Publications by authors named "Joan Santamaria"

Anti-IgLON5 disease was identified 10 years ago, thanks to the discovery of IgLON5 antibodies and the joint effort of specialists in sleep medicine, neuroimmunology, and neuropathology. Without this collaboration, it would have been impossible to untangle fundamental aspects of this disease. After the seminal description in 2014, today there is growing evidence that most patients present a chronic progressive course with gait instability, abnormal movements, bulbar dysfunction, and a sleep disorder characterized by nonrapid eye movement and REM parasomnias, and obstructive sleep apnea with stridor.

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Isolated rapid-eye-movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) is a strong predictor of Parkinson's disease and Dementia with Lewy bodies. Previous studies indicate that cortical atrophy in iRBD patients may be linked to cognitive impairment, but the pattern of atrophy is inconsistently reported. This study aimed to elucidate cortical atrophy patterns in a cognitively unimpaired iRBD cohort, focusing on regions associated with cognitive functions, particularly the cuneus/precuneus, and evaluated the predictive value for future phenoconversion.

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Article Synopsis
  • Idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) is linked to alpha-synucleinopathies, and the study aimed to evaluate autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction in individuals with iRBD and its potential to predict clinical progression.
  • In a study of 25 iRBD patients, 28% developed synucleinopathy, primarily Parkinson's disease, with many exhibiting abnormal ANS test results; those who progressed had significantly higher rates of dysfunction compared to those who did not.
  • Results indicate that both symptomatic and subtle ANS dysfunctions are prevalent in iRBD, and specific adrenergic system issues may signal a higher short-term risk of developing synucleinopathy.
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  • The study examines post-mortem brain tissues from individuals diagnosed with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (IRBD) to investigate its potential link to neurodegenerative diseases, specifically focusing on signs of neuronal loss and the presence of key protein deposits.
  • Researchers analyzed samples from 20 participants, most of whom were diagnosed with Lewy body disease, while a small number had Parkinson's disease-related conditions, revealing significant findings of neuronal damage associated with α-synuclein proteins, particularly in brain regions controlling REM sleep.
  • While the sample size limited the statistical analysis, the outcomes suggest a strong correlation between IRBD and neurodegenerative diseases, emphasizing the importance of these pathological features for understanding the progression
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  • * Researchers analyzed data from over 1500 patients and found that women reported higher sleepiness on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale compared to men, with specific age-related trends observed in different patient groups.
  • * Notably, in women with narcoleptic conditions, an increase in daytime sleepiness was linked to age, while weight gain appeared later, suggesting a complex relationship that warrants further research for targeted treatment approaches.
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Anti-IgLON5 disease is a unique condition that bridges autoimmunity and neurodegeneration. Since its initial description 10 years ago, an increasing number of autopsies has led to the observation of a broader spectrum of neuropathologies underlying a particular constellation of clinical symptoms. In this study, we describe the neuropathological findings in 22 patients with anti-IgLON5 disease from 9 different European centers.

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Background And Purpose: Most patients with isolated rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (iRBD) progress to a parkinsonian alpha-synucleinopathy. However, time to phenoconversion shows great variation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether cholinergic and dopaminergic dysfunction in iRBD patients was associated with impending phenoconversion.

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We investigated the biomarker profile of neurodegeneration, Alzheimer's and Lewy body pathology in the CSF of 148 polysomnography-confirmed patients with isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (IRBD), a condition that precedes Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). We assessed misfolded α-synuclein (AS) by RT-QuIC assay, amyloid-beta peptides (Aβ and Aβ), phosphorylated tau (p-tau), and total tau (t-tau) by CLEIA and neurofilament light chain (NfL) by ELISA. We detected AS in 75.

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Unlabelled: Brunner syndrome is a recessive X-linked disorder characterized by intellectual disability and impulsive aggressiveness associated with monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) deficiency leading to increased monoaminergic activity. We report the presence of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder in a 46-year-old patient with Brunner syndrome due to a c.1438A > G/iVS14-2 A > G mutation of the gene.

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Introduction: Anti-IgLON5 disease is a recently described neurological disorder with multisystemic features. The disease is characterized by the presence of IgLON5 antibodies in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. Our objective is to describe in detail the otorhinolaryngological manifestations of this disease, which are frequent and may include dysphagia, dysarthria, vocal cord paralysis and laryngospasm.

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Article Synopsis
  • Idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (IRBD) is an early stage of Lewy body disorders like Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, associated with changes in circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA).
  • *The study assessed cf-mtDNA levels and integrity in cerebrospinal fluid and serum from 71 participants, including IRBD patients (both converters and non-converters) and age-matched controls.
  • *Findings indicated that IRBD patients show altered cf-mtDNA profiles early on, suggesting mitochondrial dysfunction plays a key role in the development of Lewy body disorders before full symptoms appear.*
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Background: Using C-(R)-PK11195-PET, we found increased microglia activation in isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) patients. Their role remains to be clarified.

Objectives: The objective is to assess relationships between activated microglia and progression of nigrostriatal dysfunction in iRBD.

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Background And Objectives: To develop a composite score to assess the severity of the multiple symptoms present in anti-IgLON5 disease.

Methods: The anti-IgLON5 disease composite score (ICS) was designed to evaluate 17 symptoms divided into 5 clinical domains (bulbar, sleep, movement disorders, cognition, and others). Each symptom was scored from 0 (absent/normal) to 3 or 6 (severe) depending on the contribution of the symptom to neurologic disability with a maximum ICS of 69.

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  • Anti-IgLON5 disease is an autoimmune encephalitis that often goes undiagnosed, characterized by diverse symptoms affecting sleep, movement, and other functions.
  • A study of 87 patients revealed strong associations between the disease and specific HLA-DQ genotypes, indicating a genetic predisposition to its development.
  • Experiments showed that modified IgLON5 peptides preferentially bind to these HLA-DQ receptors, suggesting that this interaction could trigger T-cell responses involved in initiating the disease.
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Background: Anti-leucine-rich glioma-inactivated protein 1 (LGI1) encephalitis is an autoimmune disorder that can be treated with immunotherapy, but the symptoms that remain after treatment have not been well described. We aimed to characterise the clinical features of patients with anti-LGI1 encephalitis for 1 year starting within the first year after initial immunotherapy.

Methods: For this prospective cohort study, we recruited patients with anti-LGI1 encephalitis as soon as possible after they had received conventional immunotherapy for initial symptoms; patients were recruited from 21 hospitals in Spain.

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  • Since 2014, there has been more public awareness about isolated/idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) in Montreal, aiming to help people recognize symptoms sooner.
  • A study compared two groups of iRBD patients from different time periods (2004-2013 and 2014-2022) and found that patients presenting in the earlier group experienced faster phenoconversion (progression to a more severe form of the disorder).
  • The increase in self-referrals in the later period contributed to a slower rate of phenoconversion, suggesting that heightened awareness leads to earlier diagnosis but longer survival without severe symptoms.
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Background: Reduced cortical acetylcholinesterase activity, as measured by C-donepezil positron emission tomography (PET), has been reported in patients with isolated rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (iRBD). However, its progression and clinical implications have not been fully investigated. Here, we explored the relationship between longitudinal changes in brain acetylcholinesterase activity and cognitive function in iRBD.

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Introduction: Isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (IRBD) represents an early manifestation of the synucleinopathies Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Aggregation of abnormal α-synuclein and its increased expression in the brain is crucial in the development of the synucleinopathies. Whereas α-synuclein gene (SNCA) transcripts are overexpressed in brain, a concomitant reduction occurs in blood of DLB patients.

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Background: Neurodegenerative diseases often alter sleep architecture, complicating the application of the standard sleep scoring rules. There are no recommendations to overcome this problem. Our aim was to develop a scoring method that incorporates the stages previously applied in dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), anti-IgLON5 disease, and fatal insomnia, and to test it in patients with alpha-synucleinopathies.

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Background: Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) is a rare prion disease with heterogeneous clinical presentation. Although sleep-related abnormalities are prominent and well-known in other prion diseases such as fatal familial insomnia and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, information on sleep is limited in GSS.

Methods: We evaluated sleep in three genetically confirmed GSS cases using clinical history, sleep scales and video-polysomnography.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The study analyzed over 6,000 NT1 cases and identified new genetic associations (e.g., CD207, NAB1) tied to immune response, particularly involving T cells.
  • * Results suggest that genetic factors in NT1 also relate to other autoimmune diseases, indicating a shared immune mechanism influenced by environmental factors like infections and vaccinations.
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Background: Correct diagnosis of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is critical due to its link to α-synucleinopathies and risk of injuries and requires video-polysomnography (V-PSG). Usefulness of screening questionnaires outside the context of validation studies is limited.

Objective: The aim was to assess the performance of three validated RBD screening questionnaires compared with gold-standard V-PSG.

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Background: Anti-IgLON5 disease is a rare neurological disorder characterized by autoantibodies against IgLON5, and pathological evidence of neurodegeneration. IgLON5 is a cell adhesion molecule but its physiological function is unknown. Our aim was to investigate the IgLON5 interactome and to determine if IgLON5 antibodies (IgLON5-abs) affect these protein interactions.

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