@article{LehmannKuhnKelleretal.2022, author = {Lehmann, Nico and Kuhn, Yves-Alain and Keller, Martin and Aye, Norman and Herold, Fabian and Draganski, Bogdan and Taube, Wolfgang and Taubert, Marco}, title = {Brain activation during active balancing and its behavioral relevance in younger and older adults}, series = {Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience}, volume = {14}, journal = {Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1663-4365}, doi = {10.3389/fnagi.2022.828474}, pages = {20}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Age-related deterioration of balance control is widely regarded as an important phenomenon influencing quality of life and longevity, such that a more comprehensive understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying this process is warranted. Specifically, previous studies have reported that older adults typically show higher neural activity during balancing as compared to younger counterparts, but the implications of this finding on balance performance remain largely unclear. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), differences in the cortical control of balance between healthy younger (n = 27) and older (n = 35) adults were explored. More specifically, the association between cortical functional activity and balance performance across and within age groups was investigated. To this end, we measured hemodynamic responses (i.e., changes in oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin) while participants balanced on an unstable device. As criterion variables for brain-behavior-correlations, we also assessed postural sway while standing on a free-swinging platform and while balancing on wobble boards with different levels of difficulty. We found that older compared to younger participants had higher activity in prefrontal and lower activity in postcentral regions. Subsequent robust regression analyses revealed that lower prefrontal brain activity was related to improved balance performance across age groups, indicating that higher activity of the prefrontal cortex during balancing reflects neural inefficiency. We also present evidence supporting that age serves as a moderator in the relationship between brain activity and balance, i.e., cortical hemodynamics generally appears to be a more important predictor of balance performance in the older than in the younger. Strikingly, we found that age differences in balance performance are mediated by balancing-induced activation of the superior frontal gyrus, thus suggesting that differential activation of this region reflects a mechanism involved in the aging process of the neural control of balance. Our study suggests that differences in functional brain activity between age groups are not a mere by-product of aging, but instead of direct behavioral relevance for balance performance. Potential implications of these findings in terms of early detection of fall-prone individuals and intervention strategies targeting balance and healthy aging are discussed.}, language = {en} } @article{WangEnsslePietzneretal.2022, author = {Wang, Chaoxuan and Enssle, J{\"o}rg and Pietzner, Anne and Schm{\"o}cker, Christoph and Weiland, Linda and Ritter, Oliver and Jaensch, Monique and Elbelt, Ulf and Pagonas, Nikolaos and Weylandt, Karsten-Henrich}, title = {Essential polyunsaturated fatty acids in blood from patients with and without catheter-proven coronary artery disease}, series = {International journal of molecular sciences}, volume = {23}, journal = {International journal of molecular sciences}, number = {2}, publisher = {Molecular Diversity Preservation International}, address = {Basel}, issn = {1422-0067}, doi = {10.3390/ijms23020766}, pages = {14}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Statins reduce morbidity and mortality of CAD. Intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFAs), particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), is associated with reduced morbidity and mortality in patients with CAD. Previous data indicate that a higher conversion of precursor fatty acids (FAs) to arachidonic acid (AA) is associated with increased CAD prevalence. Our study explored the FA composition in blood to assess n-3 PUFA levels from patients with and without CAD. We analyzed blood samples from 273 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Patients were stratified according to clinically relevant CAD (n = 192) and those without (n = 81). FA analysis in full blood was performed by gas chromatography. Indicating increased formation of AA from precursors, the ratio of dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA) to AA, the delta-5 desaturase index (D5D index) was higher in CAD patients. CAD patients had significantly lower levels of omega-6 polyunsaturated FAs (n-6 PUFA) and n-3 PUFA, particularly EPA, in the blood. Thus, our study supports a role of increased EPA levels for cardioprotection.}, language = {en} } @article{KlausMuellervanWickerenetal.2022, author = {Klaus, Benita and M{\"u}ller, Patrick and van Wickeren, Nora and Dordevic, Milos and Schmicker, Marlen and Zdunczyk, Yael and Brigadski, Tanja and Lessmann, Volkmar and Vielhaber, Stefan and Schreiber, Stefanie and M{\"u}ller, Notger G.}, title = {Structural and functional brain alterations in patients with myasthenia gravis}, series = {Brain communications}, volume = {4}, journal = {Brain communications}, number = {1}, publisher = {Oxford Univ. Press}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {2632-1297}, doi = {10.1093/braincomms/fcac018}, pages = {12}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease affecting neuromuscular transmission and causing skeletal muscle weakness. Additionally, systemic inflammation, cognitive deficits and autonomic dysfunction have been described. However, little is known about myasthenia gravis-related reorganization of the brain. In this study, we thus investigated the structural and functional brain changes in myasthenia gravis patients. Eleven myasthenia gravis patients (age: 70.64 +/- 9.27; 11 males) were compared to age-, sex- and education-matched healthy controls (age: 70.18 +/- 8.98; 11 males). Most of the patients (n = 10, 0.91\%) received cholinesterase inhibitors. Structural brain changes were determined by applying voxel-based morphometry using high-resolution T-1-weighted sequences. Functional brain changes were assessed with a neuropsychological test battery (including attention, memory and executive functions), a spatial orientation task and brain-derived neurotrophic factor blood levels. Myasthenia gravis patients showed significant grey matter volume reductions in the cingulate gyrus, in the inferior parietal lobe and in the fusiform gyrus. Furthermore, myasthenia gravis patients showed significantly lower performance in executive functions, working memory (Spatial Span, P = 0.034, d = 1.466), verbal episodic memory (P = 0.003, d = 1.468) and somatosensory-related spatial orientation (Triangle Completion Test, P = 0.003, d = 1.200). Additionally, serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels were significantly higher in myasthenia gravis patients (P = 0.001, d = 2.040). Our results indicate that myasthenia gravis is associated with structural and functional brain alterations. Especially the grey matter volume changes in the cingulate gyrus and the inferior parietal lobe could be associated with cognitive deficits in memory and executive functions. Furthermore, deficits in somatosensory-related spatial orientation could be associated with the lower volumes in the inferior parietal lobe. Future research is needed to replicate these findings independently in a larger sample and to investigate the underlying mechanisms in more detail. Klaus et al. compared myasthenia gravis patients to matched healthy control subjects and identified functional alterations in memory functions as well as structural alterations in the cingulate gyrus, in the inferior parietal lobe and in the fusiform gyrus.}, language = {en} } @article{LossBoklageJordanetal.2021, author = {Loss, Julika and Boklage, Evgeniya and Jordan, Susanne and Jenny, Mirjam A. and Weishaar, Heide and El Bcheraoui, Charbel}, title = {Risikokommunikation bei der Eind{\"a}mmung der COVID-19-Pandemie}, series = {Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz}, volume = {64}, journal = {Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz}, number = {3}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin ; Heidelberg}, issn = {1436-9990}, doi = {10.1007/s00103-021-03283-3}, pages = {294 -- 303}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Risk communication plays a central role in public health emergencies: it must enable informed decisions, promote protective or life-sustaining behaviour, and maintain trust in public institutions. In addition, uncertainties in knowledge must be named transparently; irrational fears and rumours must be refuted. Success factors for risk communication are the participation of citizens as well as the continuous recording of risk perception and risk competence in population groups. The current COVID-19 (corona virus disease 2019) pandemic poses specific challenges for risk communication. The state of knowledge on many important aspects concerning COVID-19 was and is often uncertain or preliminary, e.g. on transmission, symptoms, long-term effects and immunity. Communication is characterised by scientific language and an array of figures and statistics, which can render the content difficult to understand. Alongside the official announcements and statements by experts, COVID-19 is widely communicated on social media, spreading misinformation and speculation; this "infodemic" can complicate risk communication. Various national and international scientific projects will help tailor risk communication on COVID-19 to target groups and thereby render it more effective. These projects include explorative studies on how people deal with COVID-19-related information; the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring (COSMO) project, a regularly conducted online survey on risk perception and protective behaviour; and an interdisciplinary qualitative study that compares the design, implementation and effectiveness of risk communication strategies in four countries.}, language = {de} } @article{HoffmannTschornMichalskietal.2022, author = {Hoffmann, Stephanie and Tschorn, Mira and Michalski, Niels and Hoebel, Jens and F{\"o}rstner, Bernd Rainer and Rapp, Michael A. and Spallek, Jacob}, title = {Association of regional socioeconomic deprivation and rurality with global developmental delay in early childhood}, series = {Health \& place : an international journal ; a social science \& medicine publication ; incorporating Geographia medica}, volume = {75}, journal = {Health \& place : an international journal ; a social science \& medicine publication ; incorporating Geographia medica}, publisher = {Elsevier Science}, address = {Amsterdam [u.a.]}, issn = {1353-8292}, doi = {10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102794}, pages = {8}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Background: From birth to young adulthood, health and development of young people are strongly linked to their living situation, including their family's socioeconomic position (SEP) and living environment. The impact of regional characteristics on development in early childhood beyond family SEP has been rarely investigated. This study aimed to identify regional predictors of global developmental delay at school entry taking family SEP into consideration. Method: We used representative, population-based data from mandatory school entry examinations of the German federal state of Brandenburg in 2018/2019 with n=22,801 preschool children. By applying binary multilevel models, we hierarchically analyzed the effect of regional deprivation defined by the German Index of Socioeconomic Deprivation (GISD) and rurality operationalized as inverted population density of the children's school district on global developmental delay (GDD) while adjusting for family SEP (low, medium and high) Results: Family SEP was significantly and strongly linked to GDD. Children with the highest family SEP showed a lower odds for GDD compared to a medium SEP (female: OR=4.26, male: OR=3.46) and low SEP (female: OR=16.58, male: OR=12.79). Furthermore, we discovered a smaller, but additional and independent effect of regional socioeconomic deprivation on GDD, with a higher odds for children from a more deprived school district (female: OR=1.35, male: OR=1.20). However, rurality did not show a significant link to GDD in preschool children beyond family SEP and regional deprivation. Conclusion: Family SEP and regional deprivation are risk factors for child development and of particular interest to promote health of children in early childhood and over the life course.}, language = {en} } @article{SchlosshauerCavakZemellaetal.2022, author = {Schloßhauer, Jeffrey and Cavak, Ni{\~n}o and Zemella, Anne and Thoring, Lena and Kubick, Stefan}, title = {Cell engineering and cultivation of chinese hamster ovary cells for the development of orthogonal eukaryotic cell-free translation systems}, series = {Frontiers in molecular biosciences}, volume = {9}, journal = {Frontiers in molecular biosciences}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {2296-889X}, doi = {10.3389/fmolb.2022.832379}, pages = {13}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The investigation of protein structures, functions and interactions often requires modifications to adapt protein properties to the specific application. Among many possible methods to equip proteins with new chemical groups, the utilization of orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pairs enables the site-specific incorporation of non-canonical amino acids at defined positions in the protein. The open nature of cell-free protein synthesis reactions provides an optimal environment, as the orthogonal components do not need to be transported across the cell membrane and the impact on cell viability is negligible. In the present work, it was shown that the expression of orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in CHO cells prior to cell disruption enhanced the modification of the pharmaceutically relevant adenosine A2a receptor. For this purpose, in complement to transient transfection of CHO cells, an approach based on CRISPR/Cas9 technology was selected to generate a translationally active cell lysate harboring endogenous orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase.}, language = {en} } @article{RudolphSchmeerGuentheretal.2021, author = {Rudolph, Max and Schmeer, Christian and G{\"u}nther, Madlen and Woitke, Florus and Kathner-Schaffert, Carolin and Karapetow, Lina and Lindner, Julia and Lehmann, Thomas and Jirikowski, Gustav and Witte, Otto W. and Redecker, Christoph and Keiner, Silke}, title = {Microglia-mediated phagocytosis of apoptotic nuclei is impaired in the adult murine hippocampus after stroke}, series = {Glia}, volume = {69}, journal = {Glia}, number = {8}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0894-1491}, doi = {10.1002/glia.24009}, pages = {2006 -- 2022}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Following stroke, neuronal death takes place both in the infarct region and in brain areas distal to the lesion site including the hippocampus. The hippocampus is critically involved in learning and memory processes and continuously generates new neurons. Dysregulation of adult neurogenesis may be associated with cognitive decline after a stroke lesion. In particular, proliferation of precursor cells and the formation of new neurons are increased after lesion. Within the first week, many new precursor cells die during development. How dying precursors are removed from the hippocampus and to what extent phagocytosis takes place after stroke is still not clear. Here, we evaluated the effect of a prefrontal stroke lesion on the phagocytic activity of microglia in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus. Three-months-old C57BL/6J mice were injected once with the proliferation marker BrdU (250 mg/kg) 6 hr after a middle cerebral artery occlusion or sham surgery. The number of apoptotic cells and the phagocytic capacity of the microglia were evaluated by means of immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy, and 3D-reconstructions. We found a transient but significant increase in the number of apoptotic cells in the DG early after stroke, associated with impaired removal by microglia. Interestingly, phagocytosis of newly generated precursor cells was not affected. Our study shows that a prefrontal stroke lesion affects phagocytosis of apoptotic cells in the DG, a region distal to the lesion core. Whether disturbed phagocytosis might contribute to inflammatory- and maladaptive processes including cognitive impairment following stroke needs to be further investigated.}, language = {en} } @article{SchefflerHermanussenRogol2021, author = {Scheffler, Christiane and Hermanussen, Michael and Rogol, Alan D.}, title = {Stunting}, series = {Archives of disease in childhood : a peer review journal for health professionals and researchers covering conception to adolescence}, volume = {106}, journal = {Archives of disease in childhood : a peer review journal for health professionals and researchers covering conception to adolescence}, number = {8}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group}, address = {London}, issn = {0003-9888}, doi = {10.1136/archdischild-2020-319240}, pages = {819 -- 820}, year = {2021}, language = {en} } @article{BaruchaMauchDucksteinetal.2022, author = {Barucha, Anton and Mauch, Renan Marrichi and Duckstein, Franziska and Zagoya, Carlos and Mainz, Jochen G.}, title = {The potential of volatile organic compound analysis for pathogen detection and disease monitoring in patients with cystic fibrosis}, series = {Expert review of respiratory medicine}, volume = {16}, journal = {Expert review of respiratory medicine}, number = {7}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Abingdon}, issn = {1747-6348}, doi = {10.1080/17476348.2022.2104249}, pages = {723 -- 735}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Introduction Airway infection with pathogens and its associated pulmonary exacerbations (PEX) are the major causes of morbidity and premature death in cystic fibrosis (CF). Preventing or postponing chronic infections requires early diagnosis. However, limitations of conventional microbiology-based methods can hamper identification of exacerbations and specific pathogen detection. Analyzing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in breath samples may be an interesting tool in this regard, as VOC-biomarkers can characterize specific airway infections in CF. Areas covered We address the current achievements in VOC-analysis and discuss studies assessing VOC-biomarkers and fingerprints, i.e. a combination of multiple VOCs, in breath samples aiming at pathogen and PEX detection in people with CF (pwCF). We aim to provide bases for further research in this interesting field. Expert opinion Overall, VOC-based analysis is a promising tool for diagnosis of infection and inflammation with potential to monitor disease progression in pwCF. Advantages over conventional diagnostic methods, including easy and non-invasive sampling procedures, may help to drive prompt, suitable therapeutic approaches in the future. Our review shall encourage further research, including validation of VOC-based methods. Specifically, longitudinal validation under standardized conditions is of interest in order to ensure repeatability and enable inclusion in CF diagnostic routine.}, language = {en} } @article{RebitschekEllermannJennyetal.2022, author = {Rebitschek, Felix G. and Ellermann, Christin and Jenny, Mirjam A. and Siegel, Nico A. and Spinner, Christian and Wagner, Gert G.}, title = {Fact boxes that inform individual decisions may contribute to a more positive evaluation of COVID-19 vaccinations at the population level}, series = {PLOS ONE}, volume = {17}, journal = {PLOS ONE}, number = {9}, publisher = {PLOS}, address = {San Francisco}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0274186}, pages = {19}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Objective For an effective control of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic with vaccines, most people in a population need to be vaccinated. It is thus important to know how to inform the public with reference to individual preferences-while also acknowledging the societal preference to encourage vaccinations. According to the health care standard of informed decision-making, a comparison of the benefits and harms of (not) having the vaccination would be required to inform undecided and skeptical people. To test evidence-based fact boxes, an established risk communication format, and to inform their development, we investigated their contribution to knowledge and evaluations of COVID-19 vaccines. Methods We conducted four studies (1, 2, and 4 were population-wide surveys with N = 1,942 to N = 6,056): Study 1 assessed the relationship between vaccination knowledge and intentions in Germany over three months. Study 2 assessed respective information gaps and needs of the population in Germany. In parallel, an experiment (Study 3) with a mixed design (presentation formats; pre-post-comparison) assessed the effect of fact boxes on risk perceptions and fear, using a convenience sample (N = 719). Study 4 examined how effective two fact box formats are for informing vaccination intentions, with a mixed experimental design: between-subjects (presentation formats) and within-subjects (pre-post-comparison). Results Study 1 showed that vaccination knowledge and vaccination intentions increased between November 2020 and February 2021. Study 2 revealed objective information requirements and subjective information needs. Study 3 showed that the fact box format is effective in adjusting risk perceptions concerning COVID-19. Based on those results, fact boxes were revised and implemented with the help of a national health authority in Germany. Study 4 showed that simple fact boxes increase vaccination knowledge and positive evaluations in skeptics and undecideds. Conclusion Fact boxes can inform COVID-19 vaccination intentions of undecided and skeptical people without threatening societal vaccination goals of the population}, language = {en} }