Mag-Net: Rapid enrichment of membrane-bound particles enables high coverage quantitative analysis of the plasma proteome.

Membrane-bound particles in plasma are composed of exosomes, microvesicles, and apoptotic bodies and represent ~1-2% of the total protein composition. Proteomic interrogation of this subset of plasma proteins augments the representation of tissue-specific proteins, representing a "liquid biopsy," while enabling the detection of proteins that would otherwise be beyond the dynamic range of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry of unfractionated plasma. We have developed an enrichment strategy (Mag-Net) using hyper-porous strong-anion exchange magnetic microparticles to sieve membrane-bound particles from plasma.

Treatment modification after initiating second-line medication for type 2 diabetes.

Objectives: To describe changes in antidiabetic medication (ADM) use and characteristics associated with changes in ADM use after initiation of noninsulin second-line therapy.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: This study analyzed private health plan claims for adults with type 2 diabetes who initiated 1 of 5 index ADM classes: sulfonylureas, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors (DPP4is), sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), or thiazolidinediones.

Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2022.

Objective: This study updates previous estimates of the economic burden of diagnosed diabetes, with calculation of the health resource use and indirect costs attributable to diabetes in 2022.

Research Design And Methods: We combine the demographics of the U.S.

Role of prices in driving the variation in spending across medical groups.

Objective: To understand the relative role of prices versus utilization in the variation in total spending per patient across medical groups.

Data Sources: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of medical claims for commercially insured adults from a large national insurer in 2018.

Study Design: After assigning patients to a medical group based on primary care visits in 2018, we calculated total medical spending for each patient in that year.

Cone photoreceptors transfer damaged mitochondria to Müller glia.

Mitochondria are vital organelles that require sophisticated homeostatic mechanisms for maintenance. Intercellular transfer of damaged mitochondria is a recently identified strategy broadly used to improve cellular health and viability. Here, we investigate mitochondrial homeostasis in the vertebrate cone photoreceptor, the specialized neuron that initiates our daytime and color vision.

Variation in spending associated with primary care practices.

Objectives: To measure variation in spending and inpatient prices associated with the primary care physician (PCP) practice to which patients are attributed.

Study Design: Cross-sectional analysis of claims data.

Methods: We used random effect models to estimate case mix-adjusted spending across large PCP practices within 3-digit zip codes.

Costs for commercially insured adults prescribed second-line diabetes medications.

Objectives: To examine differences in health care costs associated with choice of second-line antidiabetes medication (ADM) for commercially insured adults with type 2 diabetes.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study with multiple pretests and posttests.

Methods: Included patients initiated second-line ADM therapy between 2011 and 2015, with variable follow-up through 2017.

Daily mitochondrial dynamics in cone photoreceptors.

Cone photoreceptors in the retina are exposed to intense daylight and have higher energy demands in darkness. Cones produce energy using a large cluster of mitochondria. Mitochondria are susceptible to oxidative damage, and healthy mitochondrial populations are maintained by regular turnover.

MicroRNA Signature of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Group B Streptococcal Infection of the Placental Chorioamniotic Membranes.

Background: Infection-induced preterm birth is a major cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity and leads to preterm premature rupture of placental chorioamniotic membranes. The loss of amniotic epithelial cells and tensile strength preceding membrane rupture is poorly understood. We hypothesized that intrauterine bacterial infection induces changes in microRNA (miRNA) expression, leading to amniotic epithelial cell loss and membrane weakening.

Increasing Ca in photoreceptor mitochondria alters metabolites, accelerates photoresponse recovery, and reveals adaptations to mitochondrial stress.

Photoreceptors are specialized neurons that rely on Ca to regulate phototransduction and neurotransmission. Photoreceptor dysfunction and degeneration occur when intracellular Ca homeostasis is disrupted. Ca homeostasis is maintained partly by mitochondrial Ca uptake through the mitochondrial Ca uniporter (MCU), which can influence cytosolic Ca signals, stimulate energy production, and trigger apoptosis.

Assessment of COPD-related outcomes in patients initiating a once daily or twice daily ICS/LABA.

Background: Use of inhaled corticosteroids and long acting beta agonist (ICS/LABA) combination therapy has been shown to decrease the frequency of exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this population, adherence to treatment is associated with better disease control and lower risk of COPD-related exacerbations in the future. Using a treatment with a more convenient regimen or easier-to-use device could improve patient adherence, improve disease control, decrease the frequency of exacerbations and minimize the COPD-related economic burden.

A conserved morphogenetic mechanism for epidermal ensheathment of nociceptive sensory neurites.

Interactions between epithelial cells and neurons influence a range of sensory modalities including taste, touch, and smell. Vertebrate and invertebrate epidermal cells ensheath peripheral arbors of somatosensory neurons, including nociceptors, yet the developmental origins and functional roles of this ensheathment are largely unknown. Here, we describe an evolutionarily conserved morphogenetic mechanism for epidermal ensheathment of somatosensory neurites.

Injury mechanism, epidemiology, and Hospital trends of scapula fractures: A 10-year retrospective study of the National Trauma Data Bank.

Background: This 10 year retrospective study of the NTDB is the first to describe trends in scapula fracture diagnosis frequency, epidemiology, injury mechanisms and the type of hospital where the condition is treated.

Methods: Demographics, ISS scores, hospital data, mechanism of injury, complications, and hospital length of stay were recorded for patients with diagnosed scapula fractures (ICD-9, 811.0) recorded in the NTDB, v7.

Assessment of Adherence and Asthma Medication Ratio for a Once-Daily and Twice-Daily Inhaled Corticosteroid/Long-Acting β-Agonist for Asthma.

Background: Although efficacy and safety of fluticasone furoate/vilanterol (FF/VI) and budesonide/formoterol (BUD/F) have been demonstrated in clinical studies, real-world comparisons of utilization have not been performed.

Objective: To compare similar patients with asthma initiating FF/VI or BUD/F on measures of adherence, persistence, and the asthma medication ratio (AMR).

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of commercial and Medicare Advantage with Part D enrollees initiating FF/VI or BUD/F for asthma.

Comparison of healthcare resource utilization and costs in patients with type 2 diabetes initiating dapagliflozin versus sitagliptin.

Aims: To compare healthcare costs and utilization in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) who initiated dapagliflozin (DAPA) with costs and utilization in those who initiated sitagliptin (SITA) in a real-world setting.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective study of health plan enrollees in two US commercial claims databases or Medicare Part D. The study population comprised adult patients with T2D who initiated DAPA or SITA between January 1, 2014 and April 30, 2015.

Potentially Preventable Hospital and Emergency Department Events: Lessons from a Large Innovation Project.

Introduction: There are few proven strategies to reduce the frequency of potentially preventable hospitalizations and Emergency Department (ED) visits. To facilitate strategy development, we documented these events among complex patients and the factors that contribute to them in a large care-improvement initiative.

Methods: Observational study with retrospective audits and selective interviews by the patients' care managers among 12 diverse medical groups in California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Washington that participated in an initiative to implement collaborative care for patients with both depression and either uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, or both.

Burden of Illness Associated with Tenosynovial Giant Cell Tumors.

Purpose: Little is known about the burden of illness in patients with tenosynovial giant cell tumors (TGCT), which are rare, typically benign, lesions of the synovial tissue including giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath (GCT-TS) and pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS). The objective of this study was to describe health care resource use and costs for patients with GCT-TS and PVNS, which are rare and typically benign TGCT.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study design was used to analyze administrative claims for adult commercial and Medicare Advantage health plan enrollees with evidence of GCT-TS and PVNS from January 1, 2006 through March 31, 2015.

Biochemical adaptations of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium support a metabolic ecosystem in the vertebrate eye.

Here we report multiple lines of evidence for a comprehensive model of energy metabolism in the vertebrate eye. Metabolic flux, locations of key enzymes, and our finding that glucose enters mouse and zebrafish retinas mostly through photoreceptors support a conceptually new model for retinal metabolism. In this model, glucose from the choroidal blood passes through the retinal pigment epithelium to the retina where photoreceptors convert it to lactate.

Searching for the Smoker's Paradox in Acute Stroke Patients Treated With Intravenous Thrombolysis.

Background: Inconsistent evidence supports better outcome in smokers after stroke. Our study examines this association in a large sample of ischemic stroke treated with intravenous thrombolysis.

Method: Virtual International Stroke Trials Archive (VISTA) database, composed of individual patient data of multiple clinical trials, was queried.

The financial impact of team-based care on primary care.

Objectives: Although team-based care can improve coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors and is considered cost-effective from a healthcare system perspective, little is known about the financial impact of team-based primary care for secondary prevention of CHD. The purpose of this study was to define the impact of team-based care for CHD on utilization, costs, and revenue of a private primary care practice.

Study Design: Interrupted time series analysis.

Proton pump inhibitor use by aspirin-treated coronary artery disease patients is not associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events.

Aims: Daily low-dose aspirin is recommended for prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are recommended to prevent or treat aspirin-associated gastrointestinal injury. Previous studies have reported contradictory findings regarding the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients who use PPI with aspirin therapy. We sought to examine associations between PPI use and MACE and all-cause mortality in aspirin-treated CAD patients.

A Statewide Effort to Implement Collaborative Care for Depression: Reach and Impact for All Patients With Depression.

Background: Little is known about the reach and impact of collaborative care for depression outside of clinical trials.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the effect of a collaborative care intervention for depression on the rates of depression diagnosis, use of specific depression codes, and treatment intensification.

Research Design: Evaluation of a staggered, multiple baseline implementation initiative.

Change in Weight Status and Development of Hypertension.

Objective: To examine the association of BMI percentile and change in BMI percentile to change in blood pressure (BP) percentile and development of hypertension (HTN).

Methods: This retrospective cohort included 101 606 subjects age 3 to 17 years from 3 health systems across the United States. Height, weight, and BPs were extracted from electronic health records, and BMI and BP percentiles were computed with the appropriate age, gender, and height charts.