Supersensitivity of Patients With Bipolar I Disorder to Light-Induced Phase Delay by Narrow Bandwidth Blue Light.

Background: Bipolar disorder is a severe chronic mental disorder. There is a bidirectional relationship between disease course and circadian phase. Significant circadian phase shifts occur during transitions between episodes, but episodes can also be elicited during euthymia by forced rapid changes in circadian phase.

Melatonin suppression by melanopsin-weighted light in patients with bipolar I disorder compared to healthy controls.

Background: Multiple lines of evidence suggest that the onset and course of bipolar disorder is influenced by environmental light conditions. Increased suppression of melatonin by light (supersensitivity) in patients with bipolar disorder has been postulated as an endophenotype by several studies. However, due to methodological shortcomings, the results of these studies remain inconclusive.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy: long-term alternative to cardiac transplantation?

Background: Cardiac transplantation remains the gold standard for treating end-stage heart failure. However, because of donor shortage and posttransplant complications alternative options are needed.

Methods: We investigated the impact of cardiac resynchronization therapy on clinical outcome in 545 patients with left bundle-branch block and interventricular asynchrony, who fulfilled the cardiac criteria for cardiac transplantation listing.

Coronary vein leads for cardiac pacing in patients with tricuspid valve replacement.

Background: Because after tricuspid valve replacement (TVR) the transvenous implantation of endocardial leads is contraindicated, myocardial screw-in leads were used to ventricular pacing. Recently available coronary vein (CV) leads are stimulating the left ventricle epicardially and can be implanted transvenously, too.

Method And Results: We implanted these leads in patients (pts) with TVR (n = 7) or after valve repair (n = 1) without complications.

Splice variants of the nuclear dot-associated Sp100 protein contain homologies to HMG-1 and a human nuclear phosphoprotein-box motif.

Sp100 and PML are interferon-inducible proteins associated with a new class of nuclear domains (known as nuclear dots or PML bodies) which play a role in tumorigenesis, virus infections, and autoimmunity. While PML is extensively alternatively spliced, only two splice variants are known for Sp100. Here we describe the identification and characterization of several Sp100 splice variant proteins and support their existence by elucidation of the 3'-end of the Sp100 gene.