Quality of life and subjective symptom impact in Japanese patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1

Comparative Blood Profiling Based on ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy and Chemometrics for Differential Diagnosis of Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis-Pilot Study

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neurodegenerative disease characterized by poor prognosis. Currently, screening and diagnostic methods for ALS remain challenging, often leading to diagnosis at an advanced stage of the disease. This delay hinders the timely initiation of therapy, negatively impacting patient well-being. Additionally, misdiagnosis with other neurodegenerative disorders that present similar profiles often occurs. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a cost-effective, rapid, and user-friendly tool capable of predicting ALS onset. In this pilot study, we demonstrate that infrared spectroscopy, coupled with chemometric analysis, can effectively identify and predict disease profiles from blood samples drawn from ALS patients. The selected predictive spectral markers, which are used in various discriminant models, achieved an AUROC sensitivity of almost 80% for distinguishing ALS patients from controls. Furthermore, the differentiation of ALS at both the initial and advanced stages from other neurodegenerative disorders showed even higher AUROC values, with sensitivities of 87% (AUROC: 0.70-0.97). These findings highlight the elevated potential of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy for routine clinical screening and early diagnosis of ALS.

Prevalence of Steinert's Myotonic Dystrophy and Utilization of Healthcare Services: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Myotonic dystrophy type I (MDI) is the most common muscular dystrophy in adults. The main objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of MDI in the Community of Madrid (CM) (Spain) and to analyze the use of public healthcare services; a population-based cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on patients with MDI in CM and data were obtained from a population-based registry (2010-2017). A total of 1101 patients were studied (49.1% women) with average age of 47.8 years; the prevalence of MDI was 14.4/100,000 inhabitants. In the women lineal regression model for hospital admissions, being in the fourth quartile of the deprivation index, was a risk factor (regression coef (rc): 0.80; 95%CI 0.25-1.37). In the overall multiple lineal regression model for primary health care (PHC) attendance, being a woman increased the probability of having a higher number of consultations (rc: 3.99; 95%CI: 3.95-5.04), as did being in the fourth quartile of the deprivation index (rc: 2.10; 95%CI: 0.58-3.63); having received influenza vaccines was a protective factor (rc: -0.46; 95%CI: -0.66-(-0.25)). The prevalence of MDI in the CM is high compared to other settings. Moreover, having any level of risk stratification of becoming ill (high, medium or low) has a positive association with increased PHC consultations and hospital admissions.

Assessment of the quality of life in patients with LGMD. The case of transportinopathy

The Quality of Life (QOL) is influenced by several disease-related factors, support, resources, expectations, and aspirations, within the disease-related concepts. The Individualized Neuromuscular Quality of Life (INQoL) is a validated muscle disease-specific measure of the QoL developed from the experiences of patients with muscle disease and can be used for people or large cohorts. This review of QoL in transportinopathy cases reports adjustments in an autosomal dominant (AD) LGMD, and a comparison is made with autosomal recessive (AR) LGMD evaluated by INQoL. The locus for this form of LGMD with AD inheritance was found on chromosome 7, and then identification of the gene and its encoded protein (transportin-3) was obtained in 2013. A large three-generation family with several branches in Spain and Italy was previously reported and described in detail. Some patients had an early onset weakness, but others had an adult onset of the disease, as late as 58 years. The severity of the appearance of the phenotype is correlated with QoL and progresses with age. Assessing the impact on their QoL is particularly relevant to know whether the treatment is reducing their suffering.