Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic systemic disease that manifests via various symptoms such as chronic fatigue, post-exertional malaise, and cognitive impairment described as “brain fog”. These symptoms often prevent patients from keeping up their pre-disease onset lifestyle, as extended periods of physical or mental activity become almost impossible. However, the disease presents heterogeneously with varying severity across patients. Therefore, consensus criteria have been designed to provide a diagnosis based on symptoms. To date, no biomarker-based tests or diagnoses are available, since the molecular changes observed also largely differ from patient to patient. In this review, we discuss the infectious, genetic, and hormonal components that may be involved in CFS pathogenesis, we scrutinize the role of gut microbiota in disease progression, we highlight the potential of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) for the development of diagnostic tools and briefly mention the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 infection causing CFS.

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by amyloid-β (Aβ) plaque deposition and neurofibrillary tangle accumulation in the brain. Although several studies have been conducted to unravel the complex and interconnected pathophysiology of AD, clinical trial failure rates have been high, and no disease-modifying therapies are presently available. Fluid biomarker discovery for AD is a rapidly expanding field of research aimed at anticipating disease diagnosis and following disease progression over time. Currently, Aβ1–42, phosphorylated tau, and total tau levels in the cerebrospinal fluid are the best-studied fluid biomarkers for AD, but the need for novel, cheap, less-invasive, easily detectable, and more-accessible markers has recently led to the search for new blood-based molecules. However, despite considerable research activity, a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the main blood-based biomarker candidates is still lacking. In this narrative review, we discuss the role of proteins, lipids, metabolites, oxidative-stress-related molecules, and cytokines as possible disease biomarkers. Furthermore, we highlight the potential of the emerging miRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as diagnostic tools, and we briefly present the role of vitamins and gut-microbiome-related molecules as novel candidates for AD detection and monitoring, thus offering new insights into the diagnosis and progression of this devastating disease.

Background: Tetanus infection remains a significant complication of wounds. Because most tetanus treatment guidelines rely on anamnestic data collected directly from patients, the congruence between anamnesis and laboratory evidence must be verified, especially in the elderly population.Aim: Assess, in both the geriatric population (>65) and the non-geriatric one, the reliability of anamnestic data for managing patients with tetanus-risk wounds, identified categories of populations most exposed to non-vaccination coverage, and assessed the agreement of the Tetanos Quick Stick (TQS) results with the therapy performed (administration of tetanus vaccine or immunoglobulin).Methods: In this retrospective single-center observational study, patients were asked their immunization status against tetanus vaccination. The decision to administer a vaccine or immunoglobulin was therefore clinical and based on anamnestic criteria. The TQS test was then given to patients who were unaware of their immunity status. Patients who thought they knew it but were not sure were given the TQS test to determine whether the anamnestic collection was supported by the test. The TQS test results were compared with the anamnestic data.Results: Most patients, geriatric and not geriatric, did not know their immune status. Among those who reported knowing their immune status, there was no agreement between the vaccine coverage declared by patients and the TQS test results (p < 0.001), mainly in geriatric patients but also in the control group. Elderly and women had significantly lower positive TQS test results (p < 0.001). There was a statistically significant discrepancy (p < 0.001) between the therapy based on anamnestic data and the TQS test results.Conclusion: The reliability of anamnestic data for the management of patients with tetanus-risk wounds is low and decreases with age, becoming minimal in geriatric patients. Elderly and women are less likely to have an effective vaccination status against tetanus.

Background Myelin-oligodendrocyte-glycoprotein (MOG)-IgG-positivity in patients with typical MS lesions on MRI may lead to diagnostic/therapeutic uncertainty. Objective and Methods We reviewed reports of cases with MS phenotype on MRI and MOG-IgG-positivity published in Pubmed between 01/2012–06/2021. Results Sixteen patients were included (median age [range], 37,5 [25–66] years; 60% female). Three patients initially tested negative for MOG-IgG. Disease course was: relapsing-remitting, 10; or progressive, 6. Intrathecal IgG-synthesis was common (79%). Low and high-efficacy MS-targeted agents prevented relapses in 30% and 100%, respectively. None of the patients showed resolution of MRI T2-lesions over time. Conclusions MOG-IgG-positivity is unlikely to alter the expected treatment response and outcomes in patients with otherwise typical MS phenotype on MRI.

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High altitude can be a hostile environment and a paradigm of how environmental factors can determine illness when human biological adaptability is exceeded. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of high-altitude sickness, including its epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatments. The first section of our work defines high altitude and considers the mechanisms of adaptation to it and the associated risk factors for low adaptability. The second section discusses the main high-altitude diseases, highlighting how environmental factors can lead to the loss of homeostasis, compromising important vital functions. Early recognition of clinical symptoms is important for the establishment of the correct therapy. The third section focuses on high-altitude pulmonary edema, which is one of the main high-altitude diseases. With a deeper understanding of the pathogenesis of high-altitude diseases, as well as a reasoned approach to environmental or physical factors, we examine the main high-altitude diseases. Such an approach is critical for the effective treatment of patients in a hostile environment, or treatment in the emergency room after exposure to extreme physical or environmental factors.

In this paper we evaluate the effects of UHF electromagnetic fields (in different configurations) on a blood bag, to show that the effects are small enough to support the use of UHF RFID also in the blood transfusion supply chain

Introduction: Olfactory impairment and REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) are common non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, often preceding the onset of the specific motor symptoms and, thus, crucial for strategies directed to anticipate PD diagnosis. In this context, the specific interaction between olfactory impairment and RBD has not been clearly defined. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the possible role of olfactory impairment and other clinical characteristics as possible predictors of higher scores at RBD screening questionnaire (RBDSQ) in a large population of PD patients. Methods: In this study, 590 PD patients were included from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative. Demographic and clinical features were registered. All participants completed motor and non-motor evaluations at the baseline visit. For motor assessments, the disease severity was evaluated by the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) pars III. Regarding non-motor symptoms assessment, Montreal Cognitive Assessments (MoCA), University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) and RBD screening questionnaire (RBDSQ) were registered. Results: Among 590 PD patients included in this study, 111 patients with possible RBD were found (18.8%). RBD was less frequent in female PD patients (p  ≤  0.011). Among patients with or without possible RBD diagnosis, statistically significant differences in MDS-UPDRS III (23.3 ± 11.4 vs. 19.7 ± 9.1, respectively, p  ≤  0.002) and in UPSIT score (19.7 ± 8.3 vs. 22.6 ± 8.0, respectively, p  ≤  0.001) were found. Moreover, significant correlations between RBDSQ versus UPDRS III score and versus UPSIT score were observed. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that UPSIT was the most significant predictor of higher scores at RBDSQ, while the other significant predictors were UPDRS III and age. Conclusions: The severity of olfactory impairment appears tightly correlated to RBD symptoms, highlighting the role of these biomarkers for PD patients. Additionally, according to this large study, our data confirmed that RBD in PD patients exhibits peculiar gender differences.