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Restorative Neurology: From Bench to Bedside and Vice Versa. Advances...
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Restorative Neurology: From Bench to Bedside and Vice Versa. Advances and Challenges

A special issue of Medicina (ISSN 1648-9144).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2019) | Viewed by 14009

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Caridad Ivette Fernandez Verdecia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Center of Neurological Restoration (CIREN), Basic Division, La Habana, Cuba
Interests: Translational processes in neurodegenerative diseases, particularly, Alzheimer disease and mild cognitive impairment and age-related cognitive disabilities; evaluation of new drugs/nonconventional therapies and life style modifiers to restore neurodisabilities and improve quality of life; neurological restoration as a multifactorial therapeutic approach
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Pamela A. Maher

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
Interests: aging; natural products; glutathione; oxidative stress; ferroptosis; Alzheimer’s disease
Dr. Isaac G. Onyango

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Gencia Biotech Corporation, Charlottesville, VA, USA
Interests: signal transduction; growth factors; cell death mechanisms and modulation of mitochondrial biogenesis in human aging and metabolic diseases

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There are a number of neurodegenerative processes, neurovascular pathologies and traumatic lesions of the central nervous system (CNS) for which no effective treatment options are currently available. These devastating diseases exhibit progressive and chronic neurodisabilities with a major impact on quality of life. Additionally, the increase in life expectancy increases the need for the development of new, adequate treatment options for these patients. To develop strategies for the repair of the impaired brain and spinal cord, extensive research efforts have been implemented, particularly during the last three decades under the new formed specialty, restorative neurology.

Its contemporary practice includes intervention modalities involving physical, cognitive, environmental/daily activities and behavioral approaches, neurophysiology, pharmacology and functional neurosurgery. Thus, the new discipline offers a complementary set of tools to those that are already available as part of conventional neurology and rehabilitation, based on its multidisciplinary, multi-target, intensive and personalized criteria. Major advances in the current basic research of restorative neuroscience have contributed to preclinical and clinical studies, which have proved that the restorative neurology approach is feasible and effective. This Special Issue will present and discuss the neurological restoration impact on both neurodisabilities and processes of neural/functional recovery. Contributions will provide a bridge between achieved results and future effective treatment strategies designed to improve even more the patient’s quality of life.

Dr. Caridad Ivette Fernandez Verdecia
Prof. Dr. Pamela A. Maher
Dr. Isaac G. Onyango
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Medicina is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • functional recovery
  • neurodisabilities
  • neurological restoration
  • neuroplasticity
  • translational neuroscience

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1563 KiB  
Article
Nurr1, Pitx3, and α7 nAChRs mRNA Expression in Nigral Tissue of Rats with Pedunculopontine Neurotoxic Lesion
by Lisette Blanco-Lezcano, Esteban Alberti-Amador, María Elena González-Fraguela, Guadalupe Zaldívar-Lelo de Larrea, Rosa Martha Pérez-Serrano, Nadia Angélica Jiménez-Luna, Teresa Serrano-Sánchez, Liliana Francis-Turner, Dianet Camejo-Rodriguez and Yamilé Vega-Hurtado
Medicina 2019, 55(10), 616; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina55100616 - 20 Sep 2019
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2327
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The knowledge that the cholinergic neurons from pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) are vulnerable to the degeneration in early stages of the Parkinson disease progression has opened new perspectives to the development of experimental model focused in pontine lesions that could [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: The knowledge that the cholinergic neurons from pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) are vulnerable to the degeneration in early stages of the Parkinson disease progression has opened new perspectives to the development of experimental model focused in pontine lesions that could increase the risk of nigral degeneration. In this context it is known that PPN lesioned rats exhibit early changes in the gene expression of proteins responsible for dopaminergic homeostasis. At the same time, it is known that nicotinic cholinergic receptors (nAChRs) mediate the excitatory influence of pontine-nigral projection. However, the effect of PPN injury on the expression of transcription factors that modulate dopaminergic neurotransmission in the adult brain as well as the α7 nAChRs gene expression has not been studied. The main objective of the present work was the study of the effects of the unilateral neurotoxic lesion of PPN in nuclear receptor-related factor 1 (Nurr1), paired-like homeodomain transcription factor 3 (Pitx3), and α7 nAChRs mRNA expression in nigral tissue. Materials and Methods: The molecular biology studies were performed by means of RT-PCR. The following experimental groups were organized: Non-treated rats, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-lesioned rats, and Sham operated rats. Experimental subjects were sacrificed 24 h, 48 h and seven days after PPN lesion. Results: Nurr1 mRNA expression, showed a significant increase both 24 h (p < 0.001) and 48 h (p < 0.01) after PPN injury. Pitx3 mRNA expression evidenced a significant increase 24 h (p < 0.001) followed by a significant decrease 48 h and seven days after PPN lesion (p < 0.01). Finally, the α7 nAChRs nigral mRNA expression remained significantly diminished 24 h, 48 h (p < 0.001), and 7 days (p < 0.01) after PPN neurotoxic injury. Conclusion: Taking together these modifications could represent early warning signals and could be the preamble to nigral neurodegeneration events. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Restorative Neurology: From Bench to Bedside and Vice Versa. Advances and Challenges)
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13 pages, 319 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Frankel’s Stabilization Exercises and Stabilometric Platform in the Balance in Elderly Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial
by Grzegorz Mańko, Magdalena Pieniążek, Sabina Tim and Małgorzata Jekiełek
Medicina 2019, 55(9), 583; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina55090583 - 11 Sep 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5059
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Every year, older people are becoming a larger part of the population. In a couple of years medicine is going to struggle with specific disorders and their consequences, where one of them are falls. Fall prevention involves a use of [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: Every year, older people are becoming a larger part of the population. In a couple of years medicine is going to struggle with specific disorders and their consequences, where one of them are falls. Fall prevention involves a use of strengthening exercises, equivalent exercises, stabilometric platforms, and special exercise programs. Almost the entire brain is involved in maintaining correct balance. Reduction of a volume of gray matter negatively affects balance. Single exercise sessions do not significantly improve balance. In order to achieve satisfactory results at least 10 training sessions are required. The aim of this study is to determine if there is a correlation between a risk of falls, gender, and a risk of falls and the age of the subjects. Another reason to conduct that research was to assess the effectiveness of Frankel’s exercises and training of using the stabilometric platform in rehabilitation, which aims to reduce the risk of falls among elderly people. Materials and Methods: The study involved 40 elderly patients referred for physiotherapy to a rehabilitation center. The patients were divided into two groups of 20 people. In experimental group 1 (C) Frankel’s stabilization exercises were used; in experimental group 2 (E) a stabilometric platform was used. The correlation between the risk of falls and age as well a risk of falling and the gender of the examined persons was taken into consideration. The effect of therapy that uses stabilization exercises and the stabilometric platform on the risk of falls in the examined persons was assessed using the Tinetti scale. Clinical control was performed using the Tinetti scale, before and after a two-week rehabilitation period. Results: The study showed no correlation between the degree of risk of falling and age, and between the risk of falling by the elderly and gender. There were also changes in the results obtained by patients after using the training, both with the use of Frankel’s stabilization exercises as well as with the use of the stabilometric platform. Patients using the dynamometric platform obtained higher results in the Tinetti test after treatment. Conclusions: In the examined sample, no correlation was found between the risk of falls and age as well as the risk of falls and gender. Both Frankel’s exercises and training with the use of the stabilometric platform were effective in a rehabilitation program aimed at reducing the risk of falls among the elderly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Restorative Neurology: From Bench to Bedside and Vice Versa. Advances and Challenges)
9 pages, 1094 KiB  
Article
Novel Characteristics of Race-Specific Genetic Functions in Korean CADASIL
by Yerim Kim and Seung-Hoon Lee
Medicina 2019, 55(9), 521; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina55090521 - 22 Aug 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2866
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Previous studies found differences in the characteristics of NOTCH3 mutations in Caucasians and Asians with cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL). Therefore, we sought to investigate the correlations between genetic and clinical/radiological findings in Korean CADASIL [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: Previous studies found differences in the characteristics of NOTCH3 mutations in Caucasians and Asians with cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL). Therefore, we sought to investigate the correlations between genetic and clinical/radiological findings in Korean CADASIL patients including some variants of unknown significance (VUS). Materials and Methods: We screened 198 patients with a suspected diagnosis of CADASIL between 2005 and 2015 via Sanger sequencing. Results: A total of 34 subjects (52.5 ± 9.5 years) were included. The majority of the mutations were in exon 3 and exon 11. R75P mutations (n = 5), followed by Y465C and R544C mutations (n = 4) were the most prevalent. Patients with those mutations exhibited less frequent anterior temporal (AT) or external capsular (EC) hyperintensities compared to patients with other locus mutations. Hemorrhagic stroke (HS) was found to be associated with mutations in exon 3 (R75P), exon 9 (Y465C), exon 11 (R587C), and exon 22 (R1175W variants), which were common locations in our study. Although it is unclear that genetic differences might affect the phenotypes in ethnicities, Asian population shows less migraine or seizure, but more intracerebral hemorrhage. Unlike in westernized countries, typical AT or EC hyperintensities may not be significant MRI markers, at least in Korean CADASIL patients. Furthermore, similar to R75P phenotypes, it is a novel finding that patients with Y465C and R1175W VUS have less frequent AT involvement than Caucasians. Conclusion: The associations between HS and common genetic locations account for the increased development of intracerebral hemorrhage in Koreans rather than Caucasians. We suggest that some CADASIL mutations appear to impart novel region-specific characteristics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Restorative Neurology: From Bench to Bedside and Vice Versa. Advances and Challenges)
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10 pages, 2452 KiB  
Article
A Novel Noninvasive Approach Based on SPECT and EEG for the Location of the Epileptogenic Zone in Pharmacoresistant Non-Lesional Epilepsy
by Karla Batista García-Ramó, Carlos A. Sanchez Catasus, Lilia Morales Chacón, Angel Aguila Ruiz, Abel Sánchez Corneaux, Pedro Rojas López and Jorge Bosh Bayard
Medicina 2019, 55(8), 478; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina55080478 - 14 Aug 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3118
Abstract
Background and objectives: The aim of this study is to propose a methodology that combines non-invasive functional modalities electroencephalography (EEG) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to estimate the location of the epileptogenic zone (EZ) for the presurgical evaluation of patients [...] Read more.
Background and objectives: The aim of this study is to propose a methodology that combines non-invasive functional modalities electroencephalography (EEG) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to estimate the location of the epileptogenic zone (EZ) for the presurgical evaluation of patients with drug-resistant non-lesional epilepsy. Materials and Methods: This methodology consists of: (i) Estimation of ictal EEG source imaging (ESI); (ii) application of the subtraction of ictal and interictal SPECT co-registered with MRI (SISCOM) methodology; and (iii) estimation of ESI but using the output of the SISCOM as a priori information for the estimation of the sources. The methodology was implemented in a case series as an example of the application of this novel approach for the presurgical evaluation. A gold standard and a coincidence analysis based on measures of sensitivity and specificity were used as a preliminary assessment of the proposed methodology to localize EZ. Results: In patients with good postoperative evolution, the estimated EZ presented a spatial coincidence with the resection site represented by high values of sensitivity and specificity. For the patient with poor postoperative evolution, the methodology showed a partial incoherence between the estimated EZ and the resection site. In cases of multifocal epilepsy, the method proposed spatially extensive epileptogenic zones. Conclusions: The results of the case series provide preliminary evidence of the methodology’s potential to epileptogenic zone localization in non-lesion drug-resistant epilepsy. The novelty of the article consists in estimating the sources of ictal EEG using SISCOM result as a prior for the inverse solution. Future studies are necessary in order to validate the described methodology. The results constitute a starting point for further studies in order to support the clinical reliability of the proposed methodology and advocate for their implementation in the presurgical evaluation of patients with intractable non-lesional epilepsy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Restorative Neurology: From Bench to Bedside and Vice Versa. Advances and Challenges)
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