Small-Vessel Vasculitis or Perifolliculitis in Small-Fiber Neuropathy With TS-HDS, FGFR-3, or Plexin D1 Antibodies.

Introduction: Small-fiber neuropathy (SFN) is highly prevalent but often idiopathic. TS-HDS, FGFR-3, and Plexin D1 autoantibodies (seropositive) may be present in more than 40% of idiopathic cases. Another autoimmune biomarker is a non-length-dependent (NLD) skin biopsy pattern.

Early deterioration of CIDP following transition from IVIG to FcRn inhibitor treatment.

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is an immune mediated demyelinating neuropathy that can lead to secondary axonal degeneration and irreversible weakness and disability. Early effective treatment is therefore necessary to minimize the degree of axonal degeneration. Prior to 2024 the only FDA approved therapy for CIDP was intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg).

A 40-week phase 2B randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the safety and efficacy of memantine in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Introduction: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease with no known cure, limited treatment options with minimal benefits, and significant unmet need for disease modifying therapies.

Aims: This study investigated memantine's impact on ALS progression, with an additional focus on the effects of memantine on cognitive and behavioral changes associated with the disease.

Methods: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted from December 2018 to September 2020.

The San Francisco Health Systems Collaborative: Public Health and Health Care Delivery Systems' Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic challenged health care delivery systems worldwide. Many acute care hospitals in communities that experienced surges in cases and hospitalizations had to make decisions such as rationing scarce resources. Hospitals serving low-income communities, communities of color, and those in other historically marginalized or vulnerable groups reported the greatest operational impacts of surges.

CLCC1 promotes hepatic neutral lipid flux and nuclear pore complex assembly.

Imbalances in lipid storage and secretion lead to the accumulation of hepatocyte lipid droplets (LDs) (i.e., hepatic steatosis).

Clinically recognized sleep disorders in people living with HIV.

Objective: Despite recognition that people with HIV (PWH) are more vulnerable to sleep issues, there is limited understanding of clinically recognized sleep disorders in this population. Our objective was to evaluate the full spectrum of sleep disorder types diagnosed among PWH in care.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of PWH, and a comparator group of people without HIV (PWoH), in a large healthcare system.

Substance use and mental health factors associated with self-reported higher risk cannabis use among people with HIV screened in primary care.

Background: While cannabis use is prevalent among people with HIV (PWH), factors associated with higher-risk use require further study. We examined factors associated with indicators risk for cannabis use disorder (CUD) among PWH who used cannabis.

Methods: Participants included adult (≥18 years old) PWH from 3 HIV primary care clinics in Kaiser Permanente Northern California who reported past three-month cannabis use through the computerized Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription medication, and other Substance use (TAPS) screening.

Spartin is a Lipid Transfer Protein That Facilitates Lipid Droplet Turnover.

One means by which cells reutilize neutral lipids stored in lipid droplets is to degrade them by autophagy. This process involves spartin, mutations of which cause the rare inherited disorder Troyer syndrome (or spastic paraplegia-20, SPG20). A recently published paper from the team led by Karin Reinsich (Yale) suggests that the molecular function of spartin and its unique highly conserved "senescence" domain is as a lipid transfer protein.

Subthalamic nucleus-language network connectivity predicts dopaminergic modulation of speech function in Parkinson's disease.

Speech impediments are a prominent yet understudied symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD). While the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is an established clinical target for treating motor symptoms, these interventions can lead to further worsening of speech. The interplay between dopaminergic medication, STN circuitry, and their downstream effects on speech in PD is not yet fully understood.

Skin Biopsy Detection of Phosphorylated α-Synuclein in Patients With Synucleinopathies.

Importance: Finding a reliable diagnostic biomarker for the disorders collectively known as synucleinopathies (Parkinson disease [PD], dementia with Lewy bodies [DLB], multiple system atrophy [MSA], and pure autonomic failure [PAF]) is an urgent unmet need. Immunohistochemical detection of cutaneous phosphorylated α-synuclein may be a sensitive and specific clinical test for the diagnosis of synucleinopathies.

Objective: To evaluate the positivity rate of cutaneous α-synuclein deposition in patients with PD, DLB, MSA, and PAF.

LDO proteins and Vac8 form a vacuole-lipid droplet contact site to enable starvation-induced lipophagy in yeast.

Lipid droplets (LDs) are fat storage organelles critical for energy and lipid metabolism. Upon nutrient exhaustion, cells consume LDs via gradual lipolysis or via lipophagy, the en bloc uptake of LDs into the vacuole. Here, we show that LDs dock to the vacuolar membrane via a contact site that is required for lipophagy in yeast.

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor Control in People With and Without HIV.

Background: Management of hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes and other modifiable factors may mitigate the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, PWH) compared with people without HIV (PWoH).

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 8285 PWH and 170 517 PWoH from an integrated health system. Risk factor control was measured using a novel disease management index (DMI) accounting for amount/duration above treatment goals (0% to 100% [perfect control]), including 2 DMIs for hypertension (diastolic and systolic blood pressure), 3 for dyslipidemia (low-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol, triglycerides), and 1 for diabetes (HbA1c).

Subcutaneous batoclimab in generalized myasthenia gravis: Results from a Phase 2a trial with an open-label extension.

Objectives: To assess the safety, tolerability, and key pharmacodynamic effects of subcutaneous batoclimab, a fully human anti-neonatal Fc receptor monoclonal antibody, in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis and anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies.

Methods: A Phase 2a, proof-of-concept, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial is described. Eligible patients were randomized (1:1:1) to receive once-weekly subcutaneous injections of batoclimab 340 mg, batoclimab 680 mg, or matching placebo for 6 weeks.

Alzheimer disease biomarkers are associated with decline in subjective memory, attention, and spatial navigation ability in clinically normal adults.

Objective: Subtle changes in memory, attention, and spatial navigation abilities have been associated with preclinical Alzheimer disease (AD). The current study examined whether baseline AD biomarkers are associated with self- and informant-reported decline in memory, attention, and spatial navigation.

Method: Clinically normal (Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR®) = 0) adults aged 56-93 ( = 320) and their informants completed the memory, divided attention, and visuospatial abilities (which assesses spatial navigation) subsections of the Everyday Cognition Scale (ECog) annually for an average of 4 years.

Efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIg) in improving skin symptoms in patients with dermatomyositis: a post-hoc analysis of the ProDERM study.

Background: Dermatomyositis (DM) is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by skin involvement, with or without proximal muscle weakness. Recently, following the ProDERM study, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) was approved for treatment of DM. Until ProDERM evidence from large, placebo-controlled studies supporting its use for dermatological symptoms, was lacking.

Acquired Non-histaminergic Angioedema With C1q Autoantibody and Urticaria: A Case Report.

Acquired angioedema (AAE) is a rare disease with life-threatening complications. This pathology has classically been associated with medication use and B cell lymphoproliferative disorders. In this report, we describe a 61-year-old man with a six-year history of angioedema, unrelated to any known triggers or malignancy.

Clinical utility of self- and informant-reported memory, attention, and spatial navigation in detecting biomarkers associated with Alzheimer disease in clinically normal adults.

Objective: Preclinical Alzheimer disease (AD) has been associated with subtle changes in memory, attention, and spatial navigation abilities. The current study examined whether self- and informant-reported domain-specific cognitive changes are sensitive to AD-associated biomarkers.

Method: Clinically normal adults aged 56-93 and their informants completed the memory, divided attention, and visuospatial abilities (which assesses spatial navigation) subsections of the Everyday Cognition Scale (ECog).