About the Authors

Rita Bella

Affiliation Department ‘‘G.F. Ingrassia”, Section of Neurosciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

Giuseppe Lanza

Affiliation Department of Neurology I.C., “Oasi” Institute for Research on Mental Retardation and Brain Aging (I.R.C.C.S.), Troina (EN), Italy

Mariagiovanna Cantone

Affiliation Department of Neurology I.C., “Oasi” Institute for Research on Mental Retardation and Brain Aging (I.R.C.C.S.), Troina (EN), Italy

Salvatore Giuffrida

Affiliation Department ‘‘G.F. Ingrassia”, Section of Neurosciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

Valentina Puglisi

Affiliation Department ‘‘G.F. Ingrassia”, Section of Neurosciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

Luisa Vinciguerra

Affiliation Department ‘‘G.F. Ingrassia”, Section of Neurosciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

Manuela Pennisi

Affiliation Spinal Unit, Emergency Hospital “Cannizzaro”, Catania, Italy

Riccardo Ricceri

Affiliation Department ‘‘G.F. Ingrassia”, Section of Neurosciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

Carmela Cinzia D’Agate

Affiliation Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

Giulia Malaguarnera

Affiliation Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

Raffaele Ferri

Affiliation Department of Neurology I.C., “Oasi” Institute for Research on Mental Retardation and Brain Aging (I.R.C.C.S.), Troina (EN), Italy

Giovanni Pennisi

pennigi@unict.it

Affiliation Department“Specialità Medico-Chirurgiche”, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: GP SG RB. Performed the experiments: LV VP RR. Analyzed the data: RF MP. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: CCD GM. Wrote the paper: MC GL RB.