Publications by authors named "R M Head"
Has the human biological interaction with SARS-CoV2 variants entered a pliant "Faustian bargain"?
Pharmacol Res Perspect
August 2024
Article Synopsis
- - The authors suggest that a "Faustian bargain" exists in COVID-19, where getting a higher SARS-CoV2 viral load might reduce the risk of severe lower lung infections.
- - This idea connects to thermodynamics and how well the virus binds to cell receptors, indicating that these scientific principles can help explain the observed health outcomes.
- - The hypothesis aims to clarify why COVID-19 has caused varied health impacts, including both illness and death, by looking at the balance between infection levels and lung disease risk.
Background & Aims: Biomarkers that integrate genetic and environmental factors and predict outcome in complex immune diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD; including Crohn's disease [CD] and ulcerative colitis [UC]) are needed. We showed that morphologic patterns of ileal Paneth cells (Paneth cell phenotype [PCP]; a surrogate for PC function) is one such cellular biomarker for CD. Given the shared features between CD and UC, we hypothesized that PCP is also associated with molecular/genetic features and outcome in UC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: In the evolving healthcare landscape, precision medicine's rise necessitates adaptable doctoral training. The European Union has recognized this and promotes the development of international, training-focused programmes called Innovative Training Networks (ITNs). In this article, we introduce TranSYS, an ITN focused on educating the next generation of precision medicine researchers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Around 250 million children under 5 in low- and middle-income countries may have poor development, prompting the need for effective early childhood development (ECD) interventions, like a radio campaign in Burkina Faso targeting responsive caregiving and early learning.
- The economic evaluation of this campaign will compare its costs and health outcomes to a standard broadcasting method, measuring the cost-effectiveness in terms of cognitive gains for children under 3 years old.
- The trial has received ethical approval from multiple institutions, and findings will be shared through a peer-reviewed journal and an international conference presentation.
Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is a diffuse small bowel disorder associated with poor growth, inadequate responses to oral vaccines, and nutrient malabsorption in millions of children worldwide. We identify loss of the small intestinal Paneth and goblet cells that are critical for innate immunity, reduced villous height, increased bile acids, and dysregulated nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) synthesis signaling as potential mechanisms underlying EED and which also correlated with diminished length-for-age score. Isocaloric low-protein diet (LPD) consumption in mice recapitulated EED histopathology and transcriptomic changes in a microbiota-independent manner, as well as increases in serum and fecal bile acids.
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