Sex steroid hormones and subclinical atherosclerosis progression in postmenopausal women.

Objective: The Early versus Late Intervention Trial with Estradiol demonstrated that hormone therapy (HT) reduces subclinical atherosclerosis progression in healthy postmenopausal women who initiated HT in proximity to menopause (<6 years) but not in those distant from menopause (≥10 years). This analysis explores the role of serum sex steroid hormones and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) in atherosclerosis progression, examining differences based on time since menopause.

Design: Post-trial analysis.

Neonatal acute liver failure cases with echovirus 11 infections, Japan, August to November 2024.

In 2022-23, several European countries reported paediatric acute liver failure (ALF) with enterovirus infection. In August-November 2024, three neonatal cases of ALF with echovirus 11 (E11) were reported in Tokyo, Japan. All neonates developed irreversible multiple-organ failure and died.

Factors associated with tracheostomy-associated infection treatment: A multicenter observational study.

Objective: To characterize factors that influence the decision to treat suspected pediatric bacterial tracheostomy-associated respiratory infections (bTRAINs; e.g., pneumonia, tracheitis).

Effect of Hormone Therapy on Lipoprotein Subfractions in Early and Late Postmenopausal Women.

Context: The Early vs Late Intervention Trial with Estradiol (ELITE) showed that hormone therapy (HT) reduced atherosclerosis progression among early but not late postmenopausal women (PMW).

Objective: Determined by time-since-menopause (1) HT effects on lipids and lipoprotein particle subfractions (LPs), (2) associations of estradiol (E2) level with lipids and LPs, (3) associations of lipids and LPs with atherosclerosis progression.

Design: Randomized controlled trial stratified by time-since-menopause.

The association of hysterectomy with or without ovarian conservation with subclinical atherosclerosis progression in healthy postmenopausal women.

Objective: While the deleterious associations of surgical menopause after bilateral oophorectomy with cardiovascular disease are documented, less is specifically known concerning subclinical atherosclerosis progression.

Methods: We used data from 590 healthy postmenopausal women randomized to hormone therapy or placebo in the Early versus Late Intervention Trial with Estradiol (ELITE), which was conducted from July 2005 to February 2013. Subclinical atherosclerosis progression was measured as annual rate of change in carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) over a median 4.

Generalizability of cognitive results from clinical trial participants to an older adult population: Addressing external validity.

Introduction: Study inclusion criteria and recruitment practices limit the generalizability of randomized-controlled trial (RCT) results. Statistical modeling could enhance generalizability of outcomes. To illustrate this, the cognition-depression relationship was assessed with and without adjustment relative to the target population of older women.

Effect of menopausal hormone therapy on methylation levels in early and late postmenopausal women.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death among postmenopausal women but standard primary prevention strategies in women are not as effective as in men. By comparison, the Early versus Late Intervention Trial with Estradiol (ELITE) study demonstrated that hormone therapy (HT) was associated with significant reduction in atherosclerosis progression in women who were within six years of menopause compared to those who were 10 or more years from menopause. These findings are consistent with other studies showing significant reductions in all-cause mortality and CVD with HT, particularly when initiated in women younger than 60 years of age or within 10 years since menopause.

Effect of menopausal hormone therapy on arterial wall echomorphology: Results from the Early versus Late Intervention Trial with Estradiol (ELITE).

Objective: To evaluate the effect of hormone therapy (HT) on arterial wall composition by ultrasound.

Background: The effect of HT on the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis has been well-described using measurements of common carotid artery (CCA) wall thickness. However, it is unknown whether the change in arterial wall anatomic structure is accompanied by an effect of HT on arterial wall composition.

Comparison of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Between 2 Subclinical Atherosclerosis Measures in Healthy Postmenopausal Women: Carotid Artery Wall Thickness and Echogenicity: Carotid Artery Wall Thickness and Echogenicity.

Objectives: Although carotid artery intima media thickness (CIMT) is a widely used determinant of subclinical atherosclerosis, gray-scale median of the intima-media complex (IM-GSM) of the common carotid artery is a relatively novel measure of echogenicity reflecting composition of the arterial wall. It is important to compare cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor correlates across CIMT and IM-GSM to determine whether these measures reflect distinct aspects of atherosclerosis.

Methods: Baseline information from a completed randomized clinical trial of 643 healthy postmenopausal women without clinically apparent CVD was included in this cross-sectional study.

Recurrent acute necrotizing encephalopathy in a boy with RANBP2 mutation and thermolabile CPT2 variant: The first case of ANE1 in Japan.

Background: Acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) is a severe encephalopathy associated with acute viral infection. While most ANE cases are sporadic, pathogenic variants in the gene RAN binding protein 2 (RANBP2) have been identified as a major cause of familial or recurrent ANE (ANE1). Although sporadic ANE predominantly affects Asian children, ANE1 is very rare in east Asia.

Nattokinase atherothrombotic prevention study: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Described to be antithrombotic and antihypertensive, nattokinase is consumed for putative cardiovascular benefit. However, no large-scale, long-term cardiovascular study has been conducted with nattokinase supplementation.

Objective: To determine the effect of nattokinase on subclinical atherosclerosis progression and atherothrombotic biomarkers.

Safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of allopregnanolone as a regenerative therapeutic for Alzheimer's disease: A single and multiple ascending dose phase 1b/2a clinical trial.

Introduction: Allopregnanolone is an endogenous neurosteroid with the potential to be a novel regenerative therapeutic for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Foundations of mechanistic understanding and well-established preclinical safety efficacy make it a viable candidate.

Methods: A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, single and multiple ascending dose trial was conducted.

Factors Associated With Serum Estradiol Levels Among Postmenopausal Women Using Hormone Therapy.

Objective: To identify factors associated with serum estradiol (E2) levels among healthy postmenopausal women using hormone therapy (HT).

Methods: This is an unplanned post hoc analysis of data from ELITE (Early versus Late Intervention Trial with Estradiol), a randomized controlled trial of 1 mg oral E2 with or without vaginal progesterone in healthy early compared with late (<6 years compared with 10 or more years since menopause) postmenopausal women. We included results from visits when women reported at least 80% compliance with HT.

Brain delivery of supplemental docosahexaenoic acid (DHA): A randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Background: Past clinical trials of docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) supplements for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia have used lower doses and have been largely negative. We hypothesized that larger doses of DHA are needed for adequate brain bioavailability and that APOE4 is associated with reduced delivery of DHA and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) to the brain before the onset of cognitive impairment.

Methods: 33 individuals were provided with a vitamin B complex (1 mg vitamin B12, 100 mg of vitamin B6 and 800 mcg of folic acid per day) and randomized to 2,152 mg of DHA per day or placebo over 6 months.

Allele frequencies of Bordetella pertussis virulence-associated genes identified from pediatric patients with severe respiratory infections.

Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) infection occasionally causes severe respiratory infections in children. Potential association between virulence-associated gene alleles and severe clinical outcomes has been suggested; however, frequencies of these alleles in pediatric patients with severe pertussis have not been clarified.

Low maternal vitamin D is associated with increased risk of congenital and peri/postnatal transmission of Cytomegalovirus in women with HIV.

Background: CMV infection of the fetus or neonate can lead to devastating disease, and there are no effective prevention strategies to date. Vitamin D is a potent immunomodulator, supports antiviral immune responses, and plays an important role in placental immunity.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study to evaluate the impact of low maternal vitamin D on congenital and early postnatal transmission of CMV among HIV-infected, non-breastfeeding women and their HIV exposed but negative infants from an urban HIV clinic.

Association of HLA Genotype With T-Cell Activation in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and HIV/Hepatitis C Virus-Coinfected Women.

Background: Global immune activation and HLA alleles are each associated with the pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus .

Methods: We evaluated the relationship between 44 HLA class I and 28 class II alleles and percentages of activated CD8 (CD8+CD38+DR+) and CD4 (CD4+CD38+DR+) T cells in 586 women who were naive to highly active antiretroviral therapy. We used linear generalized estimating equation regression models, adjusting for race/ethnicity, age, HIV load, and hepatitis C virus infection and controlling for multiplicity using a false discovery rate threshold of 0.

Low Bioactive Vitamin D Is Associated with Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension in a Cohort of Pregnant HIV-Infected Women Sampled Over a 23-Year Period.

Objective: To examine the association of vitamin D insufficiency and risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected pregnant women.

Study Design: This is a retrospective cohort study evaluating the impact of low maternal vitamin D levels on PIH and perinatal outcomes among HIV-infected pregnant women receiving care at an urban HIV center from 1991 to 2014.

Results: A total of 366 pregnant women were included, of which 11% developed PIH.

A pediatric case of acute neck swelling due to bilateral submandibular sialadenitis following influenza A infection.

A 12-year-old boy presented with acute neck swelling diagnosed as submandibular sialadenitis secondary to influenza; it resolved quickly with supportive care. Recognition of this as a clinical entity during the influenza season may help guide management.