Immunomodulatory Effects of Metformin Treatment in Pregnant Women With PCOS.

Context: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder associated with low-grade systemic inflammation and increased risk of pregnancy complications. Metformin treatment reduces the risk of late miscarriage and preterm birth in pregnant women with PCOS. Whether the protective effect of metformin involves immunological changes has not been determined.

Prevalent and immunodominant CD8 T cell epitopes are conserved in SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) is driven by mutations that mediate escape from neutralizing antibodies. There is also evidence that mutations can cause loss of T cell epitopes. However, studies on viral escape from T cell immunity have been hampered by uncertain estimates of epitope prevalence.

ALASCA: An R package for longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of multivariate data by ASCA-based methods.

The increasing availability of multivariate data within biomedical research calls for appropriate statistical methods that can describe and model complex relationships between variables. The extended ANOVA simultaneous component analysis (ASCA) framework combines general linear models and principal component analysis (PCA) to decompose and visualize the separate effects of experimental factors. It has recently been demonstrated how linear mixed models can be included in the framework to analyze data from longitudinal experimental designs with repeated measurements (RM-ASCA).

Longitudinal Changes in Circulating Metabolites and Lipoproteins After Breast Cancer Treatment.

The multimodal treatment of breast cancer may induce long term effects on the metabolic profile and increase the risk of future cardiovascular disease. In this study, we characterized longitudinal changes in serum lipoprotein subfractions and metabolites after breast cancer treatment, aiming to determine the long-term effect of different treatment modalities. Further, we investigated the prognostic value of treatment-induced changes in breast cancer-specific and overall 10-year survival.

Repeated measures ASCA+ for analysis of longitudinal intervention studies with multivariate outcome data.

Longitudinal intervention studies with repeated measurements over time are an important type of experimental design in biomedical research. Due to the advent of "omics"-sciences (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics), longitudinal studies generate increasingly multivariate outcome data. Analysis of such data must take both the longitudinal intervention structure and multivariate nature of the data into account.

Multivariate analysis of NMR-based metabolomic data.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy allows for simultaneous detection of a wide range of metabolites and lipids. As metabolites act together in complex metabolic networks, they are often highly correlated, and optimal biological insight is achieved when using methods that take the correlation into account. For this reason, latent-variable-based methods, such as principal component analysis and partial least-squares discriminant analysis, are widely used in metabolomic studies.

Cytokine Patterns in Maternal Serum From First Trimester to Term and Beyond.

Pregnancy implies delicate immunological balance between two individuals, with constant changes and adaptions in response to maternal capacity and fetal demands. We performed cytokine profiling of 1149 longitudinal serum samples from 707 pregnant women to map immunological changes from first trimester to term and beyond. The serum levels of 22 cytokines and C-reactive protein (CRP) followed diverse but characteristic trajectories throughout pregnancy, consistent with staged immunological adaptions.

Changes in Serum Cytokines Throughout Pregnancy in Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Context: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder associated with low-grade inflammation and increased incidence of pregnancy complications, but its influence on the maternal immune system in pregnancy is unknown. Longitudinal serum cytokine profiling is a sensitive measure of the complex immunological dynamics of pregnancy.

Objective: This work aimed to determine the immunological dynamics of serum cytokines throughout pregnancy in women with PCOS and compare it to pregnancy in women without PCOS.

Historical Biobanks in Breast Cancer Metabolomics- Challenges and Opportunities.

Metabolomic characterization of tumours can potentially improve prediction of cancer prognosis and treatment response. Here, we describe efforts to validate previous metabolomic findings using a historical cohort of breast cancer patients and discuss challenges with using older biobanks collected with non-standardized sampling procedures. In total, 100 primary breast cancer samples were analysed by high-resolution magic angle spinning magnetic resonance spectroscopy (HR MAS MRS) and subsequently examined by histology.

Silent voices: Family caregivers' narratives of involvement in palliative care.

Aim: To explore how family caregivers experience involvement in palliative care.

Design: A qualitative design with a narrative approach was used.

Methods: Purposive sampling and narrative interviews were conducted.

Metabolite and lipoprotein responses and prediction of weight gain during breast cancer treatment.

Background: Breast cancer treatment has metabolic side effects, potentially affecting risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and recurrence. We aimed to compare alterations in serum metabolites and lipoproteins during treatment between recipients and non-recipients of chemotherapy, and describe metabolite profiles associated with treatment-related weight gain.

Methods: This pilot study includes 60 stage I/II breast cancer patients who underwent surgery and were treated according to national guidelines.

NMR-based metabolomics of biofluids in cancer.

This review describes the current status of NMR-based metabolomics of biofluids with respect to cancer risk assessment, detection, disease characterization, prognosis, and treatment monitoring. While the metabolism of cancer cells is altered compared with that of non-proliferating cells, the metabolome of blood and urine reflects the entire organism. We conclude that many studies show impressive associations between biofluid metabolomics and cancer progression, but translation to clinical practice is currently hindered by lack of validation, difficulties in biological interpretation, and non-standardized analytical procedures.