Obesity and metabolic syndrome in a diverse pediatric kidney transplant population: which anthropometric measure best predicts arterial stiffness?

Background: Obesity and metabolic syndrome (MS) accelerate arterial stiffening, increasing cardiovascular (CV) risk after transplant. BMI is limited by inability to differentiate muscle, fat mass, and fat distribution patterns. The aim of this study was to identify the best anthropometric measure to detect arterial stiffness as assessed by pulse wave velocity (PWV) in a racially diverse pediatric transplant population.

Metabolic stimulation improves bioenergetics and haematologic indices of circulating erythrocytes from sickle cell mice.

Circulating mature red blood cells (RBCs) from patients and mice with sickle cell disease (SCD) abnormally retain mitochondria, a factor shown to contribute to the disease's pathobiology. To further understand the functional implications of RBC mitochondria retention in SCD, we used mitochondria inhibitors and metabolites/substrates from the tricarboxylic acid cycle, oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis pathways (ADP, glutamate, malate, pyruvate, succinate or all metabolites combined) and examined RBC bioenergetics, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, calcium flux and hydration. In RBCs from sickle mice, mitochondria inhibition reduced ATP levels by 30%-60%, whereas control RBCs were unaffected.

Microbeam Radiation Therapy Bio-Dosimetry Enhanced by Novel Radiosensitiser Combinations in the Treatment of Brain Cancer.

: Brain cancer is notoriously resistant to traditional treatments, including radiotherapy. Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT), arrays of ultra-fast synchrotron X-ray beams tens of micrometres wide (called peaks) and spaced hundreds of micrometres apart (valleys), is an effective alternative to conventional treatments. MRT's advantage is that normal tissues can be spared from harm whilst maintaining tumour control.

Habituation of the biological response to repeated psychosocial stress: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Recurrent psychosocial stress poses a significant health challenge, prompting research into mechanisms of successful adaptation. Physiological habituation, defined as decreased reactivity to repeated stressors, is pivotal in protecting the organism from allostatic load. Here, we systematically review and meta-analyze data from studies investigating the capacity of central stress systems to habituate when repeatedly exposed to a standardized psychosocial stressor, the Trier Social Stress Test (k=47).

CIROZ is dispensable in ancestral vertebrates but essential for left-right patterning in humans.

Four genes-DAND5, PKD1L1, MMP21, and CIROP-form a genetic module that has specifically evolved in vertebrate species that harbor motile cilia in their left-right organizer (LRO). We find here that CIROZ (previously known as C1orf127) is also specifically expressed in the LRO of mice, frogs, and fish, where it encodes a protein with a signal peptide followed by 3 zona pellucida N domains, consistent with extracellular localization. We report 16 individuals from 10 families with bi-allelic CIROZ inactivation variants, which cause heterotaxy with congenital heart defects.