Fecal Nervonic Acid as a Biomarker for Diagnosing and Monitoring Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background/objectives: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic immune-mediated pathology associated with the dysregulation of lipid metabolism. The administration of nervonic acid, a very long-chain fatty acid, has been shown to improve colonic inflammation in a mouse model of colitis. Our study aimed to quantify fecal levels of nervonic acid, as well as the very long-chain fatty acids, lignoceric acid, and pentacosanoic acid, to identify associations with IBD activity.

Paraptosis-A Distinct Pathway to Cell Death.

Cell death is a critical biological process necessary for development, tissue maintenance, and defense against diseases. To date, more than 20 forms of cell death have been identified, each defined by unique molecular pathways. Understanding these different forms of cell death is essential for investigating the pathogenesis of diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and autoimmune conditions and developing appropriate therapies.

Exploring the Thioredoxin System as a Therapeutic Target in Cancer: Mechanisms and Implications.

Cells constantly face the challenge of managing oxidants. In aerobic organisms, oxygen (O) is used for energy production, generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) as byproducts of enzymatic reactions. To protect against oxidative damage, cells possess an intricate system of redox scavengers and antioxidant enzymes, collectively forming the antioxidant defense system.

Cost-effectiveness in an interprofessional training ward within a university department for internal medicine: a monocentric open-label controlled study of the A-STAR Regensburg.

Introduction: Interprofessional collaboration in healthcare involves diverse professionals working together to address complex patient needs. Interprofessional training wards offer workplace-based interprofessional education in real healthcare settings, fostering collaborative learning among students. While their educational value is widely recognized, debates persist regarding their cost-effectiveness due to limited research.

Unraveling Cancer's Wnt Signaling: Dynamic Control through Protein Kinase Regulation.

Since the initial identification of oncogenic Wnt in mice and Drosophila, the Wnt signaling pathway has been subjected to thorough and extensive investigation. Persistent activation of Wnt signaling exerts diverse cancer characteristics, encompassing tumor initiation, tumor growth, cell senescence, cell death, differentiation, and metastasis. Here we review the principal signaling mechanisms and the regulatory influence of pathway-intrinsic and extrinsic kinases on cancer progression.

High Serum S100A12 as a Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker for Severity, Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Superinfection and Herpes Simplex Virus Reactivation in COVID-19.

Neutrophils are critical immune cells in severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). S100 calcium-binding protein A12 (S100A12) is highly expressed in neutrophils during acute inflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum S100A12 levels as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in COVID-19.

Unraveling the Role of Reactive Oxygen Species in T Lymphocyte Signaling.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are central to inter- and intracellular signaling. Their localized and transient effects are due to their short half-life, especially when generated in controlled amounts. Upon T cell receptor (TCR) activation, regulated ROS signaling is primarily initiated by complexes I and III of the electron transport chain (ETC).

Relationship between interprofessional collaboration and psychological distress experienced by healthcare professionals during COVID-19: a monocentric cross-sectional study.

Background: Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, global healthcare systems have faced unprecedented challenges, leading to significant psychological distress among healthcare professionals. Recognizing the importance of enhanced interprofessional collaboration in alleviating this burden, as emphasized by the World Health Organization in 2020, we investigated whether such collaboration could mitigate staff psychological distress during crises. To our knowledge, no study has yet explored the role of interprofessional collaboration as a resilience factor in crises.

Evaluating the impact of interprofessional training wards on patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes: a mixed-methods analysis.

Introduction: Interprofessional teamwork is pivotal in modern healthcare, prompting the establishment of interprofessional training wards since 1996. While these wards serve as hubs for optimizing healthcare professional collaboration and communication, research into patient outcomes remains notably sparse and geographically limited, predominantly examining patient satisfaction and sparingly exploring other metrics like mortality or self-discharge rates. This study seeks to bridge this gap, comparing patient outcomes in interprofessional training wards and conventional wards under the hypothesis that the former offers no disadvantage to patient outcomes.

Unique Metabolomic and Lipidomic Profile in Serum From Patients With Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis Compared With Healthy Control Individuals.

Background: Accurate biomarkers for disease activity and progression in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are a prerequisite for individual disease characterization and personalized therapy. We show that metabolic profiling of serum from IBD patients is a promising approach to establish biomarkers. The aim of this work was to characterize metabolomic and lipidomic serum profiles of IBD patients in order to identify metabolic fingerprints unique to the disease.

Clinical, Endoscopic, and Histopathologic Observations in Gastrointestinal Amyloidosis.

Background And Aims: Amyloidosis is a group of systemic disorders caused by extracellular deposition of misfolded serum proteins. Gastrointestinal (GI) involvement is associated with a higher risk of GI bleeding, especially if mucosal lesions are present. Our study aims to evaluate the frequency of GI manifestations in patients with amyloidosis, to clinically characterize these patients and to describe the endoscopic and histopathologic findings in GI amyloidosis.

The Important Role of Protein Kinases in the p53 Sestrin Signaling Pathway.

p53, a crucial tumor suppressor and transcription factor, plays a central role in the maintenance of genomic stability and the orchestration of cellular responses such as apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and DNA repair in the face of various stresses. Sestrins, a group of evolutionarily conserved proteins, serve as pivotal mediators connecting p53 to kinase-regulated anti-stress responses, with Sestrin 2 being the most extensively studied member of this protein family. These responses involve the downregulation of cell proliferation, adaptation to shifts in nutrient availability, enhancement of antioxidant defenses, promotion of autophagy/mitophagy, and the clearing of misfolded proteins.

The p53 Family of Transcription Factors Represses the Alpha- fetoprotein Gene Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: p53 deletion and mutation as well as upregulation of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) are hallmarks of hepatocarcinogenesis. p63 and p73 belong to the family of p53-related transcription factors expressing a variety of isoforms. The expression of dominant negative (ΔN) p73 is related to the reduced survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Simultaneous Inhibition of Mcl-1 and Bcl-2 Induces Synergistic Cell Death in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Despite the recent approval of new therapies, the prognosis for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains poor. There is a clinical need for new highly effective therapeutic options. Here, we present a combined application of BH3-mimetics as a potential new treatment option for HCC.

The Influence of Gut Microbiota on Oxidative Stress and the Immune System.

The human gastrointestinal tract is home to a complex microbial community that plays an important role in the general well-being of the entire organism. The gut microbiota generates a variety of metabolites and thereby regulates many biological processes, such as the regulation of the immune system. In the gut, bacteria are in direct contact with the host.

HCC biomarkers - state of the old and outlook to future promising biomarkers and their potential in everyday clinical practice.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and deadly tumors worldwide. Management of HCC depends on reliable biomarkers for screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of the disease, as well as predicting response towards therapy and safety. To date, imaging has been the established standard technique in the diagnosis and follow-up of HCC.

SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine-Induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia with Venous Thrombosis, Pulmonary Embolism, and Adrenal Haemorrhage: A Case Report with Literature Review.

Vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) with venous thrombosis is a rare complication of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with ChAdOx1 (AstraZeneca) and AD26.COV2.S (Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ, USA) associated with high mortality.

Novel pathomechanism for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis: disruption of cell junctions by cellular and bacterial proteases.

Objective: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a life-threatening complication of liver cirrhosis with a 1-year mortality of 66%. Bacterial translocation (BT) from the intestine to the mesenteric lymph nodes is crucial for the pathogenesis of SBP.

Design: Since BT presupposes a leaky intestinal epithelium, the integrity of mucus and epithelial cell junctions (E-cadherin and occludin) was examined in colonic biopsies from patients with liver cirrhosis and controls.

KCNN4 Expression Is Elevated in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: This Might Be a Novel Marker and Therapeutic Option Targeting Potassium Channels.

Background And Aims: The K + channel KCNN4 is involved in many inflammatory diseases. Previous work has shown that this channel is involved in epithelial ion transport and intestinal restitution. In inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) a defective epithelial barrier can lead to typical symptoms like secretory diarrhea and the formation of intestinal ulcers.

Correction: Serum anti-glycan-antibodies in relatives of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Serum anti-glycan-antibodies in relatives of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Serum anti-glycan antibodies are a promising tool for differential diagnosis, disease stratification and prediction of Crohn's disease (CD). To investigate possible heritability of the markers we assessed the presence of serum anti-glycan antibodies in affected and unaffected relatives of patients with CD.

Methods: Serum samples of 169 IBD patients of the German inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) network (140 CD & 29 Ulcerative colitis (UC)), 349 relatives of CD patients, 63 relatives of UC patients and 46 healthy controls were tested for the presence of anti-glycan antibodies by ELISA in a blinded fashion.

Activin in acute pancreatitis: Potential risk-stratifying marker and novel therapeutic target.

Acute Pancreatitis is a substantial health care challenge with increasing incidence. Patients who develop severe disease have considerable mortality. Currently, no reliable predictive marker to identify patients at risk for severe disease exists.