Cognitive and behavioral manifestations in SARS-CoV-2 infection: not specific or distinctive features?

Neurological Sciences - Patients with COVID-19 are increasingly reported to suffer from a wide range of neurological complications, affecting both the central and peripheral nervous system. Among...     

Relationship between self-perceived driving ability and neuropsychological performance in neurological and psychiatric patients

Neurological Sciences - Neurological and psychiatric patients want to keep driving but several sensory, motor, and cognitive deficits could limit this purpose. However, some drivers...     

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy: longitudinal effects of liver transplantation

BACKGROUND: The long-term effects of liver transplantation (LT) on minimal hepatic encephalopathy are poorly documented. OBJECTIVE: To assess the cognitive performance of patients with cirrhosis and without overt encephalopathy, before and after LT. DESIGN: Longitudinal study comparing cognitive performance of patients with cirrhosis before LT and 6 to 18 months after LT, with matched control patients. SETTING: University medical center. RESULTS: Six months after LT, patients had improved their performance in visuospatial and selective attention, visuospatial short-term and long-term memory, and language tasks. After 18 months, a further improvement was found for selective attention and verbal short-term memory, while no other cognitive functions varied over time. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings confirm preliminary studies showing that LT improves cognitive functions in patients with cirrhosis. The cognitive improvement is not generalized, but appears prominent in attention and memory and, once achieved, remains stable. Rates of recovery differ, being early for some functions and later for others.     

In vitro febantel transformation by sheep and cattle ruminal fluids and metabolism by hepatic subcellular fractions from different animal species

Febantel and one of its main metabolites, febantel sulphoxide, are chemically modified to only a slight extent when incubated in vitro with sheep and cattle ruminal fluids; other major metabolites, fenbendazole and oxfendazole, are respectively, oxidized to oxfendazole and reduced to fenbendazole. Febantel is negligibly metabolized by hepatic cytosol fractions but microsome preparations effect more extensive metabolic transformations. Important differences in this respect were found between microsome preparations from rat, horse, pig, cattle, sheep, chicken and trout livers.