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The German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) is one of the German Centres for Health Research and aims to conduct early and guideline-relevant studies to develop new therapies and diagnostics that impact the lives of people with cardiovascular disease. Therefore, DZHK members designed a collaboratively organised and integrated research platform connecting all sites and partners. The overarching objectives of the research platform are the standardisation of prospective data and biological sample collections among all studies and the development of a sustainable centrally standardised storage in compliance with general legal regulations and the FAIR principles. The main elements of the DZHK infrastructure are web-based and central units for data management, LIMS, IDMS, and transfer office, embedded in a framework consisting of the DZHK Use and Access Policy, and the Ethics and Data Protection Concept. This framework is characterised by a modular design allowing a high standardisation across all studies. For studies that require even tighter criteria additional quality levels are defined. In addition, the Public Open Data strategy is an important focus of DZHK. The DZHK operates as one legal entity holding all rights of data and biological sample usage, according to the DZHK Use and Access Policy. All DZHK studies collect a basic set of data and biosamples, accompanied by specific clinical and imaging data and biobanking. The DZHK infrastructure was constructed by scientists with the focus on the needs of scientists conducting clinical studies. Through this, the DZHK enables the interdisciplinary and multiple use of data and biological samples by scientists inside and outside the DZHK. So far, 27 DZHK studies recruited well over 11,200 participants suffering from major cardiovascular disorders such as myocardial infarction or heart failure. Currently, data and samples of five DZHK studies of the DZHK Heart Bank can be applied for.
Microbial metabolites measured using NMR may serve as markers for physiological or pathological host–microbe interactions and possibly mediate the beneficial effects of microbiome diversity. Yet, comprehensive analyses of gut microbiome data and the urine NMR metabolome from large general population cohorts are missing. Here, we report the associations between gut microbiota abundances or metrics of alpha diversity, quantified from stool samples using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, with targeted urine NMR metabolites measures from 951 participants of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP). We detected significant genus–metabolite associations for hippurate, succinate, indoxyl sulfate, and formate. Moreover, while replicating the previously reported association between hippurate and measures of alpha diversity, we identified formate and 4-hydroxyphenylacetate as novel markers of gut microbiome alpha diversity. Next, we predicted the urinary concentrations of each metabolite using genus abundances via an elastic net regression methodology. We found profound associations of the microbiome-based hippurate prediction score with markers of liver injury, inflammation, and metabolic health. Moreover, the microbiome-based prediction score for hippurate completely mediated the clinical association pattern of microbial diversity, hinting at a role of benzoate metabolism underlying the positive associations between high alpha diversity and healthy states. In conclusion, large-scale NMR urine metabolomics delivered novel insights into metabolic host–microbiome interactions, identifying pathways of benzoate metabolism as relevant candidates mediating the beneficial health effects of high microbial alpha diversity.
In this retrospective, monocentric cohort study, we tested if an intrathecal free light chain kappa (FLC-k) synthesis reflects not only an IgG but also IgA and IgM synthesis. We also analysed if FLC-k can help to distinguish between an inflammatory process and a blood contamination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A total of 296 patient samples were identified and acquired from patients of the department of Neurology, University Medicine Greifswald (Germany). FLC-k were analysed in paired CSF and serum samples using the Siemens FLC-k kit. To determine an intrathecal FLC-k and immunoglobulin (Ig) A/-M-synthesis we analysed CSF/serum quotients in quotient diagrams, according to Reiber et al. Patient samples were grouped into three cohorts: cohort I (n = 41), intrathecal IgA and/or IgM synthesis; cohort II (n = 16), artificial blood contamination; and the control group (n = 239), no intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis. None of the samples had intrathecal IgG synthesis, as evaluated with quotient diagrams or oligoclonal band analysis. In cohort I, 98% of patient samples presented an intrathecal synthesis of FLC-k. In cohort II, all patients lacked intrathecal FLC-k synthesis. In the control group, 6.5% presented an intrathecal synthesis of FLC-k. The data support the concept that an intrathecal FLC-k synthesis is independent of the antibody class produced. In patients with an artificial intrathecal Ig synthesis due to blood contamination, FLC-k synthesis is lacking. Thus, additional determination of FLC-k in quotient diagrams helps to discriminate an inflammatory process from a blood contamination of CSF.
Abstract
Aim
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of non‐surgical periodontal therapy on circulating levels of the systemic inflammation‐associated biomarkers orosomucoid (ORM), high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hsCRP), chemerin, and retinol‐binding protein 4 (RBP4) in overweight or normal‐weight patients with periodontitis at 27.5 months after therapy.
Materials and methods
This exploratory subanalysis includes patients from the ABPARO‐trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00707369). The per‐protocol collective provided untreated periodontitis patients with high (≥28 kg/m2) or moderate (21–24 kg/m2) BMI. Out of the per‐protocol collective, 80 patients were randomly selected and stratified for BMI group, sex, and treatment group (antibiotics/placebo), resulting in 40 overweight and normal‐weight patients. Patients received non‐surgical periodontal therapy and maintenance at 3‐month intervals. Plasma samples from baseline and 27.5 months following initial treatment were used to measure the concentrations of ORM, hsCRP, chemerin, and RBP4.
Results
At the 27.5‐month examination, ORM and hsCRP decreased noticeably in the overweight group (ORM: p = .001, hsCRP: p = .004) and normal‐weight patients (ORM: p = .007, hsCRP: p < .001). Chemerin decreased in the overweight group (p = .048), and RBP4 concentrations remained stable.
Conclusion
Non‐surgical periodontal therapy reduced systemically elevated inflammation‐associated biomarkers in periodontitis patients. These improvements were more pronounced in overweight patients than in normal‐weight patients.
Variability of Thyroid Measurements from Ultrasound and Laboratory in a Repeated Measurements Study
(2020)
Background: Variability of measurements in medical research can be due to different sources. Quantification of measurement errors facilitates probabilistic sensitivity analyses in future research to minimize potential bias in epidemiological studies. We aimed to investigate the variation of thyroid-related outcomes derived from ultrasound (US) and laboratory analyses in a repeated measurements study. Subjects and Methods: Twenty-five volunteers (13 females, 12 males) aged 22–70 years were examined once a month over 1 year. US measurements included thyroid volume, goiter, and thyroid nodules. Laboratory measurements included urinary iodine concentrations and serum levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (fT3), free thyroxine (fT4), and thyroglobulin. Variations in continuous thyroid markers were assessed as coefficient of variation (CV) defined as mean of the individual CVs with bootstrapped confidence intervals and as intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Variations in dichotomous thyroid markers were assessed by Cohen’s kappa. Results: CV was highest for urinary iodine concentrations (56.9%), followed by TSH (27.2%), thyroglobulin (18.2%), thyroid volume (10.5%), fT3 (8.1%), and fT4 (6.3%). The ICC was lowest for urinary iodine concentrations (0.42), followed by fT3 (0.55), TSH (0.64), fT4 (0.72), thyroid volume (0.87), and thyroglobulin (0.90). Cohen’s kappa values for the presence of goiter or thyroid nodules were 0.64 and 0.70, respectively. Conclusion: Our study provides measures of variation for thyroid outcomes, which can be used for probabilistic sensitivity analyses of epidemiological data. The low intraindividual variation of serum thyroglobulin in comparison to urinary iodine concentrations emphasizes the potential of thyroglobulin as marker for the iodine status of populations.
Disregarded Measurement Uncertainty Contributions and Their Magnitude in Measuring Plasma Glucose
(2020)
Background:
Each measurement is subject to measurement uncertainty (MU). Consequently, each measurement of plasma glucose concentration used for diagnosis and monitoring of diabetes mellitus (DM) is affected. Although concepts and methods of MU are well established in many fields of science and technology, they are presently only incompletely implemented by medical laboratories, neglecting MU of target values of internal quality control (IQC) materials.
Methods:
An empirical and practical approach for the estimation of MU based on the analysis of routine IQC using control samples with assigned target values is presented. Its feasibility is demonstrated exemplarily by analyzing IQC data from one year obtained for glucose employing the hexokinase method with IQC of two different concentrations.
Results:
Combined relative extended (k = 2) MU comprising bias, coefficient of variation (CV), and MU of the target values assigned to control materials were about 9% with a lower (~ 56 mg/dL; ~3.1 mmol/L) and 8% with a higher (~ 346 mg/dL; ~19.2 mmol/L) concentration sample, analyzing IQC of one year from three different devices.
Conclusions:
Estimation of MU in this study is quite reliable due to the large number of IQC data from one year. The MU of the target values of the commercial control material in this study was considerably larger than other MU contributions, ie, standard deviation and bias. In the future, the contribution of MU of commercial IQC should be addressed more carefully and technologies to measure glucose should be geared toward smaller MU possible, as needed, especially for glucose concentration measurements in diagnosis and management of DM.
Infections are often caused by pathobionts, endogenous bacteria that belong to the microbiota. Trauma and surgical intervention can allow bacteria to overcome host defences, ultimately leading to sepsis if left untreated. One of the main defence strategies of the immune system is the production of highly specific antibodies. In the present proof-of-concept study, plasma antibodies against 9 major pathogens were measured in sepsis patients, as an example of severe systemic infections. The binding of plasma antibodies to bacterial extracellular proteins was quantified using a semi-automated immunoblot assay. Comparison of the pathogen-specific antibody levels before and after infection showed an increase in plasma IgG in 20 out of 37 tested patients. This host-directed approach extended the results of pathogen-oriented microbiological and PCR diagnostics: a specific antibody response to additional bacteria was frequently observed, indicating unrecognised poly-microbial invasion. This might explain some cases of failed, seemingly targeted antibiotic treatment.
Evidence is limited regarding whether periodontal treatment improves hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) among people with prediabetes and periodontal disease, and it is unknown whether improvement of metabolic status persists >3 mo. In an exploratory post hoc analysis of the multicenter randomized controlled trial “Antibiotika und Parodontitis” (Antibiotics and Periodontitis)—a prospective, stratified, double-blind study—we assessed whether nonsurgical periodontal treatment with or without an adjunctive systemic antibiotic treatment affects HbA1c and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels among periodontitis patients with normal HbA1c (≤5.7%, n = 218), prediabetes (5.7% < HbA1c < 6.5%, n = 101), or unknown diabetes (HbA1c ≥ 6.5%, n = 8) over a period of 27.5 mo. Nonsurgical periodontal treatment reduced mean pocket probing depth by >1 mm in both groups. In the normal HbA1c group, HbA1c values remained unchanged at 5.0% (95% CI, 4.9% to 6.1%) during the observation period. Among periodontitis patients with prediabetes, HbA1c decreased from 5.9% (95% CI, 5.9% to 6.0%) to 5.4% (95% CI, 5.3% to 5.5%) at 15.5 mo and increased to 5.6% (95% CI, 5.4% to 5.7%) after 27.5 mo. At 27.5 mo, 46% of periodontitis patients with prediabetes had normal HbA1c levels, whereas 47.9% remained unchanged and 6.3% progressed to diabetes. Median hsCRP values were reduced in the normal HbA1c and prediabetes groups from 1.2 and 1.4 mg/L to 0.7 and 0.7 mg/L, respectively. Nonsurgical periodontal treatment may improve blood glucose values among periodontitis patients with prediabetes (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00707369).
Mean platelet volume is more important than age for defining reference intervals of platelet counts
(2019)
In dieser Studie wurden 67 Plattenepithelkarzinome der Kopf- und Halsregion (head and neck squamous cell Carcinoma - HNSCC) und 40 Metastasen mit Single- und Multiplex-PCR und Sequenzierung auf das Auftreten der mitochondrialen 4977 Deletion sowie Alterationen in vier Regionen der mitochondrialen DNA, auf Mikrosatelliteninstabilität in drei Mono- und fünf Dinukleotidmarkern, sowie auf Veränderungen in neun STRs des nuklearen Genoms hin untersucht und deren statistische Korrelation untereinander geprüft. Es fanden sich in 35 % aller Tumore eine 4977 Deletion, in 40 % mitochondriale Mikrosatelliteninstabilität (mtMSI) und in 19% aller Tumore Punktmutationen der mitochondrialen DNA. Es war eine generelle Instabilität des mitochondrialen Genoms in den Tumoren zu beobachten. Frameshiftmutationen in Mononukleotidrepeats des Kerngenoms wurden in 19% nachgewiesen, Aberrationen in nuklearen Dinukleotidrepeats in 63 % und Veränderungen in Tetranukleotidrepeats (STR - Short tandem repeats) des Kerngenoms in 43 % aller Tumore. Besonders in den Dinukleotidrepeats und den STRs waren die Metastasen deutlich häufiger von Aberrationen betroffen. In den STRs des Kerngenoms konnten in 16% aller Tumore ein vollständiger Allelverlust und in 9 % eine Allelverschiebung nachgewiesen werden. In Abstammungsgutachten könnte dies zu falschen Resultaten führen. Ein kompletter Allelverlust bewirkt eine unechte Homozygotie und kann genauso wie eine Allelverschiebung zu einem falschen Ausschluss führen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie machen deutlich, dass Gewebe aus HNSCCs sich kaum für Abstammungsbegutachtungen oder Identifikationen eignet.