107 research outputs found
Metalli pesanti e sclerosi multipla
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system affecting young adults.
Sardinia is a high-risk area for MS. MS findings were being associated to exposure to heavy metals
(Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn) by in vitro studies. Aim of this study was to assess the presence of
heavy metals in 51 cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) samples; 29 (56.9%) individuals were affected by
MS and 22 (43.1%) subjects by other neurological disorders. Among MS patients 69% had
relapsing-remitting (RR) course and 21% had a progressive. Using high resolution inductively
coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), we determined Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn CSF
levels (mean+/-SD) in MS patients (2.9+/-3.58 microg/L, 0.08+/-0.06 microg/L, 18.8+/-6.5
microg/L, 35.6+/-20.8 microg/L, 1.6+/-1.4 microg/L, 0.74+/-0.39 microg/L, 74.4+/-175.7 microg/L,
respectively) and in the control group ( 2.7+/-1.67 microg/L, 0.11+/-0.11 microg/L, 21.6+/-9.8
microg/L, 34.6+/-21.09 microg/L, 1.28+/-0.7 microg/L, 1+/-0.72 microg/L, 28.58+/-19.5 microg/L,
respectively). Comparing to controls, Al, Mn, Zn and Fe levels were higher in MS patients; several
other differences in trace element levels were also identified
Sunlight and Herpes Virus
The Herpesviridae are a family of viruses widely spread in nature that can infect a wide variety of species. After the primary infection, the human alphaherpesvirinae sub-family remains quiescent in the nerve ganglia from which it can periodically reactivate, causing clinical manifestations. Although spontaneous recurrences are possible, a wide variety of internal and external triggers may lead to transformation of the Herpes Simplex and Varicella-Zoster Viruses from a dormant to a proliferative state. Sunlight is a potent stimulus for the alphaherpesvirinae reactivation. The purpose of this paper is to analyze various features of this correlation and several steps you can take to lower your risk of triggering a herpes outbreak after sun exposure. Learning how to reduce the recurrence is extremely important and it is necessary: to perform a gradual and progressive sun exposure; to know what garments to wear; to know the environmental conditions of exposure; to know each skin phototype; to use a protective product against UVB and UVA with sun protection factor suitable for each phototype and environmental conditions
Epidemiology of hydatidosis in the province of Sassari, Italy
Cystic echinococcosis is endemic in certain parts of the world, including Sardinia, Italy. It was
performed a study in the province of Sassari in order to evaluate the incidence of the infection in man and
the effects of control programs since 1964 to 2002. Data obtained by surgical records, hospital discharge
forms, radiological and pathological files were collected using a case report form. During the years 1964-
2002, 2702 new cases were identified (average annual incidence: 17 per 100,000) and 1981 (73.3%) were
submitted to surgical treatment. In 57.3% municipalities no cases were observed during the years 1998-
2002. Males are more affected (56.2%), mostly farmers-shepherdess (68.6 per 100,000) and pensioners
(59.6 per 100,000). Control measures led to a significant decline in the incidence rate of hydatidosis during
the period 1964-2002, dropping by 27.6 per 100,000. The mean age of surgical patients increased
during the years of surveillance, such as the surgical liver/lung ratio as a consequence of a cohort effect.
The durability of control programs is the corner stone for obtaining a significant decrease of this infection
Brain perivascular spaces and autism: clinical and pathogenic implications from an innovative volumetric MRI study
IntroductionOur single-center caseâcontrol study aimed to evaluate the unclear glymphatic system alteration in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through an innovative neuroimaging tool which allows to segment and quantify perivascular spaces in the white matter (WM-PVS) with filtering of non-structured noise and increase of the contrast-ratio between perivascular spaces and the surrounding parenchyma.MethodsBriefly, files of 65 ASD and 71 control patients were studied. We considered: ASD type, diagnosis and severity level and comorbidities (i.e., intellectual disability, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, epilepsy, sleep disturbances). We also examined diagnoses other than ASD and their associated comorbidities in the control group.ResultsWhen males and females with ASD are included together, WM-PVS grade and WM-PVS volume do not significantly differ between the ASD group and the control group overall. We found, instead, that WM-PVS volume is significantly associated with male sex: males had higher WM-PVS volume compared to females (p = 0.01). WM-PVS dilation is also non-significantly associated with ASD severity and younger age (< 4 years). In ASD patients, higher WM-PVS volume was related with insomnia whereas no relation was found with epilepsy or IQ.DiscussionWe concluded that WM-PVS dilation can be a neuroimaging feature of male ASD patients, particularly the youngest and most severe ones, which may rely on male-specific risk factors acting early during neurodevelopment, such as a transient excess of extra-axial CSF volume. Our findings can corroborate the well-known strong male epidemiological preponderance of autism worldwide
Immunomodulation of fucosyl-lactose and lacto-N-fucopentaose on mononuclear cells from multiple sclerosis and healthy subjects
The 1,2-fucosyl-oligosaccharides, and among these the 2â-fucosyl-lactose (2â-FL) and lacto-N-fucopentaose (LNFP)-I, are quantitatively the most represented
oligosaccharides of human milk. They are also seen to represent an important
immune device to prevent nursing infants from severe infectious diarrhoea.
Recent evidences show that the appearance of 2â-FL and LNFP-I in human colostrums
is synchronised with the macrophage inhibition and that LNFP-III induces
a Th2 response from the mouse peripheral immune system. Since mannosyl-fucosyl
receptors are described on the macrophage surface, all these evidences allow
us to investigate on the possible immune function of human 2â-FL and LNFP-I in
vitro on LPS-activated mononuclear cells (MNC) from 12 patients with multiple
sclerosis (MS) and 20 matched health controls (HC). We found that 2â-FL and
LNFP-I significantly decrease, to a different extent, the MNC proliferation from
both HC and MS patients, in a linear and dose-dependent manner. 2â-FL and LNFPI
also reduce the production of IL-12 and IFN-Îł, particularly in MS patients as
compared to HC (p=0.01 and p<0.001, respectively), while increasing that of IL-
10. The overall immunomodulatory effect of 2â-FL and LNFP I here presented may
represent a future therapeutic option for the abnormal immune response found in
some monocyte-mediated diseases
Apoptosis in spermatozoa of infertile men, clinical correlations
The methods for evaluation of male infertility include not
only routine investigations, standardized by the WHO, but also
complementary techniques, developed over the last years, in
order to improve the predictive value of seminal analysis for
natural conception and assisted reproduction. With reference
to these new methods, studies suggest that sperm with certain
levels of DNA fragmentation serve as a strong predictor of
reduced male fertility. We studied subjects who underwent
seminal fluid evaluation, because of an infertility condition, at
the Department of Biomedical Sciences of the University of
Sassari.The samples collected by masturbation were evaluated
according to the World Health Organisation (1999).The samples
was washed twice in PBS and cytocentrifuged for 10 min
at 1800 rpm on polylysine-coated slides that were fixed in
methanol at room temperature. The apoptosis was evaluated
using the TUNEL (In Situ Cell Death Detection Kit,
Fluorescein, Roche, Cat.No. 1 684 795). At fluorescent miscroscopy are counted at least 300 cells. Quantitative evaluation
of apoptosis by the TUNEL method confirmed that apoptosis
did not seem to be correlated with sperm concentration or morphology; however, we found a higher apoptotic rate in semen
from patients affected by andrologic diseases, such as varicocele,
than from those with alteration of semen characteristics.
Apoptosis analysis might be used in infertile patients in order
to understand the etiology of unexplained infertility and to
improve therapeutic effectiveness
Multiple sclerosis: peripheral mononuclear cells inhibit <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> growth and are activated by parasite antigens
The human genome has been subjected to selective
pressures to resist to infectious agents in spite
of a heavy segregational load. With this regard,
thalassaemia and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase
deficiency have been considered an efficient
genetic protection against P. falciparum malaria in
Sardinia, insular Italy. In this island, some multiple
sclerosis (MS)-associated HLA haplotypes
have the highest odds ratios in the same highestrate
malarious areas of the island. Moreover, tumor
necrosis factor (TNF) polymorphisms epidemiologically
associated with both MS and malaria
are ten-fold more frequent amongst Sardinians compared
to other populations worldwide4. A possible
association between MS and malaria in this island
was never analysed experimentally. We studied the
immunological response of mononuclear cells to
P. falciparum and the killing effect of macrophages
on parasites in Sardinian MS patients and in
matched healthy controls (HC)
Educational methods in neuroanatomy: a review
Among the basic sciences providing relevant medical awareness, human anatomy, which includes gross and neuroanatomy, represents a crucial science in medical schools (Verhoeven et al., 2002). Although numerous changes have been performed in medical curricula worldwide, the anatomic background is deemed a cornerstone for approaching clinical medicine (McLachlan and Patten, 2006). In the last decades, several modifications in anatomy and, in particular, in neuroanatomy education have been done and numerous strategies have been identified to improve the skills of the students (Rizzolo et al, 2010). We carried out a non-systematic review focusing our interest on the transformation of traditional teaching methodology of neuroanatomy. Articles on neuroanatomy education were selected if the study described an approach for teaching/learning neuroanatomy and if the neuroanatomy course was aimed to all medical students but dental or healthcare students. PubMed database was used to select manuscripts with a predefined combined list of search terms: âneuroanatomyâ, âanatomyâ, âteachingâ, âlearningâ, âmethods and strategiesâ. Our search included only English language manuscripts published from December 1990 to January 2012. Abstracts and unpublished studies were excluded. References of all relevant retrieved articles, of relevant recent review articles, and abstracts published in proceedings were also evaluated manually in order to find additional articles. For data extraction an electronic form was prepared. Only eighteen of the fifty (36%) selected articles met the inclusion criteria. Two described the dissection as the primary educational method, whereas the majority used electronic tools providing three-dimensional information. Some authors highlighted that students could be more enthusiastic when they have the chance to study with cadavers deeming this approach near to clinical medicine (Zurada et al, 2011); however the comprehension of topography and spatial relationships of various structures is equally achieved with the use of electronic means. The post-mortem examination represents an opportunity to evaluate the variability of human anatomy; however, logistical, ethical, and safety issues hamper the implementation of this method in medical schools (Winkelmann, 2007). The method used for anatomy and neuroanatomy teaching is essential to augment the interest of the medical students towards medicine but several obstacles can hinder the implementation and scale-up of the best educational method
Is the corpus callosum degeneration a predictor of long-term disability in Multiple Sclerosis patients?
Axonal injury and loss of white matter has been well documented in corpus callosum (CC) of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), an inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the of Central Nervous System (CNS). The CC is the largest compact white matter fiber bundle of the brain connecting the two cerebral hemispheres. It seems that CC continue to mature structurally from infancy to adulthood (Muetzel RL, 2008). The topographical organization of its fibers allows the association of its abnormalities with those of specific cortical regions. It is one of the few white matter tracts that can be adequately evaluated by conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), having sharply demarcated two-dimensional limits on a mid-saggital T1W imaging (Fiqueira FF, 2007). So, as a consequence of these anatomic characteristics, it is reasonable to assume that CC morphometrics might be used as a possible marker for the analysis of its integrity. Conventional and non-conventional MRI techniques have been used to characterize pathological damages of the CC; for instance, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can show white matter changes undetected by conventional MRI (Bester M, 2008). We carried out a review focusing our interest on the diagnostic efficacy of MRI to predict MS disability. PubMed search engine was used to select manuscripts with predefined search terms: âcorpus callosumâ, âmultiple sclerosisâ, âdisabilityâ and âmagnetic resonance imagingâ. Only manuscripts in English language, published from January 2003 to January 2013, were selected. Abstracts and unpublished studies were excluded. References of all relevant retrieved articles, of review articles, were also evaluated manually in order to find additional articles. For data extraction an electronic form was prepared. The findings of the review suggest that CC atrophy is a more sensitive marker of disease activity than the global atrophy measures, predicting clinically definite multiple sclerosis (CDMS)conversion as early as 6 months of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) (Kalincik T, 2012). Furthermore, the occurrence or growth of lesions over the first year in the splenium of corpus callosum, together with the cerebellum and the thalamus, was associated with cognitive worsening at year 5. CC atrophy seems to be a simple and an accurate predictor of disability, mostly for secondary progressive MS (Fiqueira FF, 2007), and it seems helpful for routine clinical activities (Vaneckova M, 2012)
- âŠ