Comparing postural instability and gait disorder and akinetic-rigid subtyping of Parkinson disease and their stability over time.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Parkinson disease (PD) patients are classically classified according to two alternative motor subtyping methods: (i) tremor-dominant versus postural instability and gait disorder; (ii) tremor-dominant versus akinetic-rigid. The degree of overlap between the two classification systems at diagnosis of PD and their temporal stability, as well as the correspondence between the two systems, were examined over a follow-up period of 4 years. METHODS: Newly diagnosed, untreated PD patients were classified as tremor-dominant versus postural instability and gait disorder and tremor-dominant versus akinetic-rigid at baseline and after 2 and 4 years. RESULTS: There was a poor overlap between the two classification systems at any time point and baseline subtype status could not predict 4-year subtype membership. In fact, about half of our cohort shifted category during the first 2 years, regardless of the classification scheme adopted. A lower rate of shift was observed from 2- to 4-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The two classical motor subtyping methods of PD poorly overlap, which implies that a patient can be categorized as tremor-dominant in one classification system but not in the other. Moreover, their temporal instability undermines their prognostic value in the early stage of PD.

Multiple gut-liver axis abnormalities in children with obesity with and without hepatic involvement.

BACKGROUND: Gut-liver axis (GLA) dysfunction appears to play a role in obesity and obesity-related hepatic complications. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to concurrently explore several GLA components in a paediatric obese population with/without liver disease. METHODS: Thirty-two children (mean age 11.2 years) were enrolled: nine controls with normal weight and 23 patients with obesity (OB+). Of the 23 patients OB(+), 12 had not steatosis (ST-), and 11 had steatosis (ST+) (associated [n = 8] or not [n = 3] with hypertransaminasaemia [ALT +/-]). Subjects were characterized by using auxologic, ultrasonographic and laboratory parameters. A glucose hydrogen breath test was performed to test for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, a urinary lactulose/mannitol ratio (LMR) was obtained to assess intestinal permeability, and tests for transaminases, blood endogenous ethanol, endotoxin and faecal calprotectin were also conducted. RESULTS: Eleven out of 23 patients OB(+) (p < 0.05) exhibited pathological (>90th percentile of the control group values) LMR, with values paralleling the grade of liver involvement (normal weight < OB[+] < OB[+]ST[+]ALT[-] < OB[+)]ST[+]ALT[+] [p < 0.05]). LMR significantly correlated with ethanolaemia (r = 0.38, p = 0.05) and endotoxaemia (r = 0.48, p = 0.015) concentrations. Increased permeability was a risk factor for the development of steatosis (p < 0.002). SIBO was present only in patients with obesity. Faecal calprotectin concentrations were within normal limits in all subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Increased permeability, endogenous ethanol and systemic endotoxin concentrations reflect some GLA dysfunction in obesity and its hepatic complications. Pending further results to establish their potential causative roles, the modulation of the GLA appears to represent a possible target for the prevention and treatment of these conditions.

Low glycaemic diet and metformin therapy: a new approach in male subjects with acne resistant to common treatments.

Acne is a common and complex skin disease, with a very complex pathogenesis. Although in women the relationship between acne and insulin resistance is well known, in particular in women with PCOS, in males this relationship has been poorly investigated. In total, 20 subjects with an altered metabolic profile were considered for this study and randomized as follows: 10 patients were treated with metformin plus a hypocaloric diet for 6 months (group A), while 10 patients did not receive any treatment with metformin and were only followed up (group B). All patients of group A, after 6 months of metformin therapy, had a statistically significant improvement compared with patients in group B. Our study reveals the importance of diet and insulin resistance in acne pathogenesis, and underlines the possible use of metformin and diet as possible adjuvant therapy for male patients with acne.

Invasive pneumococcal infections in infants up to three years of age: results of a longitudinal surveillance in North-East Italy.

Pneumococcus is considered one of the main causes of the infections acquired in the community setting and also seems to be the most frequent cause of community-acquired pneumonia in children under 5 years of age. To establish suitable preventive measures as vaccination policy, it would be important to document the incidence of IPD. The main feature of this study was that it demanded a cooperative effort between family pediatricians and those working in the hospitals to estimate the real burden of IPD in children aged 0-36. From 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003, a prospective active surveillance of clinical cases due to S. pneumoniae was conducted by 87 specifically-trained sentinel pediatricians [all family pediatricians] randomly selected from among those working in North-East Italy. Suspected pneumococcal infections were confirmed by blood cultures at the laboratories of the hospitals involved in the study. 32 cases were suspected, 12 of those proved positive on blood culture and 6 of these 12 confirmed cases were hospitalized. 2 were cases of meningitis, 1 of pneumonia and 9 of bacteremia. The cumulative annual incidence was 58.9 cases/100,000 infants aged 0-36 months (95% CI 30.38-102.71), meaning that North-East Italy can be classified as a mesoendemic area. This study demonstrated that the incidence of IPD in infants aged (0-36 months) is often under-estimated, documenting the importance of prospective active surveillance for assisting rational choices for public health issues.