Obesity reshapes regulatory T cells in the visceral adipose tissue by disrupting cellular cholesterol homeostasis.

Regulatory T cells (T) accumulate in the visceral adipose tissue (VAT) to maintain systemic metabolic homeostasis but decline during obesity. Here, we explored the metabolic pathways controlling the homeostasis, composition, and function of VAT T under normal and high-fat diet feeding conditions. We found that cholesterol metabolism was specifically up-regulated in ST2 VAT T subsets.

Geny: a genotyping tool for allelic decomposition of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor genes.

Introduction: Accurate genotyping of Killer cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptor (KIR) genes plays a pivotal role in enhancing our understanding of innate immune responses, disease correlations, and the advancement of personalized medicine. However, due to the high variability of the KIR region and high level of sequence similarity among different KIR genes, the generic genotyping workflows are unable to accurately infer copy numbers and complete genotypes of individual KIR genes from next-generation sequencing data. Thus, specialized genotyping tools are needed to genotype this complex region.

Living with an ostomy: A needs assessment in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory condition of the digestive tract associated with substantial psychosocial difficulties. Treatment often focuses on medications but may also include surgical approaches (e.g.

Bolstering connectedness through peer support: Randomized-controlled trial of a web-based peer support program for adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic autoimmune disease often diagnosed during adolescence. IBD negatively impacts all aspects of health-related quality of life, resulting in physical, emotional, social, school, and work functioning challenges. Adolescents have identified the need for peer support in managing their disease and promoting positive health outcomes.

Ranking of Health Problems and Prioritization of Cancer Education Topics by African American Communities in South Carolina.

Despite landmark breakthroughs in cancer research, African American adults (AA) bear the highest cancer burden compared to other racial groups in the United States (US). AA adults have twice the likelihood of dying from prostate and uterine cancers compared to White adults, suggesting that there are fundamental issues yet to be addressed when developing and implementing cancer-preventative programs for AA communities. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) empowers community members to identify and prioritize their health problems and preferred strategies to tackle these issues.