Rescue of hippocampal synaptic plasticity and memory performance by Fingolimod (FTY720) in APP/PS1 model of Alzheimer's disease is accompanied by correction in metabolism of sphingolipids, polyamines, and phospholipid saturation composition.

Previously, our metabolomic, transcriptomic, and genomic studies characterized the ceramide/sphingomyelin pathway as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer's disease, and we demonstrated that FTY720, a sphingosine-1-phospahate receptor modulator approved for treatment of multiple sclerosis, recovers synaptic plasticity and memory in APP/PS1 mice. To further investigate how FTY720 rescues the pathology, we performed metabolomic analysis in brain, plasma, and liver of trained APP/PS1 and wild-type mice. APP/PS1 mice showed area-specific brain disturbances in polyamines, phospholipids, and sphingolipids.

Oral health-related quality of life in primary Sjögren's Syndrome.

Background: Primary Sjögren Syndrome (pSS) is an autoimmune disease that usually affects salivary glands. Research about the impact of oral health in quality of life of patients with pSS is scarce.

Objectives: to describe the characteristics of oral involvement in patients with pSS; To assess quality of life related to oral health (QOL-OH); to determine association between QOL-OH and saliva production, disease activity, and damage.

Travel Time as an Indicator of Poor Access to Care in Surgical Emergencies.

Importance: Timely access to care is a key metric for health care systems and is particularly important in conditions that acutely worsen with delays in care, including surgical emergencies. However, the association between travel time to emergency care and risk for complex presentation is poorly understood.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of travel time on disease complexity at presentation among people with emergency general surgery conditions and to evaluate whether travel time was associated with clinical outcomes and measures of increased health resource utilization.

Pan-tumor analysis to investigate the obesity paradox in immune checkpoint blockade.

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for developing cancer but is also associated with improved outcomes after treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), a phenomenon called the obesity paradox. To interrogate mechanisms of divergent immune responses in obese and non-obese patients, we examined the relationship among obesity status, clinical responses, and immune profiles from a diverse, pan-tumor cohort of patients treated with ICI-based therapy.

Methods: From June 2021 to March 2023, we prospectively collected serial peripheral blood samples from patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors who received ICI as standard of care at Johns Hopkins.

Cancer associated fibroblasts drive epithelial to mesenchymal transition and classical to basal change in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells with loss of IL-8 expression.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) carries an extremely poor prognosis, in part resulting from cellular heterogeneity that supports overall tumorigenicity. Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAF) are key determinants of PDAC biology and response to systemic therapy. While CAF subtypes have been defined, the effects of patient-specific CAF heterogeneity and plasticity on tumor cell behavior remain unclear.