Elevated Levels of Serum Alpha-2-Macroglobulin Associate with Diabetes Status and Incident Cardiovascular Disease in Type 1 Diabetes.

Background: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death in individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). However, conventional risk factors do not fully account for the increased risk. This study aimed to investigate whether serum proteins associate with diabetes status and the occurrence of CVD in T1DM.

Mpox Specimen Collection, Storage, Preparation, and Laboratory Diagnostics by PCR.

During the 2022 and ongoing mpox outbreak, PCR diagnostics were already within the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) laboratories and additionally rapidly deployed to detect monkeypox (mpox) virus in patients and aid in accurate diagnosis. This accuracy is dependent on proper collection, shipment, and adherence to PCR procedure. This book chapter discusses effective collection, storage, and transportation for a real-time PCR to detect monkeypox virus nucleic acid.

Attenuation of high-fat diet-induced weight gain by apolipoprotein A4.

Objective: Apolipoprotein A4 (APOA4) is synthesized by the small intestine in response to dietary lipids. Chronic exposure to a high-fat diet (HFD) desensitizes lipid-induced APOA4 production and attenuates brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis. We hypothesized that exogenous APOA4 could increase BAT thermogenesis and energy expenditure in HFD-fed mice, resulting in decreased obesity and improved glucose tolerance.

Fatal borealpox in an immunosuppressed patient treated with antivirals and vaccinia immunoglobulin - Alaska, 2023.

Background: Borealpox virus (BRPV, formerly known as Alaskapox virus) is a zoonotic member of the Orthopoxvirus genus first identified in a person in 2015. In the six patients with infection previously observed BRPV involved mild, self-limiting illness. We report the first fatal BRPV infection in an immunosuppressed patient.

APOA2 increases cholesterol efflux capacity to plasma HDL by displacing the C-terminus of resident APOA1.

The ability of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) to promote cellular cholesterol efflux is a more robust predictor of cardiovascular disease protection than HDL-cholesterol levels in plasma. Previously, we found that lipidated HDL containing both apolipoprotein A-I (APOA1) and A-II (APOA2) promotes cholesterol efflux via the ATP-binding cassette transporter (ABCA1). In the current study, we directly added purified, lipid-free APOA2 to human plasma and found a dose-dependent increase in whole plasma cholesterol efflux capacity.