laura betti

Professore

University of Pisa
Country flagItaly

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About

Laura Betti is a Professor at the Università degli Studi di Pisa, Italy. Her research focuses on neurobiology and entomology, particularly in relation to autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, and the biochemical responses of honeybees (Apis mellifera) to various treatments. Recent publications include investigations into the effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in psychiatric conditions and the impact of dietary modifications on bee physiology.

Articles (14)

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a highly disabling mental disorder arising after traumatism exposure, often revealing critical and complex courses when comorbidity with bipolar disorder (BD) occurs. To search for PTSD or depression biomarkers that would help clinicians define BD presentations, this study aimed at preliminarily evaluating circulating brain-derived-neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in BD subjects with PTSD or experiencing a major depressive episode versus controls. Two bloodstream BDNF components were specifically investigated, the storage (intraplatelet) and the released (plasma) ones, both as adaptogenic/repair signals during neuroendocrine stress response dynamics. Bipolar patients with PTSD (n = 20) or in a major depressive episode (n = 20) were rigorously recruited together with unrelated healthy controls (n = 24) and subsequently examined by psychiatric questionnaires and blood samplings. Platelet-poor plasma (PPP) and intraplatelet (PLT) BDNF were measured by ELISA assays. The results showed markedly higher intraplatelet vs. plasma BDNF, confirming platelets’ role in neurotrophin transport/storage. No between-group PPP-BDNF difference was reported, whereas PLT-BDNF was significantly reduced in depressed BD patients. PLT-BDNF negatively correlated with mood scores but not with PTSD items like PPP-BDNF, which instead displayed opposite correlation trends with depression and manic severity. Present findings highlight PLT-BDNF as more reliable at detecting depression than PTSD in BD, encouraging further study into BDNF variability contextually with immune-inflammatory parameters in wider cohorts of differentially symptomatic bipolar patients.

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2024

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2024

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2024

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2023

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2023

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2023

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2023

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2022

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2022

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2021

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2021

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2021

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2021

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2020

Collaborators (6)

Antonio Felicioli

-

ITALY
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LUCIA CASINI

Assistant Professor

University of Pisa

ITALY
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Claudia Carmassi

University of Pisa

ITALY
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BALDASSARE FRONTE

Assistant Professor

University of Pisa

ITALY
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Donatella Marazziti

Professor of Psychiatry

University of Pisa

ITALY
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Gabriella Ortore

Associate Professor

University of Pisa

ITALY
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