Distinctive Under-Expression Profile of Inflammatory and Redox Genes in the Blood of Elderly Patients with Cardiovascular Disease

Purpose: Chronic low-grade inflammation and oxidative stress are present in most of the pathologic mechanisms underlying non-communicable diseases. Inflammation and redox biomarkers might therefore have a value in disease prognosis and therapy response. In this context, we performed a case–control study for assessing in whole blood the expression profile of inflammation and redox-related genes in elderly subjects with various comorbidities. Patients and Methods: In the blood of 130 elderly subjects with various pathologies (cardiovascular disease, hypertension, dyslipidemia including hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus), kept under control by polyvalent disease-specific medication, we investigated by pathway-focused qRT-PCR a panel comprising 84 inflammation-related and 84 redox-related genes. Results: The study highlights a distinctive expression profile of genes critically involved in NF-κB-mediated inflammation and redox signaling in the blood of patients with cardiovascular disease, characterized by significant down-regulation of the genes NFKB2, NFKBIA, RELA, RELB, AKT1, IRF1, STAT1, CD40, LTA, TRAF2, PTGS1, ALOX12, DUOX1, DUOX2, MPO, GSR, TXNRD2, HSPA1A, MSRA, and PDLIM1. This gene expression profile defines the transcriptional status of blood leukocytes in stable disease under medication control, without discriminating between disease- and therapy-related changes. Conclusion: The study brings preliminary proof on a minimally invasive strategy for monitoring disease in patients with cardiovascular pathology, from the point of view of inflammation or redox dysregulation in whole blood.Research and publication of the present study was funded by the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research through the European Regional Development Fund, Competitiveness Operational Program 2014–2020 [the REDBRAIN project, ID: P_37_732] and through Programme 1 – Development of the national researchdevelopment system [grant 7PFE/2018

Characterizing Advanced Parkinson’s Disease: Romanian Subanalysis from the OBSERVE-PD Study

OBSERVE-PD was a cross-sectional, multicountry, observational study conducted in 128 Movement Disorders Centers (MDCs) in 18 countries. Overall, the study enrolled 2615 patients. The aim was to determine the proportion of patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease (APD) versus non-APD from MDCs and to uncover the clinical burden of APD, as well as a correlation between overall assessment of APD and several indicators of APD. The advanced stage of the disease and severity were assessed by investigators using their clinical judgement. Data were collected during a single visit between February 2015 and January 2016. Agreement on physician judgement of APD diagnosis and fulfillment of at least one previously established APD indicator was calculated. Motor and nonmotor symptoms (NMSs), activities of daily living, treatment complications, quality of life (QoL), conventional treatments, and device-aided therapy (DAT) eligibility were assessed. Here, country-specific results of 161 Romanian patients with PD are presented. In total, 59.0% of patients were diagnosed with APD and 78.8% met at least one APD indicator. There was only moderate agreement between clinical judgement of APD and overall fulfillment of APD indicators. All scores related to motor symptoms, NMSs, and treatment complications, as well as to QoL, showed a higher disease burden for patients with APD versus non-APD. Physicians considered 73.7% of patients with APD eligible for DAT. The majority of patients eligible for DAT (54.3%) did not receive such treatment. Our results highlight the importance of earlier recognition of APD, by combining clinical judgement with more standardized clinical tools, such as generally recognized APD criteria. However, timely diagnosis of APD alone is not enough to improve patient outcomes. Other critical factors include patient acceptance and access to appropriate treatment

Illusory own body perceptions mapped in the cingulate cortex—An intracranial stimulation study

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