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Abstract Background On December 2017 the Italian Parliament approved law n. 219/2017 “Provisions for informed consent and advance directives” regarding challenging legal and bioethical issues related to healthcare decisions and end-of life choices. The law promotes the person’s autonomy as a right and provides for the centrality of the individual in every scenario of health care by mean of three tools: informed consent, shared care planning and advance directives. Few years after the approval of the law, we conducted a survey among physicians working in four health care facilities specific for the care of people suffering from psychiatric disorders, cognitive disorders and dementia located in the North of Italy aiming to investigate their perceived knowledge and training need, attitudes regarding law n. 219/2017 provisions, and practices of implementation of the law. Methods A semi-structured questionnaire was developed on an online platform. The invitation to participate in the survey was sent by email to the potential participants. Information was collected by means of the online platform (Google Forms) which allows to export data in a spreadsheet (Windows Excel) to perform basic statistical analysis (frequency distributions, bar chart representation). Results Twenty-five out of sixty physicians participated in the survey. None of the respondents value their knowledge of the law as very good, 10 good, 13 neither poor nor good, 1 poor and 1 very poor. All the respondents want to learn more about the law (21 yes and 4 absolutely yes). The majority of respondents agrees with the content of the law as a whole (3 absolutely agree, 13 agree), and on each provision. The question on the clarity of the concept of capacity in the law received mixed answers and this impacted on the physicians’ opinion regarding the legitimacy in principle for our groups of patients to realize shared care planning and write advance directives. Thirteen physicians neither introduced the theme of shared care planning nor arranged for shared care planning and the main reason for this was that no patient was in a clinical situation to require it. When shared care planning is realized, a variability in terms of type and number of meetings, mode of tracking and communication is registered. Conclusions Our survey results indicate a need for more clarity regarding the interpretation and implementation of the law in the patient groups under study. There are in particular two related areas that deserve further discussion: (1) the question of whether these patient groups are in principle legitimized by the law to realize shared care planning or write advance directives; (2) the notion of capacity required by the law and how this notion can be declined in real-life situations.

Abstract Background On December 2017 the Italian Parliament approved law n. 219/2017 “Provisions for informed consent and advance directives” regarding challenging legal and bioethical issues related to healthcare decisions and end-of-life choices. The law does not contain an explicit reference to Ethics Committees (ECs), but they could still play a role in implementing the law. Methods A questionnaire-based survey was performed among the ECs of the Italian Institute for Research and Care belonging to the Network of neuroscience and neurorehabilitation, with the aim of (1) knowing whether the ECs participated and, if so, how in the process of implementation of law n. 219/2017 in the referring institutes; (2) investigating the point of view of the ECs regarding their possible involvement in the process; (3) exploring the contribution ECs can provide to give effective implementation to the law principles and provisions. Results Seventeen ECs out of thirty took part in the survey; the characteristics of the responding and non-responding committees are similar, so the responding ECs can be regarded as representative of all ECs in the Network. Nine ECs did not discuss the law in anyway: the main reason for this is that the referring institutions (6) and the health care professionals (3) did not ask for an EC intervention. Nevertheless, the large majority of the ECs believe that their involvement in the implementation of the law as a whole is appropriate (8) or absolutely appropriate (6), while 3 of them are neutral. No EC believes that the involvement is inappropriate. The aspect of the law on which the 14 ECs converge in considering the EC involvement appropriate/absolutely appropriate is the one related to the health facilities obligation to guarantee the full and proper implementation of the principles of the law. Conclusions Our survey confirms that ECs believe they can play a role in the implementation of law n. 219/2017, although this does not entirely correspond to what the committees have actually done in reality. This role could be better exercised by ECs specifically established for clinical practice, which would have a composition, functioning and a mandate better suited to the purpose. This supports the call for a national regulation of ECs for clinical practice.

Abstract Background It has been estimated that the incidence of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) will not decline over the next 10 years despite the improved efficacy of antiviral therapy because most patients remain undiagnosed and/or untreated. This study aimed to investigate the opinion of relevant target populations on the practicability, effectiveness and best modalities of the test-and-treat approach in the fight against HCV in Italy. Methods A survey was delivered to patients with HCV from the general population, patients from drug addiction services, hospital physicians and healthcare providers for drug addiction services. Results For both hospital clinicians and SerD HCPs, tolerability is shown as the most important feature of a suitable treatment. Time to treatment (the time from first contact to initiation of treatment) is deemed important to the success of the strategy by all actors. While a tolerable treatment was the main characteristic in a preferred care pathway for general patients, subjects from drug addiction services indicated that a complete Meet–Test–Treat pathway is delivered within the habitual care center as a main preference. This is also important for SerD HCPs who are a strong reference for their patients; hospital clinicians were less aware of the importance of the patient-HCP relationship in this process. Conclusion The health system is bound to implement suitable pathways to facilitate HCV eradication. A Meet–Test–Treat program within the drug addiction services may provide good compliance from subjects mainly concerned with virus transmission.

Cardiovascular diseases are currently one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in liver transplant patients over the long term. Therefore, evaluating prognostic factors for cardiovascular events (CVEs) in this population is essential for taking preventive measures. The aim of this study was to identify the impact of diabetes and other metabolic disorders on CVEs in liver transplant patients. Three hundred fifty-six liver transplant recipients who survived at least 6 months after surgery were enrolled. Patients were followed for a median time of 118 months (12–250 months). All cardiovascular events were carefully recorded and detailed in the patients’ charts. Demographic data, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, weight changes, and a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome both before and after transplantation were noted to assess their possible relationship with CVE. The presence of a diagnosis of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) was also evaluated. Immunosuppressive therapy was included in the analysis. Diabetes mellitus (DM), especially when present before transplantation, was strongly associated with CVEs (hazard risk HR 3.10; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.60–6.03). Metabolic syndrome was found to be associated with CVEs in univariate analysis (HR 3.24; 95% CI: 1.36–7.8), while pretransplantation and de novo MAFLD were not. Immunosuppressive therapy had no influence on predisposing transplanted patients to CVEs during follow-up. Further prospective studies may be useful in investigating the risk factors for CVEs after liver transplantation and improving the long-term survival of transplant patients.

Several treatment options are available for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and, for this reason, treatment choice can result challenging after introducing oral targeted agents. This study aims at comparing patients’ and hematologists’ preferences for attributes of CLL treatments. An online cross-sectional survey has been delivered to clinicians and patients affected by CLL in Italy. A discrete choice experiment has been conducted so to estimate each attribute’s relative importance (RI) and assess the preference weight for each level of each attribute. An expert panel agreed on investigating the following attributes: progression-free survival (PFS) and measurable residual disease, route of administration/therapy duration and follow-up frequency, incidence of diarrhea (episodes/day), serious infections (grade 3 or 4), and atrial fibrillation. Overall, 746 patients and 109 clinicians accessed the survey, and 215 and 69, respectively, filled it in. The most important attributes were PFS (RI 30%) for hematologists and the risk of severe infections (RI 24%) for patients. Clinicians rated preference for maximum efficacy and lowest risk of severe infection very high (30%). Both patients and clinicians preferred oral administration while considering duration of therapy less relevant. The frequency of hospital appointments was negligible for patients, while clinicians preferred a quarterly frequency. Considering all attributes, diarrhea was weighted more by clinicians than by patients. Atrial fibrillation was not relevant for clinicians, while it was not negligible for patients. In conclusion, clinicians and patients favor an oral therapy, including continuous treatment, if associated with prolonged PFS, albeit with particular attention to the risk of serious infections.

Abstract The increasing number and quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) employing transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) denote the rising awareness of neuroscientific community about its electroceutical potential and opening to include these treatments in the framework of medical therapies under the indications of the international authorities. The purpose of this quantitative review is to estimate the recommendation strength applying the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) criteria and PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcome) model values for effective tDCS treatments on no-structural diseases, and to provide an estimate of Sham effect for future RCTs. Applying GRADE evaluation pathway, we searched in literature the tDCS-based RCTs in psychophysical diseases displaying a major involvement of brain electrical activity imbalances. Three independent authors agreed on Class 1 RCTs (18 studies) and meta-analyses were carried out using a random-effects model for pathologies sub-selected based on PICO and systemic involvement criteria. The meta-analysis integrated with extensive evidence of negligible side effects and low-cost, easy-to-use procedures, indicated that tDCS treatments for depression and fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis ranked between moderately and highly recommendable. For these interventions we reported the PICO variables, with left vs. right dorsolateral prefrontal target for 30 min/10 days against depression and bilateral somatosensory vs occipital target for 15 min/5 days against MS fatigue. An across-diseases meta-analysis devoted to the Sham effect provided references for power analysis in future tDCS RCTs on these clinical conditions. High-quality indications support tDCS as a promising tool to build electroceutical treatments against diseases involving neurodynamics alterations.

Neural oscillations can be modulated by non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, including transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). However, direct evidence of tACS effects at the cortical level in humans is still limited. In a tACS-electroencephalography co-registration setup, we investigated the ability of tACS to modulate cortical somatosensory information processing as assessed by somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs). To better elucidate the neural substrates of possible tACS effects we also recorded peripheral and spinal SEPs components, high-frequency oscillations (HFOs), and long-latency reflexes (LLRs). Finally, we studied whether changes were limited to the stimulation period or persisted thereafter. SEPs, HFOs, and LLRs were recorded during tACS applied at individual mu and beta frequencies and at the theta frequency over the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). Sham-tACS was used as a control condition. In a separate experiment, we assessed the time course of mu-tACS effects by recording SEPs before (T0), during (T1), and 1 min (T2) and 10 min (T3) after stimulation. Mu-tACS increased the amplitude of the N20 component of SEPs compared to both sham and theta-tACS. No differences were found between sham, beta-, and theta-tACS conditions. Also, peripheral and spinal SEPs, P25, HFOs, and LLRs did not change during tACS. Finally, mu-tACS-induced modulation of N20 amplitude specifically occurred during stimulation (T1) and vanished afterwards (i.e., at T2 and T3). Our findings suggest that TACS applied at the individual mu frequency is able to modulate early somatosensory information processing at the S1 level and the effect is limited to the stimulation period.

Objectives: Fatigue in multiple sclerosis (MS) is a frequent and invalidating symptom, which can be relieved by non-invasive neuromodulation, which presents only negligible side effects. A 5-day transcranial direct-current stimulation, 15 min per day, anodically targeting the somatosensory representation of the whole body against a larger occipital cathode was efficacious against MS fatigue (fatigue relief in multiple sclerosis, Faremus treatment). The present proof-of-concept study tested the working hypothesis that Faremus S1 neuromodulation modifies the homology of the dominant and non-dominant corticospinal (CST) circuit recruitment. Methods: CST homology was assessed via the Fréchet distance between the morphologies of motor potentials (MEPs) evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation in the homologous left- and right-hand muscles of 10 fatigued MS patients before and after Faremus. Results: In the absence of any change in MEP features either as differences between the two body sides or as an effect of the treatment, Faremus changed in physiological direction the CST’s homology. Faremus effects on homology were more evident than recruitment changes within the dominant and non-dominant sides. Conclusions: The Faremus-related CST changes extend the relevance of the balance between hemispheric homologs to the homology between body sides. With this work, we contribute to the development of new network-sensitive measures that can provide new insights into the mechanisms of neuronal functional patterning underlying relevant symptoms.

Background : : Ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) is a parenteral, dextran-free iron formulation designed to overcome the limitations of existing iron preparations. The main aim of this study was to retrospectively examine results obtained from a long period of FCM therapy in hemodialysis patients who have been previously treated with ferric gluconate (FX). Markers of iron metabolism, erythropoietin (EPO) doses, and effects on anemic status have been analysed. Methods : : The study was performed with a follow up period of 4 years, when patients were treated before with FX and then switched to FCM. A total of 25 patients were included in the study. Results : : FCM increased transferrin saturation (TSAT) levels by 11.9% (P < 0.001) with respect to FX. Events of TSAT less than 20% were reduced during FCM. The monthly dose of EPO was reduced in the FCM period (-6,404.1 international unit [IU]; 95% confidence interval, -10,643.5 IU; -2,164.6 IU; P = 0.003), as well as the erythropoietin resistance index (P = 0.004). During the period with FCM, ferritin levels were higher than during FX (P < 0.001), while transferrin was reduced (P = 0.001). Conclusion : : During FCM treatment, minor doses of EPO were administered if compared to those delivered during FX therapy. Stable and on target levels of hemoglobin were maintained with better control of anemia through high levels of ferritin and TSAT.

Abstract Background Health, as defined by the WHO, is a multidimensional concept that includes different aspects. Interest in the health conditions of the oldest-old has increased as a consequence of the phenomenon of population aging. This study investigates whether (1) it is possible to identify health profiles among the oldest-old, taking into account physical, emotional and psychological information about health, and (2) there are demographic and socioeconomic differences among the health profiles. Methods Latent Class Analysis with covariates was applied to the Mugello Study data to identify health profiles among the 504 nonagenarians residing in the Mugello district (Tuscany, Italy) and to evaluate the association between socioeconomic characteristics and the health profiles resulting from the analysis. Results This study highlights four groups labeled according to the posterior probability of determining a certain health characteristic: “healthy”, “physically healthy with cognitive impairment”, “unhealthy”, and “severely unhealthy”. Some demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were found to be associated with the final groups: older nonagenarians are more likely to be in worse health conditions; men are in general healthier than women; more educated individuals are less likely to be in extremely poor health conditions, while the lowest-educated are more likely to be cognitively impaired; and office or intellectual workers are less likely to be in poor health conditions than are farmers. Conclusions Considering multiple dimensions of health to determine health profiles among the oldest-old could help to better evaluate their care needs according to their health status.

Objectives: The homology of hemispheric cortical areas plays a crucial role in brain functionality. Here, we extend this concept to the homology of the dominant and non-dominant hemi-bodies, investigating the relationship of the two corticospinal tracts (CSTs). The evoked responses provide an estimate of the number of in-phase recruitments via their amplitude as a suitable indicator of the neuronal projections’ integrity. An innovative concept derived from experience in the somatosensory system is that their morphology reflects the recruitment pattern of the whole circuit. Methods: CST homology was assessed via the Fréchet distance between the morphologies of motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) using a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the homologous left- and right-hand first dorsal interosseous muscles of 40 healthy volunteers (HVs). We tested the working hypothesis that the inter-side Fréchet distance was higher than the two intra-side distances. Results: In addition to a clear confirmation of the working hypothesis (p < 0.0001 for both hemi-bodies) verified in all single subjects, we observed that the intra-side Fréchet distance was higher for the dominant than the non-dominant one. Interhemispheric morphology similarity increased with right-handedness prevalence (p = 0.004). Conclusions: The newly introduced measure of circuit recruitment patterning represents a potential benchmark for the evaluation of inter-lateral mechanisms expressing the relationship between homologous hemilateral structures subtending learning and suggests that variability in recruitment patterning physiologically increases in circuits expressing greater functionality.

Background: Early and affordable identification of subjects with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) who will convert to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a major scientific challenge.Objective: To investigate the neurophysiological hallmarks of sensorimotor cortex function in aMCI under the hypothesis that some may represent the plastic rearrangements induced by neurodegeneration, hence predictors of future conversion to AD. We sought to determine (1) whether the sensorimotor network shows peculiar alterations in patients with aMCI and (2) if sensorimotor network alterations predict long-term disease progression at the individual level.Methods: We studied several transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-electroencephalogram (EEG) parameters of the sensorimotor cortex in a group of patients with aMCI and followed them for 6 years. We then identified aMCI who clinically converted to AD [prodromal to AD-MCI (pAD-MCI)] and those who remained cognitively stable [non-prodromal to AD-MCI (npAD-MCI)].Results: Patients with aMCI showed reduced motor cortex (M1) excitability and disrupted EEG synchronization [decreased intertrial coherence (ITC)] in alpha, beta and gamma frequency bands compared to the control subjects. The degree of alteration in M1 excitability and alpha ITC was comparable between pAD-MCI and npAD-MCI. Importantly, beta and gamma ITC impairment in the stimulated M1 was greater in pAD-MCI than npAD-MCI. Furthermore, an additional parameter related to the waveform shape of scalp signals, reflecting time-specific alterations in global TMS-induced activity [stability of the dipolar activity (sDA)], discriminated npAD-MCI from MCI who will convert to AD.Discussion: The above mentioned specific cortical changes, reflecting deficit of synchronization within the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical loop in aMCI, may reflect the pathological processes underlying AD. These changes could be tested in larger cohorts as neurophysiological biomarkers of AD.

In healthy women, the cervicovaginal microbiota is characterized by the predominance of Lactobacillus spp., whereas the overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria leads to dysbiosis, known to increase the risk of acquiring genital infections like Chlamydia trachomatis. In the last decade, a growing body of research has investigated the composition of the cervicovaginal microbiota associated with chlamydial infection via 16s rDNA sequencing, with contrasting results. A systematic review and a meta-analysis, performed on the alpha-diversity indices, were conducted to summarize the scientific evidence on the cervicovaginal microbiota composition in C. trachomatis infection. Databases PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched with the following strategy: “Chlamydia trachomatis” AND “micro*”. The diversity indices considered for the meta-analysis were Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU) number, Chao1, phylogenetic diversity whole tree, Shannon’s, Pielou’s and Simpson’s diversity indexes. The search yielded 425 abstracts for initial review, of which 16 met the inclusion criteria. The results suggested that the cervicovaginal microbiota in C. trachomatis-positive women was characterized by Lactobacillus iners dominance, or by a diverse mix of facultative or strict anaerobes. The meta-analysis, instead, did not show any difference in the microbial biodiversity between Chlamydia-positive and healthy women. Additional research is clearly required to deepen our knowledge on the interplay between the resident microflora and C. trachomatis in the genital microenvironment.

Chlamydia trachomatis, the leading cause of bacterial sexually transmitted diseases in developed countries, with around 127 million new cases per year, is mainly responsible for urethritis and cervicitis in women, and urethritis and epididymitis in men. Most C. trachomatis infections remain asymptomatic (>50%) and, hence, untreated, leading to severe reproductive complications in both women and men, like infertility. Therefore, the detection of C. trachomatis as well as the antimicrobial susceptibility testing becomes a priority, and, along the years, several methods have been recommended, like cell culture and direct immunofluorescence (DFA) on cell cultures. Herein, we described the application of In-Cell Western assay (ICW) via Odyssey CLx as a fast, more accessible, and high-throughput platform for the quantification of C. trachomatis and the screening of anti-chlamydial drugs. As a first step, we set up a standard curve by infecting cell monolayers with 2-fold serial dilutions of C. trachomatis Elementary Body (EB) suspension. Then, different unknown C. trachomatis EB suspensions were quantified and the chlamydial susceptibility testing to erythromycin was performed, using the DFA as comparison. Our results showed a very high concordance between these two assays, as evidenced by the enumeration of chlamydial IFUs as well as the determination of erythromycin Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). In conclusion, the ICW assay may be a promising candidate as an accurate and accessible methodology for C. trachomatis antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

Abstract Background In the early phases of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RR-MS), a clear correlation between brain lesion load and clinical disability is often lacking, originating the so-called clinico-radiological paradox. Different factors may contribute to such discrepancy. In particular, synaptic plasticity may reduce the clinical expression of brain damage producing enduring enhancement of synaptic strength largely dependent on neurotrophin-induced protein synthesis. Cytokines released by the immune cells during acute inflammation can alter synaptic transmission and plasticity possibly influencing the clinical course of MS. In addition, immune cells may promote brain repair during the post-acute phases, by secreting different growth factors involved in neuronal and oligodendroglial cell survival. Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is a neurotrophic factor that could be particularly involved in clinical recovery. Indeed, PDGF promotes long-term potentiation of synaptic activity in vitro and in MS and could therefore represent a key factor improving the clinical compensation of new brain lesions. The aim of the present study is to explore whether cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) PDGF concentrations at the time of diagnosis may influence the clinical course of RR-MS. Methods At the time of diagnosis, we measured in 100 consecutive early MS patients the CSF concentrations of PDGF, of the main pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and of reliable markers of neuronal damage. Clinical and radiological parameters of disease activity were prospectively collected during follow-up. Results CSF PDGF levels were positively correlated with prolonged relapse-free survival. Radiological markers of disease activity, biochemical markers of neuronal damage, and clinical parameters of disease progression were instead not influenced by PDGF concentrations. Higher CSF PDGF levels were associated with an anti-inflammatory milieu within the central nervous system. Conclusions Our results suggest that PDGF could promote a more prolonged relapse-free period during the course of RR-MS, without influencing inflammation reactivation and inflammation-driven neuronal damage and likely enhancing adaptive plasticity.

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are a common finding in aged individuals affected by carotid artery disease and are a risk factor for first-ever and recurrent stroke. We investigated if white matter damage increases the risk of brain microembolism during carotid artery stenting (CAS), as evaluated by the appearance of new areas of restricted diffusion on diffusion-weighted images (DWI). Methods: We evaluated 47 patients with severe internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis undergoing CAS, comparing preprocedural clinical, ultrasound and radiological characteristics. WMH volume was computed on FLAIR images before CAS. After CAS, the DWI scan was looked over for areas of restricted diffusion (DWI lesions). A first univariate analysis was adopted to compare groups according to the occurrence of DWI lesions. Then, the variable DWI lesion was modelled by means of a logistic regression model. Results: Seventeen patients developed at least 1 DWI lesion after CAS. Compared with non-DWI, DWI patients were more commonly treated in the left ICA (p = 0.007) and had a more severe WMH damage (p = 0.027). Indeed, the risk of a DWI lesion was higher in left versus right stenosis (OR = 9.0, 95% CI 1.9-42.7, p = 0.005) and increased for each log-unit of WMH lesion load (OR = 7.05, 95% CI 1.07-46.49, p = 0.042). A WMH lesion load of at least 5.25 cm3 had a 50% probability of occurrence of a new DWI lesion. Conclusions: Treated side and preexisting white matter damage are risk conditions for brain microembolism during CAS. This should be taken into account to optimize severe carotid artery disease management.

Oxidative status may play a role in chronic inflammation and neurodegeneration which are considered critical etiopathogenetic factors in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), both in the early phase of the disease and in the progressive one. The aim of this study is to explore oxidative status related to iron metabolism in peripheral blood of stable Relapsing-Remitting MS with low disability. We studied 60 Relapsing-Remitting MS patients (age 37.2 ± 9.06, EDSS median 1.0), and 40 healthy controls (age 40.3 ± 10.86). We measured total hydroperoxides (dROMs test) and Total Antioxidant Status (TAS), along with the iron metabolism biomarkers: Iron (Fe), ferritin (Ferr), transferrin (Tf), transferrin saturation (Tfsat), and ceruloplasmin (Cp) panel biomarkers [concentration (iCp) and enzymatic activity (eCp), copper (Cu), ceruloplasmin specific activity (eCp:iCp), copper to ceruloplasmin ratio (Cu:Cp), non-ceruloplasmin copper (nCp-Cu)]. We computed also the Cp:Tf ratio as an index of oxidative stress related to iron metabolism. We found lower TAS levels in MS patients than in healthy controls (CTRL) and normal reference level and higher dROMs and Cp:Tf ratio in MS than in healthy controls. Cp and Cu were higher in MS while biomarkers of iron metabolism were not different between patients and controls. Both in controls and MS, dROMs correlated with iCp (CTRL r = 0.821, p < 0.001; MS r = 0.775 p < 0.001) and eCp (CTRL r = 0.734, p < 0.001; MS r = 0.820 p < 0.001). Moreover, only in MS group iCp correlated negatively with Tfsat (r = -0.257, p = 0.047). Dividing MS patients in “untreated” group and “treated” group, we found a significant difference in Fe values [F(2, 97) = 10.136, p < 0.001]; in particular “MS untreated” showed higher mean values (mean = 114.5, SD = 39.37 μg/dL) than CTRL (mean 78.6, SD = 27.55 μg/dL p = 0.001) and “MS treated” (mean = 72.4, SD = 38.08 μg/dL; p < 0.001). Moreover, “MS untreated” showed significantly higher values of Cp:Tf (mean = 10.19, SD = 1.77∗10-2; p = 0.015), than CTRL (mean = 9.03, SD = 1.46 ∗10-2). These results suggest that chronic oxidative stress is relevant also in the remitting phase of the disease in patients with low disability and short disease duration. Therefore, treatment with antioxidants may be beneficial also in the early stage of the disease to preserve neuronal reserve.

Strokes causing similar lesions and clinical states can be followed by diverse regains of neurological functions, indicating that the clinical recovery can depend on individual modulating factors. A promising line to disclose these factors, to finally open new therapeutic strategies, is to search for individual indices of recovery prognosis. Here, we pursued on strengthening the value of acute phase electrophysiological biomarkers for poststroke functional recovery in a wide group of patients. We enrolled 120 patients affected by a monohemispheric stroke within the middle cerebral artery territory (70 left and 50 right damages) and collected the NIH stroke scale (NIHSS) score in the acute phase (T0, median 4 days) and chronic follow-up (T1, median 6 months). At T0, we executed electrophysiological noninvasive assessment (19-channel electroencephalography (EEG) or 28 channels per side magnetoencephalography (MEG)) of brain activity at rest by means of band powers in the contra- and ipsilesional hemispheres (CLH, ILH) or the homologous area symmetry (HArS). Low-band (2-6 Hz) HArS entered the regression model for predicting the stabilized clinical state (p

Objectives. It has been already confirmed that retinal neurodegeneration has a predictive value in the development of microvascular alterations in diabetic retinopathy. However, no data are available on the association between neuroretinal dysfunction and peripheral motor unit loss. Our study, therefore, was aimed at investigating the hypothesis that retinal neurodegeneration could be considered an early marker of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Methods. 20 T1DM patients with no symptoms/signs of peripheral polyneuropathy, without DR or with very mild nonproliferative DR, and 14 healthy controls (C) age- and gender-matched were enrolled. The following electrophysiological tests were performed: standard nerve conduction studies (NCS) and incremental motor unit number estimation (MUNE) from the abductor hallux (AH) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM). Neuroretinal function was studied by multifocal electroretinogram (MfERG) recordings, measuring response amplitude density (RAD) and implicit time (IT) from rings and sectors of superior (S)/inferior (I)/temporal (T)/nasal (N) macular sectors up to 10 degrees of foveal eccentricity. Results. MfERG RADs from rings and sectors were significantly reduced in T1DM (p

KBG syndrome is a rare multisystem developmental disorder caused by ankyrin repeat domain-containing protein 11 (ANKRD11) gene haploinsufficiency, resulting from either intragenic loss-of-function mutations or microdeletions encompassing the gene. Concerning the behavioral phenotype, a limited amount of research has been focused on attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, autistic-like features, anxiety and impairments in emotion regulation, and no study has provided a systematic assessment. The aim of the present work is to investigate the psychopathological profile in children, adolescents, and young adults with KBG syndrome. Seventeen subjects with molecularly confirmed diagnoses were evaluated to investigate cognitive abilities and psychopathological features. Parametric and nonparametric indexes were used to describe the patient cohort according to type and distribution of specific measures. The KBG subjects were characterized by a low mean IQ score, with a distribution characterized by a variability similar to that occurring in the general population. Prevalence of neuropsychiatric disorders were computed as well as the corresponding confidence intervals to compare their prevalence to that reported for the general population. The KBG subjects were characterized by higher prevalence of obsessive-compulsive, tic, depressive and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a peculiar aspect characterizing the psychopathological profile of KBG patients, which does not seem to be related to the cognitive level. The present study provides new relevant information towards the definition of a psychopathological phenotype of KBG syndromes useful to plan a better treatment for patients.

ObjectiveImpaired cerebral vasomotor reactivity (VMR) and flow-mediated dilation (FMD) were found in selected subgroups of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with long-term disease. Our study aimed to evaluate cerebral hemodynamics, systemic endothelial function and sympatho-vagal balance in a selected population of well-controlled T2DM patients with short-term disease and without cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN).Research design and methodsTwenty-six T2DM patients with short-term (4.40±4.80 years) and well-controlled (HbA1C = 6.71±1.29%) disease, without any complications, treated with diet and/or metformin, were consecutively recruited. Eighteen controls, comparable by sex and age, were enrolled also.ResultsFMD and shear rate FMD were found to be reduced in T2DM subjects with short-term disease (8.5% SD 3.5 and 2.5 SD 1.3, respectively) compared to controls (15.4% SD 4.1 and 3.5 SD 1.4; p.05).ConclusionsIn well-controlled T2DM patients with short-term disease cerebral hemodynamics and systemic endothelial function are altered while autonomic balance appeared to be preserved.

Nonceruloplasmin-bound copper (“free”) is reported to be elevated in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In Wilson's disease (WD) Cu-ATPase 7B protein tightly controls free copper body levels. To explore whether the ATP7B gene harbours susceptibility loci for AD, we screened 180 AD chromosomes for sequence changes in exons 2, 5, 8, 10, 14, and 16, where most of the Mediterranean WD-causing mutations lie. No WD mutation, but sequence changes corresponding to c.1216 T>G Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) and c.2495 A>G SNP were found. Thereafter, we genotyped 190 AD patients and 164 controls for these SNPs frequencies estimation. Logistic regression analyses revealed either a trend for the c.1216 SNP (P=.074) or a higher frequency for c.2495 SNP of the GG genotype in patients, increasing the probability of AD by 74% (P=.028). Presence of the GG genotype in ATP7B c.2495 could account for copper dysfunction in AD which has been shown to raise the probability of the disease.

Decision often implies a utilitarian choice based on personal gain, even at the expense of damaging others. Despite the social implications of utilitarian behavior, its neurophysiological bases remain largely unknown. To assess how the human brain controls utilitarian behavior, we delivered transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the ventral prefrontal cortex (VPC) and over the occipital cortex (OC) in 78 healthy subjects. Utilitarian judgment was assessed with the moral judgment task before and after tDCS. At baseline, females provided fewer utilitarian answers than males for personal moral dilemmas (p = .007). In males, VPC-tDCS failed to induce changes and in both genders OC-tDCS left utilitarian judgments unchanged. In females, cathodal VPC-tDCS tended to decrease whereas anodal VPC-tDCS significantly increased utilitarian responses (p = .005). In males and females, reaction times for utilitarian responses significantly decreased after cathodal (p

BackgroundPrevious studies with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) have focused on the cortical representation of limited group of muscles. No attempts have been carried out so far to get simultaneous recordings from hand, forearm and arm with TMS in order to disentangle a 'functional' map providing information on the rules orchestrating muscle coupling and overlap. The aim of the present study is to disentangle functional associations between 12 upper limb muscles using two measures: cortical overlapping and cortical covariation of each pair of muscles. Interhemispheric differences and the influence of posture were evaluated as well.Methodology/principal findingsTMS mapping studies of 12 muscles belonging to hand, forearm and arm were performed. Findings demonstrate significant differences between the 66 pairs of muscles in terms of cortical overlapping: extremely high for hand-forearm muscles and very low for arm vs hand/forearm muscles. When right and left hemispheres were compared, overlapping between all possible pairs of muscles in the left hemisphere (62.5%) was significantly higher than in the right one (53.5% ). The arm/hand posture influenced both measures of cortical association, the effect of Position being significant [p = .021] on overlapping, resulting in 59.5% with prone vs 53.2% with supine hand, but only for pairs of muscles belonging to hand and forearm, while no changes occurred in the overlapping of proximal muscles with those of more distal districts.Conclusions/significanceLarger overlapping in the left hemisphere could be related to its lifetime higher training of all twelve muscles studied with respect to the right hemisphere, resulting in larger intra-cortical connectivity within primary motor cortex. Altogether, findings with prone hand might be ascribed to mechanisms facilitating coupling of muscles for object grasping and lifting -with more proximal involvement for joint stabilization- compared to supine hand facilitating actions like catching. TMS multiple-muscle mapping studies permit a better understanding of motor control and 'plastic' reorganization of motor system.

BACKGROUND: Converging evidence indicates that action observation and action-related sounds activate cross-modally the human motor system. Since olfaction, the most ancestral sense, may have behavioural consequences on human activities, we causally investigated by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) whether food odour could additionally facilitate the human motor system during the observation of grasping objects with alimentary valence, and the degree of specificity of these effects. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In a repeated-measure block design, carried out on 24 healthy individuals participating to three different experiments, we show that sniffing alimentary odorants immediately increases the motor potentials evoked in hand muscles by TMS of the motor cortex. This effect was odorant-specific and was absent when subjects were presented with odorants including a potentially noxious trigeminal component. The smell-induced corticospinal facilitation of hand muscles during observation of grasping was an additive effect which superimposed to that induced by the mere observation of grasping actions for food or non-food objects. The odour-induced motor facilitation took place only in case of congruence between the sniffed odour and the observed grasped food, and specifically involved the muscle acting as prime mover for hand/fingers shaping in the observed action. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Complex olfactory cross-modal effects on the human corticospinal system are physiologically demonstrable. They are odorant-specific and, depending on the experimental context, muscle- and action-specific as well. This finding implies potential new diagnostic and rehabilitative applications.