Social media in the REI clinic: what do patients want?

Purpose: To elicit patient preferences for social media utilization and content in the infertility clinic.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey study conducted in three US fertility practices. Women presenting to the infertility clinic for an initial or return visit were offered an anonymous voluntary social media survey.

Relationships of sex hormone levels with leukocyte telomere length in Black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander postmenopausal women.

Background: Sex hormones may play important roles in sex-specific biological aging. In the study, we specifically examined associations between circulating sex hormone concentrations and leukocyte telomere length (TL).

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1124 Black, 444 Hispanic, and 289 Asian/Pacific Islander women in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Cohort.

Race Differences in Initial Presentation, Early Treatment, and 1-year Outcomes of Pediatric Crohn's Disease: Results from the ImproveCareNow Network.

Background: Racially disparate care has been shown to contribute to suboptimal health care outcomes for minorities. Using the ImproveCareNow network, we investigated differences in management and outcomes of pediatric patients with Crohn's disease at diagnosis and 1-year postdiagnosis.

Methods: ImproveCareNow is a learning health network for pediatric inflammatory bowel disease.

Genetic variations in magnesium-related ion channels may affect diabetes risk among African American and Hispanic American women.

Background: Prospective studies consistently link low magnesium intake to higher type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk.

Objective: We examined the association of common genetic variants [single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)] in genes related to magnesium homeostasis with T2D risk and potential interactions with magnesium intake.

Methods: Using the Women's Health Initiative-SNP Health Association Resource (WHI-SHARe) study, we identified 17 magnesium-related ion channel genes (583 SNPs) and examined their associations with T2D risk in 7287 African-American (AA; n = 1949 T2D cases) and 3285 Hispanic-American (HA; n = 611 T2D cases) postmenopausal women.

21-Hydroxylase-derived steroids in follicles of nonobese women undergoing ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization (IVF) positively correlate with lipid content of luteinized granulosa cells (LGCs) as a source of cholesterol for steroid synthesis.

Context: Mineralocorticoid synthesis by the nonhuman primate periovulatory follicle enhances luteinization. Whether a similar event occurs in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) is unknown.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine whether human luteinized granulosa cells (LGCs) produce mineralocorticoids derived from 21-hydroxylase activity and also express mRNA for 21-hydroxylase and the mineralocorticoid receptor.

MicroRNAs regulate methionine adenosyltransferase 1A expression in hepatocellular carcinoma.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and methionine adenosyltransferase 1A (MAT1A) are dysregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and reduced MAT1A expression correlates with worse HCC prognosis. Expression of miR-664, miR-485-3p, and miR-495, potential regulatory miRNAs of MAT1A, is increased in HCC. Knockdown of these miRNAs individually in Hep3B and HepG2 cells induced MAT1A expression, reduced growth, and increased apoptosis, while combined knockdown exerted additional effects on all parameters.

PKCdelta clustering at the leading edge and mediating growth factor-enhanced, but not ecm-initiated, dermal fibroblast migration.

We have previously shown that the immobilized extracellular matrices (ECMs) initiate cell migration and soluble growth factors (GFs) further enhance ECM-initiated cell migration. GFs alone cannot initiate cell migration. To further investigate the specificity of the two signaling mechanisms, we focused on the protein kinase C (PKC) family genes in primary human dermal fibroblasts (DFs).