Tafamidis is a transthyretin (TTR) stabilizer recently approved to slow the neurologic impairment in TTR familial amyloid polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP). The pivotal studies on Tafamidis reported ...encouraging results on the short term, in the early onset Val30Met-TTR-FAP patients at an early stage of the neuropathy. However, the effect of the drug in the non-Val30Met patients, at a more advanced stage of the disease and on the long term, is less known. In this study, we report the effect of Tafamidis in 43 TTR-FAP patients with a variety of pathogenic mutations, including 53% of non-Val30Met variants, at different stages of neuropathy followed on the long term. General and neurological assessment was performed in a standardized protocol every 6–12 months along with neurophysiological variables, including testing of small nerve fibres. The mean follow-up under treatment was 2 years with a subset of 26 patients treated for 3 years. Overall, Tafamidis was well tolerated. A significant clinical deterioration of the neuropathy and the patient’s general condition was observed across the 3 years follow-up, although neurophysiological parameters remained stable for the first 2 years. In contrast, patients had a significant increase of BMI under treatment. Deterioration of the neuropathy correlated to an older age at disease onset or treatment initiation and to poor clinical status at baseline. A higher BMI at baseline was associated with a lower progression of the neuropathy. About one-third of the patients who received 3 years of tafamidis had still preserved walking capacity or good clinical condition, suggesting that tafamidis slowed the disease progression in some patients. Overall, our work shows that tafamidis is well tolerated in TTR-FAP but does not prevent the steady progression of the neuropathy on the long term. Age, neurologic status, and general condition at baseline appear to be best predictors of tafamidis efficacy on the neurological function.
Abstract Background Prenatal exposure to viruses or parasites with tropism for the central nervous system is one of the risk factors for psychotic disorders. However, the relationship between past ...exposure to Toxoplasma gondii ( T. gondii ) and incidence of bipolar disorders (BD) is poorly documented across populations. Methods We explored the potential association between T. gondii exposure and BD in France, a country of high prevalence of Toxoplasmosis , comparing the prevalence of serological markers (IgG/IgM class antibodies) for T. gondii infection in 110 BD patients and 106 healthy controls all living in France. In a subgroup of 42 patients and 42 controls we also evaluated the levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) transcripts, an adjunct marker of inflammation. Results We found that the sero-positive group for IgG antibodies to T. gondii had a 2.7 fold odds of having BD as compared to the sero-negative group (OR=2.17 CI 95%=1.09–4.36, p =0.028). Despite the fact that BD patients had significantly higher levels of IL-6 than the non-patient controls, no notable association between T. gondii status and IL-6 transcript levels was found. We did not find any clinical or demographic correlates of Toxoplasma exposure in the study population. Limitations Our results are to be interpreted with caution because of our small sample size. Results We confirm the association between seropositive status to T. gondii and bipolar disorders reported in other populations and extend it to French patients. Our data strengthen the importance of early detection of T. gondii infected patients in order to propose specific and adequate treatments.
Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are remnants of infections that took place several million years ago and represent around 8% of the human genome. Despite evidence implicating increased ...expression of HERV type W envelope (HERV-W ENV) in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, it remains unknown whether such expression is associated with distinct clinical or biological characteristics and symptoms. Accordingly, we performed unsupervised two-step clustering of a multivariate data set that included HERV-W ENV protein antigenemia, serum cytokine levels, childhood trauma scores, and clinical data of cohorts of patients with schizophrenia (n = 29), bipolar disorder (n = 43) and healthy controls (n = 32). We found that subsets of patients with schizophrenia (~41%) and bipolar disorder (~28%) show positive antigenemia for HERV-W ENV protein, whereas the large majority (96%) of controls was found to be negative for ENV protein. Unsupervised cluster analysis identified the presence of two main clusters of patients, which were best predicted by the presence or absence of HERV-W ENV protein. HERV-W expression was associated with increased serum levels of inflammatory cytokines and higher childhood maltreatment scores. Furthermore, patients with schizophrenia who were positive for HERV-W ENV protein showed more manic symptoms and higher daily chlorpromazine (CPZ) equivalents, whereas HERV-W ENV positive patients with bipolar disorder were found to have an earlier disease onset than those who were negative for HERV-W ENV protein. Taken together, our study suggest that HERV-W ENV protein antigenemia and cytokines can be used to stratify patients with major mood and psychotic disorders into subgroups with differing inflammatory and clinical profiles.
Accumulating evidence majorly implicates immune dysfunction in the etiology of psychotic disorders. In particular, altered numbers and functions of natural killer (NK) cells have been described in ...psychosis, but interpretation has often been confounded by a number of biases, including treatment. Eighty-one first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients who subsequently received a diagnosis of either schizophrenia (SZ; n = 30) or bipolar disorder (BP; n = 31) over a five-year follow-up period were investigated for their NK cell phenotype and compared to 61 healthy controls (HCs). We found a similar proportion of CD3
CD56
NK cells in FEP patients and HCs. The frequency of NK cells expressing the late cell activation marker HLA-DR was significantly increased in FEP patients compared to HCs, especially in patients with BP (p < 0.0001) and, to a lesser degree, in patients with SZ (p = 0.0128). Interestingly, the expression of the activating NKG2C receptor, known to be associated with infections, was higher in patients with SZ and BP than in HCs (p < 0.0001) and correlated with HLA-DR expression, altogether defining adaptive NK cells. In terms of NK cell function, we observed a suppressed capacity of SZ-derived NK cells to mount cytotoxic responses in the presence of target cells, while NK cells from patients with BP show an inability to produce IFN-γ, a cytokine pivotal to NK function. This study strongly suggests major dysfunction of NK cells in FEP with functioning impairment correlated with psychotic, manic, and depressive symptoms in subsequently diagnosed patients with SZ and BP.
Telomere length is considered a marker for biological aging. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be associated with premature aging.
To test the hypothesis that patients with COPD ...experience accelerated telomere shortening and that inflammation is linked to this process.
We measured telomere length, using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based method, and plasma levels of various cytokines in 136 patients with COPD, 113 age- and sex-matched smokers, and 42 nonsmokers with normal lung function.
Median (range) telomere length ratio was significantly lower in patients with COPD (0.57 0.23-1.18) than in control smokers (0.79 0.34-1.58) or nonsmokers (0.85 0.38-1.55) (P < 0.001). The difference remained highly significant when using logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, and tobacco exposure. Both females and males with COPD had shorter telomere length than same-sex control subjects. Telomere length was related to age in patients and control subjects but was shorter in patients than in control subjects in all age groups. No relationship was found between telomere length and tobacco exposure in patients or control subjects, with no difference between control smokers and nonsmokers. In patients with COPD, telomere length was related to PaO2 (P < 0.001) and PaCO2 (P < 0.001) but not to lung function parameters or the BODE Index. Patients with COPD also had elevated plasma levels of various cytokines, interleukin-6 correlating negatively with telomere length (P < 0.001).
Given that in vivo telomere length reflects cellular turnover and exposure to oxidative and inflammatory damage, our data support accelerated aging in COPD.
Objectives
To test the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of serum prostate‐specific antigen isoform ‐2proPSA (p2PSA), %p2PSA and the prostate health index (PHI), in men with a family history of ...prostate cancer (PCa) undergoing prostate biopsy for suspected PCa.
To evaluate the potential reduction in unnecessary biopsies and the characteristics of potentially missed cases of PCa that would result from using serum p2PSA, %p2PSA and PHI.
Patients and Methods
The analysis consisted of a nested case–control study from the PRO‐PSA Multicentric European Study, the PROMEtheuS project.
All patients had a first‐degree relative (father, brother, son) with PCa.
Multivariable logistic regression models were complemented by predictive accuracy analysis and decision‐curve analysis.
Results
Of the 1026 patients included in the PROMEtheuS cohort, 158 (15.4%) had a first‐degree relative with PCa. p2PSA, %p2PSA and PHI values were significantly higher (P < 0.001), and free/total PSA (%fPSA) values significantly lower (P < 0.001) in the 71 patients with PCa (44.9%) than in patients without PCa.
Univariable accuracy analysis showed %p2PSA (area under the receiver‐operating characteristic curve AUC: 0.733) and PHI (AUC: 0.733) to be the most accurate predictors of PCa at biopsy, significantly outperforming total PSA (tPSA AUC: 0.549), free PSA (fPSA AUC: 0.489) and %fPSA (AUC: 0.600) (P ≤ 0.001).
For %p2PSA a threshold of 1.66 was found to have the best balance between sensitivity and specificity (70.4 and 70.1%; 95% confidence interval CI: 58.4–80.7 and 59.4–79.5 respectively). A PHI threshold of 40 was found to have the best balance between sensitivity and specificity (64.8 and 71.3%, respectively; 95% CI 52.5–75.8 and 60.6–80.5).
At 90% sensitivity, the thresholds for %p2PSA and PHI were 1.20 and 25.5, with a specificity of 37.9 and 25.5%, respectively. At a %p2PSA threshold of 1.20, a total of 39 (24.8%) biopsies could have been avoided, but two cancers with a Gleason score (GS) of 7 would have been missed. At a PHI threshold of 25.5 a total of 27 (17.2%) biopsies could have been avoided and two (3.8%) cancers with a GS of 7 would have been missed.
In multivariable logistic regression models, %p2PSA and PHI achieved independent predictor status and significantly increased the accuracy of multivariable models including PSA and prostate volume by 8.7 and 10%, respectively (P ≤ 0.001).
p2PSA, %p2PSA and PHI were directly correlated with Gleason score (ρ: 0.247, P = 0.038; ρ: 0.366, P = 0.002; ρ: 0.464, P < 0.001, respectively).
Conclusions
%p2PSA and PHI are more accurate than tPSA, fPSA and %fPSA in predicting PCa in men with a family history of PCa.
Consideration of %p2PSA and PHI results in the avoidance of several unnecessary biopsies.
p2PSA, %p2PSA and PHI correlate with cancer aggressiveness.
Schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorders (BD) are severe mental illnesses that lack reliable biomarkers to guide diagnosis and management. As immune dysregulation is associated with these disorders, ...we utilized the immunoregulatory functions of the natural killer cell inhibitory HLA-E locus to investigate the relationships between HLA-E genetic and expression diversities with SZ and BD risk and severity. Four hundred and forty-four patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for SZ (N = 161) or BD (N = 283) were compared to 160 heathy controls (HC). Circulating levels of the soluble isoform of HLA-E molecules (sHLA-E) were measured and HLA-E*01:01 and HLA-E*01:03 variants genotyped in the whole sample. sHLA-E circulating levels were significantly higher in both SZ and in BD patients compared to HC (pc < 0.0001 and pc = 0.0007 for SZ and BD, respectively). High sHLA-E levels were also observed in stable SZ patients and in acute BD patients experiencing depressive episodes when comparisons were made between the acute and stable subgroups of each disorder. sHLA-E levels linearly increased along HLA-E genotypes (p = 0.0036). In conclusion, HLA-E variants and level may have utility as diagnostic biomarkers of SZ and BD. The possible roles of HLA diversity in SZ and BD etiology and pathophysiology are discussed.
Bipolar disorder is a severe and chronic psychiatric disease resulting from a combination of genetic and environmental risk factors. Here, we identified a significant higher mutation rate in a gene ...encoding the calcium-dependent activator protein for secretion (CADPS) in 132 individuals with bipolar disorder, when compared to 184 unaffected controls or to 21,070 non-psychiatric and non-Finnish European subjects from the Exome Aggregation Consortium. We found that most of these variants resulted either in a lower abundance or a partial impairment in one of the basic functions of CADPS in regulating neuronal exocytosis, synaptic plasticity and vesicular transporter-dependent uptake of catecholamines. Heterozygous mutant mice for Cadps
revealed that a decreased level of CADPS leads to manic-like behaviours, changes in BDNF level and a hypersensitivity to stress. This was consistent with more childhood trauma reported in families with mutation in CADPS, and more specifically in mutated individuals. Furthermore, hyperactivity observed in mutant animals was rescued by the mood-stabilizing drug lithium. Overall, our results suggest that dysfunction in calcium-dependent vesicular exocytosis may increase the sensitivity to environmental stressors enhancing the risk of developing bipolar disorder.
Left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is recommended to decrease the stroke risk in patients with atrial fibrillation and contraindications to anticoagulation. However, age-stratified data are scarce. ...The aim of this study was to provide information on the safety and efficacy of LAAC, with emphasis on the oldest patients.
A nationwide, prospective, multicentre, observational registry was established by 53 French cardiology centres in 2018-2021. The composite primary endpoint included ischaemic stroke, systemic embolism, and unexplained or cardiovascular death. Separate analyses were done in the groups <80 years and ≥80 years.
Among the 1053 patients included, median age was 79.7 (73.6-84.3) years; 512 patients (48.6%) were aged ≥80 years. Procedure-related serious adverse events were non-significantly more common in octogenarians (7.0% vs 4.4% in patients aged <80 years, respectively; p=0.07). Despite a higher mean CHA
DS
-VASc score in octogenarians, the rate of thromboembolic events during the study was similar in both groups (3.0 vs 3.1/100 patient-years; p=0.85). By contrast, all-cause mortality was significantly higher in octogenarians (15.3 vs 10.1/100 patient-years, p<0.015), due to a higher rate of non-cardiovascular deaths (8.2 vs 4.9/100 patient-years, p=0.034). The rate of the primary endpoint was 8.1/100 patient-years overall with no statistically significant difference between age groups (9.4 and 7.0/100 patient-years; p=0.19).
Despite a higher mean CHA
DS
-VASc score in octogenarians, the rate of thromboembolic events after LAAC in this age group was similar to that in patients aged <80 years.
ClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT03434015).
There is an increased risk of osteoporosis and an abnormal bone turn over in neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1). Our objective is to evaluate bone status in NF1 and to look for associations with cutaneous ...phenotype. We conducted a descriptive, monocentric study. We included 60 NF1 women, 18–51 years old, non-menopausal, divided in 2 groups: «at risk phenotype» (ARP) composed by 30 patients with at least 2 subcutaneous neurofibromas (SC-NF) and «classical phenotype» (CP) composed by 30 patients with none or 1 SC-NF. We evaluated low bone mineral density (BMD) risk factors and measured BMD, calcium and phosphorus homeostasis and bone turnover markers. Before 50 years old,
Z
-score has to be used to assess BMD.
Z
-score < − 2 is below expected range and represents 2.5% of the population. There was no difference between the two groups. Overall,
Z
-scores were low and 5 patients had a
Z
-score < − 2 (8.3%), which is 3 times general population low BMD frequency. 10 fragility fractures occurred in 8 patients, among which 2 were vertebral fractures. 85% had low calcium intake. 12 patients had hypophosphoremia, 25 elevated PTH. Vitamin D levels were low for 86.4%. 41 patients (69.5%) had at least one abnormal bone turnover markers. Low BMD is 3.3 times more frequent in NF1 than in general population, with high fracture risk, regardless of the skin phenotype, classical or at risk, because of high bone turn over and secondary hyperparathyroidism due to vitamin D deficiency and poor calcium intake.
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