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Muscle & Nerve 03/2011; 43(3):453-4. · 2.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to perform a careful neurophysiological examination to identify subclinical signs of botulinum toxin spread distant to the injection site following intragastric injection for obesity treatment. Single-fiber electromyography of extensor digitorum communis and repetitive stimulation of abductor digiti minimi were performed before and 8 days after multiple intragastric injections of botulinum toxin A (Botox, 200 U per patient) or placebo. The study was performed in a randomized double-blind fashion. No patient in either group displayed results indicative of neuromuscular dysfunction either before or after the treatment. No significant change in muscle jitter was observed when comparing baseline with the after-treatment evaluation in either group, and no significant differences between groups were observed. After intragastric botulinum toxin injection no subclinical sign of distant spread was observed.
Muscle & Nerve 08/2010; 42(2):165-9. · 2.37 Impact Factor
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Cristoforo Comi,
Maurizio Osio,
Massimo Ferretti,
Riccardo Mesturini,
Giuseppe Cappellano,
Annalisa Chiocchetti,
Miryam Carecchio, Caterina Nascimbene,
Claudia Varrasi,
Roberto Cantello,
Claudio Mariani,
Francesco Monaco,
Umberto Dianzani
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ABSTRACT: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) are immune-mediated neuropathies. GBS is characterized by acute onset and subsequent remission of symptoms, whereas CIDP displays slow progression over at least 2 months. However, a small proportion of CIDP patients display acute onset CIDP (a-CIDP) resembling that of GBS. The Fas receptor is involved in shutting off the immune response and its defective function predisposes to auto-immune diseases. In CIDP patients, Fas function is lower than in GBS patients and healthy controls. This study is aimed at assessing whether evaluation of T-cell Fas function helps in early discrimination between GBS and a-CIDP. Fas function was evaluated in patients with acute onset polyneuropathy: 55 retrospective patients analyzed after development of GBS or a-CIDP before year 2005; 50 prospective patients analyzed at onset after year 2005 and followed up for development of GBS or a-CIDP. In both groups, a-CIDP patients displayed defective Fas function, whereas GBS patients displayed normal function. These findings suggest that the evaluation of Fas function in acute onset polyneuropathy helps in early prediction of long-term outcome.
Journal of the Peripheral Nervous System 07/2009; 14(2):101-6. · 2.80 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Peripheral neuropathies are extremely heterogeneous nosological entities. One of the most common symptoms is pain, the underlying mechanisms of which are numerous and complex. Inflammation, reparative processes, and anatomical and gene expression alterations lead to chronic pain, the persistence of which is sustained by peripheral and central sensitisation mechanisms. Treatment of peripheral neuropathies is targeted to its symptomatic and aetiological features. For pain relief, several types of drugs may be used, notably antidepressants (e.g. tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and both serotonin and noradrenaline [norepinephrine] reuptake inhibitors), antiepileptic drugs (e.g. carbamazepine, phenytoin, lamotrigine, valproic acid, gabapentin, topiramate and pregabalin), NSAIDs and opioid analgesics. Aetiological therapy is aimed at modifying the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the neuropathy, some of which are common in different neuropathic conditions. Certain drugs are known to exert more than one action on different pathophysiological mechanisms. This is the case with acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC), which can be considered both a symptomatic therapy that can be used in any kind of painful neuropathy, and an aetiological therapy, at least in diabetic neuropathy and neuropathies induced by nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and cancer chemotherapeutic agents. ALC acts via several mechanisms, inducing regeneration of injured nerve fibres, reducing oxidative stress, supporting DNA synthesis in mitochondria, and enhancing nerve growth factor concentrations in neurons.
CNS Drugs 02/2007; 21 Suppl 1:3-12; discussion 45-6. · 4.80 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Antiretroviral toxic neuropathy causes morbidity in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients under dideoxynucleoside therapy, benefits only partially from medical therapy, and often leads to drug discontinuation. Proposed pathogeneses include a disorder of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, eventually related to a reduction of mitochondrial DNA content, and interference with nerve growth factor activity. Carnitine is a substrate of energy production reactions in mitochondria and is involved in many anabolic reactions. Acetyl carnitine treatment promotes peripheral nerve regeneration and has neuroprotective properties and a direct analgesic role related to glutamatergic and cholinergic modulation. The aim of this study was to evaluate acetyl-l-carnitine in the treatment of painful antiretroviral toxic neuropathy in HIV patients. Twenty subjects affected by painful antiretroviral toxic neuropathy were treated with oral acetyl-l-carnitine at a dose of 2,000 mg/day for a 4-week period. Efficacy was evaluated by means of the modified Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire with each item rated on an 11-point intensity scale at weekly intervals and by electromyography at baseline and final visit. Mean pain intensity score was significantly reduced during the study, changing from 7.35 +/- 1.98 (mean +/- SD) at baseline to 5.80 +/- 2.63 at week 4 (p = 0.0001). Electrophysiological parameters did not significantly change between baseline and week 4. In this study, acetyl-l-carnitine was effective and well tolerated in symptomatic treatment of painful neuropathy associated with antiretroviral toxicity. On the contrary, no effect was noted on neurophysiological parameters.
Journal of the Peripheral Nervous System 04/2006; 11(1):72-6. · 2.80 Impact Factor
