| 1. |
- Brantsæter, A. L., et al.
(författare)
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Diet matters, particularly in pregnancy – Results from MoBa studies of maternal diet and pregnancy outcomes
- 2014
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Ingår i: Norsk Epidemiologi. - 0803-2491. ; 24:1-2, s. 63-77
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Awareness that maternal diet may influence the outcome of pregnancy as well as the long-term health of mother and child has increased in recent years. A new food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was developed and validated specifically for the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). The MoBa FFQ is a semi-quantitative tool which covers the average intake of food, beverages and dietary supplements during the first 4 to 5 months of pregnancy. It includes questions about intakes of 255 foods and dishes and was used from 2002 onwards. Data assessed by the MoBa FFQ is available for 87,700 pregnancies. Numerous sub-studies have examined associations between dietary factors and health outcomes in MoBa. The aim of this paper is to summarize the results from 19 studies of maternal diet and pregnancy outcomes, which is the complete collection of studies based on the MoBa FFQ and published before September 2014. The overall research question is whether maternal diet – from single substances to dietary patterns – matters for pregnancy outcome. The pregnancy outcomes studied till now include birth size measures, infants being small and large for gestational age, pregnancy duration, preterm delivery, preeclampsia, as well as maternal gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention. As a whole, the results from these studies corroborate that the current dietary recommendations to pregnant women are sound and that maternal diet during pregnancy is likely to contribute to reduce the risk of pregnancy complications including preterm birth, preeclampsia, and reduced foetal growth. The results provide supporting evidence for recommending pregnant women to consume vegetables, fruit, whole grain, fish, dairy, and water regularly and lower the intake of sugar sweetened beverages, processed meat products and salty snacks. The results showing negative impact of even low levels of environmental contaminants support the precautionary advice on consumption of foods containing these. New findings are that particularly lean fish explained the positive association between seafood intake and foetal growth, and the indications of a protective effect of probiotic and antimicrobial foods on pregnancy outcomes. This points to the importance of diet composition for a healthy gut flora and the body’s immune response. Although these studies are observational and cannot infer causality, the results identify diet as an important modifiable lifestyle factor, suggesting that healthy eating, defined as following the official recommendations, is particularly important in pregnancy.
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| 2. |
- Majounie, Elisa, et al.
(författare)
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Frequency of the C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia: a cross-sectional study
- 2012
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Ingår i: Lancet Neurology. - 1474-4465. ; 11:4, s. 323-330
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background We aimed to accurately estimate the frequency of a hexanucleotide repeat expansion in C9orf72 that has been associated with a large proportion of cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Methods We screened 4448 patients diagnosed with ALS (El Escorial criteria) and 1425 patients with FTD (Lund-Manchester criteria) from 17 regions worldwide for the GGGGCC hexanucleotide expansion using a repeat-primed PCR assay. We assessed familial disease status on the basis of self-reported family history of similar neurodegenerative diseases at the time of sample collection. We compared haplotype data for 262 patients carrying the expansion with the known Finnish founder risk haplotype across the chromosomal locus. We calculated age-related penetrance using the Kaplan-Meier method with data for 603 individuals with the expansion. Findings In patients with sporadic ALS, we identified the repeat expansion in 236 (7.0%) of 3377 white individuals from the USA, Europe, and Australia, two (4.1%) of 49 black individuals from the USA, and six (8.3%) of 72 Hispanic individuals from the USA. The mutation was present in 217 (39.3%) of 552 white individuals with familial MS from Europe and the USA. 59 (6.0%) of 981 white Europeans with sporadic FTD had the mutation, as did 99 (24.8%) of 400 white Europeans with familial FTD. Data for other ethnic groups were sparse, but we identified one Asian patient with familial ALS (from 20 assessed) and two with familial FTD (from three assessed) who carried the mutation. The mutation was not carried by the three Native Americans or 360 patients from Asia or the Pacific Islands with sporadic MS who were tested, or by 41 Asian patients with sporadic FTD. All patients with the repeat expansion had (partly or fully) the founder haplotype, suggesting a one-off expansion occurring about 1500 years ago. The pathogenic expansion was non-penetrant in individuals younger than 35 years, 50% penetrant by 58 years, and almost fully penetrant by 80 years. Interpretation A common Mendelian genetic lesion in C9472 is implicated in many cases of sporadic and familial ALS and FTD. Testing for this pathogenic expansion should be considered in the management and genetic counselling of patients with these fatal neurodegenerative diseases.
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| 3. |
- Alafuzoff, Irina, et al.
(författare)
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The need to unify neuropathological assessments of vascular alterations in the ageing brain : Multicentre survey by the BrainNet Europe consortium
- 2012
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Ingår i: Experimental Gerontology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0531-5565 .- 1873-6815. ; 47:11, s. 825-833
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Here, we summarise the results after carrying out a large survey regarding the assessment of vascular alterations, both vessel changes and vascular lesions in an inter-laboratory setting. In total, 32 neuropathologists from 22 centres, most being members of BrainNet Europe (BNE), participated by filling out a questionnaire with emphasis on assessment of common vascular alterations seen in the brains of aged subjects. A certain level of harmonisation has been reached among BNE members regarding sectioning of the brain, harvesting of brain tissue for histology and staining used when compared to the survey carried out in 2006 by Pantoni and colleagues. The most significant variability was seen regarding the assessment of severity and of clinical significance of vascular alterations. Two strategies have recently been recommended regarding the assessment of vascular alterations in aged and demented subjects. The National Institute on Aging - Alzheimer's Association (NIA-AA) recommends the assessment of hippocampal sclerosis, vascular brain injury and microvascular lesions in 12 regions. Although this strategy will be easy to follow, the recommendations do not inform how the load of observed alterations should be assessed and when the observed lesions are of significance. Deramecourt and his colleagues recommend an assessment and semiquantitative grading of various pathologies in 4 brain regions. This strategy yielded a total score of 0 to 20 as an estimate of pathology load. It is, however, not clear which score is considered to be of clinical significance. Furthermore, in several BNE trials the semiquantitative assessment has yielded poor agreement rates; an observation that might negatively influence the strategy proposed by Deramecourt and his colleagues. In line with NIA-AA, a dichotomised approach of easily recognisable lesions in a standardised set of brain regions harvested for neuropathological assessment and applying reproducible sampling and staining strategies is recommended by BNE. However, a simple strategy regarding assessment of load of alteration is urgently needed to yield reproducible, and at the same time, comparable results between centres.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Hunsicker, Mary E., et al.
(författare)
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Functional responses and scaling in predator-prey interactions of marine fishes : contemporary issues and emerging concepts
- 2011
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Ingår i: Ecology Letters. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1461-023X .- 1461-0248. ; 14:12, s. 1288-1299
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Predatorprey interactions are a primary structuring force vital to the resilience of marine communities and sustainability of the worlds oceans. Human influences on marine ecosystems mediate changes in species interactions. This generality is evinced by the cascading effects of overharvesting top predators on the structure and function of marine ecosystems. It follows that ecological forecasting, ecosystem management, and marine spatial planning require a better understanding of food web relationships. Characterising and scaling predatorprey interactions for use in tactical and strategic tools (i.e. multi-species management and ecosystem models) are paramount in this effort. Here, we explore what issues are involved and must be considered to advance the use of predatorprey theory in the context of marine fisheries science. We address pertinent contemporary ecological issues including (1) the approaches and complexities of evaluating predator responses in marine systems; (2) the scaling up of predatorprey interactions to the population, community, and ecosystem level; (3) the role of predatorprey theory in contemporary fisheries and ecosystem modelling approaches; and (4) directions for the future. Our intent is to point out needed research directions that will improve our understanding of predatorprey interactions in the context of the sustainable marine fisheries and ecosystem management.
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| 6. |
- Brunnström, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Differential degeneration of the locus coeruleus in dementia subtypes.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Clinical Neuropathology. - 0722-5091. ; 30:3, s. 104-110
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: Neuronal loss in the locus coeruleus (LC) is common in Alzheimer's disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). The aims of the present study were to investigate LC degeneration in different dementia disorders including vascular dementia (VaD) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), to compare LC degeneration with severity of pathology in AD and DLB/PDD, to further evaluate the usefulness of a previously presented scoring system and to examine the predictive value of macroscopic assessment of the LC. Methods: A horizontal mid-level section of the pons was examined in 200 neuropathologically examined cases with clinical dementia. A previous macroscopic assessment of the LC was performed in 149 of the cases. Results: Cases with DLB/ PDD and AD presented with the highest microscopic LC degeneration scores, with significant differences compared to combined AD + VaD, in turn with a higher score than VaD, FTLD and other dementia disorders. Interrater agreement (weighted kappa;) for LC degeneration scoring was 0.83 - 0.91. DLB/ PDD, AD and AD + VaD were the diagnoses for 85% of the cases with macroscopic LC depigmentation. Conclusion: LC degeneration, which may be macroscopically noted, often indicates synuclein and/or Alzheimer pathology among demented. When clinical information is scarce or inconsistent, a macroscopic assessment of the LC may facilitate focusing of the subsequent neuropathological investigation. Also, the semiquantitative scoring system is a reliable tool for histological assessment of LC degeneration.
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| 7. |
- Burguillos Garcia, Miguel, et al.
(författare)
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Apoptosis-inducing factor mediates dopaminergic cell death in response to lps-induced inflammatory stimulus Evidence in Parkinson's disease patients.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961 .- 1095-953X. ; 41, s. 177-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We show that intranigral lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection, which provokes specific degeneration of DA neurons, induced caspase-3 activation in the rat ventral mesencephalon, which was mostly associated with glial cells. In contrast, nigral DA neurons exhibited AIF nuclear translocation in response to LPS. A significant decrease of the Bcl-2/Bax ratio in nigral tissue after LPS injection was observed. We next developed an in vitro co-culture system with the microglial BV2 and the DA neuronal MN9D murine cell lines. The silencing of caspase-3 or AIF by small interfering RNAs exclusively in the DA MN9D cells demonstrated the key role of AIF in the LPS-induced death of DA cells. In vivo chemical inhibition of caspases and poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase-1, an upstream regulator of AIF release and calpain, proved the central role of the AIF-dependent pathway in LPS-induced nigral DA cell death. We also observed nuclear translocation of AIF in the ventral mesencephalon of Parkinson's disease subjects.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Crema, Michel D, et al.
(författare)
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Factors Associated with Meniscal Extrusion in Knees with or at Risk for Osteoarthritis: The Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Radiology. - : Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). - 1527-1315 .- 0033-8419. ; 264:2, s. 494-503
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To assess the associations of meniscal tears, knee malalignment, cartilage damage, knee effusion, and body mass index with meniscal extrusion. Materials and Methods: The Multicenter Osteoarthritis study is an observational study of individuals who have or are at risk for knee osteoarthritis (OA). The HIPAA-compliant protocol was approved by the institutional review boards of all participating centers, and written informed consent was obtained from all patients. All subjects with available baseline knee radiographs and magnetic resonance (MR) images were included. MR imaging assessment of meniscal morphologic characteristics, meniscal position, and cartilage morphologic characteristics with use of the Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score system was performed by two musculoskeletal radiologists. Cross-sectional associations of severity of meniscal tears, knee malalignment, tibiofemoral cartilage damage, knee effusion, and body mass index with meniscal extrusion were assessed by using logistic regression, with multiadjustments when testing each predictor. Results: A total of 1527 subjects (2131 knees; 2116 medial and 2106 lateral menisci) were included. Medially, meniscal tears, varus malalignment, and cartilage damage were associated with meniscal extrusion, with odds ratios (ORs) of 6.3 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.0, 8.0), 1.3 (95% CI: 1.1, 1.7), and 1.8 (95% CI: 1.4, 2.2), respectively. Laterally, meniscal tears, valgus malalignment, and cartilage damage were associated with meniscal extrusion, with ORs of 10.3 (95% CI: 7.1, 14.9), 2.2 (95% CI: 1.5, 3.2), and 2.0 (95% CI: 1.3, 2.9), respectively. Conclusion: Meniscal tears are not the only factors associated with meniscal extrusion; other factors include knee malalignment and cartilage damage. Meniscal extrusion is probably an effect of the complex interactions among joint tissues and mechanical stresses involved in the OA process.© RSNA, 2012.
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