@article{KleinschnitzGrundWingleretal.2010, author = {Kleinschnitz, Christoph and Grund, Henrike and Wingler, Kirstin and Armitage, Melanie E. and Jones, Emma and Mittal, Manish and Barit, David and Schwarz, Tobias and Geis, Christian and Kraft, Peter and Barthel, Konstanze and Schuhmann, Michael K. and Herrmann, Alexander M. and Meuth, Sven G. and Stoll, Guido and Meurer, Sabine and Schrewe, Anja and Becker, Lore and Gailus-Durner, Valerie and Fuchs, Helmut and Klopstock, Thomas and de Angelis, Martin Hrabe and Jandeleit-Dahm, Karin and Shah, Ajay M. and Weissmann, Norbert and Schmidt, Harald H. H. W.}, title = {Post-Stroke Inhibition of Induced NADPH Oxidase Type 4 Prevents Oxidative Stress and Neurodegeneration}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-68416}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Ischemic stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Only one moderately effective therapy exists, albeit with contraindications that exclude 90\% of the patients. This medical need contrasts with a high failure rate of more than 1,000 pre-clinical drug candidates for stroke therapies. Thus, there is a need for translatable mechanisms of neuroprotection and more rigid thresholds of relevance in pre-clinical stroke models. One such candidate mechanism is oxidative stress. However, antioxidant approaches have failed in clinical trials, and the significant sources of oxidative stress in stroke are unknown. We here identify NADPH oxidase type 4 (NOX4) as a major source of oxidative stress and an effective therapeutic target in acute stroke. Upon ischemia, NOX4 was induced in human and mouse brain. Mice deficient in NOX4 (Nox42/2) of either sex, but not those deficient for NOX1 or NOX2, were largely protected from oxidative stress, blood-brain-barrier leakage, and neuronal apoptosis, after both transient and permanent cerebral ischemia. This effect was independent of age, as elderly mice were equally protected. Restoration of oxidative stress reversed the stroke-protective phenotype in Nox42/2 mice. Application of the only validated low-molecular-weight pharmacological NADPH oxidase inhibitor, VAS2870, several hours after ischemia was as protective as deleting NOX4. The extent of neuroprotection was exceptional, resulting in significantly improved long-term neurological functions and reduced mortality. NOX4 therefore represents a major source of oxidative stress and novel class of drug target for stroke therapy.}, subject = {Schlaganfall}, language = {en} } @article{SchischlevskijCordtsGuentheretal.2021, author = {Schischlevskij, Pavel and Cordts, Isabell and G{\"u}nther, Ren{\´e} and Stolte, Benjamin and Zeller, Daniel and Schr{\"o}ter, Carsten and Weyen, Ute and Regensburger, Martin and Wolf, Joachim and Schneider, Ilka and Hermann, Andreas and Metelmann, Moritz and Kohl, Zacharias and Linker, Ralf A. and Koch, Jan Christoph and Stendel, Claudia and M{\"u}schen, Lars H. and Osmanovic, Alma and Binz, Camilla and Klopstock, Thomas and Dorst, Johannes and Ludolph, Albert C. and Boentert, Matthias and Hagenacker, Tim and Deschauer, Marcus and Lingor, Paul and Petri, Susanne and Schreiber-Katz, Olivia}, title = {Informal caregiving in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): a high caregiver burden and drastic consequences on caregivers' lives}, series = {Brain Sciences}, volume = {11}, journal = {Brain Sciences}, number = {6}, issn = {2076-3425}, doi = {10.3390/brainsci11060748}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-240981}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that causes progressive autonomy loss and need for care. This does not only affect patients themselves, but also the patients' informal caregivers (CGs) in their health, personal and professional lives. The big efforts of this multi-center study were not only to evaluate the caregivers' burden and to identify its predictors, but it also should provide a specific understanding of the needs of ALS patients' CGs and fill the gap of knowledge on their personal and work lives. Using standardized questionnaires, primary data from patients and their main informal CGs (n = 249) were collected. Patients' functional status and disease severity were evaluated using the Barthel Index, the revised Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R) and the King's Stages for ALS. The caregivers' burden was recorded by the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI). Comorbid anxiety and depression of caregivers were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Additionally, the EuroQol Five Dimension Five Level Scale evaluated their health-related quality of life. The caregivers' burden was high (mean ZBI = 26/88, 0 = no burden, ≥24 = highly burdened) and correlated with patients' functional status (r\(_p\) = -0.555, p < 0.001, n = 242). It was influenced by the CGs' own mental health issues due to caregiving (+11.36, 95\% CI [6.84; 15.87], p < 0.001), patients' wheelchair dependency (+9.30, 95\% CI [5.94; 12.66], p < 0.001) and was interrelated with the CGs' depression (r\(_p\) = 0.627, p < 0.001, n = 234), anxiety (r\(_p\) = 0.550, p < 0.001, n = 234), and poorer physical condition (r\(_p\) = -0.362, p < 0.001, n = 237). Moreover, female CGs showed symptoms of anxiety more often, which also correlated with the patients' impairment in daily routine (r\(_s\) = -0.280, p < 0.001, n = 169). As increasing disease severity, along with decreasing autonomy, was the main predictor of caregiver burden and showed to create relevant (negative) implications on CGs' lives, patient care and supportive therapies should address this issue. Moreover, in order to preserve the mental and physical health of the CGs, new concepts of care have to focus on both, on not only patients but also their CGs and gender-associated specific issues. As caregiving in ALS also significantly influences the socioeconomic status by restrictions in CGs' work lives and income, and the main reported needs being lack of psychological support and a high bureaucracy, the situation of CGs needs more attention. Apart from their own multi-disciplinary medical and psychological care, more support in care and patient management issues is required.}, language = {en} } @article{PeseschkianCordtsGuentheretal.2021, author = {Peseschkian, Tara and Cordts, Isabell and G{\"u}nther, Ren{\´e} and Stolte, Benjamin and Zeller, Daniel and Schr{\"o}ter, Carsten and Weyen, Ute and Regensburger, Martin and Wolf, Joachim and Schneider, Ilka and Hermann, Andreas and Metelmann, Moritz and Kohl, Zacharias and Linker, Ralf A. and Koch, Jan Christoph and B{\"u}chner, Boriana and Weiland, Ulrike and Sch{\"o}nfelder, Erik and Heinrich, Felix and Osmanovic, Alma and Klopstock, Thomas and Dorst, Johannes and Ludolph, Albert C. and Boentert, Matthias and Hagenacker, Tim and Deschauer, Marcus and Lingor, Paul and Petri, Susanne and Schreiber-Katz, Olivia}, title = {A nation-wide, multi-center study on the quality of life of ALS patients in Germany}, series = {Brain Sciences}, volume = {11}, journal = {Brain Sciences}, number = {3}, issn = {2076-3425}, doi = {10.3390/brainsci11030372}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-234147}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Improving quality of life (QoL) is central to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) treatment. This Germany-wide, multicenter cross-sectional study analyses the impact of different symptom-specific treatments and ALS variants on QoL. Health-related QoL (HRQoL) in 325 ALS patients was assessed using the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Assessment Questionnaire 5 (ALSAQ-5) and EuroQol Five Dimension Five Level Scale (EQ-5D-5L), together with disease severity (captured by the revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R)) and the current care and therapies used by our cohort. At inclusion, the mean ALSAQ-5 total score was 56.93 (max. 100, best = 0) with a better QoL associated with a less severe disease status (β = -1.96 per increase of one point in the ALSFRS-R score, p < 0.001). "Limb-onset" ALS (lALS) was associated with a better QoL than "bulbar-onset" ALS (bALS) (mean ALSAQ-5 total score 55.46 versus 60.99, p = 0.040). Moreover, with the ALSFRS-R as a covariate, using a mobility aid (β = -7.60, p = 0.001), being tracheostomized (β = -14.80, p = 0.004) and using non-invasive ventilation (β = -5.71, p = 0.030) were associated with an improved QoL, compared to those at the same disease stage who did not use these aids. In contrast, antidepressant intake (β = 5.95, p = 0.007), and increasing age (β = 0.18, p = 0.023) were predictors of worse QoL. Our results showed that the ALSAQ-5 was better-suited for ALS patients than the EQ-5D-5L. Further, the early and symptom-specific clinical management and supply of assistive devices can significantly improve the individual HRQoL of ALS patients. Appropriate QoL questionnaires are needed to monitor the impact of treatment to provide the best possible and individualized care.}, language = {en} }