Publications by authors named "Heather Gentry"

Objective: To characterise subphenotypes of self-reported symptoms and outcomes (SRSOs) in postacute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC).

Design: Prospective, observational cohort study of subjects with PASC.

Setting: Academic tertiary centre from five clinical referral sources.

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Background: Hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 follow heterogeneous clinical trajectories, requiring different levels of respiratory support and experiencing diverse clinical outcomes. Differences in host immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection may account for the heterogeneous clinical course, but we have limited data on the dynamic evolution of systemic biomarkers and related subphenotypes. Improved understanding of the dynamic transitions of host subphenotypes in COVID-19 may allow for improved patient selection for targeted therapies.

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Uncertainty persists whether anaerobic bacteria represent important pathogens in aspiration pneumonia. In a nested case-control study of mechanically ventilated patients classified as macro-aspiration pneumonia (MAsP, n = 56), non-macro-aspiration pneumonia (NonMAsP, n = 91), and uninfected controls (n = 11), we profiled upper (URT) and lower respiratory tract (LRT) microbiota with bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequencing, measured plasma host-response biomarkers, analyzed bacterial communities by diversity and oxygen requirements, and performed unsupervised clustering with Dirichlet Multinomial Models (DMM). MAsP and NonMAsP patients had indistinguishable microbiota profiles by alpha diversity and oxygen requirements with similar host-response profiles and 60-day survival.

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Purpose: Enhanced understanding of the dynamic changes in the dysregulated inflammatory response in COVID-19 may help improve patient selection and timing for immunomodulatory therapies.

Methods: We enrolled 323 COVID-19 inpatients on different levels of baseline respiratory support: i) Low Flow Oxygen (37%), ii) Non-Invasive Ventilation or High Flow Oxygen (NIV_HFO, 29%), iii) Invasive Mechanical Ventilation (IMV, 27%), and iv) Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO, 7%). We collected plasma samples upon enrollment and days 5 and 10 to measure host-response biomarkers.

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Imposition of social and health behavior mitigations are important control measures in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Although postulated that these measures may impact the human microbiota including losses in diversity from heightened hygiene and social distancing measures, this hypothesis remains to be tested. Other impacts on the microbiota and host mental and physical health status associations from these measures are also not well-studied.

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Article Synopsis
  • HIV affects lung health, but the long-term effects on pulmonary function patterns are unclear, prompting a study of individuals with HIV over 8 years to track changes in lung function.* -
  • The study identified different trajectories for lung function measurements, revealing that some individuals experience a slow decline while others experience a rapid decline, with distinct patterns associated with other health issues like dyspnea and mortality.* -
  • Factors like current smoking and history of smoking were linked to worse outcomes in lung function, highlighting the influence of lifestyle choices on health in individuals living with HIV.*
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