The global burden of ASD was huge compared with other self-reported chronic conditions in the general population of eight industrialized countries. The impact of ASD on HRQL warrants the same research and health policy attention as other important chronic diseases.

HB patients GENOMIC STUDY TRANSCRIPTOMIC STUDY METHYLATION STUDY CytoScan HD ®-array RNA-sequencing/ ddPCR HTA ®-array/ RT-qPCR 850K (EPIC)-array/ QUAlu Dysregulation of global RNA & BLCAP editing Overexpression of 14q32 DLK1-DIO3 genes 16 + VIM-gene signature (C1/C2/C2B) 2 epigenomic HB subtypes (Epi-CA & Epi-CB) CLINICAL PARAMETERS: prognostic marker identification Poor prognostic factors:-4q,-18, 17q11.2 AI (NF1) CHKA new therapeutic target Molecular risk stratification MRS1 MRS2 MRS3 Strong 14q32 Epi-CB Time Survival Highlights Hepatoblastoma (HB) involves global dysregulation of RNA editing, including in the tumor suppressor BLCAP. Overexpression of a 300 kb region within the 14q32 DLK1/DIO3 locus is a new hallmark of HB. We identified 2 epigenomic HB subtypes-Epi-CA and Epi-CB-with distinct degrees of DNA hypomethylation and CpG island hypermethylation. The molecular risk stratification of HB, based on the 14q32-signature and epigenomic subtypes, is associated with patient outcomes. The enzyme CHKA could be a novel therapeutic target for patients with HB.

Alpha-synuclein, parkin, and synphilin-1 are proteins mainly involved in the pathogenesis of Lewy body (LB) diseases. mRNAs of all three undergo alternative splicing, so that the existence of various isoforms has been described. Since increasing evidence supports the importance of differential isoform-expression changes in disease development, we have established isoform-expression profiles in frontal cortices of LB disease brains in comparison with those of Alzheimer disease (AD) and control frontal cortices. The differential expression of four alpha-synuclein, seven parkin, and four synphilin-1 isoforms was ascertained by the use of isoform-specific primers and relative expression analysis with SybrGreen and beta-actin as an internal standard. The establishment of isoform-expression profiles revealed that these are disease specific. Moreover, isoform-expression deregulation of mainly one gene in each disease could be observed. All four alpha-synuclein isoforms were affected in the case of the pure form of dementia with LB, most parkin transcript variants in common LB disease, and all synphilin-1 isoforms in Parkinson disease. Only minor involvement was detected in AD. Finally, the existence of a proprietary isoform-expression profile in common LB disease indicates that this disease develops as a result of its own molecular mechanisms, and so, at the molecular level, it does not exactly share changes found in pure dementia with LB and AD. In conclusion, isoform-expression profiles in LB diseases represent additional evidence for the direct involvement of isoform-expression deregulation in the development of neurodegenerative disorders.

Lewy body diseases are characterized by the presence of Lewy bodies, alpha-synuclein(AS)-positive inclusions in the brain. Since their main component is conformationally modified AS, aggregation of the latter is thought to be a key pathogenic event in these diseases. The analysis of inclusion body constituents gives additional information about pathways also involved in the pathology of synucleinopathies. Widespread mitochondrial dysfunction is very closely related to disease development. The impairment of protein degradation pathways, including both the ubiquitin-proteasome system and the autophagy-lysosome pathway also play an important role during the development of Lewy body diseases. Finally, differential expression changes of isoforms corresponding to genes primarily involved in Lewy body formation point to alternative splicing as another important mechanism in the development of Parkinson’s disease, as well as dementia with Lewy bodies. The present paper attempts to give an overview of recent molecular findings related to the pathogenesis of Lewy body diseases.

Lewy body diseases include dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease. Whereas dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease can be distinguished as separate clinical entities, the pathological picture is very often identical. α-synuclein aggregation is a key event in the pathogenesis of Lewy body diseases and β-synuclein inhibits α-synuclein aggregation in vitro and in vivo. Recently, β-synuclein has been shown to interact directly with α-synuclein, regulating its functionality and preventing its oligomerization. In this study, we analysed the expression of two β-synuclein transcript variants and the main α-synuclein transcript SNCA140, in frozen samples of three areas from brains of patients with (i) pure diffuse Lewy body pathology; (ii) pure Alzheimer's disease pathology; (iii) diffuse Lewy body pathology and concomitant Alzheimer's disease pathology and (iv) controls. Relative messenger RNA expression was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction, expression changes were evaluated by the ΔΔC(t) method and messenger RNA expression data were confirmed at the protein level. A drastic diminution of β-synuclein expression was observed in cortical areas of all samples that presented neuropathological features corresponding to pure diffuse Lewy body pathology and the clinical phenotype of dementia with Lewy bodies, but not in those with neuropathological features corresponding to diffuse Lewy body pathology and concomitant Alzheimer's disease pathology or the clinical phenotype of Parkinson's disease with dementia. The correlation of expression data with the clinical phenotype and neuropathological diagnosis of the patients suggested the existence of a specific molecular subtype of dementia with Lewy bodies, characterized by a strong decrease of β-synuclein in the frontal and temporal cortices. Furthermore, our findings provide new insights into the pathogenesis of Lewy body diseases that may be important for the understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in these complex diseases.

This study demonstrated that a single best treatment modality for ASD may not exist. Conservative treatment appears to yield higher (up to 6 %) QALE compared to surgery, most probably secondary to a higher baseline QALE. On the other hand, surgery provides a significantly higher increase in QALE. Especially in patients with significant disability at baseline, the final QALE tended higher in the S group (although not significant). Finally, chances of a relevant improvement at first year turned out to be significantly lower with NS treatment.

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These findings reiterate the importance of patient diagnosis, age, and/or the amount of lordosis as the most important factors affecting HRQL in ASD. Gender, BMI, and sagittal vertical axis appear to be consistently important co-variables whereas coronal balance and magnitude of L curves may also be important in SRS-22. These may aid in better understanding the problem in ASD and may be useful in future classifications.