Search results for " Parkinson’s disease"
showing 10 items of 22 documents
Frequency and Correlates of Subjective Memory Complaints in Parkinson’s Disease with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment: Data from the Parkinson’s…
2018
Subjective memory complaints (SMC) may represent the preclinical phase of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer's disease. Dementia/MCI have been described with a high prevalence in Parkinson's disease (PD), but whether SMC may predict the development of cognitive impairment has been barely explored. To evaluate the frequency and clinical correlates of isolated SMC (PD-SMC) or within the construct of MCI in subjects with PD, 147 PD patients from the PArkinson's disease COgnitive impairment Study (PACOS) were consecutively recruited for the study. This is a multicenter study involving two Movement Disorder Centers in south Italy. All subjects underwent comprehensive neuropsycholog…
Preliminary experience with a transcranial magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound surgery system integrated with a 1.5-T MRI unit in a series o…
2018
OBJECTIVETranscranial magnetic resonance–guided focused ultrasound surgery (tcMRgFUS) is one of the emerging noninvasive technologies for the treatment of neurological disorders such as essential tremor (ET), idiopathic asymmetrical tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease (PD), and neuropathic pain. In this clinical series the authors present the preliminary results achieved with the world’s first tcMRgFUS system integrated with a 1.5-T MRI unit.METHODSThe authors describe the results of tcMRgFUS in a sample of patients with ET and with PD who underwent the procedure during the period from January 2015 to September 2017. A monolateral ventralis intermedius nucleus (VIM) thalamic ablation was pe…
Transgenic expression and activation of PGC-1α protect dopaminergic neurons in the MPTP mouse model of Parkinson’s disease
2011
Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress occur in Parkinson’s disease (PD), but little is known about the molecular mechanisms controlling these events. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) is a transcriptional coactivator that is a master regulator of oxidative stress and mitochondrial metabolism. We show here that transgenic mice overexpressing PGC-1α in dopaminergic neurons are resistant against cell degeneration induced by the neurotoxin MPTP. The increase in neuronal viability was accompanied by elevated levels of mitochondrial antioxidants SOD2 and Trx2 in the substantia nigra of transgenic mice. PGC-1α overexpression also protected against MP…
Sleep quality in caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease and its relationship to quality of life
2012
ABSTRACTBackground: Knowledge about sleep complaints of caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) is limited, and we lack information about the relationship between caregivers’ sleep problems and their quality of life (QoL).Methods: We evaluated subjective sleep quality and its relationship to QoL in a group of 80 caregivers of patients with AD (ADCG, n = 40) and PD (PDCG, n = 40), and in 150 controls. Information about night-time complaints was collected using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). QoL was measured using the McGill QoL Questionnaire.Results: Eighteen ADCG (45%), 22 PDCG (55%), and 45 (30%) controls reported poor sleep quality. Me…
Prevalence of fatigue in Parkinson disease and its clinical correlates
2014
Objective: To assess in a noninterventional setting the prevalence and severity of fatigue in patients with Parkinson disease (PD). Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Italian patients with PD. Objectives included the evaluation of the current prevalence and severity of fatigue in patients with PD measured using the 16-item Parkinson Fatigue Scale (PFS-16), distressing fatigue (defined as a PFS-16 mean score $3.3), and assessment of its clinical correlates. Results: A total of 402 patients were enrolled and 394 patients completed the PFS-16 questionnaire with a PFS-16 mean (6SD) score of 2.87 6 0.99. Of these, 136 patients (33.8%) reported distressing fatigue (PFS-16 mean…
Common Factors in Neurodegeneration: A Meta-Study Revealing Shared Patterns on a Multi-Omics Scale
2020
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer&rsquo
Evaluation of Alpha-Synuclein Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels in Several Neurological Disorders
2022
(1) Background: Alpha-synuclein (α-syn) is a presynaptic neuronal protein that regulates several neuronal functions. In recent decades, the role of α-syn as a biomarker of neurodegenerative diseases has been explored, especially in synucleinopathies. However, only a few studies have assessed its role as biomarker in other neurological disorders. The aim of the study was to evaluate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) α-syn levels in several neurological disorders; (2) Methods: We measured CSF α-syn levels by a commercial ELISA kit in 158 patients classified in the following group: controls, Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), cerebrovascular diseases, inflammatory central nervous …
Electrophysiological correlates of time discrimination in Parkinson's Disease
2011
Formation of covalent di-tyrosine dimers in recombinant α-synuclein
2015
Parkinson's disease is associated with fibril deposition in the diseased brain. Misfolding events of the intrinsically disordered synaptic protein α-synuclein are suggested to lead to the formation of transient oligomeric and cytotoxic species. The etiology of Parkinson's disease is further associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and formation of reactive oxygen species. Oxidative stress causes chemical modification of native α-synuclein, plausibly further influencing misfolding events. Here, we present evidence for the spontaneous formation of covalent di-tyrosine α-synuclein dimers in standard recombinant protein preparations, induced without extrinsic oxidative or nitrative agents. The…
PGC-1α: a master gene that is hard to master
2012
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) is a transcriptional coactivator that favorably affects mitochondrial function. This concept is supported by an increasing amount of data including studies in PGC-1α gene-deleted mice, suggesting that PGC-1α is a rescue factor capable of boosting cell metabolism and promoting cell survival. However, this view has now been called into question by a recent study showing that adeno-associated virus-mediated PGC-1α overexpression causes overt cell degeneration in dopaminergic neurons. How is this to be understood, and can these seemingly conflicting findings tell us something about the role of PGC-1α in cell stress and in cont…