The Integrated System Alzheimer Puglia (SI-AL-PU) is a strategic research project finalized on the Alzheimer disease. It has been predisposed by ISBEM (Euro-Mediterranean Scientific Biomedical Institute) on behalf of the Puglia Region and presented by the latter as sole project, as regional “frame” project, within the former art.12/bis Legislative Decree 229/99 of the Health Ministry.

LEGAL RESPONSIBLE:     Dr.ssa Silvia Papini

SCIENTIFIC RESPONSIBLE:     Prof. Salvatore Barbuti

The target of the SI-AL-PU is the creation of an integrated regional system for the prevention, the diagnosis and the care of the Alzheimer disease. Its objectives can be summarised as follows:

          a.   amelioration of the life quality of those suffering of Alzheimer;

          b.   advancement of the scientific knowledge in the fight against the disease;

          C.   comprehension of the etio-pathogenetic mechanisms.

In particular the Project intends to implement the following:

• To predispose the creation of the Alzheimer Evaluation Units (UVA) working in the Puglia Region following clinical and scientific international standard;

• To establish a model of integrated service for the Alzheimer Disease;

• To predispose the actions necessary to develop a map with geographical references pertaining the distribution of the disease in the Puglia Region;

• To define a programme of information and social communication;

• To predispose operational protocols of biomedical and biological-experimental research;

• To predispose monitoring techniques concerning the activities foreseen by the present programme.

For the attainment of the above mentioned objectives, four areas of research have been detected:

• epidemiological;

• biological - experimental;

• biomedical;

• social-healthcare.

As already mentioned, the project contemplates the creation of an integrated system on two levels: a territorial one and a functional one.

The first integration level is meant to experiment new social-care and organizational-managerial models, based on the constitution of an Alzheimer Register, creating a network of hospital structures and territorial structures.

The second level of integration allows the project to be formed as a complex and integrated system in which the interrelations among the research areas permit the attainment of the above mentioned objectives. In particular, mapping the Alzheimer Disease in the Puglia Region (epidemiological area) will enable to accomplish programmes of sensibilization and communication on the conditions of prevention, diagnosis and care of the disease (social-healthcare area) thus improving the patients’ quality of life. The employment of advanced imaging methodologies (biomedical area), through the mapping in vivo of biochemical phenomena linked both to the cognitive process and to the memory, will enable early diagnosis and will allow to achieve a clear advancement in the scientific knowledge for the fight against the disease. At last, the study of molecular receptors’ and genetic mechanisms (biological area) will allow the comprehension of the etio-pathogenic mechanisms.

The present programme is based on the multi-specialist integration of various activities that will contribute to give an articulated answer (epidemiological, biomedical and biological-experimental and pertaining the organization of healthcare specialist services) to the Alzheimer disease, as well as to increase in the population the sensibility and the conscience of the clinical symptoms of the disease and the relative prevention runs, diagnosis and treatment available at present in the Healthcare Service of the Puglia Region. The activities foreseen for the participating multi-specialist Operative Units, as well as the typologies of external resources that will necessarily be involved, will use a gamut of methodological tools related to the single Operative Units. It should be underlined that it will be a responsibility of the coordination Operative Unit and of the scientific responsibles of each single Operative Unit to harmonize the various activities and to govern them as a sole thing in order to give a general contribution to the knowledge pertaining the dimensions and the articulation of the phenomenon of the Alzheimer disease in the Puglia Region. Furthermore, it will be their duty to undertake optimal runs of prevention, diagnosis and treatment relative to the actual knowledge on the disease. The genetic and environmental risk factors and the molecular mechanisms that induce and sustain the pathogenetic mechanisms of the disease will also be studied. In the meantime it will be experimented an organizational model of supply of specialist services to those affected by this type of insanity.

The Programme will make available a variety of output:

At the beginning of the activities, training courses for the workers of the participating Operative Units; subsequently, during its implementation, information and communication tools for the citizens on the problems linked to the Alzheimer pathology, included tools, procedures and centres where services and performances of diagnosis and care are provided.

During the development of the Project the Alzheimer Base of Knowledge (Register) will be enriched, thus supplying a common base of reference. At the end of the programme, the clinical experimentations and those carried out in the laboratory will present significant results collected through advanced methods of bio-imaging, will describe optimal runs of precocious and differential diagnosis and will clarify the cellular, molecular and genetic mechanisms that induce and sustain the disease, as well as the role of the Mediterranean diet and of the statins in the life cycle of the Alzheimer Disease.

Furthermore, at the end of the programme, the availability of maps with geographical references will yield an immediate evaluation of the mismatch among the demand of the  services and their availability on the territory, while the creation of regional guidelines will facilitate on the one hand the standardization of the services and on the other hand the transferability of the results and of the methods in other remote centres.

Finally, the experience acquired through the employment of the telecom network and the transmission procedures of the informative flows, will contribute to raise the quality of the performances and to reduce the waiting times, thus improving the quality of life of those affected by the Alzheimer disease.

The collected scientific results will be shown during national and international congresses and will be published on important international magazines.

1.   Central coordination operative unit -  ISBEM S.C.p.A.  

Legal responsible:             Prof. Mario Campa

Scientific responsible:        Prof. Alessandro Distante

2.   Regional epidemiological observatory - University of Bari 

Legal responsible:             Prof. Giovanni Girone   

Scientific responsible:        Prof. Salvatore Barbuti

3.   Clinica Neurologica II - University of Bari 

Legal responsible:               Prof. Giovanni Girone

4.   CARSO Consortium (Centro di Addestramento e Ricerca Scientifica Oncologica)

Legal responsible:              Prof. Darja Kanduc

Scientific responsible:         Prof. Antonio Capurso

5.   Local Health Unit LE 2 

Legal responsible:              Dr. Santo Monteduro

Scientific responsible:         Dr. Giulio Coppola

6.   Department of Biology - University of Lecce  

Legal responsible:             Prof. Carlo Storelli

Scientific responsible:        Prof. Carlo Storelli 

7.   Department of Biology - University of Lecce  

Legal responsible:              Prof. Carlo Storelli

8.   ISBEM (Euro Mediterranean Scientific Biomedical Institute) 

Legal responsible:             Prof. Mario Campa

Scientific responsible:        Prof. Luigi Murri

9.   Institute of Clinical Physiology CNR - Section of Lecce 

Legal responsible:              Prof. Luigi Donato

Scientific responsible:         Prof. Mario Guazzelli

10.  Local Health Unit BR 1/1 

Legal responsible:             Dr. Domenico Lagravinese

Scientific responsible:        Dr. Salvatore Cotugno 

11.  Local Health Unit BR 1/2 

Legal responsible:             Dr. Domenico Lagravinese

Scientific responsible:        Prof. Francesco Calamo Specchia

for further information please contact:

Dr. Elena Gianicolo

tel.  +39-0831/507338

email:  gianicolo@isbem.cnrsm.it