Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2019
Inflammatory markers in cerebrospinal fluid: independent prognostic biomarkers in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?
Inflammation is a key pathological hallmark in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which seems to be linked to the disease progression. It is not clear what the added diagnostic and prognostic value are of inflammatory markers in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with ALS. ⋯ Our findings show that inflammation in patients with ALS reflects the disease progression as an independent predictor of survival. Our data encourage the use of inflammatory markers in patient stratification and as surrogate markers of therapy response in clinical trials.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2019
Randomized Controlled TrialEffects of vitamin D supplementation on cognitive function and blood Aβ-related biomarkers in older adults with Alzheimer's disease: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Our study aimed to assess the effect of a 12-month vitamin D supplementation on cognitive function and amyloid beta (Aβ)-related biomarkers in subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS : This was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. 210 AD patients were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. Participants received 12-month 800 IU/day of vitamin D or starch granules as placebo. Tests of cognitive performance and Aβ-related biomarkers were measured at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. RESULTS : Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant improvements in plasma Aβ42, APP, BACE1, APPmRNA, BACE1mRNA (p<0.001) levels and information, arithmetic, digit span, vocabulary, block design and picture arrange scores (p<0.05) in the intervention group over the control group. According to mixed-model analysis, vitamin D group had significant increase in full scale IQ during follow-up period (p<0.001). ⋯ Daily oral vitamin D supplementation (800 IU/day) for 12 months may improve cognitive function and decrease Aβ-related biomarkers in elderly patients with AD. Larger scale longer term randomised trials of vitamin D are needed.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2019
Randomized Controlled TrialLong-term safety and efficacy of deutetrabenazine for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia.
To evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of deutetrabenazine in patients with tardive dyskinesia (TD). ⋯ Overall, long-term treatment with deutetrabenazine was efficacious, safe, and well tolerated in patients with TD.
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Anxiety is an adaptive response that promotes harm avoidance, but at the same time excessive anxiety constitutes the most common psychiatric complaint. Moreover, current treatments for anxiety-both psychological and pharmacological-hover at around 50% recovery rates. Improving treatment outcomes is nevertheless difficult, in part because contemporary interventions were developed without an understanding of the underlying neurobiological mechanisms that they modulate. ⋯ In this article, we discuss the distinction between fear and anxiety, before reviewing translational research on the neural circuitry of anxiety in animal models and how it relates to human neuroimaging studies across both healthy and clinical populations. We highlight the roles of subcortical regions (and their subunits) such as the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, the amgydala, and the hippocampus, as well as their connectivity to cortical regions such as dorsal medial and lateral prefrontal/cingulate cortex and insula in maintaining anxiety responding. We discuss how this circuitry might be modulated by current treatments before finally highlighting areas for future research that might ultimately improve treatment outcomes for this common and debilitating transdiagnostic symptom.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2019
Multicenter StudyPredicting symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage after mechanical thrombectomy: the TAG score.
There is limited data on predictors of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage (sICH) in patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy. In this study, we aim to determine those predictors with external validation. ⋯ High TAG scores are associated with sICH in patients receiving mechanical thrombectomy. Larger studies are needed to validate this scoring system and test strategies to reduce sICH risk and make thrombectomy safer in patients with elevated TAG scores.