Publications by authors named "R Spencer Wells"

Compared to the general population of Hawai'i, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders (NHPI) shoulder a disproportionately high risk for obesity-related cardiometabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The gut microbiome is an area of rapid research interest for its role in regulating adjacent metabolic pathways, offering novel opportunities to better understand the etiology of these health disparities. Obesity and the gut microbiome are influenced by regional, racial-ethnic, and community-specific factors, limiting the generalizability of current literature for understudied populations.

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Background & Aims: EGF-containing fibulin extracellular matrix protein 1 (EFEMP1, also called fibulin-3) is an extracellular matrix protein linked in a genome-wide association study to biliary atresia, a fibrotic disease of the neonatal extrahepatic bile duct. Fibulin-3 is deposited in most tissues and null mice have decreased elastic fibers in visceral fascia; however, fibulin-3 does not have a role in the development of large elastic fibers and its overall function in the extrahepatic bile ducts remains unclear.

Methods: We used staining and histology to define the amount and organization of key extracellular matrix components in the extrahepatic bile ducts.

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