Absence of "Cytokine Storm" in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

A rapidly growing number of publications cite "cytokine storm" as a contributing factor in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pathology. However, a few recent reports led to questioning of "cytokine storm" theory in COVID-19. This study's primary goal is to determine if exaggerated cytokine response in the range of a "cytokine storm" develops during the initial weeks of hospitalization in COVID-19 patients.

Factors influencing long-term weight loss after bariatric surgery.

Background: Bariatric surgery provides sustained weight loss and improves comorbidities. However, long term data has shown that patients gradually regain weight after 1 year. Several factors have been associated with poor weight loss after bariatric surgery.

Correlation of intra-operative hamstring autograft size with pre-operative anthropometric and MRI measurements.

The purpose of this study was to compare various pre-operative methods of estimating intra-operative hamstring autograft size. A retrospective review was completed on 74 patients who had an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction performed using a quadruple-looped hamstring autograft from July 2007-April 2015 at a single institution. A positive correlation was observed between intra-operative graft size and pre-operative imaging using two methods of MRI measurements.

Time Course of Blood Pressure Decrease After Bariatric Surgery in Normotensive and Hypertensive Patients.

Background: Bariatric surgery leads to remission of several obesity-related comorbidities, including hypertension. Although antihypertensive medication use is decreased after bariatric surgery, the exact time course of decrease in blood pressure after surgery is not known.

Methods: A database of patients undergoing bariatric surgery at our institute was used to study the effect of surgery on time course of blood pressure changes.

Randomized trial of OFIRMEV versus placebo for pain management after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

Background: OFIRMEV is an intravenous form of acetaminophen approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as an antipyretic and treatment of mild to moderate pain alone or in conjunction with opioid medications. Intravenous APAP use in postsurgical pain management has been reported to decrease opioid usage, time to rescue dose, and subjective pain.

Objectives: We used a placebo-controlled, randomized double-blind study to test the efficacy of OFIRMEV in decreasing opioid use and subjective pain after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

Permacol interposition graft as an alternative to vein in contaminated wounds using a rabbit model.

Background: Vascular injuries are common in trauma and often involve massive soft tissue injury and segmental arterial loss. Current practice uses either autogenous vein or polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) for interposition grafting in arterial injuries. Decision making between autogenous or synthetic conduit pivots around the physiological state of the trauma patient.

Evaluating the molecular basis for acute mountain sickness: hypoxia response gene expression patterns in warfighters and murine populations.

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is an illness that affects many individuals at altitudes above 2,400 m (8,000 ft) resulting in decreased performance. Models that provide quantitative estimates of AMS risk are expanding, but predictive genetic models for AMS susceptibility are still under investigation. Thirty-four male U.

Regulation of dopamine transporter expression by neuronal activity.

Actions of extracellular dopamine released in the central nervous system are primarily terminated by the dopamine transporter. This protein is also a target for therapeutic and abused psychostimulant drugs. Different methods used to study dopamine transporter function, its expression, and intracellular signaling in neurons are described in this chapter.

Moderate systemic hypothermia decreases burn depth progression.

Background: Therapeutic hypothermia has been proposed to be beneficial in an array of human pathologies including cardiac arrest, stroke, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, and hemorrhagic shock. Burn depth progression is multifactorial but inflammation plays a large role. Because hypothermia is known to reduce inflammation, we hypothesized that moderate hypothermia will decrease burn depth progression.

Methods to detect cell surface expression and constitutive activity of GPR6.

GPR6 is a constitutively active Gs-coupled receptor that can signal from intracellular compartments. We present different methods used to study cell surface expression of receptors and other membrane proteins. A comparison of these methods shows that methods based on susceptibility to proteolytic enzymes are more efficient at providing estimates of cell surface expression than the commonly used cell surface biotinylation method.

Role of growth factors in improved skin flap viability caused by phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor.

Flap necrosis is one of the major complications of reconstructive surgery and sildenafil citrate has been shown to decrease flap necrosis in preclinical animal models. However, the mechanisms underlying sildenafil's therapeutic efficacy are not known. As with other phosphodiesterase 5 selective inhibitors, sildenafil causes vasodilation and enhanced blood flow.

Constitutively active GPR6 is located in the intracellular compartments.

We used multiple imaging assays to test the hypothesis that GPR6, a constitutively active Gs-coupled receptor, is present on the cell surface. A pHluorin tag at the N-terminus of rat GPR6 expressed in human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells was not accessible to protons, chymotrypsin or anti-green fluorescent protein antibody, demonstrating that GPR6 is primarily located in intracellular compartments. Similar intracellular localization of pHluorin-tagged GPR6 was found in striatal neurons, where endogenous GPR6 is expressed.

Activity-dependent regulation of the dopamine transporter is mediated by Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase signaling.

The mechanisms regulating expression of the dopamine transporter are poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that neuronal activity is one of the non-genetic determinants of dopamine transporter abundance. Sustained changes in neuronal activity caused by tetrodotoxin and 4-aminopyridine altered the dopamine uptake and abundance of dopamine transporter and its mRNA in rat mesencephalic cultures.

Contributions of nucleus accumbens core and shell GluR1 containing AMPA receptors in AMPA- and cocaine-primed reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior.

Glutamate signaling in the nucleus accumbens influences reinstatement of previously extinguished cocaine-seeking behavior in rats. Whether or not region specific glutamate signaling in the nucleus accumbens contributes to reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior is not known. We investigated whether directly stimulating ionotropic glutamate receptors (GluRs) within the nucleus accumbens core or shell would differentially influence renewed cocaine-seeking behavior following extinction training.

Genetic complementation screen identifies a mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase, MKP3, as a regulator of dopamine transporter trafficking.

The antidepressant and cocaine sensitive plasma membrane monoamine transporters are the primary mechanism for clearance of their respective neurotransmitters and serve a pivotal role in limiting monoamine neurotransmission. To identify molecules in pathways that regulate dopamine transporter (DAT) internalization, we used a genetic complementation screen in Xenopus oocytes to identify a mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase phosphatase, MKP3/Pyst1/DUSP6, as a molecule that inhibits protein kinase C-induced (PKC) internalization of transporters, resulting in enhanced DAT activity. The involvement of MKP3 in DAT internalization was verified using both overexpression and shRNA knockdown strategies in mammalian cell models including a dopaminergic cell line.

Identity of SMCT1 (SLC5A8) as a neuron-specific Na+-coupled transporter for active uptake of L-lactate and ketone bodies in the brain.

SMCT1 is a sodium-coupled (Na(+)-coupled) transporter for l-lactate and short-chain fatty acids. Here, we show that the ketone bodies, beta-d-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate, and the branched-chain ketoacid, alpha-ketoisocaproate, are also substrates for the transporter. The transport of these compounds via human SMCT1 is Na(+)-coupled and electrogenic.

Dopamine transporter-mediated conductances increase excitability of midbrain dopamine neurons.

Uptake by Na(+)/Cl(-)-dependent neurotransmitter transporters is the principal mechanism by which extracellular biogenic amine concentrations are regulated. In addition to uptake, the cloned transporter proteins also elicit ion channel-like currents, but the physiological consequences of these currents are unknown. Here, whole-cell patch clamp and perforated-patch recordings show that substrates of the dopamine transporter (DAT), such as dopamine (DA) and amphetamine, increase the firing activity of rat DA neurons in culture.