Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF15) might be involved in the development of cognitive frailty and depression. Therefore, we evaluated cross-sectional associations of plasma GDF15 with... Show moreGrowth differentiation factor-15 (GDF15) might be involved in the development of cognitive frailty and depression. Therefore, we evaluated cross-sectional associations of plasma GDF15 with combined cognitive-frailty-and-depression in older (i.e. ≥ 55 years) and younger adults of the MARK-AGE study. In the present work, samples and data of MARK-AGE (“European study to establish bioMARKers of human AGEing“) participants (N = 2736) were analyzed. Cognitive frailty was determined by the global cognitive functioning score (GCF) and depression by the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS score). Adults were classified into three groups: (I) neither-cognitive-frailty-nor-depression, (II) either-cognitive-frailty-or-depression or (III) both-cognitive-frailty-and-depression. Cross-sectional associations were determined by unadjusted and by age, BMI, sex, comorbidities and hsCRP-adjusted linear and logistic regression analyses. Cognitive frailty, depression, age and GDF15 were significantly related within the whole study sample. High GDF15 levels were significantly associated with both-cognitive-frailty-and-depression (adjusted β = 0.177 [0.044 – 0.310], p = 0.009), and with low GCF scores and high SDS scores. High GDF15 concentrations and quartiles were significantly associated with higher odds to have both-cognitive-frailty-and-depression (adjusted odds ratio = 2.353 [1.267 – 4.372], p = 0.007; and adjusted odds ratio = 1.414 [1.025 – 1.951], p = 0.035, respectively) independent of age, BMI, sex, comorbidities and hsCRP. These associations remained significant when evaluating older adults. We conclude that plasma GDF15 concentrations are significantly associated with combined cognitive-frailty-and-depression status and, with cognitive frailty and depressive symptoms separately in old as well as young community-dwelling adults. Show less
BackgroundCentral sensitisation is an important mechanism in migraine chronification. It is presumed to occur in second and third order neurons sequentially, resulting in an analogous spatial... Show moreBackgroundCentral sensitisation is an important mechanism in migraine chronification. It is presumed to occur in second and third order neurons sequentially, resulting in an analogous spatial distribution of cutaneous allodynia with cephalic and extracephalic symptoms. We investigated whether allodynia, and its subtypes based on spatial distribution and type of stimulus, predict response to treatment in chronic migraine patients.MethodsThis study was conducted as part of the CHARM study (NTR3440), a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in chronic migraine patients with medication overuse. We included 173 patients. The presence of cutaneous allodynia at baseline was established with the Allodynia Symptom Checklist. Primary endpoint was reversion from chronic to episodic migraine.ResultsOf all patients, 74.6% reported cutaneous allodynia. Absence of allodynia compared to presence of allodynia was predictive for reversion from chronic to episodic migraine, odds ratio (OR): 2.45 (95% CI: 1.03–5.84), p = 0.042. The predictive value was more pronounced when subdivided for spatial distribution, for participants without allodynia versus cephalic (OR: 4.16 (95% CI: 1.21–14.30), p = 0.024) and extracephalic (OR: 7.32 (95% CI: 1.98- 27.11), p = 0.003) allodynia. Mechanical, but not thermal, allodynia, was associated with outcome.ConclusionsCutaneous allodynia, an important marker for central sensitization, likely has predictive value for treatment response in chronic migraine. Show less
Degenerative diseases of the nervous system, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS, are severe, progressive and ultimately fatal. Most existing drugs for these neurodegenerative diseases only... Show moreDegenerative diseases of the nervous system, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS, are severe, progressive and ultimately fatal. Most existing drugs for these neurodegenerative diseases only temporarily relieve symptoms, increase mobility or relieve pain, but do not slow disease progression.This dissertation describes a method to efficiently carry out the development of new drugs that could inhibit disease progression in neurodegenerative diseases. Namely, by using pharmacodynamic biomarkers. These are signaling substances to measure the magnitude of a drug response.These biomarkers can be used in early clinical-pharmacological studies in healthy volunteers or small groups of patients to select the best drug candidates and their expected therapeutic doses as early as possible in the development stage. This helps to make informed choices to advance a potential new drug into large and expensive phase 2 and 3 (registration) studies, or conversely to discontinue development of a non-potential drug as early as possible. This biomarker method was applied in this dissertation to investigate 2 new drugs that could potentially slow disease progression in Alzheimer's and ALS (a RIPK1 inhibitor) or Parkinson's disease (a LRRK2 inhibitor). The research results from multiple early clinical-pharmacological studies in healthy volunteers and patients described in this thesis form the basis for larger phase 2 and 3 follow-up studies that have now been initiated with ALS patients and Parkinson's disease patients. Both with the goal of confirming whether these agents can indeed slow disease progression, which would represent a major breakthrough in the treatment of these conditions. Show less
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by a dysregulated host response to infection, it is associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and with a high financial burden on global... Show moreSepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by a dysregulated host response to infection, it is associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and with a high financial burden on global healthcare systems. Bacterial infections are the primary cause of sepsis, but the growing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance complicates the effectiveness of antimicrobial treatments. Moreover, limited understanding of the host immune response during sepsis hinders the discovery of valuable biomarkers and drug targets. As such, there is an urgent need to improve the treatment of sepsis. To tackle this challenge, we have concentrated our efforts on optimizing current treatment strategies and on facilitating the discovery of novel host inflammatory response directed therapeutics. In this thesis, we have utilized quantitative pharmacological modeling approaches to assess the adequacy of current dose regimens and to evaluate antibiotic pharmacokinetic variability, thereby optimizing antimicrobial therapies for sepsis. Additionally, our researches had aimed to deepen our understanding of the underlying dynamics of sepsis pathology, enabling the identification of promising biomarkers and therapeutic targets for sepsis. Our work demonstrated how quantitative modeling strategies can support the design of optimized treatment strategies, and how systematic model-based integration of disease mechanisms can help to overcome the translational challenges in sepsis drug development. Show less
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is often treated with chemotherapy. However, it is well known that treatment with chemotherapy comes with challenges, such as (severe) adverse events leading to loss of... Show moreColorectal cancer (CRC) is often treated with chemotherapy. However, it is well known that treatment with chemotherapy comes with challenges, such as (severe) adverse events leading to loss of quality of life, treatment discontinuation and sometimes even death. Moreover, chances for curation in the metastatic setting are low. Therefore, a large window of opportunity to improve both safety as well as efficacy of chemotherapeutic treatment for the individual patient exists. A possible approach to improve chemotherapeutic treatment for CRC patients could be the discovery, validation and implementation of new genetic biomarkers. The use of genetic biomarkers allows to identify patients that are at higher risk for severe adverse drug events and to select patients which will benefit the most from chemotherapy. The aim of this thesis was therefore to improve the safety and efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs in patients with colorectal cancer by individualising drug dosing and choice of drug based on germline genetic biomarkers. The described studies in this thesis brought us a few steps closer to safe and effective use of chemotherapeutic drugs in the individual colorectal cancer patient. Irinotecan should no longer be administered without a UGT1A1 genotype test and a start has been made towards personalised medicine for colorectal cancer patients with peritoneal metastases. Show less
Background: Fibrous dysplasia/McCune-Albright syndrome (FD/MAS) is a rare genetic bone disease caused by a somatic mutation in the GNAS gene. Currently used bone turnover markers (BTMs) do not... Show moreBackground: Fibrous dysplasia/McCune-Albright syndrome (FD/MAS) is a rare genetic bone disease caused by a somatic mutation in the GNAS gene. Currently used bone turnover markers (BTMs) do not correlate with the clinical picture and are not useful to predict or monitor therapy success. This study assessed the correlation of RANKL, OPG, RANKL/OPG ratio, IL-6 and sclerostin with the classic BTMs alkaline phosphatase (ALP), procollagen type 1 propeptide (P1NP) and beta crosslaps (CTX), with pain, skeletal burden score (SBS) and response to bisphosphonate or denosumab treatment.Methods: Ninety-six serum samples of adult patients >18 years of age with any subtype of FD/MAS were included from the biobank facility of the Leiden University Medical Center, Center for Bone Quality between 2015 and 2021. Standard laboratory assessments were assessed as part of usual care. The concentrations of potential biomarkers RANKL, OPG, sclerostin, IL-6 were analyzed. Data on FD/MAS subtype, age, pain, treatment history and treatment response were retrieved from the electronic patient files. Baseline characteristics were summarized by descriptive statistics. Correlations of the concentrations of the potential biomarkers with classic bone turnover markers, SBS and pain scores were cross-sectionally assessed by Spearman rank order correlation. Correction for multiple testing was performed by Benjamini and Hochberg False Discovery Rate. A sensitivity analyses was performed by excluding patients with SBS below 15 and patients using antiresorptive medication at the time of blood withdrawal or within the wash-out period. In patients treated with bisphosphonates or denosumab after blood withdrawal, pre-treatment concentrations were compared in patients with and without therapy response by Mann Whitney U test.Results: The median age of the patients was 41.2 (Q1-Q3 25.9-52.2) years, 62.5 % was female. Median SBS was 2.5 (Q1-Q3 0.5-7.8). RANKL level correlated weakly with ALP (Spearman rho 0.309, p = 0.004, n = 84), but not with P1NP or CTX. The RANKL/OPG ratio, OPG, IL-6 and sclerostin did not correlate with ALP, P1NP or CTX. None of the potential biomarkers correlated with SBS or pain. Results of the sensitivity analyses were comparable. Pre-treatment biomarker levels were similar in patients with and without improvement in pain scores following bisphosphonate therapy. Pre-treatment RANKL and sclerostin were comparable between patients with and without improvement in pain scores after denosumab therapy. Pre-treatment IL-6 level and the RANKL/OPG ratio seemed to be higher in patients with response to denosumab (IL-6: median 0.64 (Q1-Q3 0.53-0.74) pg/mL, n = 6, RANKL/OPG: median 0.062 (Q1-Q3 0.016-0.331), n = 5) compared to patients without response (IL-6: median 0.35 (0.20-0.54) pg/mL, n = 5, RANKL/OPG: 0.027 (0.024-0.046), n = 4). Pre-treatment IL-6 correlated with the improvement in maximum pain scores (rho 0.962, p < 0.001, n = 9) and average pain scores (rho 0.895, p = 0.001, n = 9) reported during denosumab therapy.Conclusion: Increased concentrations of RANKL, IL-6, sclerostin and of the RANKL/OPG ratio do not indicate severity of FD/MAS, as no correlation was observed of these potential biomarkers with the classic BTMs and SBS. Biomarker levels did not correlate with pain and had no value in predicting bisphosphonate treatment response. These biomarkers are not superior over the currently used methods of assessing ALP, P1NP and CTX or evaluating SBS to establish disease extent or activity and provide no reliable results.Yet, possibly pre-treatment IL-6 and the RANKL/OPG ratio may have some predictive value for clinical response to denosumab. Therefore, studies investigating disease activity and treatment response should include lesional imaging and patient-reported outcome measures. Show less
Ernst, S.M.; Mankor, J.M.; Riet, J. van; Thüsen, J.H. von der; Dubbink, H.J.; Aerts, J.G.J.V.; ... ; Monkhorst, K. 2023
Introduction: Patient-reported smoking history is frequently used as a stratification factor in NSCLC-directed clinical research. Nevertheless, this classification does not fully reflect the... Show moreIntroduction: Patient-reported smoking history is frequently used as a stratification factor in NSCLC-directed clinical research. Nevertheless, this classification does not fully reflect the mutational processes in a tumor. Next-generation sequencing can identify mutational signatures associated with tobacco smoking, such as single-base signature 4 and indel-based signature 3. This provides an opportunity to redefine the classification of smoking-and nonsmoking-associated NSCLC on the basis of individual genomic tumor characteristics and could contribute to reducing the lung cancer stigma.Methods: Whole genome sequencing data and clinical re-cords were obtained from three prospective cohorts of metastatic NSCLC (N = 316). Relative contributions and absolute counts of single-base signature 4 and indel-based signature 3 were combined with relative contributions of age-related signatures to divide the cohort into smoking -associated ("smoking high") and nonsmoking-associated ("smoking low") clusters.Results: The smoking high (n = 169) and smoking low (n = 147) clusters differed considerably in tumor mutational burden, signature contribution, and mutational landscape. This signature-based classification overlapped considerably with smoking history. Yet, 26% of patients with an active smoking history were included in the smoking low cluster, of which 52% harbored an EGFR/ALK/RET/ROS1 alteration, and 4% of patients without smoking history were included in the smoking high cluster. These discordant samples had similar genomic contexts to the rest of their respective cluster. Show less
