Non-ceruloplasmin bound copper and ATP7B gene variants in Alzheimer's disease.

ATP7B, a protein mainly expressed in the hepatocytes, is a copper chaperone that loads the metal into the serum copper-protein ceruloplasmin during its synthesis and also escorts superfluous copper into the bile, by a sophisticated trafficking mechanism. Impaired function of this ATPase is associated with a well-known inborn error of copper metabolism, Wilson's disease (WD). Several mutations of ATP7B are known, involving different regions of the protein, thus resulting in a plethora of phenotypes in WD patients. It is a consolidated notion that copper dysmetabolism occurs in Alzheimer's disease (AD) as well. Besides the molecular mechanisms relating copper to the protein hallmarks of this disease and neurodegeneration, more recently the observation that a free-copper in the serum, not bound to ceruloplasmin (non-Cp-Cu), characterizes AD patients, prompted our research to identify possible genetic defects of the ATP7B gene in AD patients. Four specific single nucleotide polymorphisms and a WD rare mutation have a statistical association with AD. They contribute to characterize a copper subtype of AD. Additional facets of this AD phenotype, typified by higher levels of non-Cp-Cu, are presented and discussed in the framework of copper failure as an accelerator risk factor of neurological disorders with different aetiology.

Benefits from dietary polyphenols for brain aging and Alzheimer's disease.

Brain aging and the most diffused neurodegenerative diseases of the elderly are characterized by oxidative damage, redox metals homeostasis impairment and inflammation. Food polyphenols can counteract these alterations in vitro and are therefore suggested to have potential anti-aging and brain-protective activities, as also indicated by the results of some epidemiological studies. Despite the huge and increasing amount of the in vitro studies trying to unravel the mechanisms of action of dietary polyphenols, the research in this field is still incomplete, and questions about bioavailability, biotransformation, synergism with other dietary factors, mechanisms of the antioxidant activity, risks inherent to their possible pro-oxidant activities are still unanswered. Most of all, the capacity of the majority of these compounds to cross the blood-brain barrier and reach brain is still unknown. This commentary discusses recent data on these aspects, particularly focusing on effects of curcumin, resveratrol and catechins on Alzheimer's disease.

[Monotherapy, empirical and targetted, with imipenem-cilastatin in sepsis of bacterial origin]. / La monoterapia, empirica e mirata, con imipenem-cilastatina nelle sepsi ad eziologia batterica.

The authors describe an open study in 22 patients with febrile conditions of unknown origin who were treated with imipenem-cilastatin while waiting for routine laboratory and culture tests. These were done immediately at the patients' entry into hospital, after which imipenem-cilastatin treatment was started immediately, and was subsequently confirmed by the isolates and culture tests. The drug was found to be active and to eradicate the responsible organism in all cases. In addition, it was found to be easy to handle and not to give rise to side-effects or changes in laboratory tests.