TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kuzkina, A.
A1  - Rößle, J.
A1  - Seger, A.
A1  - Panzer, C.
A1  - Kohl, A.
A1  - Maltese, V.
A1  - Musacchio, T.
A1  - Blaschke, S. J.
A1  - Tamgüney, G.
A1  - Kaulitz, S.
A1  - Rak, K.
A1  - Scherzad, A.
A1  - Zimmermann, P. H.
A1  - Klussmann, J. P.
A1  - Hackenberg, S.
A1  - Volkmann, J.
A1  - Sommer, C.
A1  - Sommerauer, M.
A1  - Doppler, K.
T1  - Combining skin and olfactory α-synuclein seed amplification assays (SAA)—towards biomarker-driven phenotyping in synucleinopathies
JF  - npj Parkinson’s Disease
N2  - Seed amplification assays (SAA) are becoming commonly used in synucleinopathies to detect α-synuclein aggregates. Studies in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and isolated REM-sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) have shown a considerably lower sensitivity in the olfactory epithelium than in CSF or skin. To get an insight into α-synuclein (α-syn) distribution within the nervous system and reasons for low sensitivity, we compared SAA assessment of nasal brushings and skin biopsies in PD (n = 27) and iRBD patients (n = 18) and unaffected controls (n = 30). α-syn misfolding was overall found less commonly in the olfactory epithelium than in the skin, which could be partially explained by the nasal brushing matrix exerting an inhibitory effect on aggregation. Importantly, the α-syn distribution was not uniform: there was a higher deposition of misfolded α-syn across all sampled tissues in the iRBD cohort compared to PD (supporting the notion of RBD as a marker of a more malignant subtype of synucleinopathy) and in a subgroup of PD patients, misfolded α-syn was detectable only in the olfactory epithelium, suggestive of the recently proposed brain-first PD subtype. Assaying α-syn of diverse origins, such as olfactory (part of the central nervous system) and skin (peripheral nervous system), could increase diagnostic accuracy and allow better stratification of patients.
KW  - diagnostic markers
KW  - Parkinson's disease
Y1  - 2023
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-357687
SN  - 2373-8057
VL  - 9
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kohl, S.
A1  - Gruendler, T. O. J.
A1  - Huys, D.
A1  - Sildatke, E.
A1  - Dembek, T. A.
A1  - Hellmich, M.
A1  - Vorderwulbecke, M.
A1  - Timmermann, L.
A1  - Ahmari, S. E.
A1  - Klosterkoetter, J.
A1  - Jessen, F.
A1  - Sturm, V.
A1  - Visser-Vandewalle, V.
A1  - Kuhn, J.
T1  - Effects of deep brain stimulation on prepulse inhibition in obsessive-compulsive disorder
JF  - Translational Psychiatry
N2  - Owing to a high response rate, deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ventral striatal area has been approved for treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (tr-OCD). Many basic issues regarding DBS for tr-OCD are still not understood, in particular, the mechanisms of action and the origin of side effects. We measured prepulse inhibition (PPI) in treatment-refractory OCD patients undergoing DBS of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and matched controls. As PPI has been used in animal DBS studies, it is highly suitable for translational research. Eight patients receiving DBS, eight patients with pharmacological treatment and eight age-matched healthy controls participated in our study. PPI was measured twice in the DBS group: one session with the stimulator switched on and one session with the stimulator switched off. OCD patients in the pharmacologic group took part in a single session. Controls were tested twice, to ensure stability of data. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between controls and (1) patients with pharmacological treatment and (2) OCD DBS patients when the stimulation was switched off. Switching the stimulator on led to an increase in PPI at a stimulus-onset asynchrony of 200 ms. There was no significant difference in PPI between OCD patients being stimulated and the control group. This study shows that NAcc-DBS leads to an increase in PPI in tr-OCD patients towards a level seen in healthy controls. Assuming that PPI impairments partially reflect the neurobiological substrates of OCD, our results show that DBS of the NAcc may improve sensorimotor gating via correction of dysfunctional neural substrates. Bearing in mind that PPI is based on a complex and multilayered network, our data confirm that DBS most likely takes effect via network modulation.
KW  - nucleus
KW  - serotonin
KW  - schizophrenia
KW  - dopamine
KW  - double-blind
KW  - psychiatric disorders
KW  - in vivo
KW  - acoustic startle
KW  - reflex
KW  - modulation
Y1  - 2015
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-138300
VL  - 5
IS  - e675
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bahena, Paulina
A1  - Daftarian, Narsis
A1  - Maroofian, Reza
A1  - Linares, Paola
A1  - Villalobos, Daniel
A1  - Mirrahimi, Mehraban
A1  - Rad, Aboulfazl
A1  - Doll, Julia
A1  - Hofrichter, Michaela A. H.
A1  - Koparir, Asuman
A1  - Röder, Tabea
A1  - Han, Seungbin
A1  - Sabbaghi, Hamideh
A1  - Ahmadieh, Hamid
A1  - Behboudi, Hassan
A1  - Villanueva-Mendoza, Cristina
A1  - Cortés-Gonzalez, Vianney
A1  - Zamora-Ortiz, Rocio
A1  - Kohl, Susanne
A1  - Kuehlewein, Laura
A1  - Darvish, Hossein
A1  - Alehabib, Elham
A1  - La Arenas-Sordo, Maria de Luz
A1  - Suri, Fatemeh
A1  - Vona, Barbara
A1  - Haaf, Thomas
T1  - Unraveling the genetic complexities of combined retinal dystrophy and hearing impairment
JF  - Human Genetics
N2  - Usher syndrome, the most prevalent cause of combined hereditary vision and hearing impairment, is clinically and genetically heterogeneous. Moreover, several conditions with phenotypes overlapping Usher syndrome have been described. This makes the molecular diagnosis of hereditary deaf-blindness challenging. Here, we performed exome sequencing and analysis on 7 Mexican and 52 Iranian probands with combined retinal degeneration and hearing impairment (without intellectual disability). Clinical assessment involved ophthalmological examination and hearing loss questionnaire. Usher syndrome, most frequently due to biallelic variants in MYO7A (USH1B in 16 probands), USH2A (17 probands), and ADGRV1 (USH2C in 7 probands), was diagnosed in 44 of 59 (75%) unrelated probands. Almost half of the identified variants were novel. Nine of 59 (15%) probands displayed other genetic entities with dual sensory impairment, including Alström syndrome (3 patients), cone-rod dystrophy and hearing loss 1 (2 probands), and Heimler syndrome (1 patient). Unexpected findings included one proband each with Scheie syndrome, coenzyme Q10 deficiency, and pseudoxanthoma elasticum. In four probands, including three Usher cases, dual sensory impairment was either modified/aggravated or caused by variants in distinct genes associated with retinal degeneration and/or hearing loss. The overall diagnostic yield of whole exome analysis in our deaf-blind cohort was 92%. Two (3%) probands were partially solved and only 3 (5%) remained without any molecular diagnosis. In many cases, the molecular diagnosis is important to guide genetic counseling, to support prognostic outcomes and decisions with currently available and evolving treatment modalities.
KW  - Usher syndrome
KW  - hearing impairment
KW  - combined retinal dystrophy
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-267750
SN  - 1432-1203
VL  - 141
IS  - 3-4
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schischlevskij, Pavel
A1  - Cordts, Isabell
A1  - Günther, René
A1  - Stolte, Benjamin
A1  - Zeller, Daniel
A1  - Schröter, Carsten
A1  - Weyen, Ute
A1  - Regensburger, Martin
A1  - Wolf, Joachim
A1  - Schneider, Ilka
A1  - Hermann, Andreas
A1  - Metelmann, Moritz
A1  - Kohl, Zacharias
A1  - Linker, Ralf A.
A1  - Koch, Jan Christoph
A1  - Stendel, Claudia
A1  - Müschen, Lars H.
A1  - Osmanovic, Alma
A1  - Binz, Camilla
A1  - Klopstock, Thomas
A1  - Dorst, Johannes
A1  - Ludolph, Albert C.
A1  - Boentert, Matthias
A1  - Hagenacker, Tim
A1  - Deschauer, Marcus
A1  - Lingor, Paul
A1  - Petri, Susanne
A1  - Schreiber-Katz, Olivia
T1  - Informal caregiving in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): a high caregiver burden and drastic consequences on caregivers' lives
JF  - Brain Sciences
N2  - 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.
KW  - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
KW  - informal caregiving
KW  - caregiver burden
KW  - functional status
KW  - decreasing autonomy
KW  - depression
KW  - anxiety
KW  - health-related quality of life
KW  - socioeconomic status
KW  - psychological support
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-240981
SN  - 2076-3425
VL  - 11
IS  - 6
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Muenstermann, Marcel
A1  - Strobel, Lea
A1  - Klos, Andreas
A1  - Wetsel, Rick A.
A1  - Woodruff, Trent M.
A1  - Köhl, Jörg
A1  - Johswich, Kay O.
T1  - Distinct roles of the anaphylatoxin receptors C3aR, C5aR1 and C5aR2 in experimental meningococcal infections
JF  - Virulence
N2  - The complement system is pivotal in the defense against invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis (Nme, meningococcus), particularly via the membrane attack complex. Complement activation liberates the anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a, which activate three distinct G-protein coupled receptors, C3aR, C5aR1 and C5aR2 (anaphylatoxin receptors, ATRs). We recently discovered that C5aR1 exacerbates the course of the disease, revealing a downside of complement in Nme sepsis. Here, we compared the roles of all three ATRs during mouse nasal colonization, intraperitoneal infection and human whole blood infection with Nme. Deficiency of complement or ATRs did not alter nasal colonization, but significantly affected invasive disease: Compared to WT mice, the disease was aggravated in C3ar\(^{-/-}\) mice, whereas C5ar1\(^{-/-}\) and C5ar2\(^{-/-}\) mice showed increased resistance to meningococcal sepsis. Surprisingly, deletion of either of the ATRs resulted in lower cytokine/chemokine responses, irrespective of the different susceptibilities of the mice. This was similar in ex vivo human whole blood infection using ATR inhibitors. Neutrophil responses to Nme were reduced in C5ar1\(^{-/-}\) mouse blood. Upon stimulation with C5a plus Nme, mouse macrophages displayed reduced phosphorylation of ERK1/2, when C5aR1 or C5aR2 were ablated or inhibited, suggesting that both C5a-receptors prime an initial macrophage response to Nme. Finally, in vivo blockade of C5aR1 alone (PMX205) or along with C5aR2 (A8\(^{Δ71−73}\)) resulted in ameliorated disease, whereas neither antagonizing C3aR (SB290157) nor its activation with a “super-agonist” peptide (WWGKKYRASKLGLAR) demonstrated a benefit. Thus, C5aR1 and C5aR2 augment disease pathology and are interesting targets for treatment, whereas C3aR is protective in experimental meningococcal sepsis.
KW  - inflammation
KW  - C3a
KW  - C5a
KW  - C3aR
KW  - C5aR1
KW  - C5aR2
KW  - meningococcal disease
KW  - sepsis
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-200496
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Peseschkian, Tara
A1  - Cordts, Isabell
A1  - Günther, René
A1  - Stolte, Benjamin
A1  - Zeller, Daniel
A1  - Schröter, Carsten
A1  - Weyen, Ute
A1  - Regensburger, Martin
A1  - Wolf, Joachim
A1  - Schneider, Ilka
A1  - Hermann, Andreas
A1  - Metelmann, Moritz
A1  - Kohl, Zacharias
A1  - Linker, Ralf A.
A1  - Koch, Jan Christoph
A1  - Büchner, Boriana
A1  - Weiland, Ulrike
A1  - Schönfelder, Erik
A1  - Heinrich, Felix
A1  - Osmanovic, Alma
A1  - Klopstock, Thomas
A1  - Dorst, Johannes
A1  - Ludolph, Albert C.
A1  - Boentert, Matthias
A1  - Hagenacker, Tim
A1  - Deschauer, Marcus
A1  - Lingor, Paul
A1  - Petri, Susanne
A1  - Schreiber-Katz, Olivia
T1  - A nation-wide, multi-center study on the quality of life of ALS patients in Germany
JF  - Brain Sciences
N2  - 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.
KW  - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
KW  - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Assessment Questionnaire 5 (ALSAQ-5)
KW  - ALS treatment
KW  - “bulbar-onset” ALS (bALS)
KW  - “limb-onset” ALS (lALS)
KW  - EuroQol Five Dimension Five Level Scale (EQ-5D-5L)
KW  - health-related quality of life (HRQoL)
KW  - quality of life (QoL)
KW  - symptom-specific treatment
KW  - assistive devices
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-234147
SN  - 2076-3425
VL  - 11
IS  - 3
ER  -