Utilization of Low-Dose Phentermine for Weight Loss Prior to Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: A Prospective, Randomized, and Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Studies examining preoperative weight loss using pharmacotherapy in metabolic and bariatric patients are limited. The objective was to investigate if patients taking a low-dose formulation of phentermine had improved weight loss.

Methods: This study was a randomized, placebo-controlled trial including patients undergoing laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy.

Hydrogel models of pancreatic adenocarcinoma to study cell mechanosensing.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the predominant form of pancreatic cancer and one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide, with an extremely poor prognosis after diagnosis. High mortality from PDAC arises partly due to late diagnosis resulting from a lack of early-stage biomarkers and due to chemotherapeutic drug resistance, which arises from a highly fibrotic stromal response known as desmoplasia. Desmoplasia alters tissue mechanics, which triggers changes in cell mechanosensing and leads to dysregulated transcriptional activity and disease phenotypes.

Quantification of heavy metal exposure in a British population cohort links total mercury levels in plasma with skin tissue-specific changes in mitochondrial-related gene expression.

Heavy metals in our direct environment have profound effects on human health and while some are essential for life, others can be toxic. In vivo studies often focus on clinical features caused by overexposure to, or by deprivation of a heavy metal. However, to understand the cellular impact of heavy metals on health, studies in healthy volunteers before symptom onset are needed.

Predictive equation derived from 6,497 doubly labelled water measurements enables the detection of erroneous self-reported energy intake.

Nutritional epidemiology aims to link dietary exposures to chronic disease, but the instruments for evaluating dietary intake are inaccurate. One way to identify unreliable data and the sources of errors is to compare estimated intakes with the total energy expenditure (TEE). In this study, we used the International Atomic Energy Agency Doubly Labeled Water Database to derive a predictive equation for TEE using 6,497 measures of TEE in individuals aged 4 to 96 years.

Induction of macrophage efferocytosis in pancreatic cancer via PI3Kγ inhibition and radiotherapy promotes tumour control.

Background: The immune suppression mechanisms in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remain unknown, but preclinical studies have implicated macrophage-mediated immune tolerance. Hence, pathways that regulate macrophage phenotype are of strategic interest, with reprogramming strategies focusing on inhibitors of phosphoinositide 3-kinase-gamma (PI3Kγ) due to restricted immune cell expression. Inhibition of PI3Kγ alone is ineffective in PDAC, despite increased infiltration of CD8+ T cells.