Publications by authors named "K Rombouts"
Introduction: Access to quality-assured medicines remains unequal between high-income and low-income countries. To bridge this gap, product development and supply in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) should follow World Health Organization (WHO)'s policies and recommendations whilst aligning with international standards.
Areas Covered: We reviewed two cases on oxytocin access for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), a condition that disproportionately affects mothers in low-income countries.
The correlation between circulating microbes and sepsis as well as proinflammatory diseases is increasingly gaining recognition. However, the detection of microbes' cell-free DNA (cfDNA), which exist at concentrations of a billion times lower than blood proteins, poses a significant challenge for early disease detection. Here, we present Nano mechanics combined with highly sensitive readout sequences to address the challenges of ultralow counts of disease biomarkers, thus enabling robust quantitative monitoring of chronic medical conditions at different stages of human disease progression.
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- The PNPLA3 I148M variant is linked to the development of Metabolic Associated Steatosis Liver Disease (MASLD) and contributes to liver fibrosis, but the exact mechanisms are not fully understood.
- Recent studies indicate that this variant impacts the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and macrophages, leading to inflammation and fibrosis.
- While findings regarding PNPLA3's function are inconsistent, it has been shown to cause lipid accumulation in liver cells, triggering processes that promote fibrosis through various signaling pathways.
Objective: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a cardiovascular risk factor. Paradoxically, a decreased risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) presence and growth rate is described among patients with T2DM, associated with metformin use. This study aimed to investigate the effect of metformin on AAA patient-derived aortic smooth muscle cell (SMC) function.
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- The study focuses on abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), a condition where the aorta weakens and dilates in the abdomen, aiming to understand the specific cellular mechanisms involved by analyzing proteins in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) from AAA patients versus healthy donors.
- Using advanced proteomic techniques, researchers found significant differences in proteins linked to extracellular matrix remodeling, energy metabolism, and muscle contractility between AAA patients and healthy individuals.
- The research revealed changes in phosphorylation patterns affecting structural proteins like those involved in the actin cytoskeleton and signaling pathways, suggesting specific kinases like NUAK1 and MAPK7 may play crucial roles in AAA development.