José Ferro

Publications (4)3.47 Total impact

• Article: Response to comment on "Cerebral venous thrombosis in Behcet's disease: a systematic review" by Afshin Borhani-Haghighi and Anahid Safari.

  Diana Aguiar de Sousa, Tiago Mestre, José Ferro
  Journal of Neurology 03/2011; 258(5):908-9. · 3.47 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Paulo Bugalho

  Article: Motor dysfunction correlates with frontal white matter ischemic changes in patients with leukoaraiosis.

  Miguel Viana-Baptista, Paulo Bugalho, Constança Jordão, Olga Ribeiro, José António Esperança-Pina, José Ferro
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  ABSTRACT: Objectives. To test the relation between white matter lesions (WML) location and physical performance, in aged patients. Methods. SUBJECTS: 29 patients (17 males), aged >65 (mean age 72.6 ± 5.2), with leukoaraiosis. WML was quantified with a visual scale; Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) was measured bilaterally in frontal periventricular lesioned white matter and frontal and parieto-occipital normal appearing white matter (NAWM). Motor performance was studied using the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), single leg stand time, finger tapping and grooved pegboard tests (GPT). Results. There were significant correlations between the frontal region visual scale scores and SPPB chair stands (r = -0.379; P = .039) and Grooved Pegboard (r = 0.393; P = .032); frontal NAWM ADC values and SPPB standing balance (r = -0.450; P = .014) and SPPB 4 meter walk (r = -0.379; P = .043). Conclusion. Frontal WML are negatively related to motor performance in patients with leukoaraiosis. DWI results suggest that this may be true even for NAWM.
  Journal of aging research 01/2011; 2011:950341.
• Article: Variants of the Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 but not the Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 genes significantly influence functional outcome after stroke

  Helena Manso, Tiago Krug, João Sobral, Isabel Albergaria, Gisela Gaspar, José Ferro, Sofia Oliveira, Astrid Vicente
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  ABSTRACT: Abstract Background Multiple lines of evidence suggest that genetic factors contribute to stroke recovery. The matrix metalloproteinases -2 (MMP-2) and -9 (MMP-9) are modulators of extracellular matrix components, with important regulatory functions in the Central Nervous System (CNS). Shortly after stroke, MMP-2 and MMP-9 have mainly damaging effects for brain tissue. However, MMPs also have a beneficial activity in angiogenesis and neurovascular remodelling during the delayed neuroinflammatory response phase, thus possibly contributing to stroke functional recovery. Methods In the present study, the role of MMP-2 and MMP-9 genetic variants in stroke recovery was investigated in 546 stroke patients. Functional outcome was assessed three months after a stroke episode using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and patients were classified in two groups: good recovery (mRS ≤ 1) or poor recovery (mRS>1). Haplotype tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MMP-2 (N = 21) and MMP-9 (N = 4) genes were genotyped and tested for association with stroke outcome, adjusting for significant non-genetic clinical variables. Results Six SNPs in the MMP-2 gene were significantly associated with stroke outcome (0.0018< P < 0.0415), two of which survived the Bonferroni correction for multiple testing. In the subset of ischemic stroke patients, association of five of these SNPs remained positive (0.0042< P < 0.0306). No significant associations were found for the MMP-9 gene. Conclusions The results presented strongly indicate that MMP-2 genetic variants are an important mediator of functional outcome after stroke.
  BMC Medical Genetics. 01/2010;
• Article: Mitochondrial haplogroup H1 is protective for ischemic stroke in Portuguese patients

  Alexandra Rosa, Benedita Fonseca, Tiago Krug, Helena Manso, Liliana Gouveia, Isabel Albergaria, Gisela Gaspar, Manuel Correia, Miguel Viana-Baptista, Rita Simões, [......], Ricardo Taipa, Carla Ferreira, João Fontes, Mário Silva, João Gabriel, Ilda Matos, Gabriela Lopes, José Ferro, Astrid Vicente, Sofia Oliveira
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  ABSTRACT: Abstract Background The genetic contribution to stroke is well established but it has proven difficult to identify the genes and the disease-associated alleles mediating this effect, possibly because only nuclear genes have been intensely investigated so far. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been implicated in several disorders having stroke as one of its clinical manifestations. The aim of this case-control study was to assess the contribution of mtDNA polymorphisms and haplogroups to ischemic stroke risk. Methods We genotyped 19 mtDNA single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) defining the major European haplogroups in 534 ischemic stroke patients and 499 controls collected in Portugal, and tested their allelic and haplogroup association with ischemic stroke risk. Results Haplogroup H1 was found to be significantly less frequent in stroke patients than in controls (OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.45–0.83, p = 0.001), when comparing each clade against all other haplogroups pooled together. Conversely, the pre-HV/HV and U mtDNA lineages emerge as potential genetic factors conferring risk for stroke (OR = 3.14, 95% CI = 1.41–7.01, p = 0.003, and OR = 2.87, 95% CI = 1.13–7.28, p = 0.021, respectively). SNPs m.3010G>A, m.7028C>T and m.11719G>A strongly influence ischemic stroke risk, their allelic state in haplogroup H1 corroborating its protective effect. Conclusion Our data suggests that mitochondrial haplogroup H1 has an impact on ischemic stroke risk in a Portuguese sample.
  BMC Medical Genetics. 01/2008;