Probiotics May Have Beneficial Effects in Parkinson's Disease: In vitro Evidence

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by loss of dopaminergic neurons and intraneuronal accumulation of alpha-synuclein, both in the basal ganglia and in peripheral sites, such as the gut. Peripheral immune activation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production are important pathogenetic features of PD. In this context, the present study focused on the assessment of in vitro effects of probiotic bacterial strains in PBMCs isolated from PD patients vs. healthy controls.Methods: 40 PD patients and 40 matched controls have been enrolled. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated and co-cultured with a selection of probiotics microorganisms belonging to the lactobacillus and bifidobacterium genus. In vitro release of the major pro- (Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha and Interleukin-17A and 6) and anti-inflammatory (Interleukin 4 and 10) cytokines by PBMCs, as well as the production of ROS was investigated. Furthermore, we assessed the ability of probiotics to influence membrane integrity, antagonize the growth of potential pathogen bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae and encode tyrosine decarboxylase genes (tdc).Results: All probiotic strains were able to inhibit inflammatory cytokines and ROS production in both patients and controls. The most striking results were obtained in PD subjects with L. salivarius LS01 and L. acidophilus which significantly reduced pro-inflammatory and increased the anti-inflammatory cytokines (p < 0.05). Furthermore, most strains determined restoration of membrane integrity and inhibition of E. coli and K. pneumoniae. Finally, we also showed that all the strains do not carry tdc gene, which is known to decrease levodopa bioavailability in PD patients under treatment.Conclusions: Probiotics exert promising in vitro results in decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokines, oxidative stress and potentially pathogenic bacterial overgrowth. In vivo longitudinal data are mandatory to support the use of bacteriotherapy in PD

Endocrine pancreas development at weaning in goat kids

Eighteen three-day old Saanen goat kids were divided into MILK and WEAN groups. MILK kids received goat milk to age 48 days; WEAN kids were initially fed milk but started weaning at 25 days and were completely weaned by 40 days. Total intake per group was recorded daily. On day 25, 40 and 48, body weights were recorded, and plasma samples were taken and analyzed for glucose, free amino-acids and insulin. On day 48, all animals were slaughtered and pancreas samples were analyzed for total DNA and RNA content. Histological sections of pancreas were examined by light microscope and images analyzed by dedicated software. Seven days after the beginning of the weaning program, dry matter intake in the WEAN group began to decrease compared to the MILK one. Nonetheless, body weight did not differ throughout the study period. Weaning significantly decreased plasma levels of glucose, amino-acids and insulin. No difference was observed in pancreatic DNA and RNA content. Histological analysis of pancreas showed that the size of pancreatic islets was not different, but islet number per section was lower in the pancreas of WEAN animals. In conclusion, weaning affects glucose and amino-acid metabolism and influences endocrine pancreas activity and morphology

Gait Monitoring and Analysis: A Mathematical Approach

Gait abnormalities are common in the elderly and individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s, often leading to reduced mobility and increased fall risk. Monitoring and assessing gait patterns in these populations play a crucial role in understanding disease progression, early detection of motor impairments, and developing personalized rehabilitation strategies. In particular, by identifying gait irregularities at an early stage, healthcare professionals can implement timely interventions and personalized therapeutic approaches, potentially delaying the onset of severe motor symptoms and improving overall patient outcomes. In this paper, we studied older adults affected by chronic diseases and/or Parkinson’s disease by monitoring their gait due to wearable devices that can accurately detect a person’s movements. In our study, about 50 people were involved in the trial (20 with Parkinson’s disease and 30 people with chronic diseases) who have worn our device for at least 6 months. During the experimentation, each device collected 25 samples from the accelerometer sensor for each second. By analyzing those data, we propose a metric for the “gait quality” based on the measure of entropy obtained by applying the Fourier transform

Risk factors and control of hospital acquired infections: a comparison between Wikipedia and scientific literature

Background: nowadays Wikipedia is one of the main on-line sources of general information. It contains several items about nosocomial infections and their prevention, together of items on virtually every scientific topic. This study aims to assess whether Wikipedia can be considered a reliable source for professional updating, concerning Healthcare-associated Infections (HAI). Methods: Wikipedia has been searched in order to gather items on HAI. 387 items were found with a search string. The field of research was reduced at those articles (27 items) containing exhaustive information in relation to prevention of HAI. The messages contained in those articles were than compared with the recommendations of a selected guideline (NICE 2003), completed by a literature search, with the aim of testing their reliability and exhaustivity. Results: 15 Wiki items were found and 51 messages selected. NICE guidelines contained 119 recommendations and 52 more recommendations has been found in a further literature search. 45.1% of Wikipedia’s messages were even found in the guidelines. On this percentage, 21.6% completely agreed with the messages of the guidelines, 15.7% partially agreed, 3.9% disagreed and 3.9% showed different level of evidence in different articles. Moreover, 54.9% of Wikipedia’s messages were not included in the guidelines and 84.2% of the recommendations contained in the guidelines were not present in Wikipedia. Conclusions: Wikipedia should not be considered as a reliable source for professional updating on HAI

Clinical correlates of "pure" essential tremor: the TITAN study

BackgroundTo date, there are no large studies delineating the clinical correlates of "pure" essential tremor (ET) according to its new definition.MethodsFrom the ITAlian tremor Network (TITAN) database, we extracted data from patients with a diagnosis of "pure" ET and excluded those with other tremor classifications, including ET-plus, focal, and task-specific tremor, which were formerly considered parts of the ET spectrum.ResultsOut of 653 subjects recruited in the TITAN study by January 2022, the data of 208 (31.8%) "pure" ET patients (86M/122F) were analyzed. The distribution of age at onset was found to be bimodal. The proportion of familial cases by the age-at-onset class of 20 years showed significant differences, with sporadic cases representing the large majority of the class with an age at onset above 60 years. Patients with a positive family history of tremor had a younger onset and were more likely to have leg involvement than sporadic patients despite a similar disease duration. Early-onset and late-onset cases were different in terms of tremor distribution at onset and tremor severity, likely as a function of longer disease duration, yet without differences in terms of quality of life, which suggests a relatively benign progression. Treatment patterns and outcomes revealed that up to 40% of the sample was unsatisfied with the current pharmacological options.DiscussionThe findings reported in the study provide new insights, especially with regard to a possible inversed sex distribution, and to the genetic backgrounds of "pure" ET, given that familial cases were evenly distributed across age-at-onset classes of 20 years. Deep clinical profiling of "pure" ET, for instance, according to age at onset, might increase the clinical value of this syndrome in identifying pathogenetic hypotheses and therapeutic strategies

The prevention of falls in patients with Parkinson's disease with in-home monitoring using a wearable system: a pilot study protocol

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer via the DOI in this recordBACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative condition that gradually worsens motor function and leads to postural instability and, eventually, falls. Several factors may influence the frequency of future falls, such as slowness, freezing of gait, loss of balance, and mobility problems, cognitive impairments, and the number of previous falls. The TED bracelet is an advanced technological wearable device able to predict falls. AIMS: This principal aim is to investigate the feasibility of a full-scale research project that uses the TED bracelet to identify whether individuals with PD are at risk of falling. METHODS: This study will involve a pilot prospective observational study design; the subjects will include 26 patients suffering from mild PD and 26 others with no PD and no gait problems. Data will be collected from the TED bracelet and then compared to a paper-based fall diary. The enrolled participants will have a scheduled outpatient evaluation to collect both clinical and instrumental data as well as biological samples. DISCUSSION: This pilot study could then be implemented in a larger form to further evaluate the effectiveness of the TED device. Finally, it will help further develop gait monitoring systems for people with Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases that can affect physical function and mobility, such as dementia and Alzheimer's. CONCLUSIONS: Preventing falls and their complications could lead to major advancements in the quality of home care for patients with PD, which would significantly impact the quality of life of both these patients and their caregivers.Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR

Primary brain calcification: an international study reporting novel variants and associated phenotypes.

Primary familial brain calcification (PFBC) is a rare cerebral microvascular calcifying disorder with a wide spectrum of motor, cognitive, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. It is typically inherited as an autosomal-dominant trait with four causative genes identified so far: SLC20A2, PDGFRB, PDGFB, and XPR1. Our study aimed at screening the coding regions of these genes in a series of 177 unrelated probands that fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for primary brain calcification regardless of their family history. Sequence variants were classified as pathogenic, likely pathogenic, or of uncertain significance (VUS), based on the ACMG-AMP recommendations. We identified 45 probands (25.4%) carrying either pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants (n = 34, 19.2%) or VUS (n = 11, 6.2%). SLC20A2 provided the highest contribution (16.9%), followed by XPR1 and PDGFB (3.4% each), and PDGFRB (1.7%). A total of 81.5% of carriers were symptomatic and the most recurrent symptoms were parkinsonism, cognitive impairment, and psychiatric disturbances (52.3%, 40.9%, and 38.6% of symptomatic individuals, respectively), with a wide range of age at onset (from childhood to 81 years). While the pathogenic and likely pathogenic variants identified in this study can be used for genetic counseling, the VUS will require additional evidence, such as recurrence in unrelated patients, in order to be classified as pathogenic

Demographic and clinical determinants of neck pain in idiopathic cervical dystonia.

Cervical dystonia is associated with neck pain in a significant proportion of cases, but the mechanisms underlying pain are largely unknown. In this exploratory study, we compared demographic and clinical variables in cervical dystonia patients with and without neck pain from the Italian Dystonia Registry. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated a higher frequency of sensory trick and a lower educational level among patients with pain

Clinical correlates of “pure” essential tremor: the TITAN study

BackgroundTo date, there are no large studies delineating the clinical correlates of “pure” essential tremor (ET) according to its new definition.MethodsFrom the ITAlian tremor Network (TITAN) database, we extracted data from patients with a diagnosis of “pure” ET and excluded those with other tremor classifications, including ET-plus, focal, and task-specific tremor, which were formerly considered parts of the ET spectrum.ResultsOut of 653 subjects recruited in the TITAN study by January 2022, the data of 208 (31.8%) “pure” ET patients (86M/122F) were analyzed. The distribution of age at onset was found to be bimodal. The proportion of familial cases by the age-at-onset class of 20 years showed significant differences, with sporadic cases representing the large majority of the class with an age at onset above 60 years. Patients with a positive family history of tremor had a younger onset and were more likely to have leg involvement than sporadic patients despite a similar disease duration. Early-onset and late-onset cases were different in terms of tremor distribution at onset and tremor severity, likely as a function of longer disease duration, yet without differences in terms of quality of life, which suggests a relatively benign progression. Treatment patterns and outcomes revealed that up to 40% of the sample was unsatisfied with the current pharmacological options.DiscussionThe findings reported in the study provide new insights, especially with regard to a possible inversed sex distribution, and to the genetic backgrounds of “pure” ET, given that familial cases were evenly distributed across age-at-onset classes of 20 years. Deep clinical profiling of “pure” ET, for instance, according to age at onset, might increase the clinical value of this syndrome in identifying pathogenetic hypotheses and therapeutic strategies

Terapia intra-articolare ecoguidata nel trattamento dell'artrosi dell'anca.

Obiettivo: Scopo dello studio è quello di determinare l’efficacia e la sicurezza della terapia infiltrativa con acido ialuronico sotto guida ecografica nel trattamento della coxartrosi. Metodo: Sono stati reclutati 24 pazienti con coxartrosi sintomatica e trattati con un ciclo di 3 infiltrazioni a distanza di 7 giorni l’una dall’altra. Le infiltrazioni sono state eseguite sotto guida ecografica con approccio anteriore parasagittale. L’efficacia del trattamento è stata valutata attraverso lo score del dolore (scala VAS) a tempo 0, dopo ogni infiltrazione e a 3 mesi dall’inizio del ciclo; abbiamo compilato Harris Hip Score a tempo 0 e a 3 mesi. Risultati: Si è riscontrato un miglioramento dei valori VAS fino dalla prima infiltrazione e dell’Harris Hip Score e VAS a distanza di 3 mesi e 6 mesi. Non si sono osservati effetti collaterali o complicazioni sistemiche. Conclusioni: La tecnica garantisce a breve e medio termine il miglioramento della sintomatologia dei pazienti sia in termini di dolore che di funzionalità articolare con soddisfazione del paziente stesso. Non abbiamo dati sui risultati a lungo termine ma le impressioni per il futuro fanno intravedere che la terapia infiltrativa abbia un suo spazio nella prevenzione dell’artrosi d’anca in modo da ritardare, specialmente nel paziente giovane, l’intervento chirurgico. E’ da considerare inoltre la possibilità di proporre questo trattamento a pazienti che non vogliano o non possano, per patologie concomitanti, sottoporsi all’intervento di sostituzione protesica