Generation of iPSC lines derived from skin fibroblasts of two healthy controls using non-transmissible form of Sendai Virus.

We established two iPSC lines starting from skin fibroblasts of two healthy individuals using Sendai-virus-based technique. The obtained iPSCs were characterized showing same STR profile as starting fibroblasts, normal karyotype, loss of stemness vectors, expression of stemness markers, both through real-time PCR and immunofluorescence, (OCT4, SOX2, TRA-1-60, NANOG and SSEA4) and in vitro differentiation into three germ layers.

Pitfals in recognition and management of trigeminal neuralgia.

BACKGROUND: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a severe, disabling form of painful cranial neuropathy. Even though TN has a typical clinical picture, diagnosis it is often missed or delayed in clinical practice. In order to investigate the occurrence of diagnostic and therapeutic errors in TN, we studied 102 patients suffering from TN recruited through a multicentric survey. METHODS: We performed a Pubmed database search on errors and pittfalls in TN diagnosis and management. Then, patients with TN were consecutively enrolled in the period from February 2017 to October 2019, by several European Headache Centers participating in the study, following a call of the Headache and Pain Scientific Panels of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN). Diagnosis of Classical Trigeminal Neuralgia (CTN) was made according to the International Headache Society (IHS) criteria (Tölle et al., Pain Pract 6:153-160, 2006). All the patients were evaluated using telephone/frontal interviews conducted by headache/pain specialists using an ad hoc questionnaire. RESULTS: A number of 102 patients were recruited, mostly females (F:M ratio 2.64:1). Eighty-six percent of the patients consulted a physician at the time they experienced the first pain attacks. Specialists consulted before TN diagnosis were: primary care physicians (PCP) (43.1%), dentists (in 30.4%), otorhinolaryngologists (3.9%), neurosurgeons (3.9%), neurologists or headache specialists (14.7%), others (8%). The final diagnosis was made mainly by a neurologist or headache specialist (85.3%), and the mean interval between the disease onset and the diagnosis made by a specialist was 10.8 ± 21.2 months. The "diagnostic delay" was 7.2 ± 12.5 months, and misdiagnoses at first consultation were found in 42.1% of cases. Instrumental and laboratory investigations were carried out in 93.1% of the patients before the final diagnosis of TN. CONCLUSION: While TN has typical features and it is well defined by the available international diagnostic criteria, it is still frequently misdiagnosed and mistreated. There is a need to improve the neurological knowledge in order to promptly recognize the clinical picture of TN and properly adhere to the specific guidelines. This may result in a favorable outcome for patients, whose quality of life is usually severely impaired.

The role of diet and lifestyle in adolescents with headache: a review.

Several dietary habits and lifestyles can be associated with different headache types or with their progression to chronic forms. Different population-based studies have tried to investigate this relationship with poor or contradictory results. We shortly reported the current knowledges available in literature in this regard, paying particular attention to the role that certain factors play in modifying frequency and intensity of headache in adults and in adolescents. Future studies are necessary to clarify the real weight which the different factors have in natural history and in clinic evolution of headache, especially in adolescence, but the already known data suggest an important modulating action. If they will be confirmed, these results will be likely to influence clinical practice as well to address educational programs in preadolescents and adolescents.