Publications by authors named "Jody M W Van den Ouweland"

Article Synopsis
  • Haematology patients experiencing high-risk neutropenia are susceptible to bloodstream infections linked to mucosal barrier injuries, particularly during episodes of fever.
  • A study involving 416 neutropenic haematology patients identified risk factors for these infections, noting that certain conditions like low MASCC scores and specific fungal colonizations significantly increased risk.
  • Findings revealed that while low citrulline levels at fever onset correlated with candidaemia, they did not indicate the likelihood of bacterial infections; moreover, quinolone antibiotics appeared beneficial.
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  • High levels of a specific protein related to vitamin K deficiency were linked to worse outcomes in COVID-19 patients, indicating the potential importance of vitamin K in managing the disease.
  • A clinical trial was conducted with 40 hospitalized patients, where half received vitamin K2 supplements and the other half received a placebo, focusing on their impacts on vitamin K status and related health markers.
  • Results showed that vitamin K2 supplementation was safe and significantly improved vitamin K status but did not demonstrate a protective effect against the breakdown of elastic fibers in the body.
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Background: Pathology during COVID-19 infection arises partly from an excessive inflammatory response with a key role for interleukin (IL)-6. Both vitamin D and K have been proposed as potential modulators of this process.

Methods: We assessed vitamin D and K status by measuring circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and desphospho-uncarboxylated Matrix Gla-Protein (dp-ucMGP), respectively in 135 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in relation to inflammatory response, elastic fiber degradation and clinical outcomes.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Vitamin D External Quality Assessment Scheme (DEQAS) sends human serum samples to over 1000 global participants to measure total serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels four times a year.
  • A study was conducted to determine if shipping these samples at ambient temperature affects the reliability of various 25(OH)D assays compared to shipping them frozen.
  • Results showed significant differences for four specific assays when samples were shipped ambiently, but all 14 LC-MS/MS assays showed no significant differences, indicating they remained stable during shipping at room temperature.
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An interlaboratory comparison study was conducted by the Vitamin D Standardization Program (VDSP) to assess the performance of liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assays used for the determination of serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), which is the sum of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D). A set of 50 single-donor samples was assigned target values for concentrations of 25(OH)D, 25(OH)D, 3-epi-25-hydroxyvitamin D (3-epi-25(OH)D), and 24R,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (24R,25(OH)D) using isotope dilution liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (ID LC-MS/MS). VDSP Intercomparison Study 2 Part 1 includes results from 14 laboratories using 14 custom LC-MS/MS assays.

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Article Synopsis
  • - An interlaboratory study was conducted by the Vitamin D Standardization Program (VDSP) to evaluate how well Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) and proficiency testing samples can be used interchangeably for measuring serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels using different assay methods.
  • - A total of 50 single-donor serum samples were tested across 28 laboratories using a mix of 20 ligand binding assays and 14 LC-MS/MS methods, with target values assigned based on reference measurement procedures.
  • - Results showed that certain SRM and proficiency testing samples were found to be non-commutable for specific assays, particularly indicating that SRM 972a (with high 3-epi-25(OH)
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Background: Vitamin D supplementation lowers exacerbation frequency in severe vitamin D-deficient patients with COPD. Data regarding the effect of vitamin D on elastin degradation are lacking. Based on the vitamin's anti-inflammatory properties, we hypothesised that vitamin D supplementation reduces elastin degradation, particularly in vitamin D-deficient COPD patients.

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Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) results in extensive fragmentation and calcification of elastin fibers in the peripheral arteries, which results in peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Current research focuses on the role of calcifications in the pathogenesis of PXE. Elastin degradation and calcification are shown to interact and may amplify each other.

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Background: Respiratory failure and thromboembolism are frequent in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-infected patients. Vitamin K activates both hepatic coagulation factors and extrahepatic endothelial anticoagulant protein S, required for thrombosis prevention. In times of vitamin K insufficiency, hepatic procoagulant factors are preferentially activated over extrahepatic proteins.

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Elastin degradation is accelerated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is partially regulated by Matrix Gla Protein (MGP), via a vitamin K-dependent pathway. The aim was to assess vitamin K status in COPD as well as associations between vitamin K status, elastin degradation, lung function parameters and mortality. A total of 192 COPD patients and 186 age-matched controls were included.

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Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) seem to be opposite entities from a clinical perspective, common initial pathogenic steps have been suggested in both lung diseases. Emphysema is caused by an elastase/anti-elastase imbalance leading to accelerated elastin degradation. Elastinolysis is however, also accelerated in the IPF patients' lungs.

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Evidence from in vivo, in vitro and ecological studies are suggestive of a protective effect of vitamin D against pancreatic cancer (PC). However, this has not been confirmed by analytical epidemiological studies. We aimed to examine the association between pre-diagnostic circulating vitamin D concentrations and PC incidence in European populations.

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Background: The variety of LC-MS/MS methods measuring total 25(OH)D used today is vast and the comparability among these methods is still not well assessed.

Methods: Here, we performed a comparison in samples of healthy donors between the currently routinely used 25(OH)D LC-MS/MS methods in the Netherlands and the Ghent University reference measurement procedure to address this issue (n=40). Additionally, an interlaboratory comparison in patient serum samples assessed agreement between the Dutch diagnostic methods (n=37).

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Background: Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP) are promising markers for heart failure diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Insufficient data on the intraindividual biological variation (CV(i)) of BNP and NT-proBNP hamper interpretation of changes in concentration on disease progression or treatment optimization. We therefore investigated CV(i) values in stable heart failure patients.

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This study examined the audiovestibular profile of 11 Wolfram syndrome patients (4 males, 7 females) from 7 families, with identified WFS1 mutations, and the audiometric profile of 17 related heterozygous carriers of WFS1 mutations. Patients with Wolfram syndrome showed a downsloping audiogram and progressive hearing impairment. None of the carriers had sensorineural hearing loss.

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WFS1 is a novel gene and encodes an 890 amino-acid glycoprotein (wolframin), predominantly localized in the endoplasmic reticulum. Mutations in WFS1 underlie autosomal recessive Wolfram syndrome and autosomal dominant low frequency sensorineural hearing impairment (LFSNHI) DFNA6/14. In addition, several WFS1 sequence variants have been shown to be significantly associated with diabetes mellitus and this gene has also been implicated in psychiatric diseases.

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