Publications by authors named "Andreas Gunther"

Article Synopsis
  • Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe disease linked to damage in blood vessels of the lungs and involves the degradation of important proteins, such as BMPR2, by the enzyme cathepsin L, leading to cell death through a process called pyroptosis.
  • Research showed that cathepsin L levels are significantly higher in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, and its inhibition in animal models of PH improved conditions related to the disease, including reduced pressure in the heart and enhanced blood vessel health.
  • The study concludes that cathepsin L contributes to the progression of PH by degrading BMPR2, which triggers a cascade leading to programmed cell death in endothelial cells, highlighting a potential therapeutic target for treating PH.
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  • Fibrosis, especially idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), is linked to abnormal healing processes in the lungs that can lead to organ failure, with no current cure.
  • The study investigates activated myofibroblasts (aMYFs), their different subtypes, and their roles in lung repair and damage using genetic and transcriptomic analysis in mice, as well as human data.
  • Findings reveal that aMYFs can be categorized into four distinct groups, with a specific subset linked to both the progression and resolution of fibrosis, suggesting new potential treatment targets for managing IPF.
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Cold atom traps are at the heart of many quantum applications in science and technology. The preparation and control of atomic clouds involves complex optimization processes, that could be supported and accelerated by machine learning. In this work, we introduce reinforcement learning to cold atom experiments and demonstrate a flexible and adaptive approach to control a magneto-optical trap.

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Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by aberrant lung epithelial phenotypes, fibroblast activation, and increased extracellular matrix deposition. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β)1-induced Smad signaling and downregulation of peroxisomal genes are involved in the pathogenesis and can be inhibited by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-α activation. However, the three PPARs, that is PPAR-α, PPAR-β/δ, and PPAR-γ, are known to interact in a complex crosstalk.

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Lung cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. There is evidence of a complex interplay between lung cancer and interstitial lung disease (ILD), affecting disease progression, management strategies, and patient outcomes. Both conditions develop as the result of common risk factors such as smoking, environmental exposures, and genetic predispositions.

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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive, irreversible respiratory disease with limited therapeutic options. A hallmark of IPF is excessive fibroblast activation and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition. The resulting increase in tissue stiffness amplifies fibroblast activation and drives disease progression.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers surveyed 55 clinicians across Europe to understand how they manage pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD) and identify unmet needs since there are no approved therapies for this condition in Europe.
  • The study found that many clinicians rely on echocardiography and off-label treatments like PDE-5 inhibitors for PH-ILD patients, with 50% using off-label medications despite concerns about their efficacy.
  • The results indicate a significant gap in effective treatment options and emphasize the need for more clinical evidence to guide PH-ILD management.
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Myofibroblasts (MYFs) are generally considered the principal culprits in excessive extracellular matrix deposition and scar formation in the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis. Lipofibroblasts (LIFs), on the other hand, are defined by their lipid-storing capacity and are predominantly found in the alveolar regions of the lung. They have been proposed to play a protective role in lung fibrosis.

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Article Synopsis
  • Interstitial lung diseases (ILD) are diverse, chronic conditions affecting the lungs, with up to 50% of patients experiencing progression associated with higher mortality rates.
  • The EXCITING-ILD registry analyzed disease trajectories, categorizing progression levels based on forced vital capacity (FVC) changes and identifying risk factors for progression through statistical models.
  • Out of 601 patients, 50.6% showed progression, with median survival after diagnosis at 15.5 years, while reduced baseline FVC and older age were identified as key predictors of disease progression and shorter survival times.
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Acute dyspnoea is one of the most common internal medicine symptoms in the emergency department. It arises from an acute illness or from the exacerbation of a chronic illness. Symptom-related emergency structures and corresponding structural guidelines already exist in the stroke and chest pain units for dealing with the leading symptoms of acute stroke and acute chest pain.

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Background: Interstitial lung diseases (ILD) comprise a heterogeneous group of mainly chronic lung diseases with more than 200 entities and relevant differences in disease course and prognosis. Little data is available on hospitalisation patterns in ILD.

Methods: The EXCITING-ILD (Exploring Clinical and Epidemiological Characteristics of Interstitial Lung Diseases) registry was analysed for hospitalisations.

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Aim: The realities of emergency care and resuscitation research involving nursing home (NH) residents suggest an overuse of resuscitation attempts in NHs. A complete analysis of all NH resident deaths is needed to provide a complementary perspective of potential underuse. The present research investigated whether residents of different NH homes died at the NH during attempted resuscitation or after transfer to hospital.

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Background: COPD is an incurable disease and a leading cause of death worldwide. In mice, fibroblast growth factor (FGF)10 is essential for lung morphogenesis, and in humans, polymorphisms in the human gene correlate with an increased susceptibility to develop COPD.

Methods: We analysed FGF10 signalling in human lung sections and isolated cells from healthy donor, smoker and COPD lungs.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers studied 1,909 sarcoidosis patients across Europe, genotyping them for specific genetic markers to see if there were connections between these markers and the disease's various phenotypes.
  • * The study found no broad genetic associations after adjusting for multiple tests, but did identify specific genetic links to acute onset in certain regions (like Serbia and Poland), implying that local environmental factors might influence these genetic effects.
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Matrix remodeling is a salient feature of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Targeting cells driving matrix remodeling could be a promising avenue for IPF treatment. Analysis of transcriptomic database identified the mesenchymal transcription factor PRRX1 as upregulated in IPF.

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  • Tobacco smoking and air pollution are major contributors to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), yet not all smokers develop the condition, highlighting the need to explore protective mechanisms against oxidative stress.
  • The study investigated various cohorts by analyzing sputum, lung tissue, and blood samples to measure levels of 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT), an indicator of oxidative stress, and established a new cell model resistant to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) to understand the relationship between oxidative stress and COPD.
  • Findings suggest that high levels of HO-1 (heme oxygenase-1) are linked to reduced oxidative stress in CSE-resistant cells, while increased expression of CEACAM6 in epithelial cells appears to exacerbate oxidative stress and
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Core datasets are the composition of essential data items for a certain research scope. As they state commonalities between heterogeneous data collections, they serve as a basis for cross-site and cross-disease research. Therefore, researchers at the national and international levels have addressed the problem of missing core datasets.

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Background: The nursing home is a common place of death; however, little is known about the place of death with respect to the people living there. Was there a difference in the frequencies of the places of death of nursing home residents in an urban district and in the individual facilities before and during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Methods: Full survey of deaths by retrospective analysis of death registry data from the years 2018 to 2021.

Results: Over the four-year period 14,598 people died, with 3,288 (22.

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Background And Objectives: Ocrelizumab improved clinical and MRI measures of disease activity and progression in three phase 3 multiple sclerosis (MS) studies. Post hoc analyses demonstrated a correlation between the ocrelizumab serum concentration and the degree of blood B-cell depletion, and body weight was identified as the most influential covariate on ocrelizumab pharmacokinetics. The magnitude of ocrelizumab treatment benefit on disability progression was greater in lighter vs heavier patients.

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