Human Cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus specific immunity in patients with ulcerative colitis

Clinical and Experimental Medicine - Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are endowed with the ability of establishing lifelong latency in human hosts and reactivating in...     

Manganese superoxide dismutase activity and incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with Child-Pugh class A liver cirrhosis: a 7-year follow-up study.

AIMS: To evaluate possible modifications in the manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) activity during neoplastic transformation of a cirrhotic liver and to find out whether its assessment may have predictive value to identify cirrhotic patients at a higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Seventy-one consecutive subjects with Child-Pugh class A liver cirrhosis were recruited. At the time of enrolment, HCC was diagnosed in 20 cirrhotic patients. The 51 cirrhotic patients without HCC were followed up for the occurrence of tumour by 6-monthly screening for 7 years. During follow-up, 16 patients developed HCC. Seventy healthy subjects formed the control group. MnSOD activity was assayed spectrophotometrically. RESULTS: Serum MnSOD activity was significantly lower in 70 healthy subjects compared with 51 cirrhotic patients and 20 cirrhotic patients with HCC. Cirrhotic patients who developed HCC during follow-up showed significantly higher values of MnSOD activity than HCC-free patients. The best cut-off of MnSOD activity was 0.40 U/ml. At this cut-off, chi2 analysis revealed that MnSOD activity was significantly different between the HCC-free cirrhotic patients and cirrhotic patients who developed HCC. CONCLUSION: The present findings suggest that during neoplastic transformation of cirrhotic liver, an increase in MnSOD activity may occur already during the precancerous phase, making this enzyme a probable malignancy-associated parameter.     

Prefrontal Cortex Activated Bilaterally by a Tilt Board Balance Task: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study in a Semi-Immersive Virtual Reality Environment

The aim of this study was to assess the prefrontal cortex (PFC) oxygenation response to a 5-min incremental tilt board balance task (ITBBT) in a semi-immersive virtual reality (VR) environment driven by a depth-sensing camera. It was hypothesized that the PFC would be bilaterally activated in response to the increase of the ITBBT difficulty, given the PFC involvement in the allocation of the attentional resources to maintain postural control. Twenty-two healthy male subjects were asked to use medial–lateral postural sways to maintain their equilibrium on a virtual tilt board (VTB) balancing over a pivot. When the subject was unable to maintain the VTB angle within ±35° the VTB became red (error). An eight-channel fNIRS system was employed for measuring changes in PFC oxygenated-deoxygenated hemoglobin (O₂Hb-HHb, respectively). Results revealed that the number of the performed board sways and errors augmented with the increasing of the ITBBT difficulty. A PFC activation was observed with a tendency to plateau for both O₂Hb-HHb changes within the last 2 min of the task. A significant main effect of the level of difficulty was found in O₂Hb and HHb (p < 0.001). The study has demonstrated that the oxygenation increased over the PFC while the subject was performing an ITBBT in a semi-immersive VR environment. This increase was modulated by the task difficulty, suggesting that the PFC is bilaterally involved in attention-demanding tasks. This task could be considered useful for diagnostic testing and functional neurorehabilitation given its adaptability in elderly and in patients with movement disorders.     

Presence, distribution and steroidogenic effect of the peptides orexin A and receptor 1 for orexins in the testis of the South American camelid Alpaca (Vicugna pacos)

The orexins A (oxA) and B are peptides discovered in the rat hypothalamus and successively found in some peripheral organs of the mammalian body. They binds two protein G-coupled receptors defined receptor 1 (ox1r) and 2 for orexins, the first of which is highly specific for oxA while the second binds both the peptides with equal affinity. This work aimed to detect the presence of oxA and ox1r in the testis of the South American camelid alpaca (Vicugna pacos) and investigate the role played by them on Leydig cell steroidogenesis. The species alpaca acquired, in the last years, increasing zootechnical interest for the quality of the wool produced and its breeding spread from the country of origin to USA, Australia and Europe. Immunohistochemistry allowed us to detect oxA in Leydig and Sertoli cells, spermatogonia, resting spermatocytes, round and oval spermatids. Ox1r-immunoreactivity was found in Leydig cells and round, oval and elongated spermatids. The expression of the two peptides in tissue extracts was established by using Western blotting technique. Such results demonstrated that in the alpaca testis exists in a cellular complex able to produce and/or internalize oxA. Finally, the effect of oxA on steroidogenesis was investigated by means of in vitro cultured thin testis slices which were added with oxA or/and Müllerian Inhibiting Substance (MIS), a steroidolitic agent basally produced by the Sertoli cell. OxA evoked increase of testosterone production while MIS a decrease. The consecutive addition of oxA and MIS, or vice versa, highlighted an antagonistic interplay between the two substances which has been thought to be the main molecular event at the basis of the oxA-stimulated steroidogenesis mechanism.     

Diagnosis, assessment and management of delusional jealousy in Parkinson’s disease with and without dementia

Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) may present delusional jealousy (DJ). In a previous cross-sectional prevalence study we identified 15 cognitively preserved and five demented PD patients with DJ. The current study aimed at evaluating their clinical (motor and non-motor) characteristics and the pharmacological treatments associated with DJ, and its subsequent pharmacological management. Patients were assessed by neurologists and psychiatrists using the Hoehn and Yahr scale, the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Hamilton Anxiety Scale and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Efficacy of DJ management was evaluated in follow-up visits. All patients were in therapy with dopamine agonists. A subgroup of five cognitively preserved patients developed DJ after a short period of treatment of therapy with dopamine agonists, while other patients developed DJ after a longer period of dopaminergic treatment. Psychiatric comorbidities were common in cognitively preserved and in demented patients. The pharmacological management included the interruption of dopamine agonists in two patients and the reduction of dopamine agonist dose plus the use of antipsychotics in other patients. These clinical data suggest that the management of medicated PD patients should include investigation for the presence of DJ and the evaluation of clinical characteristics potentially relevant to the prevention or the early recognition of delusions.