Search results for "dysfunction"

Immune Alterations in Frailty Syndrome and Cognitive Impairment.

2020

Incidence and Clinical Impact of Right Ventricular Involvement (Biventricular Ballooning) in Takotsubo Syndrome: Results From the GEIST Registry

2021

Background: The short- and long-term prognosis of Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) presenting with right ventricular (RV) involvement remains poorly understood. Research Question: What is the incidence and clinical outcome of RV involvement in TTS? Study Design and Methods: This study analyzed 839 consecutive patients with TTS (758 female subjects and 81 male subjects) in a multicenter registry. RV involvement was defined as wall motion abnormality of the RV free wall, with or without apical involvement. The median long-term follow-up was 2.1 years (interquartile range, 0.3-4.5 years). The primary outcome was in-hospital and out-of-hospital all-cause mortality. The secondary end point was a composi…

The Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with dementia or mild cognitive impairment: A systematic review and meta-an…

2022

The COVID-19 pandemic may have a disproportionate impact on people with dementia/mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to isolation and loss of services. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in people living with dementia/MCI. Two authors searched major electronic databases from inception to June 2021 for observational studies investigating COVID-19 and NPS in people with dementia/MCI. Summary estimates of mean differences in NPS scores pre- versus post-COVID-19 were calculated using a random-effects model, weighting cases using inverse variance. Study quality and risk of bias were assessed by the Newcastl…

Effect of COVID-19 quarantine on cognitive, functional and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

2022

Abstract Background During the last two years, COVID-19 affected older people with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), but conflicting and sparse results are still present. The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency and type of changes in functional, cognitive and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), and caregiver’s stress during the period of quarantine in 2020 in patients affected by dementia/MCI living in Palermo, Sicily. Methods Outpatients affected by MCI/dementia were evaluated before and after COVID-19 quarantine. Functional status was investigated using basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL); cognitive performance with…

Can the effects of gender, menopause and ageing on lipid levels be differentiated?

2016

The menopause, as well as ageing in both genders, can influence cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk1. An atherogenic lipoprotein profile, including small dense low density lipoprotein (sdLDL) particles, can be present even in normolipidaemic healthy young individuals (about 6%)2. If confirmed by larger studies, it will be necessary to consider different risk stratifications for those with atherogenic normolipidaemia and those with non-atherogenic hypercholesterolaemia. Furthermore, other changes associated with the menopause (increase in lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] levels, central obesity, endothelial dysfunction and systemic inflammation) may contribute to pro-atherogenic changes, while ethnicit…

Cardiac Micro–Computed Tomography Imaging of the Aging Coronary Vasculature

2012

Background— Alterations at the level of the coronary circulation with aging may play an important role in the evolution of age-associated changes in left ventricular (LV) fibrosis and function. However these age-associated changes in the coronary vasculature remain poorly defined primarily due to the lack of high resolution imaging technologies. The current study was designed to utilize cardiac micro–computed tomography (micro-CT) technology as a novel imaging strategy, to define the 3-dimensional coronary circulation in the young and aged heart and its relationship to LV fibrosis and function. Methods and Results— Young (2 months old; n=10) and aged (20 months old; n=10) Fischer rats unde…

0149: Agonistic anti β3-adrenoceptor antibodies do not affect the β1-adrenoceptor-mediated inotropy and the β3 adrenoceptor-mediated vasorelaxation i…

2014

Cardiac activity of autoantibodies (AABs) directed against β1-adrenoceptor (β1-AR) has been proposed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy. Our previous work has shown that the immunization of rats with the second extracellular loop (ECII) of β1-AR induced endothelial dysfunction in aorta and mesenteric arteries. However, until now, no study has explored the cardiovascular effects of β3-AABs alone or combined with β1-AABs.AimTo evaluate whether β3-AABs possess β3-AR agonistic effect and whether active immunization producing β3-AABs and/or β1-AABs has deleterious effects on cardiac and vascular reactivity in Lewis rats.MethodsLewis rats were immunized for 3 …

Mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-2)--maker of and marker for nitrate tolerance in response to nitroglycerin treatment.

2008

The hemodynamic and anti-ischemic effects of nitroglycerin (GTN) are rapidly blunted as a result of the development of nitrate tolerance. Long-term nitrate treatment also is associated with decreased vascular responsiveness caused by changes in intrinsic mechanisms of the tolerant vasculature itself. According to the oxidative stress concept, increased vascular superoxide and peroxynitrite production as well as an increased sensitivity to vasoconstrictors secondary to activation of protein kinase C as well as vascular NADPH oxidases contribute to the development of tolerance. Recent experimental work has defined new tolerance mechanisms, including inhibition of the enzyme that bioactivates …

Biomarkers Related to Synaptic Dysfunction to Discriminate Alzheimer’s Disease from Other Neurological Disorders

2022

Recently, the synaptic proteins neurogranin (Ng) and α-synuclein (α-Syn) have attracted scientific interest as potential biomarkers for synaptic dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we measured the CSF Ng and α-Syn concentrations in patients affected by AD (n = 69), non-AD neurodegenerative disorders (n-AD = 50) and non-degenerative disorders (n-ND, n = 98). The concentrations of CSF Ng and α-Syn were significantly higher in AD than in n-AD and n-ND. Moreover, the Aβ42/Ng and Aβ42/α-Syn ratios showed statistically significant differences between groups and discriminated AD patients from n-AD patients, better than Ng or α-Syn…

Genistein effect on cognition in prodromal Alzheimer's disease patients : the GENIAL clinical trial

2022

Background: Delaying the transition from minimal cognitive impairment to Alzheimer’s dementia is a major concern in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) therapeutics. Pathological signs of AD occur years before the onset of clinical dementia. Thus, long-term therapeutic approaches, with safe, minimally invasive, and yet efective substances are recommended. There is a need to develop new drugs to delay Alzheimer’s dementia. We have taken a nutritional supplement approach with genistein, a chemically defned polyphenol that acts by multimodal specifc mechanisms. Our group previously showed that genistein supplementation is efective to treat the double transgenic (APP/PS1) AD animal model. Methods: In this…