Prophylactic nimodipine treatment for hearing preservation after vestibular schwannoma surgery: study protocol of a randomized multi-center phase III trial-AkniPro 2.

BACKGROUND: A previously performed phase III trial on 112 subjects investigating prophylactic nimodipine treatment in vestibular schwannoma (VS) surgery showed no clear beneficial effects on preservation of facial and cochlear nerve functions, though it should be considered that protection of facial nerve function was the primary outcome. However, the risk for postoperative hearing loss was halved in the nimodipine group compared to the control group (OR 0.49; 95% CI 0.18-1.30; p = 0.15). Accordingly, this phase III extension trial investigates the efficacy and safety of prophylactic nimodipine for hearing preservation in VS surgery. METHODS: This is a randomized, multi-center, two-armed, open-label phase III trial with blinded expert review and two-stage with interim analysis. Three hundred thirty-six adults with the indication for microsurgical removal of VS (Koos I-IV) and serviceable preoperative hearing (Gardner-Robertson scale (GR) 1-3) are assigned to either the therapy (intravenous nimodipine 1-2 mg/h from the day before surgery until the fifth postoperative day and standard of care) or the control group (surgery only and standard of care). The primary endpoint of the trial is postoperative cochlear nerve function measured before discharge according to GR 1-3 versus GR 4-5 (binary). Hearing function will be determined by pre- and postoperative audiometry with speech discrimination, which will be evaluated by a blinded expert reviewer. Furthermore, patient-reported outcomes using standardized questionnaires will be analyzed. DISCUSSION: Prophylactic parenteral nimodipine treatment may have a positive effect on hearing preservation in VS surgery and would improve patient's quality of life. Further secondary analyses are planned. Except for dose-depending hypotension, nimodipine is known as a safe drug. In the future, prophylactic nimodipine treatment may be recommended as a routine medication in VS surgery. VS can be considered as an ideal model for clinical evaluation of neuroprotection, since hearing outcome can be classified by well-recognized criteria. The beneficial effect of nimodipine may be transferable to other surgical procedures with nerves at risk and may have impact on basic research. TRIAL REGISTRATION: EudraCT 2019-002317-19, DRKS00019107 . 8th May 2020.

Quantitation of phosphatidic acid and lysophosphatidic acid molecular species using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization high resolution mass spectrometry.

A method for a highly selective and sensitive identification and quantitation of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and phosphatidic acid (PA) molecular species was developed using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) followed by negative-ion electrospray ionization high resolution mass spectrometry. Different extraction methods for the polar LPA and PA species were compared and a modified Bligh & Dyer extraction by addition of 0.1M hydrochloric acid resulted in a ≈1.2-fold increase of recovery for the 7 PA and a more than 15-fold increase for the 6 LPA molecular species of a commercially available natural mix compared to conventional Bligh & Dyer extraction. This modified Bligh & Dyer extraction did not show any artifacts resulting from hydrolysis of natural abundant phospholipids. The developed HILIC method is able to separate all PA and LPA species from major polar membrane lipid classes which might have suppressive effects on the minor abundant lipid classes of interest. The elemental compositions of intact lipid species are provided by the high mass resolution of 100,000 and high mass accuracy below 3ppm of the Orbitrap instrument. Additionally, tandem mass spectra were generated in a parallel data dependent acquisition mode in the linear ion trap to provide structural information at molecular level. Limits of quantitation were identified at 45fmol on column and the dynamic range reaches 20pmol on column, covering the range of natural abundance well. By applying the developed method to mouse brain it can be shown that phosphatidic acid contains less unsaturated fatty acids with PA 34:1 and PA 36:1 as the major species. In contrast, for LPA species a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (LPA 20:4 and LPA 22:6) was quantified.