Establishing Medical Intelligence-Leveraging Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources to Improve Clinical Management: Retrospective Cohort and Clinical Implementation Study.

Background: FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) has been proposed to enable health data interoperability. So far, its applicability has been demonstrated for selected research projects with limited data.

Objective: This study aimed to design and implement a conceptual medical intelligence framework to leverage real-world care data for clinical decision-making.

Lifestyle Intervention Modulates the CD4+ T Cell Profile in the Blood of Crohn's Disease Patients.

Background: Crohn's disease (CD) significantly affects patients' well-being and is influenced by stress and lifestyle factors, highlighting the importance of improving quality of life in CD management. An imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory CD4+ T cell responses is a key factor in CD, and stress has been shown to alter the function of CD4+ T cells. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of a mind-body medicine stress management and lifestyle modification (MBM) program on the CD4+ T cell profile in CD patients.

Direct effects of heroin and methadone on T cell function.

Opioid addiction presents a relevant health challenge, with chronic heroin use linked to detrimental effects on various aspects of physical, mental, and sociological health. Opioid maintenance therapy (OMT), particularly using methadone, is the primary treatment option for heroin addiction. Previous studies using blood samples from current heroin addicts and OMT patients have shown immunomodulatory effects of heroin and methadone on T cell function.

Bacterial biofilm formation on headpieces of Cochlear implants.

Introduction: Bacterial biofilm formation on medical devices, such as Cochlear implants (CI), can lead to chronic infections. Not only the inner parts of the implant but also the externally located headpiece might be associated with prolonged superficial skin eczema resulting in the inability of wearing the headpiece. In this study, the surface of three CI headpieces from different manufacturers were examined for bacterial biofilm formation.

Author Correction: The cellular level of telomere dysfunction determines induction of senescence or apoptosis in vivo.

[Image: see text]

Combining antibiotic with anti-TLR2/TLR13 therapy prevents brain pathology in pneumococcal meningitis.

Despite effective antibiotic therapy, brain-destructive inflammation often cannot be avoided in pneumococcal meningitis. The causative signals are mediated predominantly through TLR-recruited myeloid differentiation primary response adaptor 88 (MyD88), as indicated by a dramatic pneumococcal meningitis phenotype of Myd88-/- mice. Because lipoproteins and single-stranded RNA are crucial for recognition of Gram-positive bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae by the host immune system, we comparatively analyzed the disease courses of Myd88-/- and Tlr2-/- Tlr13-/- mice.

Antibacterial copper-filled TiO coating of cardiovascular implants to prevent infective endocarditis-A pilot study.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) poses a significant health risk, especially in patients with prosthetic heart valves. Despite advances in treatment, mortality rates remain high. This study aims to investigate the antibacterial properties of a copper titanium dioxide (4× Cu-TiO) coating on cardiovascular implants against Staphylococcus aureus, a common causative agent of IE.

Substantial heterogeneity of inflammatory cytokine production and its inhibition by a triple cocktail of toll-like receptor blockers in early sepsis.

Introduction: Early sepsis is a life-threatening immune dysregulation believed to feature a "cytokine storm" due to activation of pattern recognition receptors by pathogen and danger associated molecular patterns. However, treatments with single toll-like receptor (TLR) blockers have shown no clinical benefit. We speculated that sepsis patients at the time of diagnosis are heterogeneous in relation to their cytokine production and its potential inhibition by a triple cocktail of TLR blockers.

Fungal Gut Microbiome in Myasthenia Gravis: A Sub-Analysis of the MYBIOM Study.

An altered gut microbiota is a possible contributing pathogenic factor in myasthenia gravis (MG), an autoimmune neuromuscular disease. However, the significance of the fungal microbiome is an understudied and neglected part of the intestinal microbiome in MG. We performed a sub-analysis of the MYBIOM study including faecal samples from patients with MG ( = 41), non-inflammatory neurological disorder (NIND, = 18), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP, = 6) and healthy volunteers (n = 12) by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2).

Independent human mesenchymal stromal cell-derived extracellular vesicle preparations differentially attenuate symptoms in an advanced murine graft-versus-host disease model.

Background Aims: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) harvested from conditioned media of human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) suppress acute inflammation in various disease models and promote regeneration of damaged tissues. After successful treatment of a patient with acute steroid-refractory graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) using EVs prepared from conditioned media of human bone marrow-derived MSCs, this study focused on improving the MSC-EV production for clinical application.

Methods: Independent MSC-EV preparations all produced according to a standardized procedure revealed broad immunomodulatory differences.

Frequency and prognosis of CVD and myocardial injury in patients presenting with suspected COVID-19 - The CoV-COR registry.

Background: he COVID-19 pandemic led to an alteration of algorithms in emergency medicine, which may influence the management of patients with similar symptoms but underlying cardiovascular diseases. We evaluated key differential diagnoses to acute COVID-19 infection and the prevalence and the prognosis of myocardial injury in patients presenting for suspected COIVD-19 infection.

Methods: This prospective observational study includes patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 infection during the pandemic.

CD47 restricts antiviral function of alveolar macrophages during influenza virus infection.

CD47 is an ubiquitously expressed surface molecule with significant impact on immune responses. However, its role for antiviral immunity is not fully understood. Here, we revealed that the expression of CD47 on immune cells seemed to disturb the antiviral immune response as CD47-deficient mice (CD47) showed an augmented clearance of influenza A virus (IAV).

Cell-intrinsic ceramides determine T cell function during melanoma progression.

Acid sphingomyelinase (Asm) and acid ceramidase (Ac) are parts of the sphingolipid metabolism. Asm hydrolyzes sphingomyelin to ceramide, which is further metabolized to sphingosine by Ac. Ceramide generates ceramide-enriched platforms that are involved in receptor clustering within cellular membranes.

The acid ceramidase/ceramide axis controls parasitemia in -infected mice by regulating erythropoiesis.

Acid ceramidase (Ac) is part of the sphingolipid metabolism and responsible for the degradation of ceramide. As bioactive molecule, ceramide is involved in the regulation of many cellular processes. However, the impact of cell-intrinsic Ac activity and ceramide on the course of infection remains elusive.

Immune hyporeactivity to bacteria and multiple TLR-ligands, yet no response to checkpoint inhibition in patients just after meeting Sepsis-3 criteria.

Rationale: The immune profile of sepsis patients is incompletely understood and hyperinflammation and hypoinflammation may occur concurrently or sequentially. Immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) may counter hypoinflammation but effects are uncertain. We tested the reactivity of septic whole blood to bacteria, Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands and to ICI.

During early stages of cancer, neutrophils initiate anti-tumor immune responses in tumor-draining lymph nodes.

Tumor-draining lymph nodes (LNs) play a crucial role during cancer spread and in initiation of anti-cancer adaptive immunity. Neutrophils form a substantial population of cells in LNs with poorly understood functions. Here, we demonstrate that, during head and neck cancer (HNC) progression, tumor-associated neutrophils transmigrate to LNs and shape anti-tumor responses in a stage-dependent manner.

The pathological oral cavity as a preventable source of postoperative pneumonia in thoracic surgery: a prospective observational study.

Background: Pneumonia after thoracic surgery considerably contributes to perioperative morbidity and mortality. So far, the forced expiratory volume in one second and diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon dioxide are the most common validated prognosticators to estimate individual risk. Beyond functional parameters, modifiable risk factors for respiratory complications like pneumonia are poorly investigated in a prospective way.

Prevalence of COVID-19 Associated Mucormycosis in a German Tertiary Care Hospital.

Due to Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a new group of patients at risk emerged with COVID-19-associated mucormycosis (CAM). Systematic studies, evaluating the prevalence of CAM are missing. To assess CAM prevalence in a tertiary care hospital in Germany, we applied direct microscopy, fungal culture and quantitative realtime in-house PCR targeting Mucorales-specific fragments of 18S and 28S rRNA on respiratory specimens of 100 critically ill COVID-19 patients.