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Our lab is interested in studying
peripheral nervous system diseases
from different points of view going from basic cellular events to pathological
aspects in animal models to clinical studies in humans. Peripheral
nerves lie outside the brain and spinal cord and are responsible for
stimulating muscles, allowing voluntary movements, transmitting sensations and
controlling involuntary (autonomic) activities, such as blood pressure and
heart rate. Peripheral neuropathies can be hereditary or acquired. Common
inherited peripheral neuropathies include Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease (CMT),
also known as Hereditary Motor and Sensory Neuropathy, Dejerine-Sottas Disease
and Friedreich’s Ataxia. Acquired peripheral neuropathies are a common
complication of worldwide diffuse pathologies like diabetes mellitus and HIIV
infection or side effects of chemotherapy regimens. Another important group of
peripheral neuropathies includes acquired inflammatory neuropathies like
Guillain-Barrè syndrome and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).
They are characterized by an autoimmune attack on the myelin (insulation around
individual nerve fibers, called axons) resulting in demyelination. Loss of
myelin can occur in sensory, motor or autonomic nerves and can be severe enough
to cause degeneration of the whole nerve fibers.
In particular our lab is
interested in improving the diagnostic level of peripheral neuropathies with
innovative techniques, in treating disabling symptoms like neuropathic pain, and
finally in investigating cellular mechanisms of neurodegeneration and
neuroprotection in order to find therapeutic agents able to promote axonal
regeneration and nerve protection.
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