Article
Clinical Neurology
Eleonora Galosi, Pietro Falco, Giuseppe Di Pietro, Caterina Leone, Nicoletta Esposito, Gianfranco De Stefano, Giulia Di Stefano, Andrea Truini
Summary: This study tested the accuracy of the Small Fiber Neuropathy Symptoms Inventory Questionnaire (SFN-SIQ) in diagnosing pure SFN and found that it has good discriminative ability, making it useful for screening patients with suspected SFN and determining the need for further diagnostic tests.
JOURNAL OF THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
(2022)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Eleonora Galosi, Andrea Truini, Giulia Di Stefano
Summary: This review aims to assess the frequency of small fibre damage in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome. After screening and analyzing 360 relevant articles, it was found that a considerable proportion of patients with fibromyalgia have small fibre impairment, but there are heterogeneities and inconsistencies across studies.
Review
Clinical Neurology
Franco Gemignani, Maria F. Bellanova, Elena Saccani, Giovanni Pavesi
Summary: The clinical spectrum of NLD-SFN is varied and often atypical, with treatment primarily based on managing neuropathic pain. Research in the future is expected to clarify the interconnected aspects of phenotypic characterization, diagnostic criteria, and pathophysiology.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Eleonora Galosi, Giuseppe Di Pietro, Silvia La Cesa, Giulia Di Stefano, Caterina Leone, Alessandra Fasolino, Andrea Di Lionardo, Frida Leonetti, Raffaella Buzzetti, Cristina Mollica, Giorgio Cruccu, Andrea Truini
Summary: The study found that diabetic polyneuropathy mainly manifests as mixed-fiber polyneuropathy, simultaneously involving A beta, A delta, and C-fibers. In most patients, neuropathic pain is distinctly associated with small-fiber damage.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Mirna Andelic, Erika Salvi, Stefania Marcuzzo, Margherita Marchi, Raffaella Lombardi, Daniele Cartelli, Daniele Cazzato, Elkadia Mehmeti, Andrea Gelemanovic, Matilde Paolini, Carlotta Pardo, Ilaria D'Amato, Janneke G. J. Hoeijmakers, Sulayman Dib-Hajj, Stephen G. Waxman, Catharina G. Faber, Giuseppe Lauria
Summary: Personalized management of neuropathic pain is a clinical need that has not been fulfilled due to various factors. Recent studies on microRNA have provided insights into pain-related mechanisms and identified potential drug candidates. By generating a molecular profile of the epidermis in patients with sodium channel-related painful neuropathy, the researchers identified specific miRNAs and mRNA targets that are involved in peripheral sensory transduction and modulation. The findings suggest a complex interaction between epidermal cells and axons in neuropathy pain. This targeted molecular profiling could advance personalized medicine for neuropathic pain.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Matteo Tagliapietra, Alex Incensi, Moreno Ferrarini, Nazarena Mesiano, Alessandro Furia, Giovanni Rizzo, Rocco Liguori, Tiziana Cavallaro, Salvatore Monaco, Gian Maria Fabrizi, Vincenzo Donadio
Summary: Small fiber neuropathy is a common manifestation in RFC1 disease, with severe and widespread somatic denervation observed. Skin denervation may be an early feature of this disorder.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Pall Karlsson, Sandra S. Gylfadottir, Alexander G. Kristensen, Juan D. Ramirez, Pedro Cruz, Nhu Le, Pallai R. Shillo, Solomon Tesfaye, Andrew S. C. Rice, Hatice Tankisi, Nanna B. Finnerup, Jens R. Nyengaard, Troels S. Jensen, David L. H. Bennett, Andreas C. Themistocleous
Summary: In individuals with type 2 diabetes where IENFD is >1.0 fibre/mm, axonal swelling ratio is related to type 2 diabetes but is not related to DSP or painful DSP. Axonal swellings may be an early marker of sensory nerve injury in type 2 diabetes.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Milena Sleczkowska, Rowida Almomani, Margherita Marchi, Erika Salvi, Bianca T. A. de Greef, Maurice Sopacua, Janneke G. J. Hoeijmakers, Patrick Lindsey, Stephen G. Waxman, Giuseppe Lauria, Catharina G. Faber, Hubert J. M. Smeets, Monique M. Gerrits
Summary: This study assessed the role of fifteen ion channel genes in neuropathic pain. Variants in ion channel genes were identified in SFN patients, with TRP genes being the most frequent. Patients with these variants reported more severe pain. This study provides promising gene candidates for future research on neuropathic pain etiology.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Denver Igharo, Joana C. Thiel, Roman Rolke, Merve Akkaya, Joachim Weis, Istvan Katona, Joerg B. Schulz, Andrea Maier
Summary: This study aimed to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of small fiber neuropathy and autonomic neuropathy in hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndromes. By observing and testing 31 patients with hEDS and 31 healthy controls, it was found that SFN was common in patients with hEDS, with accompanying autonomic dysfunctions. Quantitative sensory testing and skin biopsy results supported SFN as an important underlying mechanism.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Anesthesiology
Pall Karlsson, Vincenzo Provitera, Giuseppe Caporaso, Annamaria Stancanelli, Anna Maria Saltalamacchia, Ilaria Borreca, Fiore Manganelli, Lucio Santoro, Troels Staehelin Jensen, Maria Nolano
Summary: Painful diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) patients showed increased density of dermal peptidergic fibers in the skin, which correlated with pain ratings. This finding offers new insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms of pain in diabetes and suggests potential new therapeutic targets.
Article
Dermatology
A. L. Akabane, G. P. Snnith
Summary: This study aimed to characterize dermatologic manifestations in patients with SFN and found a wide range of clinical features that affect the skin, with characteristic findings affecting the extremities. Symptoms included pain, numbness, edema, skin color changes, hair loss, Raynaud's phenomenon, erythromelalgia, itch, and localized eczematous dermatitis.
JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY AND VENEREOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Anesthesiology
Caterina Leone, Eleonora Galosi, Nicoletta Esposito, Pietro Falco, Alessandra Fasolino, Giuseppe Di Pietro, Giulia Di Stefano, Filippo Camerota, Jan Vollert, Andrea Truini
Summary: This study found distinct sensory phenotypes between patients with fibromyalgia and patients with small-fibre neuropathy. There were minimal differences in sensory phenotypes between fibromyalgia patients with and without small-fibre pathology, while patients with small-fibre neuropathy predominantly exhibited sensory loss and mechanical hyperalgesia phenotypes. These findings highlight the complex relationship between small-fibre pathology and pain in fibromyalgia patients.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PAIN
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Tabea Seeliger, Henrike Neelke Dreyer, Janna Margaretha Siemer, Lena Boenig, Stefan Gingele, Maike Franziska Dohrn, Nils Prenzler, Diana Ernst, Torsten Witte, Thomas Skripuletz
Summary: Sjogren's syndrome is a potentially treatable cause of Small Fiber Neuropathy (SFN). This study found no significant differences in symptoms and cerebrospinal fluid parameters between SFN patients with and without Sjogren's syndrome. However, SFN patients with Sjogren's syndrome had lower intraepidermal nerve fiber densities, suggesting a different pathomechanism.
JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Denver Igharo, Joana C. Thiel, Roman Rolke, Merve Akkaya, Joachim Weis, Istvan Katona, Joerg B. Schulz, Andrea Maier
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms of small fiber neuropathy and autonomic neuropathy in hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (hEDS). Skin biopsy, quantitative sensory testing, tilt-table testing, the painDetect, Small Fiber Neuropathy Screening List, and the COMPASS-31 questionnaire were used to assess 31 hEDS patients and 31 healthy controls. The results revealed that 61% of hEDS patients were diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy and 32% fulfilled the criteria for postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS). Skin biopsy showed significantly reduced nerve fiber density in both proximal and distal regions of hEDS patients.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Review
Immunology
Daniel B. Lowy, Preet G. S. Makker, Gila Moalem-Taylor
Summary: Bidirectional interaction between the peripheral immune and nervous systems plays a crucial role in maintaining homeostasis and responding to noxious stimuli. The skin is a highly complex biological structure where sensory nerve terminals and immune cells coexist. Sensory neurons regulate cutaneous immune responses through neuropeptides, while immune cells modulate sensory neurons through mediators.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Luisa Kress, Nadine Egenolf, Claudia Sommer, Nurcan Uceyler
Summary: This study found higher gene expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-2, IL-8, and TNF in white blood cells of patients with SFN compared to healthy controls. The combination of these three cytokines had high diagnostic accuracy. Furthermore, female patients showed higher gene expression levels of IL-8 and TNF. IL-2 gene expression was negatively correlated with current pain intensity, and IL-10 gene expression differed between different types of pain.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Luise Appeltshauser, Helena Junghof, Julia Messinger, Janis Linke, Axel Haarmann, Ilya Ayzenberg, Panoraia Baka, Johannes Dorst, Anna L. Fisse, Thomas Grueter, Valerie Hauschildt, Alexander Joerk, Frank Leypoldt, Mathias Maeurer, Edgar Meinl, Sebastian Michels, Jeremias Motte, Kalliopi Pitarokoili, Mark Stettner, Carmen Villmann, Marc Weihrauch, Gabriel S. Welte, Inga Zerr, Katrin G. Heinze, Claudia Sommer, Kathrin Doppler
Summary: Autoimmune neuropathy associated with antibodies against pan-neurofascin is a new subtype of nodo-paranodopathy that is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The underlying pathology and long-term prognosis of this condition are not well understood. Understanding the pathogenic mechanism of this disease may have direct implications for its treatment.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Marie Madlener, Christine Strippel, Franziska S. Thaler, Kathrin Doppler, Klaus P. Wandinger, Jan Lewerenz, Marius Ringelstein, Rosa Roessling, Til Menge, Jonathan Wickel, Christoph Kellingshaus, Sigrid Mues, Andrea Kraft, Andreas Linsa, Simone C. Tauber, Florian Then Berg, Stefan T. Gerner, Asterios Paliantonis, Alexander Finke, Josef Priller, Ingo Schirotzek, Marie Suesse, Kurt W. Suehs, Christian Urbanek, Makbule Senel, Claudia Sommer, Tania Kuempfel, Harald Pruess, Gereon R. Fink, Frank Leypoldt, Nico Melzer, Michael P. Malter
Summary: This study investigated 101 patients with suspected autoimmune neurological syndromes (AINS) associated with glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) antibodies. The results showed that immunotherapy had moderate effectiveness in these patients, and serum GAD antibody levels and intrathecal GAD antibody synthesis did not predict clinical characteristics or treatment outcomes.
JOURNAL OF THE NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Jonas Muentze, Kolja Lau, Markus Cybulla, Eva Brand, Tereza Cairns, Lora Lorenz, Nurcan Ueceyler, Claudia Sommer, Christoph Wanner, Peter Nordbeck
Summary: This study investigated therapy adherence and patient-reported outcomes in Fabry disease patients receiving migalastat treatment. The results showed that almost all patients demonstrated high therapy adherence, and there was improvement in pain and physical limitations during the treatment.
MOLECULAR GENETICS AND METABOLISM
(2023)
Letter
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Caroline Morbach, Aikaterini Papagianni, Sandra Ihne-Schubert, Vladimir Cejka, Maximilian Steinhardt, Georg Fette, Melissa Held, Andreas Geier, Hermann Einsele, Stefan Frantz, Stefan Knop, Claudia Sommer, Stefan Stoerk
CLINICAL RESEARCH IN CARDIOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Clinical Neurology
Didier Leys, Claudia Sommer, Paul Boon
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Patricia Garcia-Fernandez, Colette Reinhold, Nurcan Ueceyler, Claudia Sommer
Summary: Polyneuropathy (PNP) refers to diseases of the peripheral nervous system, with 50% of cases presenting with neuropathic pain. Certain types of PNP show pain restricted to the distal leg skin, indicating a local regulatory process leading to pain. This study suggests that a pro-inflammatory pathway mediated by NF-κB may contribute to pain development in patients with painful PNP. Our findings support the hypothesis of local inflammatory processes involved in pain in PNP, and suggest disrupted anti-inflammatory pathways in inflammatory PNP involving TRPV1 and SIRT1.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Nadine Cebulla, Daniel Schirmer, Eva Runau, Leon Flamm, Sonja Gommersbach, Helena Stengel, Xiang Zhou, Hermann Einsele, Ann-Kristin Reinhold, Bruno Rogalla von Bieberstein, Daniel Zeller, Heike Rittner, K. Martin Kortuem, Claudia Sommer
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL) and the characteristics of BTZ-induced peripheral neuropathy (BIPN). The study found that both patients with ongoing BTZ treatment and patients with previous BTZ treatment had higher serum NfL levels compared to controls, and patients with ongoing BTZ treatment had higher NfL levels than patients with past treatment. Serum NfL levels correlated with electrophysiological measures of axonal damage in the group with ongoing BTZ treatment.
JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Anastasia Kuzkina, Celine Panzer, Aline Seger, Daniela Schmitt, Jonas Roessle, Sebastian R. Schreglmann, Henrike Knacke, Elena Salabasidou, Antonia Kohl, Elisabeth Sittig, Michael Barbe, Daniela Berg, Jens Volkmann, Claudia Sommer, Wolfgang H. Oertel, Eva Schaeffer, Michael Sommerauer, Annette Janzen, Kathrin Doppler
Summary: The study assessed the use of RT-QuIC method to detect alpha-synuclein aggregation in skin biopsy samples of iRBD patients. It was found that 97.4% of iRBD patients, 87.2% of PD patients, and 13% of controls showed aggregation of alpha-synuclein. RT-QuIC was more sensitive but less specific compared to immunohistochemistry.
MOVEMENT DISORDERS
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Patricia Garcia-Fernandez, Klemens Hoefflin, Antonia Rausch, Katharina Strommer, Astrid Neumann, Nadine Cebulla, Ann-Kristin Reinhold, Heike Rittner, Nurcan Ueceyler, Claudia Sommer
Summary: In patients with peripheral neuropathies (PNP), the presence of neuropathic pain is independent of the etiology and is found in 50% of the cases. The pathophysiology of pain in PNP is poorly understood, but inflammation has been implicated in neurodegeneration, regeneration, and pain. A comprehensive analysis of inflammatory markers in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of PNP patients and controls revealed no major differences in systemic inflammation, but specific cytokines or lipids showed variations. The study highlights the importance of CSF analysis in patients with peripheral neuropathies.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Clinical Neurology
Claudia Sommer
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Anesthesiology
Claudia Sommer, Margarita Calvo, Fernando Cervero, John D. Loeser
Summary: The International Association for the Study of Pain has made important contributions to the understanding and treatment of pain through various activities and is committed to reducing the burden of pain worldwide.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Katharina Klug, Marlene Spitzel, Clara Hans, Alexandra Klein, Nicole Michelle Schottmann, Christoph Erbacher, Nurcan Ueceyler
Summary: This study found that hypoxia and mitochondrial dysfunction may contribute to the development of pain in patients with Fabry disease.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Meeting Abstract
Clinical Neurology
Daniel Schirmer, Eva Runau, Nadine Cebulla, Hermann Einsele, Xiang Zhou, Martin Kortuem, Claudia Sommer
JOURNAL OF THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
(2022)