0000000000397304
AUTHOR
Marcus A. Mall
The disease-specific clinical trial network for primary ciliary dyskinesia: PCD-CTN
Primary ciliary dyskinesia; Rare genetic disorder; Lung diseases Discinesia ciliar primaria; Trastorno genético raro; Enfermedades pulmonares Discinesia ciliar primària; Trastorn genètic rar; Malalties pulmonars Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare genetic disorder characterised by impaired mucociliary clearance leading to irreversible lung damage. In contrast to other rare lung diseases like cystic fibrosis (CF), there are only few clinical trials and limited evidence-based treatments. Management is mainly based on expert opinions and treatment is challenging due to a wide range of clinical manifestations and disease severity. To improve clinical and translational research and facili…
Pulmonary emphysema in cystic fibrosis detected by densitometry on chest multidetector computed tomography.
BackgroundHistopathological studies on lung specimens from patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and recent results from a mouse model indicate that emphysema may contribute to CF lung disease. However, little is known about the relevance of emphysema in patients with CF. In the present study, we used computationally generated density masks based on multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) of the chest for non-invasive characterization and quantification of emphysema in CF.MethodsVolumetric MDCT scans were acquired in parallel to pulmonary function testing in 41 patients with CF (median age 20.1 years; range 7-66 years) and 21 non-CF controls (median age 30.4 years; range 4-68 years), and subj…
Niemann-Pick Type C-2 Disease: Identification by Analysis of Plasma Cholestane-3β,5α,6β-Triol and Further Insight into the Clinical Phenotype.
Niemann-Pick type C disease is a rare disorder caused by impaired intracellular lipid transport due to mutations in either the NPC1 or the NPC2 gene. Ninety-five % of NPC patients show mutations in the NPC1 gene. A much smaller number of patients suffer from NPC2 disease and present respiratory failure as one of the most frequent symptoms. Several plasma oxysterols are highly elevated in NPC1 and can be used as a biomarker in the diagnosis of NPC1.Plasma cholestane-3β,5α,6β-triol was evaluated as biomarker for NPC2 by GC/MS and LC-MS/MS analysis. The diagnosis was confirmed by Sanger sequencing and filipin staining.We report three NPC2 patients with typical respiratory problems and a detail…