Search results for "Amy"
showing 10 items of 1486 documents
MTHFR C677T allelic variant is not associated to plasma and cerebrospinal fluid homocysteine in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
2014
Amiotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurological disorder with a multifactorial etiopathogenesis including excitotoxicity, intracellular calcium increase and mitochondrial damage together with oxidative stress and apoptosis. Overall, the relationship between homocysteine (Hcy), motoneuron death and ALS appears to be complex and still under investigation. It has been already shown that Hcy is elevated in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of ALS patients, although mechanisms of hyperhomocysteinemia have not been elucidated yet. MTHFR C677T variant is the most common genetic determinant of increased homocysteinemia, but no studies regarding the effect of this polymorphism in ALS patien…
How are neuroticism and depression related to the psychophysiological stress response to acute stress in healthy older people?
2015
Neuroticism and depressive symptomatology have been related to a heightened and diminished physiological stress response, which may partly explain their negative relationship with health and wellbeing. Identifying factors that may increase disease vulnerability is especially relevant in older people, whose physiological systems decline. With this in mind, we investigated the influence of neuroticism and depression on the psychophysiological stress response in healthy older people (from 55 to 76years old). A total of 36 volunteers were exposed to a stressful task (Trier Social Stress Test, TSST), while 35 volunteers performed a control non-stressful task. The physiological stress response wa…
A feasibility study of application and potential effects of a single session transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on competitive anxiety, m…
2020
Objective : To examine feasibility and potential effects of a single session tDCS over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on competitive anxiety, mood state, and autonomic and endocrine stress responses in elite archer athletes under a real world competition. Methods : Twelve male elite archers volunteered to participate in this pilot trial. Participants were randomized in order to take left anodal DLPFC, left cathodal DLPFC, or sham stimulation (the F3 or F4 areas according to the 10/20 EEG International System) in a within-subject study design. This study included three official competitions. About 45 min before the competition, the tDCS stimulation process was started and the par…
Acute stress does not impair long-term memory retrieval in older people.
2013
Previous studies have shown that stress-induced cortisol increases impair memory retrieval in young people. This effect has not been studied in older people; however, some findings suggest that age-related changes in the brain can affect the relationships between acute stress, cortisol and memory in older people. Our aim was to investigate the effects of acute stress on long-term memory retrieval in healthy older people. To this end, 76 participants from 56 to 76 years old (38 men and 38 women) were exposed to an acute psychosocial stressor or a control task. After the stress/control task, the recall of pictures, words and stories learned the previous day was assessed. There were no differe…
Effect of high-caloric nutrition on serum neurofilament light chain levels in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
2020
Recent publications showed that circulating neurofilaments (Nfs) may be used as a diagnostic biomarker distinguishing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) from ALS mimics with high sensitivity and specificity.1–3 Furthermore, it has been shown that patients with higher Nf levels show faster disease progression1 and shorter survival.2 3 Nf levels remain rather stable during the course of disease.2 Current literature suggests that the diagnostic value of neurofilament light chains (NfL) and phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chains in cerebrospinal fluid is about equal, whereas in blood NfL seems to be superior.4 In this study, we investigated the effect of a high-caloric fatty diet (HCFD) on …
Clinical profile of motor neuron disease patients with lower urinary tract symptoms and neurogenic bladder
2017
Introduction: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are frequent in motor neuron disease (MND) patients, but clinical factors related to them are unknown. We describe differences in LUTS among MND phenotypes and their relationship with other clinical characteristics, including prognosis. Methods: For this study, we collected clinical data of a previously published cohort of patients diagnosed with classical amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (cALS), progressive muscular atrophy (PMA) or primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) with and without LUTS. Familial history was recorded and the C9ORF72 expansion was analysed in the entire cohort Patients were followed-up for survival until August 2016. Results: Fi…
Plasma cortisol level in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
2015
Background. Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis (ALS) is associated with a significant distress, being linked to changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. A loss of cortisol circadian rhythmicity in ALS patients was suggested, while more recently an increased plasma cortisol level in the disease has been reported. Objective. To assay the circadian plasma cortisol level in ALS and to study its relationship with the clinical phenotype and the rate of disease progression. Patients and methods. 135 ALS patients (Bulbar, 33; Spinal, 102; M/F = 1.73) and 110 controls (not affected by neurological or psychiatric disorders, free of drugs; M/F = 1.75) were recruited. Disease progression was…
REM sleep behavior disorder and periodic leg movements during sleep in ALS
2017
Objective To assess sleep characteristics and the occurrence of abnormal muscle activity during sleep, such as REM sleep without atonia (RSWA), REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), and periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS), in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods A total of 41 patients with ALS and 26 healthy subjects were submitted to clinical interview and overnight video-polysomnography. Results A total of 22 patients with ALS (53.6%) reported poor sleep quality. Polysomnographic studies showed that patients with ALS had reduced total sleep time, increased wakefulness after sleep onset, shortened REM and slow-wave sleep, and decreased sleep efficiency, compared t…
Stage-dependent agreement between cerebrospinal fluid proteins and FDG-PET findings in Alzheimer's disease.
2011
Cerebral hypometabolism and abnormal levels of amyloid beta (Aβ), total (t-tau) and phosphorylated tau (ptau) proteins in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are established biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We examined the agreement between these biomarkers in a single center study of patients with AD of severity extending over a wide range. Forty seven patients (MMSE 21.4 ± 3.6, range 13-28 points) with incipient and probable AD underwent positron emission tomography with [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET) and lumbar puncture for CSF assays of Aβ1-42, p-tau181, and t-tau. All findings were classified as either positive or negative for AD. Statistical analyses were performed for the whole samp…
Basal ganglia calcifications and ALS syndrome.
1994
We report the case of a patient with idiopathic hypoparathyroidism and unusually large symmetrical calcifications in the basal ganglia, thalami, cerebellar hemispheres and brainstem, who clinically presented an ALS-like syndrome. We discuss the possible role of abnormal calcium metabolism in the pathogenesis of motoneuron disease.