0000000000088921
AUTHOR
Andreas Hartmann
Systematic monitoring for detection of atrial fibrillation in patients with acute ischaemic stroke (MonDAFIS): a randomised, open-label, multicentre study.
Summary Background Systematic electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring improves detection of covert atrial fibrillation in stroke survivors but the effect on secondary prevention is unknown. We aimed to assess the effect of systematic ECG monitoring of patients in hospital on the rate of oral anticoagulant use after 12 months. Methods In this investigator-initiated, randomised, open-label, parallel-group multicentre study with masked endpoint adjudication, we recruited patients aged at least 18 years with acute ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack without known atrial fibrillation in 38 certified stroke units in Germany. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to usual diagnostic procedur…
The COGNITION Study Rationale and Design: Influence of Closed Loop Stimulation on Cognitive Performance in Pacemaker Patients
Background: Several studies showed the beneficial effect of pacemaker implantation on cognitive performance in patients with bradycardia. But it has never been investigated if patients with chronotropic incompetence may improve their cognitive performance if treated by a rate-adaptive system reacting to mental stress in comparison to the most frequently used accelerometer-driven pacing. Methods: The randomized, single-blind, multicenter COGNITION study evaluates if closed loop stimulation (CLS) offers incremental benefit in the speed of cognitive performance and the overall well-being of elderly patients with bradycardia compared with accelerometer-based pacing. Four hundred chronotropicall…
A comparative investigation of DNA adducts, DNA strand breaks and gene mutations induced by benzo[a]pyrene and (+/-)-anti-benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-diol 9,10-oxide in cultured human cells.
Abstract Genotoxic effects of benzo[ a ]pyrene (BP) and its reactive metabolites (±)- anti -benzo[ a ]pyrene-7,8-diol 9,10-oxide ((±)- anti -BPDE) were comparatively investigated in vitro with the permanent human fibroblast cell line MRC5CV1. Induced DNA adducts were measured by 32 P-postlabeling, DNA strand breakage was determined by the comet assay and the HPRT gene mutation test was used to detect cytotoxicity and mutagenicity. Treatment of MRC5CV1 cells with S9 mix-activated BP or with (±)- anti -BPDE resulted in a concentration-dependent increase in DNA adducts and strand breaks. Genotoxic effects of BP and (±)- anti- BPDE were detected by 32 P-postlabeling and the comet assay with sim…
Precision and accuracy of single-molecule FRET measurements-a multi-laboratory benchmark study
Single-molecule Forster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) is increasingly being used to determine distances, structures, and dynamics of biomolecules in vitro and in vivo. However, generalized protocols and FRET standards to ensure the reproducibility and accuracy of measurements of FRET efficiencies are currently lacking. Here we report the results of a comparative blind study in which 20 labs determined the FRET efficiencies (E) of several dye-labeled DNA duplexes. Using a unified, straightforward method, we obtained FRET efficiencies with s.d. between +/- 0.02 and +/- 0.05. We suggest experimental and computational procedures for converting FRET efficiencies into accurate distances, and…
Widening of the genetic and clinical spectrum of Lamb-Shaffer syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder due to SOX5 haploinsufficiency
International audience; PURPOSE: Lamb-Shaffer syndrome (LAMSHF) is a neurodevelopmental disorder described in just over two dozen patients with heterozygous genetic alterations involving SOX5, a gene encoding a transcription factor regulating cell fate and differentiation in neurogenesis and other discrete developmental processes. The genetic alterations described so far are mainly microdeletions. The present study was aimed at increasing our understanding of LAMSHF, its clinical and genetic spectrum, and the pathophysiological mechanisms involved.METHODS: Clinical and genetic data were collected through GeneMatcher and clinical or genetic networks for 41 novel patients harboring various ty…
Detection of DNA effects in human cells with the comet assay and their relevance for mutagenesis
The single cell gel test (SCG-test or comet assay) is a rapid and sensitive method for measuring DNA damage and repair in individual cells. A wide variety of mutagens have been shown to cause DNA alterations detectable with the comet assay, but it is not yet clear whether a relationship exists between the DNA effects and the induction of mutations. We are therefore investigating in a cell culture system with human cells (MRC5CV1) the induction of DNA damage by environmental mutagens and the formation of mutations at the HPRT gene. In the present study we investigated benzo[a]pyrene (BP), an environmental mutagenic and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, and its reactive metabolite…