Publications by authors named "Rajesh Rawal"

Background: Freezing of gait (FOG) is an important milestone in the individual disease trajectory of people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Based on the of FOG etiology, the mechanism behind FOG implies higher executive dysfunction in PD. To test this model, we investigated the FOG-related phenotype and cognitive subdomains in idiopathic PD (iPD) patients without genetic variants linked to PD from the Luxembourg Parkinson's study.

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Background: Deep phenotyping of Parkinson's disease (PD) is essential to investigate this fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorder. Since 2015, over 800 individuals with PD and atypical parkinsonism along with more than 800 control subjects have been recruited in the frame of the observational, monocentric, nation-wide, longitudinal-prospective Luxembourg Parkinson's study.

Objective: To profile the baseline dataset and to explore risk factors, comorbidities and clinical profiles associated with PD, atypical parkinsonism and controls.

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Background And Objectives: To facilitate and improve the diagnostic and therapeutic process by systematically reviewing studies on patients with primary angiitis of the CNS (PACNS).

Methods: We searched PubMed, looking at the period between 1988 and February 2020. Studies with adult patients with PACNS were included.

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Although several studies have suggested that anti-inflammatory strategies reduce secondary infarct growth in animal stroke models, clinical studies have not yet demonstrated a clear benefit of immune modulation in patients. Potential reasons include systematic differences of post-ischemic neuroinflammation between humans and rodents. We here performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize and compare the spatial and temporal distribution of immune cell infiltration in human and rodent stroke.

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Skeletal tubercular infections that do not involve the spine or large joints are rarely encountered. This case series aims to highlight the importance of imaging in diagnosing skeletal tuberculosis (TB) at uncommon sites in clinically unsuspected patients by demonstrating specific imaging findings. We present the clinical details and imaging findings of seven pathologically confirmed cases of extraspinal skeletal TB.

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Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identify genetic variants associated with traits or diseases. GWAS never directly link variants to regulatory mechanisms. Instead, the functional annotation of variants is typically inferred by post hoc analyses.

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Reduced lung function predicts mortality and is key to the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In a genome-wide association study in 400,102 individuals of European ancestry, we define 279 lung function signals, 139 of which are new. In combination, these variants strongly predict COPD in independent populations.

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  • * A meta-analysis of data from over 807,000 individuals identified 102 genetic variants and 269 genes related to depression, highlighting the role of synaptic structure and neurotransmission pathways.
  • * In a follow-up study with more than 1.3 million individuals, 87 of the identified variants were confirmed, offering insights into the genetic basis of depression and potential new directions for treatment development.
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  • Thyroid dysfunction affects about 10% of the population and is linked to higher risks of heart problems and death.
  • A large analysis of genetic studies involving 72,167 individuals identified 109 genetic variants related to thyroid function and disease.
  • Researchers found a new thyroid hormone transporter and metabolizing enzyme, which could lead to new treatment options for thyroid-related issues.
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Over 90 regions of the genome have been associated with lung function to date, many of which have also been implicated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We carried out meta-analyses of exome array data and three lung function measures: forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV ), forced vital capacity (FVC) and the ratio of FEV to FVC (FEV /FVC). These analyses by the SpiroMeta and CHARGE consortia included 60,749 individuals of European ancestry from 23 studies, and 7,721 individuals of African Ancestry from 5 studies in the discovery stage, with follow-up in up to 111,556 independent individuals.

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  • - The HLA haplotype DRB1*15:01 significantly increases the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), mainly due to its hypomethylation and higher expression in monocytes of those who carry it.
  • - A specific methylation change in a region related to HLA-DRB1 impacts the gene's expression, which has been linked to MS risk and informs potential treatment strategies.
  • - Analysis of a large dataset confirmed that while DRB1*15:01 variants contribute to MS risk, there is also a protective variant (rs9267649) that reduces HLA-DRB1 expression and might mitigate some effects of the risk haplotype.
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Objective: Previous studies on patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) yielded inconclusive results in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based analyses of alterations of subcortical structures in the brain. The aim of this study was to compare volumes as well as shapes of subcortical structures and the hippocampus between RLS cases and controls. Additionally, the associations between the genetic risks for RLS and subcortical volumes were investigated.

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  • Physical activity (PA) can influence genetic factors linked to obesity, leading to a deeper understanding of how genetics and lifestyle interact in shaping body fat.
  • A study involving over 200,000 adults analyzed the relationship between PA and various obesity-related measurements, confirming that the impact of the FTO gene is reduced in physically active individuals.
  • The research also discovered 11 new genetic regions associated with body fat, indicating that considering lifestyle factors like PA can help uncover more genetic links to obesity.
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  • Many genome-wide association studies (GWAS) often overlook environmental factors like smoking, which might affect the genetic analysis of obesity traits.
  • This study analyzed GWAS data from over 240,000 participants, including smokers and nonsmokers, to find genetic links to body mass index (BMI) and body fat distribution.
  • The researchers identified 23 new genetic loci related to obesity and 9 loci that interact with smoking, suggesting that smoking can influence genetic predispositions to body fat.
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Background: Venous thromboembolism is a known but rare complication associated with infection. The reported incidence of venous thromboembolism is 1.5-3.

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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by reduced lung function and is the third leading cause of death globally. Through genome-wide association discovery in 48,943 individuals, selected from extremes of the lung function distribution in UK Biobank, and follow-up in 95,375 individuals, we increased the yield of independent signals for lung function from 54 to 97. A genetic risk score was associated with COPD susceptibility (odds ratio per 1 s.

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Background: Smoking is the strongest environmental risk factor for reduced pulmonary function. The genetic component of various pulmonary traits has also been demonstrated, and at least 26 loci have been reproducibly associated with either FEV 1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 second) or FEV 1 /FVC (FEV 1 /forced vital capacity). Although the main effects of smoking and genetic loci are well established, the question of potential gene-by-smoking interaction effect remains unanswered.

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Excessive alcohol consumption is a major public health problem worldwide. Although drinking habits are known to be inherited, few genes have been identified that are robustly linked to alcohol drinking. We conducted a genome-wide association metaanalysis and replication study among >105,000 individuals of European ancestry and identified β-Klotho (KLB) as a locus associated with alcohol consumption (rs11940694; P = 9.

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We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility in German cohorts with 4888 cases and 10,395 controls. In addition to associations within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region, 15 non-MHC loci reached genome-wide significance. Four of these loci are novel MS susceptibility loci.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study explored the genetic factors related to subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism by using large sample sizes, which is a step forward compared to previous research.
  • - Researchers identified 3 genetic variants linked to subjective well-being, 2 to depressive symptoms (which were confirmed in another study), and 11 for neuroticism, highlighting the complexity of these traits.
  • - The analysis revealed that genes influencing the brain and specific organs like the adrenal glands and pancreas are particularly associated with these mental health traits, suggesting these areas are important for understanding their genetics.
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