The authors have investigated the oxidative state of glutathione in red blood cells (RBC) and plasma from patients affected by chronic renal failure (CRF) and from age-matched healthy subjects. RBC-reduced glutatione (GSH) levels were significantly lower in CRF patients than in healthy subjects. Oxidized glutathione (GSSG) levels in plasma from CRF patients were higher than in plasma from controls. GSSG levels in RBC were similar in both groups. No differences were noted in GSH plasma levels between patients and controls. The GSSG/GSH ratios in RBC were similar in the two groups; on the contrary, the GSSG/GSH ratio in plasma was significantly higher in CRF patients. High levels of GSSG in plasma could exert two important effects on RBC: (1) inhibition of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, with a consequent alteration of the glutathione system; (2) GSSG easily reacts with hemoglobin to produce hemoglobin-glutathione mixed disulfides, with a consequent protein aggregation and precipitation. In vitro experiments have shown that RBC from CRF patients easily lyse when incubated with their same plasma, but not when incubated in saline buffer. Our results seem to demonstrate that plasma from CRF patients contains various oxidants which could affect the integrity of the glutathione system in RBC. This alteration could play a role in the pathogenesis of anemia in uremic patients.
Action observation therapy (AOT) has been recently proposed as a new rehabilitation approach for treatment of motor deficits in Parkinson’s disease. To date, this approach has never been used to deal with cognitive deficits (e.g., deficits in working memory, attention), which are impairments that are increasingly recognized in Parkinsonian patients. Typically, patients affected by these dysfunctions have difficulty filtering out irrelevant information and tend to lose track of the task goal. In this paper, we propose that AOT may also be used to improve cognitive abilities of Parkinsonian patients if it is used within a dual task framework. We articulate our hypothesis by pivoting on recent findings and on preliminary results that were obtained through a pilot study that was designed to test the efficacy of a long-term rehabilitation program that, for the first time, uses AOT within a dual task framework for treating cognitive deficits in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Ten Parkinson’s disease patients underwent a 45-min treatment that consisted in watching a video of an actor performing a daily-life activity and then executing it while performing distractive tasks (AOT with dual task). The treatment was repeated three times per week for a total of 4 weeks. Patients’ cognitive/motor features were evaluated through standard tests four times: 1 month before treatment, the first and the last day of treatment and 1 month after treatment. The results show that this approach may provide relevant improvements in cognitive aspects related to working memory (verbal and visuospatial memory) and attention. We discuss these results by pivoting on literature on action observation and recent literature demonstrating that the dual task method can be used to stimulate cognition and concentration. In particular, we propose that using AOT together with a dual task may train the brain systems supporting executive functions through two mechanisms: (i) stimulation of goal setting within the mirror neuron system through action observation and (ii) working memory and persistent goal maintenance through dual task stimuli.
This work presents the results of the first experimentation of +me-the first prototype of Transitional Wearable Companion–run on 15 typically developed (TD) children with ages between 8 and 34 months. +me is an interactive device that looks like a teddy bear that can be worn around the neck, has touch sensors, can emit appealing lights and sounds, and has input-output contingencies that can be regulated with a tablet via Bluetooth. The participants were engaged in social play activities involving both the device and an adult experimenter. +me was designed with the objective of exploiting its intrinsic allure as an attractive toy to stimulate social interactions (e.g., eye contact, turn taking, imitation, social smiles), an aspect potentially helpful in the therapy of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and other Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). The main purpose of this preliminary study is to evaluate the general acceptability of the toy by TD children, observing the elicited behaviors in preparation for future experiments involving children with ASD and other PDD. First observations, based on video recording and scoring, show that +me stimulates good social engagement in TD children, especially when their age is higher than 24 months.
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