Oxidative stress, body fat composition, and endocrine status in pre- and postmenopausal women

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of menopause on the regional composition and distribution of fat in women and eventual correlations with the oxidative state. DESIGN: In this observational clinical investigation, 90 women (classified for menopause status according to Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop criteria) were evaluated for body mass composition and fat distribution by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and for oxidative status by determination of serum hydroperoxide levels and residual antioxidant activity. RESULTS: Total body fat mass increases significantly in postmenopause (P < 0.05) by 22% in comparison with premenopause, with specific increases in fat deposition at the level of trunk (abdominal and visceral) (P < 0.001) and arms (P < 0.001). Concomitantly, the antioxidant status increases significantly (P < 0.001) by 17%. When data were adjusted for age by analysis of covariance, statistical significance disappeared for the increase in fat mass, but it was retained for antioxidant status (P < 0.05). Both antioxidant status and hydroperoxide level increased with trunk fat mass, as shown by linear correlation analysis (r = 0.46, P < 0.001 and r = 0.26, P < 0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The results of our investigation demonstrate that fat content increases in the upper part of the body (trunk and arms) in postmenopause and that age is the main determinant of this increase. During the comparison of premenopausal and postmenopausal women, we also detected a significant increase in antioxidant status. Apparently this change is mainly related to menopausal endocrine and fat changes.     

Essential role of hippocampal noradrenaline in the regulation of spatial working memory and TDP‐43 tissue pathology

Extensive loss of noradrenaline‐containing neurons and fibers is a nearly invariant feature of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). However, the exact noradrenergic contribution to cognitive and histopathological changes in AD is still unclear. Here, this issue was addressed following selective lesioning and intrahippocampal implantation of embryonic noradrenergic progenitors in developing rats. Starting from about 3 months and up to 12 months post‐surgery, animals underwent behavioral tests to evaluate sensory‐motor, as well as spatial learning and memory, followed by post‐mortem morphometric analyses. At 9 months, Control, Lesioned and Lesion + Transplant animals exhibited equally efficient sensory‐motor and reference memory performance. Interestingly, working memory abilities were seen severely impaired in Lesion‐only rats and fully recovered in Transplanted rats, and appeared partly lost again 2 months after ablation of the implanted neuroblasts. Morphological analyses confirmed the almost total lesion‐induced noradrenergic neuronal and terminal fiber loss, the near‐normal reinnervation of the hippocampus promoted by the transplants, and its complete removal by the second lesion. Notably, the noradrenergic‐rich transplants normalized also the nuclear expression of the transactive response DNA‐binding protein 43 (TDP‐43) in various hippocampal subregions, whose cytoplasmic (i.e., pathological) occurrence appeared dramatically increased as a result of the lesions. Thus, integrity of ascending noradrenergic inputs to the hippocampus may be required for the regulation of specific aspects of learning and memory and to prevent TDP‐43 tissue pathology.     

Long-term neurophysiological and clinical response in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy treated with subcutaneous immunoglobulin

Objective

To assess the long-term effects of subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIg) on neurophysiological and clinical parameters in patients affected by chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP).