Morbid Obesity and Liver Transplant.

Background: The progressive increase in the prevalence of morbid obesity (MO) in the general population is a pressing issue. This rise in MO has also been observed in patients with liver disease who are candidates for liver transplantation (LT).

Methods: A retrospective study of a single-center series was conducted to analyze the impact of MO on morbidity, mortality, and patient survival after LT.

Predicting treatment response and survival in rectal cancer: insights from 18 FDG-PET/MRI post-neoadjuvant therapy.

Introduction: Accurate identification of patients with pathologic complete response (pCR) following neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy (RCT) for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) is essential. 18-FDG PET/MRI provides metabolic information that complements the morphological assessment of standard MRI, potentially enhancing the differentiation between fibrotic and tumorous tissues post-treatment. This study aims to evaluate the performance of 18-FDG PET/MRI in assessing treatment response compared to standard MRI.

Integration of responses to lithium in mussels at different levels of biological complexity.

The increasing use of lithium (Li) in modern technology and medicine has raised up concerns in the scientific community due to the potential impact of this metal on the aquatic environment. Although several effects have been reported in different organisms, there is still scarce information concerning the mechanisms and chronic effects of Li toxicity in marine life. Our main objective is to determine biological effects of sub-lethal concentrations in Mytilus galloprovincialis at different biological organization levels using the biomarker approach.

Randomized trial investigating the utility of a liver tissue transcriptional biomarker in identifying adult liver transplant recipients not requiring maintenance immunosuppression.

The maintenance of stable allograft status in the absence of immunosuppression (IS), known as operational tolerance, can be achieved in a small proportion of liver transplant recipients, but we lack reliable tools to predict its spontaneous development. We conducted a prospective, multicenter, biomarker-strategy design, IS withdrawal clinical trial to determine the utility of a predictive biomarker of operational tolerance. The biomarker test, originally identified in a patient cohort with high operational tolerance prevalence, consisted of a 5-gene transcriptional signature measured in liver tissue collected before initiating IS weaning.

Average direct cost of peripherally inserted central catheterization by nurses in hospitalized patients: a cost estimate.

Objective: This study aimed to estimate the direct costs of peripherally inserted central catheterization by nurses for hospitalized patients.

Methods: A cost estimation study using a quantitative approach was conducted in a public teaching hospital in northern Paraná to calculate the direct costs of peripherally inserted central catheterization. The population included all medical records of patients between 15 and 99 years of age who were hospitalized and underwent peripherally inserted central catheterization by nurses between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2021, totaling 664 insertions.

A STAG2-PAXIP1/PAGR1 axis suppresses lung tumorigenesis.

The cohesin complex is a critical regulator of gene expression. STAG2 is the most frequently mutated cohesin subunit across several cancer types and is a key tumor suppressor in lung cancer. Here, we coupled somatic CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing and tumor barcoding with an autochthonous oncogenic KRAS-driven lung cancer model and showed that STAG2 is uniquely tumor-suppressive among all core and auxiliary cohesin components.

Burnout Among Physicians of Specialties Dedicated to Liver Transplantation.

Burnout is increasingly relevant among healthcare professionals. The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of burnout and other parameters of professional satisfaction among different specialists dedicated to Liver Transplantation (LT) in transplant teams. A working group from the Spanish Society of LT designed a survey with 39 questions evaluating the prevalence of parameters related to professional satisfaction, including burnout.

Clinical utility of novel diabetes subgroups in predicting vascular complications and mortality: up to 25 years of follow-up of the HUNT Study.

Introduction: Cluster analysis has previously revealed five reproducible subgroups of diabetes, differing in risks of diabetic complications. We aimed to examine the clusters' predictive ability for vascular complications as compared with established risk factors in a general adult diabetes population.

Research Design And Methods: Participants from the second (HUNT2, 1995-1997) and third (HUNT3, 2006-2008) surveys of the Norwegian population-based Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT Study) with adult-onset diabetes were included (n=1899).

Exploring the influence of meteorological conditions on the variability of olive pollen intradiurnal patterns: Differences between pre- and post-peak periods.

Olive trees hold a significant economical, ecological and ornamental value, especially in the Mediterranean area. It is a wind-pollinated species emitting huge quantities of pollen with a high degree of allergenic sensitization. Andalusia region (southern Spain), where 15 % of the global olive tree population is cultivated, present a high density of this crop, reaching daily airborne olive pollen concentrations up to 6.

Workflow for predictive risk assessments of UVCBs: cheminformatics library design, QSAR, and read-across approaches applied to complex mixtures of metal naphthenates.

Substances of unknown or variable composition, complex reaction products, and biological materials (UVCBs) are commonly found in the environment. However, assessing their human toxicological risk is challenging due to their variable composition and many constituents. Metal naphthenate salts are one such category of UVCBs that are the reaction products of naphthenic acids with metals to form complex mixtures.

Huntington Disease Health Related Quality of Life, Function and Well Being: The Patient's Perspective.

Background: Limited information is available on patients' experience living with Huntington's disease (HD). The primary objective of this study was to assess the health-related quality of life and well being of patients with HD.

Methods: A non-interventional, cross-sectional study was conducted in 17 hospitals-based movement disorders units in Spain.

A STAG2-PAXIP1/PAGR1 axis suppresses lung tumorigenesis.

Unlabelled: The cohesin complex is a critical regulator of gene expression. is the most frequently mutated cohesin subunit across several cancer types and is a key tumor suppressor in lung cancer. Here, we coupled somatic CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing and tumor barcoding with an autochthonous oncogenic KRAS-driven lung cancer model and show that STAG2 is uniquely tumor suppressive among all core and auxiliary cohesin components.

Which Environmental Pollutants Are Toxic to Our Ears?-Evidence of the Ototoxicity of Common Substances.

Ototoxicity refers to the adverse effects of substances on auditory or vestibular functions. This study examines the evidence of ototoxicity's association with exposure to common environmental pollutants, as documented in toxicological profiles by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Our aim was to evaluate whether the evidence supports modifying the charting of ototoxic effects in the summary tables of these toxicological profiles and providing a guide for scientists to access these data.

Regulation of intestinal senescence during cholestatic liver disease modulates barrier function and liver disease progression.

Background & Aims: Senescence has been reported to have differential functions in cholangiocytes and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) during human and murine cholestatic disease, being detrimental in biliary cells and anti-fibrotic in HSCs. Cholestatic liver disease is associated with loss of intestinal barrier function and changes in the microbiome, the mechanistic cause of which is undetermined.

Methods: Intestinal samples were analysed from controls and patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis, as well as wild-type (WT) and p16-3MR transgenic mice.

Conferring alloantigen specificity to regulatory T cells: A comparative analysis of cell preparations undergoing clinical development in transplantation.

Conferring alloantigen-specificity to ex vivo expanded CD4CD25FOXP3 regulatory T cells (Tregs) increases their capacity to counteract effector alloimmune responses following adoptive transfer into transplant recipients. Three strategies are currently undergoing clinical development, which involve the following: (1) expanding Tregs in the presence of donor B cells (donor alloantigen-reactive [DAR] Tregs); (2) culturing Tregs with donor cells in the presence of costimulation blockade (CSB-Tregs); and (3) transducing Tregs with an human leukocyte antigen A2-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-Tregs). Our goal in this study was to assess the relative potency of each of these manufactured Treg products both in vitro and in vivo.

Challenges in Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Review of Current Controversies.

Liver transplantation (LT) remains one of the most effective treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and significantly enhances patient survival. However, the application of LT for HCC faces challenges owing to advancements in cancer-specific treatment modalities and the increased burden of patients' comorbidities. This narrative review explores current controversies and advancements in LT for HCC.

Functional mapping of epigenetic regulators uncovers coordinated tumor suppression by the HBO1 and MLL1 complexes.

Epigenetic dysregulation is widespread in cancer. However, the specific epigenetic regulators and the processes they control to drive cancer phenotypes are poorly understood. Here, we employed a novel, scalable and high-throughput method to perform iterative functional screens of over 250 epigenetic regulatory genes within autochthonous oncogenic KRAS-driven lung tumors.