LANFRANCHI F.

Purpose: A cut-off of -2 z-score for striatal or putaminal SBR has been to date arbitrarily used to define an abnormal DaT SPECT in patients with suspected neurodegenerative parkinsonism. We aimed to experimentally identify the most accurate z-score cut-offs for SBR of striatal and substriatal regions to independently discriminate PD and DLB,...

Several studies reported that metformin, the most widely used drug for type 2 diabetes, might affect cancer aggressiveness. The biguanide seems to directly impair cancer energy asset, with the consequent phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) inhibiting cell proliferation and tumor growth. This action is most often attributed to...

Purpose: Hyposmia is a common feature of COVID-19 and Parkinson's disease (PD). As parkinsonism has been reported after COVID-19, a link has been hypothesized between SARS-CoV2 infection and PD. We aimed to evaluate brain metabolic correlates of isolated persistent hyposmia after mild-to-moderate COVID-19 and to compare them with metabolic...

Objective: Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reaction to exercise is gender dependent. Nevertheless, clinically applicable methods to identify this difference are still missing. An organ largely sensitive to SNS is the spleen whose response to exercise can be easily evaluated, being included in the field of view of myocardial perfusion imaging...

Background. The redox stress caused by Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) also involves the peripheral blood mononucleated cells (PBMCs) even before chemotherapy. Here, we tested whether lymphocytes and monocytes show a different response to the increased mitochondrial generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Methods. PBMCs, isolated from the blood of...

An emerging clinical need is represented by identifying reliable biomarkers able to dis-criminate between responders and non-responders among patients showing imaging progression during the administration of immune checkpoints inhibitors for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In the present study, we analyzed the prognostic power of...

The last version of the FIGO classification recommended imaging tools to complete the clinical assessment of patients with cervical cancer. However, the preferable imaging approach is still unclear. We aimed to explore the prognostic power of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), contrast-enhanced Computed Tomography (ceCT), and...

Objective: Androgen deprivation therapy alters body composition promoting a significant loss in skeletal muscle (SM) mass through inflammation and oxidative damage. We verified whether SM anthropometric composition and metabolism are associated with unfavourable overall survival (OS) in a retrospective cohort of metastatic castration-resistant...