Publications by authors named "Jurgen Kratzsch"

Hypophosphatasemia (HPE) may be temporary (tHPE) in the context of severe diseases, such as sepsis or trauma, or it may persist (pHPE), indicating an adult form of hypophosphatasia (HPP; OMIM 171760), a rare metabolic bone disorder caused by pathogenic nucleotide variants (PNVs) in the . The aim of this study was to analyze the role of auxiliary general biomarkers in verifying low alkaline phosphatase (ALP) serum activity level as an alert parameter for PNVs in the , which are indicative of HPP. In this retrospective analysis, we examined adult patients with an ALP serum activity level below 21 U/L.

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Primary congenital hypothyroidism is easily diagnosed on the basis of elevated plasma levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). In contrast, in the rare disorders of thyroid hormone resistance, TSH and, in mild cases, also thyroid hormone levels are within the normal range. Thyroid hormone resistance is caused by defects in hormone metabolism, transport, or receptor activation and can have the same serious consequences for child development as congenital hypothyroidism.

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Introduction: While the influence of various factors on classical androgen synthesis in children and adolescents and its impact on puberty has been widely investigated, there appear to be gaps and contradictory findings regarding the association of overweight and obesity with the synthesis of adrenal-derived 11-oxygenated androgen (11-OA) serum levels. With this study, we aimed to examine how overweight and obesity affect 11-OA serum levels during puberty in a large cohort of children and adolescents.

Methods: Our cohort comprised 1,054 healthy children aged 6-19 years providing serum samples at a total of 1,734 visits.

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Objectives: Soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) is a marker of both erythropoiesis and iron status and is considered useful for detecting iron deficiency, especially in inflammatory conditions, but reference intervals covering the entire pediatric age spectrum are lacking.

Methods: We studied 1,064 (48.5 % female) healthy children of the entire pediatric age spectrum to determine reference values and percentiles for sTfR and the ratio of sTfR to log-ferritin (sTfR-F index) using a standard immunoturbidimetric assay.

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Article Synopsis
  • Vaspin is a protein linked to obesity that may influence metabolism, but its exact role is still unclear; researchers aimed to understand its genetic variability and impact on metabolic traits.
  • A meta-analysis of data from 6 studies involving nearly 7,450 people identified significant genetic variants associated with vaspin levels and conducted further analyses to explore its causal relationship with lipid traits.
  • Results indicated that vaspin levels are genetically determined and have a causal effect on lipid metabolism, as evidenced by changes in triglyceride levels in treated mice.
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  • The study investigates how lactation affects bone metabolism, specifically focusing on increased bone turnover and calcium mobilization from maternal bones, compared to nonlactating women.
  • It includes a large cohort of 779 postpartum women, categorized into exclusively breastfeeding and non-exclusively breastfeeding groups, and compares various serum levels related to bone metabolism against 742 nonlactating controls.
  • Results show significantly elevated bone turnover markers in both breastfeeding groups compared to controls, with specific findings indicating that lactational bone loss may occur independently of parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels.
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Background: Ghrelin and leptin are both peptide hormones and act as opposing players in the regulation of hunger, satiety and energy expenditure. Leptin reduces appetite and feelings of hunger and is secreted mainly by adipocytes, while ghrelin increases appetite and food intake and reduces metabolic rate. Both hormones have been implicated in addictive disorders.

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Background: Fasting indices of glucose-insulin-metabolism are an easy and affordable tool to assess insulin resistance. We aimed to establish reference ranges for fasting insulin indices that reflect age-dependent variation over the entire life span and subsequently test their clinical application regarding the prediction of glycemic deterioration in children.

Methods: We calculated age- and puberty-dependent reference values for HOMA-IR, HOMA2-IR, HOMA-β, McAuley index, fasting insulin, and fasting glucose from 6994 observations of 5512 non-obese healthy subjects aged 5-80 years.

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Ghrelin is an orexigenic peptide hormone synthesized in times of stress and hunger and alterations of the ghrelin system following acute stressors could be repeatedly shown in humans. However, little data exists on long-term effects of trauma on the ghrelin system. We aimed to investigate the influence of childhood trauma on total ghrelin serum levels in a large, population-based study.

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Background: Due to different growth and metabolic processes, reference values of alkaline phosphatase (AP) for children aged 3 month to 18 years are dependent on age and sex. They are not constant and differ from those of adults due to the growth processes taking place. Accordingly, reference levels of AP continuous across these ages were generated for boys and girls based on of a large German health- and population-based study, LIFE Child.

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The aim was to develop and update a guideline which would improve the quality of care offered to women with gestational and non-gestational trophoblastic disease, a group of diseases characterized by their rarity and biological heterogeneity. In accordance with the method used to compile S2k-guidelines, the guideline authors carried out a search of the literature (MEDLINE) for the period 1/2020 to 12/2021 and evaluated the recent literature. No key questions were formulated.

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11-Oxygenated androgens (11-OAs) are being discussed as potential biomarkers in diagnosis and therapy control of disorders with androgen excess such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia and polycystic ovary syndrome. However, quantification of 11-OAs by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) still relies on extensive sample preparation including liquid-liquid extraction, derivatization and partial long runtimes, which is unsuitable for high-throughput analysis under routine laboratory settings. For the first time, an established online-solid-phase extraction-LC-MS/MS (online-SPE-LC-MS/MS) method for the quantitation of seven serum steroids in daily routine use was extended and validated to include 11-ketoandrostenedione, 11-ketotestosterone, 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione and 11β-hydroxytestosterone.

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Components of the growth hormone (GH) axis, such as insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), IGF-1 binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), GH receptor (GHR) and GH-binding protein (GHBP), regulate growth and metabolic pathways. Here, we asked if serum levels of these factors are altered with overweight/obesity and if this is related to adipose tissue (AT) expression and/or increased fat mass. Furthermore, we hypothesized that expression of and is associated with AT function.

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Thyroid dysfunctions are among the most common endocrine disorders and accurate biochemical testing is needed to confirm or rule out a diagnosis. Notably, true hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism in the setting of a normal thyroid-stimulating hormone level are highly unlikely, making the assessment of free thyroxine (FT4) inappropriate in most new cases. However, FT4 measurement is integral in both the diagnosis and management of relevant central dysfunctions (central hypothyroidism and central hyperthyroidism) as well as for monitoring therapy in hyperthyroid patients treated with anti-thyroid drugs or radioiodine.

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Article Synopsis
  • Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), now referred to as "mild neurocognitive disorder" (mild NCD), is viewed as an early stage before more severe dementia, with diagnosis primarily based on clinical criteria.
  • A study involving 158 individuals with mild NCD and 82 healthy controls assessed brain health through white matter hyperintensities and various biomarkers related to neuronal integrity and glial function.
  • Results showed higher levels of the glial biomarker S100B in those with mild NCD compared to controls, but the overall ability of the biomarkers to establish a clear pathological threshold was limited, suggesting potential neuronal and glial damage in mild NCD.
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Introduction: Several studies have analyzed the association between the maximal growth hormone serum level obtained during a growth hormone stimulation test (GHMax) and the body mass index-standard deviation score (BMI-SDS). However, as sample sizes were quite small, our study aimed to analyze the association between GHMax and BMI-SDS within a large cohort of 991 children. Further, we investigated other influencing factors, like test type, age, sex, puberty, and preterm birth.

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The intracellular NLRP3 inflammasome is an important regulator of sterile inflammation. Recent data suggest that inflammasome particles can be released into circulation. The effects of exercise on circulating extracellular apoptosis-associated speck-like protein (ASC) particles and their effects on endothelial cells are not known.

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Background: Ghrelin and the adipokines leptin and adiponectin have been suggested to be involved in mood and anxiety regulation and to be altered in affective disorders. However, studies investigating the association between ghrelin, leptin and adiponectin and depressive symptomatology are scarce but might contribute to a better understanding of their involvement in mood regulation. We thus aimed investigating the association between depressive symptomatology and total ghrelin as well as leptin and adiponectin serum levels in a large population-based sample.

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The Hedgehog signaling pathway regulates many processes during embryogenesis and the homeostasis of adult organs. Recent data suggest that central metabolic processes and signaling cascades in the liver are controlled by the Hedgehog pathway and that changes in hepatic Hedgehog activity also affect peripheral tissues, such as the reproductive organs in females. Here, we show that hepatocyte-specific deletion of the Hedgehog pathway is associated with the dramatic expansion of adipose tissue in mice, the overall phenotype of which does not correspond to the classical outcome of insulin resistance-associated diabetes type 2 obesity.

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The orexigenic hormone ghrelin is being increasingly recognized as a stress hormone being involved in anxiety regulation. In animals, ghrelin effects on, and responses to acute stress differed from those in chronic stress, an animal model for anxiety and depression. In humans, elevated ghrelin levels were reported in pathological anxiety (e.

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Context: Various clinical factors influencing serum levels of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and its binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) are not entirely consistently described.

Objective: We asked whether body mass index (BMI), contraceptive drugs (CDs), and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have potential effects on data for interpreting new age-, sex-, and puberty-adjusted reference ranges for IGF-I and IGFBP-3 serum levels.

Design And Setting: Subjects were mainly participants from 2 population-based cohort studies: the LIFE Child study of children and adolescents and the LIFE Adult study.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examined increased TSH levels alongside unexpectedly high FT4 and FT3 in patients without thyroid disease.
  • The researchers collected 120 samples over six years, validating results through multiple testing methods and employing heterophilic blocking tubes to address potential interference.
  • Findings revealed inconsistencies in FT4 measurements across tests, and the addition of TT4 and TT3 measurements may enhance diagnostic accuracy in such cases.
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Steroid hormones act as important regulators of physiological processes including gene expression. They provide possible mechanistic explanations of observed sex-dimorphisms in obesity and coronary artery disease (CAD). Here, we aim to unravel causal relationships between steroid hormones, obesity, and CAD in a sex-specific manner.

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Background: Obesity can affect linear growth of children but there is uncertainty regarding the dynamics and potential causes.

Methods: In the population-based LIFE Child and the obesity-enriched Leipzig Obesity Childhood cohorts (8,629 children, 37,493 measurements), recruited from 1999 to 2018 in Germany, we compared height, growth, and endocrine parameters between normal-weight and children with obesity (0-20 years). Derived from the independent German CrescNet registry (12,703 children) we generated height reference values specific for children with obesity (data collected from 1999 to 2020).

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