| 1. |
- Petersson, M., et al.
(författare)
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Patient-Reported Symptom Severity in a Nationwide Myasthenia Gravis Cohort Cross-sectional Analysis of the Swedish GEMG Study
- 2021
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Ingår i: Neurology. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 0028-3878 .- 1526-632X. ; 97:14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and Objectives To describe myasthenia gravis activities of daily living (MG-ADL) in relation to clinical characteristics in a large Swedish nationwide cohort. Methods In a cross-sectional prevalence cohort study, the Genes and Environment in Myasthenia Gravis study, performed from November 2018 through August 2019, patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) were invited to submit an extensive 106-item life environment questionnaire, including the MG-ADL score. Patients were classified into early-onset MG (EOMG, <50 years), late-onset MG (LOMG, >= 50 years), or thymoma-associated MG (TAMG). Comparisons of disease-specific characteristics were made between subgroups, sexes, and different MG-ADL scores. Results A total of 1,077 patients were included, yielding a 74% response rate: 505 (47%) were classified as EOMG, 520 (48%) LOMG, and 45 (4%) TAMG. Mean age at inclusion was 64.3 years (SD 15.7) and mean disease duration was 14.6 years (SD 14.0). Complete MG-ADL scores (n = 1,035) ranged from 0p to 18p, where 26% reported a score of 0p. Higher MG-ADL scores were associated with female sex, obesity, and diagnostic delay (odds ratio [OR] 1.62, 1.72, and 1.69; p(adj) = 0.017, 0.013, and 0.008) and inversely correlated with high educational attainment (OR 0.59; p(adj) = 0.02), but not with age at inclusion, disease subtype, or disease duration. Almost half of the population (47%) reported MG-ADL >= 3p, corresponding to an unsatisfactory symptom state. Discussion In this nationwide study, comprising more than 40% of the prevalent MG population in Sweden, almost half of the patients reported current disease symptoms associated with an unsatisfactory symptom state, indicating the need for improved treatment options.
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| 2. |
- Ilinca, A., et al.
(författare)
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MAP3K6 Mutations in a Neurovascular Disease Causing Stroke, Cognitive Impairment, and Tremor
- 2021
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Ingår i: Neurology-Genetics. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 2376-7839. ; 7:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective To describe a possible novel genetic mechanism for cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) and stroke. Methods We studied a Swedish kindred with ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage, tremor, dysautonomia, and mild cognitive decline. Members were examined clinically, radiologically, and by histopathology. Genetic workup included whole-exome sequencing (WES) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and intrafamilial cosegregation analyses. Results Fifteen family members were examined clinically. Twelve affected individuals had white matter hyperintensities and 1 or more of (1) stroke episodes, (2) clinically silent lacunar ischemic lesions, and (3) cognitive dysfunction. All affected individuals had tremor and/or atactic gait disturbance. Mild symmetric basal ganglia calcifications were seen in 3 affected members. Postmortem examination of 1 affected member showed pathologic alterations in both small and large arteries the brain. Skin biopsies of 3 affected members showed extracellular amorphous deposits within the subepidermal zone, which may represent degenerated arterioles. WES or WGS did not reveal any potentially disease-causing variants in known genes for cSVDs or idiopathic basal ganglia calcification, but identified 1 heterozygous variant, NM_004672.4 MAP3K6 c.322G>A p.(Asp108Asn), that cosegregated with the disease in this large family. MAP3K6 has known functions in angiogenesis and affects vascular endothelial growth factor expression, which may be implicated in cerebrovascular disease. Conclusions Our data strongly suggest the MAP3K6 variant to be causative for this novel disease phenotype, but the absence of functional data and the present lack of additional families with this disease and MAP3K6 mutations still limit the formal evidence for the variant's pathogenicity.
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| 3. |
- Delp, Johannes, et al.
(författare)
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Neurotoxicity and underlying cellular changes of 21 mitochondrial respiratory chain inhibitors
- 2021
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Ingår i: Archives of Toxicology. - : Springer. - 0340-5761 .- 1432-0738. ; 95:2, s. 591-615
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Inhibition of complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain (cI) by rotenone and methyl-phenylpyridinium (MPP +) leads to the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in man and rodents. To formally describe this mechanism of toxicity, an adverse outcome pathway (AOP:3) has been developed that implies that any inhibitor of cI, or possibly of other parts of the respiratory chain, would have the potential to trigger parkinsonian motor deficits. We used here 21 pesticides, all of which are described in the literature as mitochondrial inhibitors, to study the general applicability of AOP:3 or of in vitro assays that are assessing its activation. Five cI, three complex II (cII), and five complex III (cIII) inhibitors were characterized in detail in human dopaminergic neuronal cell cultures. The NeuriTox assay, examining neurite damage in LUHMES cells, was used as in vitro proxy of the adverse outcome (AO), i.e., of dopaminergic neurodegeneration. This test provided data on whether test compounds were unspecific cytotoxicants or specifically neurotoxic, and it yielded potency data with respect to neurite degeneration. The pesticide panel was also examined in assays for the sequential key events (KE) leading to the AO, i.e., mitochondrial respiratory chain inhibition, mitochondrial dysfunction, and disturbed proteostasis. Data from KE assays were compared to the NeuriTox data (AO). The cII-inhibitory pesticides tested here did not appear to trigger the AOP:3 at all. Some of the cI/cIII inhibitors showed a consistent AOP activation response in all assays, while others did not. In general, there was a clear hierarchy of assay sensitivity: changes of gene expression (biomarker of neuronal stress) correlated well with NeuriTox data; mitochondrial failure (measured both by a mitochondrial membrane potential-sensitive dye and a respirometric assay) was about 10-260 times more sensitive than neurite damage (AO); cI/cIII activity was sometimes affected at > 1000 times lower concentrations than the neurites. These data suggest that the use of AOP:3 for hazard assessment has a number of caveats: (i) specific parkinsonian neurodegeneration cannot be easily predicted from assays of mitochondrial dysfunction; (ii) deriving a point-of-departure for risk assessment from early KE assays may overestimate toxicant potency.
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