| 1. |
- Malmqvist, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Increased peripheral levels of TARC/CCL17 in first episode psychosis patients
- 2019
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In: Schizophrenia Research. - : ELSEVIER. - 0920-9964 .- 1573-2509. ; 210, s. 221-227
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Evidence for a link between the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and the immune system is mounting. Altered levels of chemokines in plasma have previously been reported in patients with schizophrenia under antipsychotic medication. Here we aimed to study both peripheral and central chemokine levels in drugnaive or short-time medicated first episode psychosis (FEP) patients. Method: We analyzed nine chemokines in plasma and CSF from 41 FEP patients and 22 healthy controls using electrochemiluminescence assay. Results: In plasma four chemokines; TARC/CCL17, eotaxin/CCL11, MDC/CCL22, IP-10/CXCL10 and in CSF one chemokine; IP-10/CXCL10 showed reliable detection in N50% of the cases. FEP patients displayed increased levels of TARC/CCL17 in plasma compared to healthy controls, 89.6 (IQR 66.2-125.8) pg/mL compared to 48.6 (IQR 28.0-71.7) pg/mL (p = 0.001). The difference was not attributed to confounding factors. Plasma TARC/CCL17 was not associated with PANSS, CGI or GAF scores, neither with cognitive functions. The chemokines eotaxin/CCL11, MDC/CCL22, IP-10/CXCL10 in plasma and IP-10/CXCL10 in CSF did not differ between FEP patients and controls. Conclusion: In line with a previous study showing that chronic patients with schizophrenia display increased plasma TARC/CCL17 levels, we here found an elevation in FEP patients suggesting a role of TARC/CCL17 in early stages of schizophrenia. The exactmechanism of this involvement is still unknown and future longitudinal studies as well as studies of central and peripheral chemokine levels would be of great interest. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
- Aeinehband, Shahin, et al.
(author)
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Cerebrospinal fluid kynurenines in multiple sclerosis : relation to disease course and neurocognitive symptoms
- 2016
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In: Brain, behavior, and immunity. - : Elsevier. - 0889-1591 .- 1090-2139. ; 51, s. 47-55
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system, with a high rate of neurocognitive symptoms for which the molecular background is still uncertain. There is accumulating evidence for dysregulation of the kynurenine pathway (KP) in different psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions. We here report the first comprehensive analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) kynurenine metabolites in MS patients of different disease stages and in relation to neurocognitive symptoms. Levels of tryptophan (TRP), kynurenine (KYN), kynurenic acid (KYNA) and quinolinic acid (QUIN) were determined with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry in cell-free CSF. At the group level MS patients (cohort 1; n = 71) did not differ in absolute levels of TRP, KYN, KYNA or QUIN as compared to non-inflammatory neurological disease controls (n = 20). Stratification of patients into different disease courses revealed that both absolute QUIN levels and the QUIN/KYN ratio were increased in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients in relapse. Interestingly, secondary progressive MS (SPMS) displayed a trend for lower TRP and KYNA, while primary progressive (PPMS) patients displayed increased levels of all metabolites, similar to a group of inflammatory neurological disease controls (n = 13). In the second cohort (n = 48), MS patients with active disease and short disease duration were prospectively evaluated for neuropsychiatric symptoms. In a supervised multivariate analysis using orthogonal projection to latent structures (OPLS-DA) depressed patients displayed higher KYNA/TRP and KYN/TRP ratios, mainly due to low TRP levels. Still, this model had low predictive value and could not completely separate the clinically depressed patients from the non-depressed MS patients. No correlation was evident for other neurocognitive measures. Taken together these results demonstrate that clinical disease activity and differences in disease courses are reflected by changes in KP metabolites. Increased QUIN levels of RRMS patients in relapse and generally decreased levels of TRP in SPMS may relate to neurotoxicity and failure of remyelination, respectively. In contrast, PPMS patients displayed a more divergent pattern more resembling inflammatory conditions such as systemic lupus erythematosus. The pattern of KP metabolites in RRMS patients could not predict neurocognitive symptoms.
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| 3. |
- Alnaes, Dag, et al.
(author)
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Brain Heterogeneity in Schizophrenia and Its Association With Polygenic Risk
- 2019
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In: JAMA psychiatry. - : AMER MEDICAL ASSOC. - 2168-6238 .- 2168-622X. ; 76:7, s. 739-748
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ImportanceBetween-individual variability in brain structure is determined by gene-environment interactions, possibly reflecting differential sensitivity to environmental and genetic perturbations. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have revealed thinner cortices and smaller subcortical volumes in patients with schizophrenia. However, group-level comparisons may mask considerable within-group heterogeneity, which has largely remained unnoticed in the literature. ObjectivesTo compare brain structural variability between individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls and to test whether respective variability reflects the polygenic risk score (PRS) for schizophrenia in an independent sample of healthy controls. Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis case-control and polygenic risk analysis compared MRI-derived cortical thickness and subcortical volumes between healthy controls and patients with schizophrenia across 16 cohorts and tested for associations between PRS and MRI features in a control cohort from the UK Biobank. Data were collected from October 27, 2004, through April 12, 2018, and analyzed from December 3, 2017, through August 1, 2018. Main Outcomes and MeasuresMean and dispersion parameters were estimated using double generalized linear models. Vertex-wise analysis was used to assess cortical thickness, and regions-of-interest analyses were used to assess total cortical volume, total surface area, and white matter, subcortical, and hippocampal subfield volumes. Follow-up analyses included within-sample analysis, test of robustness of the PRS threshold, population covariates, outlier removal, and control for image quality. ResultsA comparison of 1151 patients with schizophrenia (mean [SD] age,33.8[10.6] years; 68.6% male [n=790] and 31.4% female [n=361]) with 2010 healthy controls (mean [SD] age,32.6[10.4] years; 56.0% male [n=1126] and 44.0% female [n=884]) revealed higher heterogeneity in schizophrenia for cortical thickness and area (t = 3.34), cortical (t=3.24) and ventricle (t range, 3.15-5.78) volumes, and hippocampal subfields (t range, 2.32-3.55). In the UK Biobank sample of 12 490 participants (mean [SD] age,55.9 [7.5] years; 48.2% male [n=6025] and 51.8% female [n=6465]), higher PRS was associated with thinner frontal and temporal cortices and smaller left CA2/3 (t=-3.00) but was not significantly associated with dispersion. Conclusions and RelevanceThis study suggests that schizophrenia is associated with substantial brain structural heterogeneity beyond the mean differences. These findings may reflect higher sensitivity to environmental and genetic perturbations in patients, supporting the heterogeneous nature of schizophrenia. A higher PRS was associated with thinner frontotemporal cortices and smaller hippocampal subfield volume, but not heterogeneity. This finding suggests that brain variability in schizophrenia results from interactions between environmental and genetic factors that are not captured by the PRS. Factors contributing to heterogeneity in frontotemporal cortices and hippocampus are key to furthering our understanding of how genetic and environmental factors shape brain biology in schizophrenia.
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| 4. |
- Engberg, Goran, et al.
(author)
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A physically based microstructure model for predicting the microstructural evolution of a C-Mn steel during and after hot deformation
- 2008
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In: STEEL RES INT. - : Wiley. - 1611-3683. ; 79:1, s. 47-58
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A physically based model for predicting microstructural evolution has been developed. The model is based on a physical description of dislocation density evolution, where the generation and recovery of dislocations determine the flow stress and also the driving force for recrystallization. In the model, abnormally growing subgrains are assumed to be nuclei of recrystallized grains and recrystallization starts when the subgrains reach a critical size and configuration. To verify that the model is able to describe dynamic, static and metadynamic recrystallization of C-Mn steels, hot compression tests combined with relaxation were performed at various temperatures, strains and strain rates. The model showed reasonable agreement with the experimental data for the compression tests performed at temperatures ranging from 850 degrees C to 1200 degrees C and strain rates ranging from 0.1 to 10 s(-1). Similarly, the calculations of the stress relaxation tests were in accordance with experimental data. A validation of the model was done by calculating a multi-step test where good agreement with both flow-stress values and grain sizes was obtained. The main purpose of the model is to predict the microstructural evolution during hot rolling and this investigation presents very promising results.
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| 5. |
- Kaufmann, Tobias, et al.
(author)
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Common brain disorders are associated with heritable patterns of apparent aging of the brain
- 2019
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In: Nature Neuroscience. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 1097-6256 .- 1546-1726. ; 22:10, s. 1617-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Common risk factors for psychiatric and other brain disorders are likely to converge on biological pathways influencing the development and maintenance of brain structure and function across life. Using structural MRI data from 45,615 individuals aged 3-96 years, we demonstrate distinct patterns of apparent brain aging in several brain disorders and reveal genetic pleiotropy between apparent brain aging in healthy individuals and common brain disorders.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Orhan, Funda, et al.
(author)
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Kynurenine Metabolites in CSF and Plasma in Healthy Males
- 2024
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In: International Journal of Tryptophan Research. - : SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD. - 1178-6469. ; 17
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In recent years, kynurenine metabolites generated by tryptophan catabolism have gained increasing attention in the context of brain diseases. The question of importance is whether there is a relationship between peripheral and central levels of these metabolites. Some of these compounds do not cross the blood-brain barrier; in particular, kynurenic acid, and most analyses of kynurenines from psychiatric patients have been performed using plasma samples. In the present study, we recruited 30 healthy volunteers with no history of psychiatric or neurological diagnosis, to analyze tryptophan, kynurenine, kynurenic acid, and quinolinic acid levels in CSF and plasma. In addition, kynurenic acid was analyzed in urine. The most important finding of this study is that CSF kynurenic acid levels do not correlate with those in plasma or urine. However, we found a correlation between plasma kynurenine and CSF kynurenic acid. Further, plasma kynurenine and plasma quinolinic acid were correlated. Our findings clarify the distribution of tryptophan and its metabolites in various body compartments and may serve as a guide for the analysis of these metabolites in humans. The most significant finding of the present study is that a prediction of brain kynurenic acid by of the analysis of the compound in plasma cannot be made.
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| 8. |
- Shang, Pei, et al.
(author)
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Identification of cerebrospinal fluid and serum metabolomic biomarkers in first episode psychosis patients
- 2022
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In: Translational Psychiatry. - : Springer Nature. - 2158-3188. ; 12:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Psychotic disorders are currently diagnosed by examining the patient's mental state and medical history. Identifying reliable diagnostic, monitoring, predictive, or prognostic biomarkers would be useful in clinical settings and help to understand the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Here, we performed an untargeted metabolomics analysis using ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectroscopy on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples of 25 patients at their first-episode psychosis (FEP) manifestation (baseline) and after 18 months (follow-up). CSF and serum samples of 21 healthy control (HC) subjects were also analyzed. By comparing FEP and HC groups at baseline, we found eight CSF and 32 serum psychosis-associated metabolites with non-redundant identifications. Most remarkable was the finding of increased CSF serotonin (5-HT) levels. Most metabolites identified at baseline did not differ between groups at 18-month follow-up with significant improvement of positive symptoms and cognitive functions. Comparing FEP patients at baseline and 18-month follow-up, we identified 20 CSF metabolites and 90 serum metabolites that changed at follow-up. We further utilized Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) and identified candidate signaling pathways involved in psychosis pathogenesis and progression. In an extended cohort, we validated that CSF 5-HT levels were higher in FEP patients than in HC at baseline by reversed-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography. To conclude, these findings provide insights into the pathophysiology of psychosis and identify potential psychosis-associated biomarkers.
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