Die chronisch obstruktive Lungenerkrankung geht mit einer nachweislich erhöhten sympathischen Aktivität einher. Von Erkrankungen, wie der Herzinsuffizienz, die ebenfalls mit einer erhöhten sympathischen Aktivierung einhergehen, lässt sich ein die Prognose verschlechternder Effekt der erhöhten sympathischen Aktivierung annehmen. Auf dieser Annahme beruhend war das Ziel dieser Studie einen möglichen Zusammenhang zwischen sympathischer Aktivierung und Morbidität sowie Mortalität bei COPD zu untersuchen. In dieser Studie wurde in einem Follow-Up 20 Herzinsuffizienz-Patienten, 20 COPD-Patienten und 23 Kontrollpersonen, die mikroneurographisch untersucht wurden, telefonisch nach Krankenhausaufenthalten aufgrund ihrer Grunderkrankung befragt, beziehungsweise der Todeszeitpunkt ermittelt. Nach erfolgter statistischer Auswertung wurden die entsprechenden Kollektive nach klinischen Endpunkten in Subgruppen unterteilt und der Grad der initial mikroneurographisch gemessenen sympathischen Aktivierung verglichen. Sowohl Herzinsuffizienz- als auch COPD-Patienten, die aufgrund ihrer Erkrankung einen Krankenhausaufenthalt hatten oder verstarben, wiesen gegenüber Patienten, die keinen Krankenhausaufenthalt hatten, eine signifikant erhöhte sympathische Aktivierung auf. Durch diese Studie konnte bei COPD-Patienten erstmalig eine signifikante Assoziation einer erhöhten sympathischen Aktivierung mit einer gesteigerten Morbidität und Mortalität nachgewiesen werden. Nach ausführlicheren Untersuchungen bietet dieses noch junge Forschungsfeld perspektivisch eventuell die Möglichkeit, die bisherigen COPD-Therapien um eine kausalere, die Prognose potentiell verbessernde Therapie zu ergänzen.

It has been repeatedly shown that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) triggers distress and neuroendocrine response systems. Prior studies have revealed that sympathetic arousal increases, particularly at the beginning of the examination. Against this background it appears likely that those stress reactions during the scanning procedure may influence task performance and neural correlates. However, the question how sympathetic arousal elicited by the scanning procedure itself may act as a potential confounder of fMRI data remains unresolved today. Thirty-seven scanner naive healthy subjects performed a simple cued target detection task. Levels of salivary alpha amylase (sAA), as a biomarker for sympathetic activity, were assessed in samples obtained at several time points during the lab visit. SAA increased two times, immediately prior to scanning and at the end of the scanning procedure. Neural activation related to motor preparation and timing as well as task performance was positively correlated with the first increase. Furthermore, the first sAA increase was associated with task induced deactivation (TID) in frontal and parietal regions. However, these effects were restricted to the first part of the experiment. Consequently, this bias of scanner related sympathetic activation should be considered in future fMRI investigations. It is of particular importance for pharmacological investigations studying adrenergic agents and the comparison of groups with different stress vulnerabilities like patients and controls or adolescents and adults.

It has been repeatedly shown that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) triggers distress and neuroendocrine response systems. Prior studies have revealed that sympathetic arousal increases, particularly at the beginning of the examination. Against this background it appears likely that those stress reactions during the scanning procedure may influence task performance and neural correlates. However, the question how sympathetic arousal elicited by the scanning procedure itself may act as a potential confounder of fMRI data remains unresolved today. Thirty-seven scanner naive healthy subjects performed a simple cued target detection task. Levels of salivary alpha amylase (sAA), as a biomarker for sympathetic activity, were assessed in samples obtained at several time points during the lab visit. SAA increased two times, immediately prior to scanning and at the end of the scanning procedure. Neural activation related to motor preparation and timing as well as task performance was positively correlated with the first increase. Furthermore, the first sAA increase was associated with task induced deactivation (TID) in frontal and parietal regions. However, these effects were restricted to the first part of the experiment. Consequently, this bias of scanner related sympathetic activation should be considered in future fMRI investigations. It is of particular importance for pharmacological investigations studying adrenergic agents and the comparison of groups with different stress vulnerabilities like patients and controls or adolescents and adults.