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Europese meerval (Silurus glanis) is bezig met een opmars in de Nederlandse wateren, waaronder de Nederlandse rivieren. Zowel Rijkswaterstaat als het ministerie van LVVN hebben aangegeven de behoefte te hebben aan kennis die men kan inzetten om te bepalen welk effect de Europese meerval heeft op beleidsrelevante soorten en invasieve exoten rondom migratieknelpunten. Expliciet is de vraag in welke mate beleidsrelevante soorten zoals trekvissen (aal, zalm, zeeforel en zeeprik) en invasieve exoten (wolhandkrabben, Ponto-Kaspische grondels en rivierkreeften) worden gepredeerd, hoe zich dit verhoudt tot het aanbod van deze soorten en of meervallen hun gedrag aanpassen aan de aanwezigheid van deze soorten tijdens de verschillende migratieperiodes bij de waterkrachtcentrale van Lith aan de Maas. In deze voortgangsrapportage worden de resultaten van de periode september 2023 – september 2024 besproken. Op 29 augustus 2023 zijn er rondom het sluis- en stuwcomplex 11 Innovasea akoestische ontvangers geplaatst, zes benedenstrooms en vijf bovenstrooms. Ook zijn op 19-06-2024 en 04-07-2024 twee PIT tag antennes geïnstallerd in de vispassage. In de periodes september tot en met oktober 2023 en in maart tot en met september 2024 is er zowel met fuiken gevist als met de hengel. Tot op heden is er op 19 dagen gevist door sportvissers. In totaal zijn er 117 meervalvangsten gedaan bij het sluis- en stuwcomplex Lith vanaf september 2023 tot en met september 2024. Hiervan waren 94 meervallen gevangen in de fuiken en 23 met de hengel. De lengte van de gevangen meervallen varieerde tussen 12,5 cm en 181 cm. In totaal zijn 18 meervallen (81 cm -181 cm)voorzien van een Innovasea akoestische zender, PIT tag en Floy tag. Bij 72 individuen is alleen een PIT tag en Floy tag geïmplanteerd (24 cm – 79 cm). Inmiddels zijn tenminste 13 individuen teruggevangen bij het sluis- en stuwcomplex Lith. In 14 van de 65 gevallen (21,5%) waarbij een maagspoeling is uitgevoerd werden er prooi(en) aangetroff

Background: Oxidative stress may be a key pathophysiological mediator in the development and progression of heart failure (HF). The role of serum-free thiol concentrations, as a marker of systemic oxidative stress, in HF remains largely unknown. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between serum-free thiol concentrations and disease severity and clinical outcome in patients with new-onset or worsening HF. Methods: Serum-free thiol concentrations were determined by colorimetric detection in 3802 patients from the BIOlogy Study to TAilored Treatment in Chronic Heart Failure (BIOSTAT-CHF). Associations between free thiol concentrations and clinical characteristics and outcomes, including all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and a composite of HF hospitalization and all-cause mortality during a 2-years follow-up, were reported. Results: Lower serum-free thiol concentrations were associated with more advanced HF, as indicated by worse NYHA class, higher plasma NT-proBNP (P < 0.001 for both) and with higher rates of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio (HR) per standard deviation (SD) decrease in free thiols: 1.253, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.171–1.341, P < 0.001), cardiovascular mortality (HR per SD: 1.182, 95% CI: 1.086–1.288, P < 0.001), and the composite outcome (HR per SD: 1.058, 95% CI: 1.001–1.118, P = 0.046). Conclusions: In patients with new-onset or worsening HF, a lower serum-free thiol concentration, indicative of higher oxidative stress, is associated with increased HF severity and poorer prognosis. Our results do not prove causality, but our findings may be used as rationale for future (mechanistic) studies on serum-free thiol modulation in heart failure. Graphical abstract: Associations of serum-free thiol concentrations with heart failure severity and outcomes[Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2023, The Author(s).

Clozapine is the most effective antipsychotic for patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. However, response is highly variable and possible genetic underpinnings of this variability remain unknown. Here, we performed polygenic risk score (PRS) analyses to estimate the amount of variance in symptom severity among clozapine-treated patients explained by PRSs (R2) and examined the association between symptom severity and genotype-predicted CYP1A2, CYP2D6, and CYP2C19 enzyme activity. Genome-wide association (GWA) analyses were performed to explore loci associated with symptom severity. A multicenter cohort of 804 patients (after quality control N = 684) with schizophrenia spectrum disorder treated with clozapine were cross-sectionally assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and/or the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) scale. GWA and PRS regression analyses were conducted. Genotype-predicted CYP1A2, CYP2D6, and CYP2C19 enzyme activities were calculated. Schizophrenia-PRS was most significantly and positively associated with low symptom severity (p = 1.03 × 10-3; R2 = 1.85). Cross-disorder-PRS was also positively associated with lower CGI-S score (p = 0.01; R2 = 0.81). Compared to the lowest tertile, patients in the highest schizophrenia-PRS tertile had 1.94 times (p = 6.84×10-4) increased probability of low symptom severity. Higher genotype-predicted CYP2C19 enzyme activity was independently associated with lower symptom severity (p = 8.44×10-3). While no locus surpassed the genome-wide significance threshold, rs1923778 within NFIB showed a suggestive association (p = 3.78×10-7) with symptom severity. We show that high schizophrenia-PRS and genotype-predicted CYP2C19 enzyme activity are independently associated with lower symptom severity among individuals treated with clozapine. Our findings open avenues for future pharmacogenomic projects investigating the potential of PRS and genotype-predicted CYP-activity in schizophrenia.