Publications by authors named "L Geertjens"

Background: Many rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorders (RGNDs) are characterized by intellectual disability (ID), severe cognitive and behavioral impairments, potentially diagnosed as a comorbid autism spectrum disorder or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Quality of life is often impaired due to irritability, aggression and self-injurious behavior, generally refractory to standard therapies. There are indications from previous (case) studies and patient reporting that cannabidiol (CBD) may be an effective treatment for severe behavioral manifestations in RGNDs.

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Rationale: Loss-of-function (LoF) mutations in result in neurologic abnormalities due to -methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) dysfunction. Affected persons present with various symptoms, including intellectual developmental disability (IDD), hypotonia, communication deficits, motor impairment, complex behavior, seizures, sleep disorders and gastrointestinal disturbance. Recently, experiments showed that D-serine mitigates function to GluN2B (mutation)-containing NMDARs.

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Background: Bumetanide is a selective NKCC1 chloride importer antagonist which is being repurposed as a mechanism-based treatment for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Due to their specific actions, these kinds of interventions will only be effective in particular subsets of patients. To anticipate stratified application, we recently completed three bumetanide trials each focusing on different stratification strategies with the additional objective of deriving the most optimal endpoints.

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