Circulating Lipoprotein Sphingolipids in Chronic Kidney Disease with and without Diabetes.

Abnormalities of sphingolipid metabolism play an important role in diabetes. We compared sphingolipid levels in plasma and in isolated lipoproteins between healthy control subjects and two groups of patients, one with chronic kidney disease without diabetes (ND-CKD), and the other with type 2 diabetes and macroalbuminuria (D-MA). Ceramides, sphingomyelins, and sphingoid bases and their phosphates in LDL were higher in ND-CKD and in D-MA patients compared to controls.

Comparing the prevalence of statistical reporting inconsistencies in COVID-19 preprints and matched controls: a registered report.

The COVID-19 outbreak has led to an exponential increase of publications and preprints about the virus, its causes, consequences, and possible cures. COVID-19 research has been conducted under high time pressure and has been subject to financial and societal interests. Doing research under such pressure may influence the scrutiny with which researchers perform and write up their studies.

Metamodal Coupling of Vibrotactile and Auditory Speech Processing Systems through Matched Stimulus Representations.

It has been postulated that the brain is organized by "metamodal," sensory-independent cortical modules capable of performing tasks (e.g., word recognition) in both "standard" and novel sensory modalities.

Adverse Events in Pediatric Critical Care Nonsurvivors With a Low Predicted Mortality Risk: A Multicenter Case Control Study.

Objectives: Some patients with a low predicted mortality risk in the PICU die. The contribution of adverse events to mortality in this group is unknown. The aim of this study was to estimate the occurrence of adverse events in low-risk nonsurvivors (LN), compared with low-risk survivors (LS) and high-risk PICU survivors and nonsurvivors, and the contribution of adverse events to mortality.

Examining Progress Toward Elimination of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities for Healthy People 2020 Objectives Using Three Measures of Overall Disparity.

This report examines changes in health disparities over time by race and ethnicity for HP2020 objectives using three measures of disparity.

Plasma apoM Levels and Progression to Kidney Dysfunction in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes.

Apolipoprotein M (apoM), primarily carried by HDL, has been associated with several conditions, including cardiovascular disease and diabetic nephropathy. This study proposes to examine whether plasma apoM levels are associated with the development of diabetic kidney disease, assessed as progression to macroalbuminuria (MA) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Plasma apoM was measured using an enzyme immunoassay in 386 subjects from the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT)/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) cohort at DCCT entry and closeout and the concentrations used to determine the association with risk of progression to kidney dysfunction from the time of measurement through 18 years of EDIC follow-up.

Diabetes and kidney dysfunction markedly alter the content of sphingolipids carried by circulating lipoproteins.

Background: We have previously shown that very long ceramides/lactosylceramides predicted the development of macroalbuminuria (MA) in type 1 diabetes and expanded our studies into type 2 diabetes.

Objective: This study proposes comparing the levels of plasma sphingolipids and their distribution in circulating lipoproteins (VLDL/IDL, LDL, HDL2 and HDL3) between a healthy control group and two groups of subjects with type 2 diabetes, one with and other without MA.

Methods: Plasma and lipoprotein sphingolipids/glycosphingolipids were measured using HPLC-MS/MS in 114 subjects (40 controls; 74 type 2 diabetes, 40 without MA; and 34 with MA) and the levels were compared between controls and the two groups of diabetes.

Lessons from COVID-19 for managing transboundary climate risks and building resilience.

COVID-19 has revealed how challenging it is to manage global, systemic and compounding crises. Like COVID-19, climate change impacts, and maladaptive responses to them, have potential to disrupt societies at multiple scales via networks of trade, finance, mobility and communication, and to impact hardest on the most vulnerable. However, these complex systems can also facilitate resilience if managed effectively.

Deoxysphingolipids Upregulate MMP-1, Downregulate TIMP-1, and Induce Cytotoxicity in Human Schwann Cells.

Sphingolipids are a heterogeneous class of lipids and essential components of the plasma membrane and plasma lipoproteins. Studies have shown that plasma deoxysphingolipid (DSL), a newly identified sphingolipid class, is increased in diabetic patients and associated with diabetic neuropathy. However, it remains unknown if there is a causal relationship between plasma DSL increase and diabetic neuropathy.

[COVID-19-associated hyperinflammatory state in a 15-year-old female patient].

Paediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Temporally Related to SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS) is a rare novel clinical entity observed in children and adolescents with evidence of a recent COVID-19 infection, and is characterized by a marked hyperinflammatory state with involvement of multiple organ systems.We report a case of a previously healthy 15-year-old female patient, who was admitted to paediatric intensive care with cardiac failure and was subsequently shown to have positive COVID-19 serology. The presenting symptoms were fever, cough, chest pain and gastro-intestinal symptoms.

Transcriptomics Reveal Altered Metabolic and Signaling Pathways in Podocytes Exposed to C16 Ceramide-Enriched Lipoproteins.

Sphingolipids are bioactive lipids associated with cellular membranes and plasma lipoproteins, and their synthesis and degradation are tightly regulated. We have previously determined that low plasma concentrations of certain ceramide species predict the development of nephropathy in diabetes patients with normal albumin excretion rates at baseline. Herein, we tested the hypothesis that altering the sphingolipid content of circulating lipoproteins can alter the metabolic and signaling pathways in podocytes, whose dysfunction leads to an impairment of glomerular filtration.

The sixth international RASopathies symposium: Precision medicine-From promise to practice.

The RASopathies are a group of genetic disorders that result from germline pathogenic variants affecting RAS-mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway genes. RASopathies share RAS/MAPK pathway dysregulation and share phenotypic manifestations affecting numerous organ systems, causing lifelong and at times life-limiting medical complications. RASopathies may benefit from precision medicine approaches.

Comparisons of Self-Reported and Measured Height and Weight, BMI, and Obesity Prevalence from National Surveys: 1999-2016.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare national estimates of self-reported and measured height and weight, BMI, and obesity prevalence among adults from US surveys.

Methods: Self-reported height and weight data came from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the National Health Interview Survey, and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for the years 1999 to 2016. Measured height and weight data were available from NHANES.

Serum pigment epithelium-derived factor: Relationships with cardiovascular events, renal dysfunction, and mortality in the Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial (VADT) cohort.

Background: To determine if serum pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) levels predict cardiovascular events, renal dysfunction and mortality in the Veterans Affairs Diabetes Study (VADT).

Methods: PEDF was evaluated in relation to subsequent cardiovascular outcomes, mortality, and renal dysfunction (defined as urinary albumin creatinine ratio (ACR) ≥300 mg/g), or chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 3 (eGFR<60 ml/min) or 4 (eGFR<60 and <30 ml/min respectively). PEDF was measured by ELISA on sera from 881 participants collected a median (range) of 1.

Population structure and the evolution of Homo sapiens in Africa.

It has been proposed that a multiregional model could describe how Homo sapiens evolved in Africa beginning 300,000 years ago. Multiregionalism would require enduring morphological or behavioral differences among African regions and morphological or behavioral continuity within each. African fossils, archeology, and genetics do not comply with either requirement and are unlikely to, because climatic change periodically disrupted continuity and reshuffled populations.

Serum apolipoproteins and apolipoprotein-defined lipoprotein subclasses: a hypothesis-generating prospective study of cardiovascular events in T1D.

APOB, APOC3, and APOE and apolipoprotein-defined lipoprotein subclasses (ADLSs; based on qualitative apolipoprotein complement) have been associated with dyslipidemia and CVD. Our main objective was to define associations of serum apolipoproteins and ADLSs with "any CVD" and "major atherosclerotic cardiovascular events" (MACEs) in a prospective study of T1D. Serum apolipoproteins and ADLSs (14 biomarkers in total) were measured in sera (obtained between 1997 and 2000) from a subset ( = 465) of the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications cohort.

Increasing the dose of oral vitamin K prophylaxis and its effect on bleeding risk.

Vitamin K prophylaxis in infancy aims to prevent life-threatening vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB). The Dutch prophylactic oral daily regimen was increased sixfold from 25 to 150 μg because of a high failure rate. To evaluate the efficacy of this new regimen, incidences of intracranial VKDB under both regimens were compared using both general and targeted surveillance.

Glycosylated sphingolipids and progression to kidney dysfunction in type 1 diabetes.

Background: Glycosphingolipids are important components of cell membranes, modulators of cell-cell interactions and cell recognition, and have recently emerged as bioactive molecules and important players in nearly all cell biological processes. We previously have shown that decreased plasma levels of long and very long species of ceramides were able to predict the development of macroalbuminuria (MA) in type 1 diabetes.

Objective: This study proposed to examine whether plasma glycosphingolipids could predict development of diabetic nephropathy, assessed as MA or chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Neural mechanisms of vibrotactile categorization.

The grouping of sensory stimuli into categories is fundamental to cognition. Previous research in the visual and auditory systems supports a two-stage processing hierarchy that underlies perceptual categorization: (a) a "bottom-up" perceptual stage in sensory cortices where neurons show selectivity for stimulus features and (b) a "top-down" second stage in higher level cortical areas that categorizes the stimulus-selective input from the first stage. In order to test the hypothesis that the two-stage model applies to the somatosensory system, 14 human participants were trained to categorize vibrotactile stimuli presented to their right forearm.

Apolipoprotein-defined lipoprotein subclasses, serum apolipoproteins, and carotid intima-media thickness in T1D.

Circulating apolipoprotein-defined lipoprotein subclasses (ADLS) and apolipoproteins predict vascular events in the general and type 2 diabetes populations, but data in T1D are limited. We examined associations of ADLS, serum apolipoproteins, and conventional lipids with carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) measured contemporaneously and 6 years later in 417 T1D participants [men: n = 269, age 42 ± 6 y (mean ± SD); women: n = 148, age 39 ± 8 y] in the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications study, the follow-up of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT). Date were analyzed by multiple linear regression stratified by sex, and adjusted for time-averaged hemoglobin A1C, diabetes duration, hypertension, BMI, albuminuria, DCCT randomization, smoking, statin treatment, and ultrasound devices.