Search results for " parkin"
showing 10 items of 122 documents
Effects of Substantia Nigra pars compacta lesion on the behavioral sequencing in the 6-OHDA model of Parkinson’s disease
2019
The basal ganglia circuitry plays a crucial role in the sequential organization of behavior. Here we studied the behavioral structure of the animals after 21 days of 6-OHDA-induced lesion of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal system. Frequencies and durations of individual components of the behavioral repertoire were calculated; moreover, whether a temporal organization of the activity was present, it was investigated by using T-pattern analysis, a multivariate approach able to detect the real-time sequential organization of behavior. Six sham-depleted and six rats with unilateral 6−OHDA-lesion of the Substantia Nigra pars compacta were used. As to quantitative evaluations, the comparison betwe…
Impact of recommendations on the initial therapy of Parkinson’s disease: A population-based study in France
2011
International audience; Levodopa induces long-term motor complications in Parkinson's disease (PD). Therapeutic strategies that prevent motor complications are needed. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of recommendations of a French consensus conference published in 2000 on initial PD therapy. We identified 308 PD patients as part of a population-based study performed within the Mutualité Sociale Agricole in five French districts (2007). Neurologists confirmed PD diagnosis. We compared initial therapy in 102 patients treated before 12/31/2000 to that of 206 patients treated afterwards. Initial treatment was in agreement with the recommendations if dopamine agonists were used in patients <6…
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…
Sporadic Parkinson disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis complex (Brait-Fahn-Schwartz disease).
2012
Clinical evidence for parkinsonism may accompany Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis with a frequency ranging from 5% to 17%. The concurrence of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, outside the known Guam and Kii Peninsula foci, is instead rare, but this raises the possibility of a common pathogenesis. Clinically this complex presents with a levodopa-responsive parkinsonism and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and has been termed Brait-Fahn-Schwartz disease. Here we describe two patients with this uncommon neurodegenerative complex. Both presented with Parkinson disease and progressed to a full blown Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. We further suggest that the association of Parkinso…
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…
Pallidotomy improves quality of life in selected parkinsonian patients: an Italian report.
1998
Pallidotomy has recently been reconfirmed as effective for otherwise intractable symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Nonetheless almost every aspect of its performance requires choices which are not fully established and may vary between centers. These include: 1) patient selection; 2) choice of imaging modality, 3) choice of anatomic landmarks for targeting the lesion, 4) choice of method for physiologic confirmation of location, 5) choice of lesion size and shape. We present two cases of pallidotomy procedures in Parkinsonian patients that in our knowledge are the first reported in Italy. Our experience and a careful review of the literature led to the following choices: 1) selection of Park…
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…
High-frequency rTMS improves time perception in Parkinson disease.
2004
Patients with Parkinson disease (PD) are impaired in time processing. The authors investigated the effects of high-frequency (5 Hz) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients with PD performing a time reproduction task. The authors found significant improvement in time processing induced by rTMS when trains were applied over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) but not over the supplementary motor area, suggesting that the circuit involving the basal ganglia and the DLPFC might constitute the neural network subserving time perception.
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…
Impaired reproduction of second but not millisecond time intervals in Parkinson's disease
2008
The basal ganglia have been associated with temporal processing in ranges of milliseconds and seconds. However, results from PD patient studies are elusive. Time perception in these patients has been tested with different approaches including repetitive movement tasks (i.e. finger tapping) and cognitive tasks (i.e. time reproduction), and both abnormal and normal performances have been reported for different time intervals. Furthermore, when PD patients were required to learn two target durations in the same session when they were off medication, they overestimated the short duration and underestimated the long duration in the seconds range. This pattern of temporal accuracy was described a…