Sex Differences in Inflammation-Related Biomarkers Detected with OCT in Patients with Diabetic Macular Edema.

Purpose: To investigate sex-based differences in inflammation-related biomarkers on spectral-domain OCT.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Participants: Patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) between February 1, 2019, and March 31, 2023, without intravitreal anti-VEGF injection within the previous 6 months.

Differential Mortality Outcomes in Real-world Patients with Lean, Nonobese, and Obese Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Background And Aims: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is commonly associated with obesity but can develop in normal-weight people (lean NAFLD). We compared outcomes in lean, overweight, and obese NAFLD.

Methods: This retrospective chart review included patients at Stanford University Medical Center with NAFLD confirmed by imaging between March 1995 and December 2021.

Differences in liver and mortality outcomes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by race and ethnicity: A longitudinal real-world study.

Background/aims: Understanding of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) continues to expand, but the relationship between race and ethnicity and NAFLD outside the use of cross-sectional data is lacking. Using longitudinal data, we investigated the role of race and ethnicity in adverse outcomes in NAFLD patients.

Methods: Patients with NAFLD confirmed by imaging via manual chart review from any clinics at Stanford University Medical Center (1995-2021) were included.

Three-Dimensional Adult Cardiac Extracellular Matrix Promotes Maturation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes.

Pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (CMs) have great potential in the development of new therapies for cardiovascular disease. In particular, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may prove especially advantageous due to their pluripotency, their self-renewal potential, and their ability to create patient-specific cell lines. Unfortunately, pluripotent stem cell-derived CMs are immature, with characteristics more closely resembling fetal CMs than adult CMs, and this immaturity has limited their use in drug screening and cell-based therapies.

Interferon-induced transmembrane protein 1 regulates endothelial lumen formation during angiogenesis.

Objective: It is well established that angiogenesis is a complex and coordinated multistep process. However, there remains a lack of information about the genes that regulate individual stages of vessel formation. Here, we aimed to define the role of human interferon-induced transmembrane protein 1 (IFITM1) during blood vessel formation.

Angiogenic sprouting is regulated by endothelial cell expression of Slug.

The Snail family of zinc-finger transcription factors are evolutionarily conserved proteins that control processes requiring cell movement. Specifically, they regulate epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions (EMT) where an epithelial cell severs intercellular junctions, degrades basement membrane and becomes a migratory, mesenchymal-like cell. Interestingly, Slug expression has been observed in angiogenic endothelial cells (EC) in vivo, suggesting that angiogenic sprouting may share common attributes with EMT.

The high incidence of steroid-induced hyperglycaemia in hospital.

Aim: The objective of this study was to systematically evaluate the incidence of steroid-induced hyperglycaemia in a tertiary referral hospital. We conducted a glucometric audit of a prospective protocol where glucose monitoring was routinely performed on patients treated with high-dose steroids.

Methods: The protocol specified routine fingerprick glucose monitoring for patients commencing high-dose steroid therapy (prednisone 25mg/day, dexamethasone 4 mg/day, hydrocortisone 100mg/day, or more) for a minimum of 48 h.

Analysis of stromal cell secretomes reveals a critical role for stromal cell-derived hepatocyte growth factor and fibronectin in angiogenesis.

Objective: Angiogenesis requires tightly coordinated crosstalk between endothelial cells (ECs) and stromal cells, such as fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells. The specific molecular mechanisms moderating this process are still poorly understood.

Methods And Results: Stromal cell-derived factors are essential for EC sprouting and lumen formation.

Digital probabilistic atlas of the border region between the middle and posterior cerebral arteries.

Background And Purpose: The diagnosis of external borderzone infarction is made when the stroke is located at the border between the arterial territories. Recent studies have raised questions regarding the location of this borderzone given the variability in the arterial territories. We examined the location of this region using a digital approach and its correspondence with the 'traditional' template.

Digital map of posterior cerebral artery infarcts associated with posterior cerebral artery trunk and branch occlusion.

Background And Purpose: Knowledge of the extent and distribution of infarcts of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) may give insight into the limits of the arterial territory and infarct mechanism. We describe the creation of a digital atlas of PCA infarcts associated with PCA branch and trunk occlusion by magnetic resonance imaging techniques.

Methods: Infarcts were manually segmented on T(2)-weighted magnetic resonance images obtained >24 hours after stroke onset.