A probable role of copper in the comorbidity in Wilson's and Creutzfeldt-Jakob's Diseases: a case report.

BACKGROUND: To the best of our knowledgedd, there is currently no case in the literature reporting the comorbidity of Wilson's and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), linked through copper. CASE PRESENTATION: A 44-year-old male with a history of inherited Wilson's disease (hepatolenticular degeneration), which manifested as mild liver injury and psychiatric symptoms, was admitted to our department due to speech and cognitive disturbances. Upon his admission, he had motor aphasia as well as psychomotor retardation with an otherwise normal neurological examination. Laboratory tests, including liver enzymes, copper and serum ammonia were all within normal range. The brain MRI showed increased T2 signal in the caudate nuclei, attributed to copper deposition in the context of Wilson's disease. In the electroencephalogram, periodic sharp discharges were eminent, initially unilateral and then generalized. The positive 14-3-3 protein in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the new brain MRI, that demonstrated elevated DWI signal not only in the basal ganglia but also in parts of the cerebral cortex (cortical ribbon sign), all supportive of a possible CJD diagnosis. The detection of PrPSc in the patient's CSF, using the RT-QuIC method, which has a 99.4-100% specificity for CJD, made the diagnosis of CJD highly probable. CONCLUSION: This is the first report of Wilson's and Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases co-morbidity in the literature, which could evoke a possible role of copper in the pathogenesis of CJD.

Cognitive decline in Multiple Sclerosis patients.

Cognitive impairment is a common phenomenon in multiple sclerosis (MS), occurring at all stages of the disease, even at the earliest, and can be a major source of disability, social impairment, and impoverished quality of life. Cognitive dysfunction is mainly focused on working memory, conceptual reasoning, verbal fluency, speed of information processing, attention and executive function. Additional clinical factors, including disease course, fatigue and affective disturbance, can impact the degree of MS-related cognitive impairment. We present the results from the two-phases of our prospective study on cognitive decline in MS patients using the data collected from the A' Neurologic clinic at AHEPA hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece. Most of the patients of the present study revealed mild cognitive impairment with mild influence on the everyday function. We found weak correlation between cognitive deficit and the duration of MS, as well as the physical disability status and moderate correlation between cognitive impairment and the type of the disease as well as MRI findings (atrophy and lesion load). Our results also indicate that the currently available battery of neuropsychological tests: California Verbal Learning test (CVLT), Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test and Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) can be used as a reliable tool in the diagnosis of cognitive deficits of MS patients, as related to their degree of disability and to the type of their disease. Evaluation of cognitive functions should be incorporated in the regular assessment and monitoring of MS patients since they seem to be well correlated with the progression of the disease.

A roadmap towards a functional paradigm for learning & memory in plants.

In plants, the acquisition, processing and storage of empirical information can result in the modification of their behavior according to the nature of the stimulus, and yet this area of research remained relatively understudied until recently. As the body of evidence supporting the inclusion of plants among the higher organisms demonstrating the adaptations to accomplish these tasks keeps increasing, the resistance by traditional botanists and agricultural scientists, who were at first cautious in allowing the application of animal models onto plant physiology and development, subsides. However, the debate retains much of its heat, a good part of it originating from the controversial use of nervous system terms to describe plant processes. By focusing on the latest findings on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the well established processes of Learning and Memory, recognizing what has been accomplished and what remains to be explored, and without seeking to bootstrap neuronal characteristics where none are to be found, a roadmap guiding towards a comprehensive paradigm for Learning and Memory in plants begins to emerge. Meanwhile the applications of the new field of Plant Gnosophysiology look as promising as ever.

Late-life Depression and Alzheimer Disease: A Potential Synergy of the Underlying Mechanisms.

A number of biological and clinical characteristics typical of late life depression (LLD) have been suggested by recent research findings. The close association of LLD with cognitive impairment is now well documented and evidenced. However, it is still not clear whether it is depression that leads to cognitive decline, and in more severe cases, to dementia. The work presented in this review article suggests that depression and dementia frequently and strongly copresent, even if the causality remains largely opaque.

The probable auto-antigenic role of lipids (anti-ganglioside antibodies) in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

We examined the sera of 103 demented patients of a mean age of 75 years and 60 age-matched healthy individuals, using ELISA, to investigate the levels of IgM antibodies against GM1, GD1b, and GQ1b gangliosides and their possible correlation with clinical parameters (age, severity, and type of dementia). All the individuals that demonstrated positive titers of anti-ganglioside antibodies were demented patients whereas normal controls showed borderline or negative values. Significant correlation was revealed between IgM anti-GM1 and both the age of the patients and the severity of dementia. Most of the patients with increased IgM anti-GD1b titers suffered from AD.

Synaptic plasticity: a unifying model to address some persisting questions.

Since it was first observed, synaptic plasticity has been considered as the experimental paradigm most likely to provide us with an understanding of how information is stored in the vertebrate brain. Various types have been demonstrated over these past 45 years, most notably long-term potentiation and long-term depression, and their established characteristics as well as their induction and consolidation requirements are highly indicative of this plasticity being the substrate for skills acquisition and mnemonic engraving. The molecular, biochemical, and structural models that have been proposed in the past, although most accommodate some aspect of synaptic plasticity observations, admittedly cannot offer a universally functional connection between all the phenomena that surround and result in the different modifications of synaptic efficacy. As a result, there are a number of persisting questions. In an attempt toward synthesis, we reviewed the most important studies in the field and believe that we can now propose a unifying Model for synaptic plasticity that can accommodate the experimental evidence and reconcile most of the contradictions. Moreover, from this model emerge potential answers to several unyielding questions, namely, accounting for the induction and expression of long-term depression, identifying the plasticity switch, offering a possible explanation for the sliding modification threshold, and proposing a new mechanism for synaptic tagging.

Increase in interleukin-6 levels is related to depressive phenomena in the acute (relapsing) phase of multiple sclerosis.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible connection between interleukin-6, the acute phase (relapse) of multiple sclerosis (MS), and depression. The authors determined and statistically evaluated the levels of interleukin-6 and its soluble receptor in the serum of 28 MS patients in relapsing, 14 MS patients in remission, and 20 control subjects, as well as the presence of depression among these individuals. The results of our study indicate that depression is not only very common during relapses of MS, but also that the levels of IL-6 increase during the acute phase of the disease, especially when depression is detected.

Kimmerle's anomaly as a possible causative factor of chronic tension-type headaches and neurosensory hearing loss: case report and literature review.

Kimmerle's anomaly also known as ponticulus posticus is a common anatomical variation of the atlas, the first cervical vertebra. It is the product of the complete or incomplete ossification of the posterior atlanto-occipital membrane over the vertebral artery groove resulting in the formation of a foramen (arcuate foramen) containing the vertebral artery and the posterior branch of the C-1 spinal nerve. This variation has been associated with vertebro-basilar insufficiency symptoms, various types of headaches, and acute hearing loss. The aim of the present study is to substantiate whether Kimmerle's anomaly is the possible cause of chronic tension-type headaches and neurosensory-type hearing loss in a patient with a known history of headaches and accompanied unilateral hearing loss. The headaches demonstrated the characteristics of the chronic tension-type; the audiometric investigation concluded the hearing loss to be of the neurosensory type; whereas, the imaging examinations revealed the existence of a partial osseous bridge, that is an incomplete arcuate foramen (ponticulus posticus or Kimmerle's anomaly) on the upper surface of atlas. Both the clinical and the radiological findings of this case are indicative of a possible connection between Kimmerle's anomaly and the manifestation of chronic tension-type headaches and neurosensory-type hearing loss.