ALS Cognitive Behavioral Screen-Phone Version (ALS-CBS™-PhV): norms,psychometrics, and diagnostics in an Italian population sample

Neurological Sciences - Up to 50% of motor neuron disease (MND) patients show neuropsychological deficits which negatively affect prognosis and care. However, disability-related logistical issues...     

Psychometrics and diagnostics of Italian cognitive screening tests: a systematic review

Neurological Sciences - Cognitive screening tests (CSTs) are crucial to neuropsychological diagnostics, and thus need to be featured by robust psychometric and diagnostic properties. However, CSTs...     

Short- and long-term motor outcome of STN-DBS in Parkinson’s Disease: focus on sex differences

Neurological Sciences - Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is an established treatment for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) with motor complications; the contribution...     

Clinical features and cognitive sequelae in COVID-19: a retrospective study on N=152 patients

Neurological Sciences - The novel human coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) shows neurotropism and systemically affects the central nervous system (CNS). Cognitive deficits have been indeed reported as both...     

Episodic long-term memory in post-infectious SARS-CoV-2 patients

Neurological Sciences - Episodic long-term memory (LTM) difficulties/deficits are frequent in COVID-19-recovered patients and negatively impact on prognosis and outcome. However, little is known...     

Human pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor stabilizes intestinal mucosa against noxious agents

Pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor (PSTI) is a serine protease inhibitor, expressed in gut mucosa, whose function is unclear. We, therefore, examined the effects of PSTI on gut stability and repair. Transgenic mice overexpressing human PSTI within the jejunum (FABPi(-1178 to +28) hPSTI construct) showed no change in baseline morphology or morphometry but reduced indomethacin-induced injury in overexpressing hPSTI region by 42% (P < 0.01). Systemic recombinant hPSTI did not affect baseline morphology or morphometry but truncated injurious effects in prevention and recovery rat models of dextran-sodium-sulfate-induced colitis. In vitro studies showed PSTI stimulated cell migration but not proliferation of human colonic carcinoma HT29 or immortalized mouse colonic YAMC cells. PSTI also induced changes in vectorial ion transport (short-circuit current) when added to basolateral but not apical surfaces of polarized monolayers of Colony-29 cells. Restitution and vectorial ion transport effects of PSTI were dependent on the presence of a functioning epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor because cells with a disrupted (EGFR(-/-) immortalized cells) or neutralized (EGFR blocking antibodies or tyrosine kinase inhibitor) receptor prevented these effects. PSTI also reduced the cytokine release of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated dendritic cells. We conclude that administration of PSTI may provide a novel method of stabilizing intestinal mucosa against noxious agents and stimulating repair after injury.