TY  - JOUR
A1  - Horn, Anne
A1  - Scheller, Carsten
A1  - du Plessis, Stefan
A1  - Arendt, Gabriele
A1  - Nolting, Thorsten
A1  - Joska, John
A1  - Sopper, Sieghart
A1  - Maschke, Matthias
A1  - Obermann, Mark
A1  - Husstedt, Ingo W.
A1  - Hain, Johannes
A1  - Maponga, Tongai
A1  - Riederer, Peter
A1  - Koutsilieri, Eleni
T1  - Increases in CSF dopamine in HIV patients are due to the dopamine transporter 10/10-repeat allele which is more frequent in HIV-infected individuals
JF  - Journal of Neural Transmission
N2  - Dysfunction of dopaminergic neurotransmission has been implicated in HIV infection. We showed previously increased dopamine (DA) levels in CSF of therapy-naïve HIV patients and an inverse correlation between CSF DA and CD4 counts in the periphery, suggesting adverse effects of high levels of DA on HIV infection. In the current study including a total of 167 HIV-positive and negative donors from Germany and South Africa (SA), we investigated the mechanistic background for the increase of CSF DA in HIV individuals. Interestingly, we found that the DAT 10/10-repeat allele is present more frequently within HIV individuals than in uninfected subjects. Logistic regression analysis adjusted for gender and ethnicity showed an odds ratio for HIV infection in DAT 10/10 allele carriers of 3.93 (95 % CI 1.72–8.96; p = 0.001, Fishers exact test). 42.6 % HIV-infected patients harbored the DAT 10/10 allele compared to only 10.5 % uninfected DAT 10/10 carriers in SA (odds ratio 6.31), whereas 68.1 versus 40.9 %, respectively, in Germany (odds ratio 3.08). Subjects homozygous for the 10-repeat allele had higher amounts of CSF DA and reduced DAT mRNA expression but similar disease severity compared with those carrying other DAT genotypes. These intriguing and novel findings show the mutual interaction between DA and HIV, suggesting caution in the interpretation of CNS DA alterations in HIV infection solely as a secondary phenomenon to the virus and open the door for larger studies investigating consequences of the DAT functional polymorphism on HIV epidemiology and progression of disease.
KW  - HIV
KW  - HAND
KW  - dopamine
KW  - DAT
KW  - polymorphism
KW  - CSF
Y1  - 2013
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-132385
VL  - 120
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Aistleitner, Karin
A1  - Heinz, Christian
A1  - Hoermann, Alexandra
A1  - Heinz, Eva
A1  - Montanaro, Jacqueline
A1  - Schulz, Frederik
A1  - Maier, Elke
A1  - Pichler, Peter
A1  - Benz, Roland
A1  - Horn, Matthias
T1  - Identification and Characterization of a Novel Porin Family Highlights a Major Difference in the Outer Membrane of Chlamydial Symbionts and Pathogens
JF  - PLoS ONE
N2  - The Chlamydiae constitute an evolutionary well separated group of intracellular bacteria comprising important pathogens of humans as well as symbionts of protozoa. The amoeba symbiont Protochlamydia amoebophila lacks a homologue of the most abundant outer membrane protein of the Chlamydiaceae, the major outer membrane protein MOMP, highlighting a major difference between environmental chlamydiae and their pathogenic counterparts. We recently identified a novel family of putative porins encoded in the genome of P. amoebophila by in silico analysis. Two of these Protochlamydia outer membrane proteins, PomS (pc1489) and PomT (pc1077), are highly abundant in outer membrane preparations of this organism. Here we show that all four members of this putative porin family are toxic when expressed in the heterologous host Escherichia coli. Immunofluorescence analysis using antibodies against heterologously expressed PomT and PomS purified directly from elementary bodies, respectively, demonstrated the location of both proteins in the outer membrane of P. amoebophila. The location of the most abundant protein PomS was further confirmed by immuno-transmission electron microscopy. We could show that pomS is transcribed, and the corresponding protein is present in the outer membrane throughout the complete developmental cycle, suggesting an essential role for P. amoebophila. Lipid bilayer measurements demonstrated that PomS functions as a porin with anion-selectivity and a pore size similar to the Chlamydiaceae MOMP. Taken together, our results suggest that PomS, possibly in concert with PomT and other members of this porin family, is the functional equivalent of MOMP in P. amoebophila. This work contributes to our understanding of the adaptations of symbiotic and pathogenic chlamydiae to their different eukaryotic hosts.
KW  - cell wall
KW  - protochlamydia amoebophila
KW  - escherichia coli
KW  - matrix protein porin
KW  - gram negative bacteria
KW  - single channel analysis
KW  - developmental cycle
KW  - mycobacterium smegmatis
KW  - monoclonal antibodies
KW  - signal peptides
Y1  - 2013
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-131176
VL  - 8
IS  - 1
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Herrmann, Johannes
A1  - Müller, Kerstin
A1  - Notz, Quirin
A1  - Hübsch, Martha
A1  - Haas, Kirsten
A1  - Horn, Anna
A1  - Schmidt, Julia
A1  - Heuschmann, Peter
A1  - Maschmann, Jens
A1  - Frosch, Matthias
A1  - Deckert, Jürgen
A1  - Einsele, Hermann
A1  - Ertl, Georg
A1  - Frantz, Stefan
A1  - Meybohm, Patrick
A1  - Lotz, Christopher
T1  - Prospective single-center study of health-related quality of life after COVID-19 in ICU and non-ICU patients
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Long-term sequelae in hospitalized Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients may result in limited quality of life. The current study aimed to determine health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after COVID-19 hospitalization in non-intensive care unit (ICU) and ICU patients. This is a single-center study at the University Hospital of Wuerzburg, Germany. Patients eligible were hospitalized with COVID-19 between March 2020 and December 2020. Patients were interviewed 3 and 12 months after hospital discharge. Questionnaires included the European Quality of Life 5 Dimensions 5 Level (EQ-5D-5L), patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the generalized anxiety disorder 7 scale (GAD-7), FACIT fatigue scale, perceived stress scale (PSS-10) and posttraumatic symptom scale 10 (PTSS-10). 85 patients were included in the study. The EQ5D-5L-Index significantly differed between non-ICU (0.78 ± 0.33 and 0.84 ± 0.23) and ICU (0.71 ± 0.27; 0.74 ± 0.2) patients after 3- and 12-months. Of non-ICU 87% and 80% of ICU survivors lived at home without support after 12 months. One-third of ICU and half of the non-ICU patients returned to work. A higher percentage of ICU patients was limited in their activities of daily living compared to non-ICU patients. Depression and fatigue were present in one fifth of the ICU patients. Stress levels remained high with only 24% of non-ICU and 3% of ICU patients (p = 0.0186) having low perceived stress. Posttraumatic symptoms were present in 5% of non-ICU and 10% of ICU patients. HRQoL is limited in COVID-19 ICU patients 3- and 12-months post COVID-19 hospitalization, with significantly less improvement at 12-months compared to non-ICU patients. Mental disorders were common highlighting the complexity of post-COVID-19 symptoms as well as the necessity to educate patients and primary care providers about monitoring mental well-being post COVID-19.
KW  - health care
KW  - public health
KW  - quality of life
Y1  - 2023
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-357174
VL  - 13
ER  -