosis.

Management of constipation in Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Constipation is a frequent non-motor feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). It is the most common gastrointestinal symptom of the disease and it can precede motor symptoms by as much as 20 years. Constipation can produce discomfort and affect activities of daily living, productivity and quality of life, thus warranting early diagnosis and treatment.

Parkinson's disease severity levels and MDS-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale.

Background: Severity of PD is usually assessed by means of the motor and disability-based Hoehn and Yahr staging (HY), or clinician and patient global perceptions. Scores of more detailed assessments, as the MDS-UPDRS, have not been translated to a grading that allows assignment of score sections to severity levels. The objective of the present study is to determine cut-off points for PD severity levels based on the MDS-UPDRS.

Low familial risks for multiple sclerosis in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Background: Multiple sclerosis is a complex disease in which genetic susceptibility plays a role and familial occurrence has long been recognized. To date, no studies of familial occurrence have been conducted in Argentina, a country with low to intermediate prevalence.

Methods: As part of a cross-sectional study on multiple sclerosis in Buenos Aires, immediate and extended pedigree details were collected on 219 patients.

Sodium intake is associated with increased disease activity in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Recently, salt has been shown to modulate the differentiation of human and mouse Th17 cells and mice that were fed a high-sodium diet were described to develop more aggressive courses of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. However, the role of sodium intake in multiple sclerosis (MS) has not been addressed. We aimed to investigate the relationship between salt consumption and clinical and radiological disease activity in MS.

Decision-making impairment in patients with multiple sclerosis: a case-control study.

Objectives: To assess decision-making under explicit risk conditions in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients and its relationship to decisions made under conditions of ambiguity. To assess cognitive functions related to decision-making performance in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Setting: MS center in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Single-dose oral lacosamide in refractory simple partial status epilepticus: case report and review.

Objectives: This study aimed to present 2 patients with simple partial refractory status epilepticus (RSE) treated with a single oral lacosamide (LCM) dose and to review the literature on this topic.

Method: A retrospective description of 2 patients with simple partial RSE treated with 300 mg of LCM per os (p.o.

QTc prolongation after brain surgery.

Objective: Abnormalities observed in the electrocardiogram (ECG) after acute central nervous system (CNS) events have been reported. Our objective was to assess the incidence of heart rate-corrected QT interval (QTc) prolongation in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after brain surgery.

Methods: Admission standard 12-lead ECGs were analyzed blinded to patient data.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover pilot study of the safety and efficacy of multiple doses of intra-oral tropicamide films for the short-term relief of sialorrhea symptoms in Parkinson's disease patients.

Objective: This proof-of-concept, pilot study aimed to explore the safety and anti-sialorrhea efficacy of single doses of intra-oral slow dissolving thin films containing tropicamide (NH004) or placebo.

Methods: Nineteen non-demented, idiopathic stable or fluctuating PD patients who complained of sialorrhea received 3 doses (0.3, 1, 3mg) of tropicamide and placebo in random order, separated by 7 days.

The impact of bilateral cerebellar damage on theory of mind, empathy and decision making.

The extensive infarction affecting the posterior vermis and the medial and posterior regions of both cerebellar hemispheres, as well as the small central pontine lesion, seems to have disrupted multiple cerebral and brainstem cerebellar loops. These loops process information related to many cognitive domains, behavior and emotion, including decision making, empathy and theory of mind.

Kinematic study of whole body center of mass position during gait in Parkinson's disease patients with and without festination.

Gait festination (FE) can cause serious disability in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. It is argued that the center of pressure position (COP) and body center of mass (COM) are possibly implicated in FE pathogenesis. The relationship between them remains unclear.

Does clinical intolerance to a diagnostic acute levodopa challenge differentiate multiple system atrophy from PD?

Background: The diagnosis of multiple system atrophy (MSA) remains challenging.

Objective: To determine if the occurrence of symptoms of clinical intolerance such as nausea, vomiting, hypotension, and profuse perspiration during a standard acute levodopa challenge may be a useful marker of MSA.

Methods: A total of 507 dopaminergic acute challenge tests performed for different purposes in the last 10 years in a movement disorders clinic were reviewed, identifying patients who manifested symptoms of clinical intolerance during test performance.

BHT-3009, a myelin basic protein-encoding plasmid for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

Even though the etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) remains largely unknown, research data support the hypothesis that autoimmunity plays a major role in disease development. Several disease-modifying agents have been approved for the treatment of MS; however, there is still a need for antigen-specific treatments that combine efficacy and safety. DNA vaccination represents a new therapeutic alternative in this respect.

Globus pallidus internus firing rate modification after motor-imagination in three Parkinson's disease patients.

Motor imagery is thought to involve the same processes of movement preparation as actual movement. Imagination of a simple repetitive movement significantly decreased the firing rate of extracellular micro recording at sensorimotor neurons of globus pallidus internus in three patients with Parkinson's disease, who underwent microelectrode-guided posteroventral pallidotomy. These findings suggest, in agreement with previous clinical and functional neuroimaging studies that the motor corticostriatal circuit could be engaged in mental simulation.

Sialorrhoea and drooling in patients with Parkinson's disease: epidemiology and management.

Although often less recognized than motor symptoms, non-motor effects represent an important source of disability for many parkinsonian patients. Of these non-motor symptoms, sialorrhoea, defined as the inability to control oral secretions resulting in excessive saliva accumulation in the oropharynx, constitutes perhaps one of the most bothersome and troubling problems, often causing social embarrassment and isolation. In patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), this symptom is thought to be due to restricted swallowing and dysfunction, rather than to hypersecretion of saliva.

Helminth infections associated with multiple sclerosis induce regulatory B cells.

Objective: To assess the importance of B-cell control during parasite infections in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

Methods: Peripheral blood CD19+ B cells from 12 helminth-infected MS patients, 12 MS patients without infection, 10 patients infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, 8 subjects infected with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, and 12 healthy control subjects were purified using magnetic cell sorting. Interleukin (IL)-4, IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, lymphotoxin, transforming growth factor-beta, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and nerve growth factor secretion were evaluated after stimulation with CDw32 L cells and CD40 antibody using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Carotid endarterectomy in asymptomatic carotid stenosis: a decision analysis.

Objectives: To present a model of decision analysis that allows assessing the trade-off between the short-term risks of performing a carotid endarterectomy and the rate of preventable future events.

Methods: We used data from a systematic review to define values for a base case and perform a sensitivity analysis. The primary endpoint was a comparison of the fatal and disabling stroke-free survival during a 5-year period in a cohort of hypothetical patients who presented asymptomatic severe carotid stenosis and were treated with either immediate prophylactic carotid endarterectomy or medical treatment alone.