High-frequency episodic migraine: Time for its recognition as a migraine subtype?

Background: High-frequency episodic migraine (HFEM) has gained attention in the field of headache research and clinical practice. In this narrative review, we analyzed the available literature to assess the evidence that could help decide whether HFEM may represent a distinct clinical and/or biological entity within the migraine spectrum.

Methods: The output of the literature search included 61 papers that were allocated to one of the following topics: (i) socio-demographic features and burden; (ii) clinical and therapeutic aspects; (iii) pathophysiology; and (iv) classification.

Glutamine sensing licenses cholesterol synthesis.

The mevalonate pathway produces essential lipid metabolites such as cholesterol. Although this pathway is negatively regulated by metabolic intermediates, little is known of the metabolites that positively regulate its activity. We found that the amino acid glutamine is required to activate the mevalonate pathway.

Differences in Trunk Acceleration-Derived Gait Indexes in Stroke Subjects with and without Stroke-Induced Immunosuppression.

: Stroke-induced immunosuppression (SII) represents a negative rehabilitative prognostic factor associated with poor motor performance at discharge from a neurorehabilitation unit (NRB). This study aims to evaluate the association between SII and gait impairment at NRB admission. : Forty-six stroke patients (65.

Practice makes perfect: the development of a medical student-led crowdsourced question bank for self-study in undergraduate medical education.

The development of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) for undergraduate medical education study purposes is resource intensive. Commercially available question banks are typically expensive, only available in English, and may not be aligned with medical school learning objectives. Here, we introduce : a student-led, bilingual study resource curated to a Canadian undergraduate medicine curriculum (www.

The contributions of T cell-mediated immunity to protection from vaccine-preventable diseases: A primer.

In the face of the ever-present burden of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases, there is a growing need to comprehensively assess individual- and population-level immunity to vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). Many of these efforts, however, focus exclusively on antibody-mediated immunity, ignoring the role of T cells. Aimed at clinicians, public health practioners, and others who play central roles in human vaccine research but do not have formal training in immunology, we review how vaccines against infectious diseases elicit T cell responses, what types of vaccines elicit T cell responses, and how T cell responses are measured.

Expression of miR-155 in monocytes of people with migraine: association with phenotype, disease severity and inflammatory profile.

Background: miR-155 is involved in the generation and maintenance of inflammation and pain, endothelial function and immune system homeostasis, all functions that are relevant for migraine. The present study aims to assess the levels of miR-155 in migraine subtypes (episodic and chronic) in comparison to age- and sex-matched healthy controls.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional, controlled, study involving three study groups: I) episodic migraine (n = 52, EM), II) chronic migraine with medication overuse (n = 44, CM-MO), and III) healthy controls (n = 32, HCs).

Paraneoplastic Syndrome in Adrenocortical Carcinoma: The Unexpected Mime.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a malignancy of the adrenal cortex with a high morbidity and mortality. More than half of the cases are functional tumors. As different hormones can be co-secreted above physiologic levels, it causes a very broad variety of symptoms and makes differentiating from more common entities hard.

Transcriptional programming mediated by the histone demethylase KDM5C regulates dendritic cell population heterogeneity and function.

Functional and phenotypic heterogeneity of dendritic cells (DCs) play crucial roles in facilitating the development of diverse immune responses essential for host protection. Here, we report that KDM5C, a histone lysine demethylase, regulates conventional or classical DC (cDC) and plasmacytoid DC (pDC) population heterogeneity and function. Mice deficient in KDM5C in DCs have increased proportions of cDC2Bs and cDC1s, which is partly dependent on type I interferon (IFN) and pDCs.

Guideline-Concordant Therapy for Community-Acquired Pneumonia in the Hospitalized Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: A commonly used guideline for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is the joint American Thoracic Society and Infectious Diseases Society of America practice guideline. We aimed to investigate the effect of guideline-concordant therapy in the treatment of CAP.

Methods: We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, Web of Science, and Scopus from 2007 to December 2023.

The role of stroke-induced immunosuppression as a predictor of functional outcome in the neurorehabilitation setting.

Stroke affects the interconnection between the nervous and immune systems, leading to a down-regulation of immunity called stroke-induced immunosuppression (SII). The primary aim of this study is to investigate SII role as a predictor of functional, neurological, and motor outcomes in the neurorehabilitation setting (NRB). We conducted a prospective observational study enrolling post-acute stroke patients hospitalized for neurorehabilitation.

The impact of primary headaches on disability outcomes: a literature review and meta-analysis to inform future iterations of the Global Burden of Disease study.

Background: The burden and disability associated with headaches are conceptualized and measured differently at patients' and populations' levels. At the patients' level, through patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs); at population level, through disability weights (DW) and years lived with a disability (YLDs) developed by the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD). DW are 0-1 coefficients that address health loss and have been defined through lay descriptions.

Flurbiprofen in the subglottic space to prevent postoperative sore throat after cardiac surgery: A randomized double-blind study.

Study Objective: Postoperative sore throat (POST) and hoarseness are common complications of tracheal intubation. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of flurbiprofen administered through the subglottic port of tracheal tubes to prevent POST after cardiac surgery.

Design: Single-center, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Impact of the physical properties of contact lens materials on the discomfort: role of the coefficient of friction.

Contact Lens Discomfort (CLD) is the main cause in contact lens (CLs) discontinuation, referred in literature as drop-out phenomenon. Despite such evidence was reported in several clinical studies, a relationship between physico-chemical properties of CLs and CLD is not still totally understood. In this regard, the friction of CLs surfaces seems to be related to discomfort feeling events, probably due to an alteration of the lubricate function of the tear film after the CL placement inside the ocular environment.

A Pharmacological Investigation of Eph-Ephrin Antagonism in Prostate Cancer: UniPR1331 Efficacy Evidence.

The Eph kinases are the largest receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) family in humans. PC3 human prostate adenocarcinoma cells are a well-established model for studying Eph-ephrin pharmacology as they naturally express a high level of EphA2, a promising target for new cancer therapies. A pharmacological approach with agonists did not show significant efficacy on tumor growth in prostate orthotopic murine models, but reduced distal metastasis formation.

COX17 acetylation via MOF-KANSL complex promotes mitochondrial integrity and function.

Reversible acetylation of mitochondrial proteins is a regulatory mechanism central to adaptive metabolic responses. Yet, how such functionally relevant protein acetylation is achieved remains unexplored. Here we reveal an unprecedented role of the MYST family lysine acetyltransferase MOF in energy metabolism via mitochondrial protein acetylation.

Glutamine availability unleashes dendritic cells' anti-tumor power.

Metabolic competition within the tumor microenvironment (TME) shapes the efficacy of anticancer immunity. In the August 3 issue of Nature, Guo et al. show that glutamine is an intercellular metabolic checkpoint between cancer and immune cells.

Dysregulated anti-oxidant signalling and compromised mitochondrial integrity negatively influence regulatory T cell function and viability in liver disease.

Background: Dysregulated inflammatory responses and oxidative stress are key pathogenic drivers of chronic inflammatory diseases such as liver cirrhosis (LC). Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are essential to prevent excessive immune activation and maintain tissue homeostasis. While inflammatory cues are well known to modulate the function and stability of Tregs, the extent to which Tregs are influenced by oxidative stress has not been fully explored.

Sustained CD28 costimulation is required for self-renewal and differentiation of TCF-1 PD-1 CD8 T cells.

During persistent antigen stimulation, such as in chronic infections and cancer, CD8 T cells differentiate into a hypofunctional programmed death protein 1-positive (PD-1) exhausted state. Exhausted CD8 T cell responses are maintained by precursors (Tpex) that express the transcription factor T cell factor 1 (TCF-1) and high levels of the costimulatory molecule CD28. Here, we demonstrate that sustained CD28 costimulation is required for maintenance of antiviral T cells during chronic infection.