185 results match your criteria: " The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston[Affiliation]"

Prenatal Opioid and Alcohol Exposures: Association with Altered Placental Serotonin Transporter Structure and/or Expression.

Int J Mol Sci

October 2024

Center for Neural Repair and Rehabilitation (Shriners Hospitals Pediatric Research Center), Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA.

Article Synopsis
  • * A study compared placentas from pregnant women who used opioids or alcohol with control samples to analyze SERT expression using quantitative western blot techniques.
  • * Opioid exposure resulted in unique SERT modifications and new fragments, while alcohol exposure led to lower overall SERT levels, suggesting that these changes may affect fetal brain development and neurotransmission.
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Background And Objective: Recommendations of first-line therapies for metastatic hormone-sensitive (mHSPC), nonmetastatic castrate-resistant (M0CRPC), and metastatic castrate-resistant (mCRPC) prostate cancer do not account for cardiotoxicity due to a lack of clear prior evidence. This manuscript assesses cardiotoxicity of these therapies.

Methods: We searched Ovid Medline, Elsevier Embase, and the Cochrane Library for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) from database inception to January 14, 2024.

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The variant single nucleotide polymorphism rs8104571 has been associated with poor outcomes following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and is most prevalent in those of African ancestry. This single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) resides within a gene coding for the TRPM4 protein, which complexes with SUR1 protein to create a transmembrane ion channel and is believed to contribute to cellular swelling and cell death in neurological tissue. Our study evaluates the relationship between circulating TRPM4 and SUR1, rs8104571 genotype, and clinical outcome in TBI patients.

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Trimethylamine -Oxide and Related Gut Microbe-Derived Metabolites and Incident Heart Failure Development in Community-Based Populations.

Circ Heart Fail

August 2024

Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences (W.H.W.T., Z.W., X.S.L., I.N., J.A.D.D., D.M., S.L.H.), Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, OH.

Background: Growing evidence indicates that trimethylamine -oxide, a gut microbial metabolite of dietary choline and carnitine, promotes both cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease risk. It remains unclear how circulating concentrations of trimethylamine -oxide and its related dietary and gut microbe-derived metabolites (choline, betaine, carnitine, γ-butyrobetaine, and crotonobetaine) affect incident heart failure (HF).

Methods: We evaluated 11 768 participants from the Cardiovascular Health Study and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis with serial measures of metabolites.

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Adult verbal input occurs frequently during parent-child interactions. However, few studies have considered how parent language varies across informal STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) activities. In this study, we examined how open and closed parent questions (a) differed across three STEM activities and (b) related to math, science, and vocabulary knowledge in their preschool-aged children.

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Comorbidity between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder may be explained by a prospective trauma risk conferred by both conditions. The current study modeled concurrent and prospective associations of trauma, PTSD symptoms, and substance use (SU) behavior among trauma exposed youth (ages 8-20). Clinical interviews assessed trauma exposure, PTSD symptom severity, and SU behavior at baseline and at six- and 12-month follow up study visits (N = 2,069).

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Objective: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) microenvironment is primarily composed of cancer-associated fibroblasts and immune cells. Gremlin1 (Grem1) is a profibrogenic factor that promotes tumorigenesis in several cancers. However, the role of Grem1 in the PDAC microenvironment is not defined.

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N-acetylasparate and lactate are two prominent brain metabolites closely related to mitochondrial functioning. Prior research revealing lower levels of NAA and higher levels of lactate in the cerebral cortex of patients with schizophrenia suggest possible abnormalities in the energy supply pathway necessary for brain function. Given that stress and adversity are a strong risk factor for a variety of mental health problems, including psychotic disorders, we investigated the hypothesis that stress contributes to abnormal neuroenergetics in patients with schizophrenia.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with the development of psychosis (PDP), including hallucinations and delusions, in more than half of the patient population. Optimal PD management must therefore involve considerations about both motor and non-motor symptoms. Often, clinicians fail to diagnosis psychosis in patients with PD and, when it is recognized, treat it suboptimally, despite the availability of multiple interventions.

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Unlabelled: Fungal resistance to commonly used medicines is a growing public health threat, and there is a dire need to develop new classes of antifungals. We previously described a peptide produced by , EntV, that restricts to a benign form rather than having direct fungicidal activity. Moreover, we showed that one 12-amino acid (aa) alpha helix of this peptide retained full activity, with partial activity down to the 10aa alpha helix.

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Diminazene aceturate attenuates systemic inflammation via microbiota gut-5-HT brain-spleen sympathetic axis in male mice.

Brain Behav Immun

July 2024

Department of Oral and Basic Biology Ribeirão Preto, School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil; Department of Physiology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil. Electronic address:

The sympathetic arm of the inflammatory reflex is the efferent pathway through which the central nervous system (CNS) can control peripheral immune responses. Diminazene aceturate (DIZE) is an antiparasitic drug that has been reported to exert protective effects on various experimental models of inflammation. However, the pathways by which DIZE promotes a protective immunomodulatory effects still need to be well established, and no studies demonstrate the capacity of DIZE to modulate a neural reflex to control inflammation.

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The transforming growth factor (TGF)-β superfamily has important physiologic roles and is dysregulated in many pathologic processes, including pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancer diagnoses, and current therapies are largely ineffective due to tumor resistance and late-stage diagnosis with poor prognosis. Recent efforts are focused on the potential of immunotherapies in improving therapeutic results for patients with pancreatic cancer, among which TGF-β has been identified as a promising target.

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Lifespan reference curves for harmonizing multi-site regional brain white matter metrics from diffusion MRI.

bioRxiv

March 2024

Imaging Genetics Center, USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Marina del Rey, CA, USA.

Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how white matter (WM) microstructure develops and declines with age, creating reference curves to track these changes throughout the human lifespan using data from 40,898 subjects aged 3 to 95.
  • They employed diffusion MRI (dMRI) techniques and found that the ComBat-GAM method harmonized data most effectively, aligning with known WM maturation patterns.
  • The research also revealed that the ApoE4 gene, linked to dementia risk, affects WM microstructure even in healthy individuals, highlighting significant interactions between age and genetic factors across different brain regions.
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Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is a prevalent disorder characterized by recurrent episodic upper airway obstruction. Using data from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), we apply principal component analysis (PCA) to seven SDB-related measures. We estimate the associations of the top two SDB PCs with serum levels of 617 metabolites, in both single-metabolite analysis, and a joint penalized regression analysis.

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Article Synopsis
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitor gastrointestinal toxicity (IRIGItox) commonly occurs in patients undergoing cancer treatment and can lead to serious health issues, particularly when steroids fail to manage the symptoms.
  • A study analyzed 78 patients, mostly male and with melanoma, to explore treatment outcomes after two doses of infliximab failed to alleviate their gastrointestinal symptoms.
  • The results indicated that calcineurin inhibitors were most effective for symptom resolution, achieving positive outcomes in 74% of cases, while other therapies showed lower success rates, confirming the need for effective management of infliximab-refractory cases.
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Article Synopsis
  • The American Medical Informatics Association's Genomics and Translational Biomedical Informatics Workgroup is assessing how AI can be applied in genomics for better health outcomes.
  • The assessment involved discussions among workgroup members and reviews of relevant literature to reach consensus on key factors influencing AI's clinical application in genomics.
  • Important conclusions highlight the need for extensive informatics research, larger datasets, the avoidance of exacerbating disparities, standardized genomic data, and collaborative interfaces between AI technologies and clinicians for improved decision-making.
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Circulating metabolites may illustrate relationship of alcohol consumption with cardiovascular disease.

BMC Med

November 2023

Nutrition Epidemiology and Data Science, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.

Background: Metabolite signatures of long-term alcohol consumption are lacking. To better understand the molecular basis linking alcohol drinking and cardiovascular disease (CVD), we investigated circulating metabolites associated with long-term alcohol consumption and examined whether these metabolites were associated with incident CVD.

Methods: Cumulative average alcohol consumption (g/day) was derived from the total consumption of beer, wine, and liquor on average of 19 years in 2428 Framingham Heart Study Offspring participants (mean age 56 years, 52% women).

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Purpose: To describe U-type sacral fracture characteristics amenable to percutaneous sacral screw fixation.

Methods: U-type sacral fractures were identified from a trauma registry at a level 1 trauma center from 2014 to 2020. Patient demographics, injury mechanism, fracture characteristics, and fixation construct were retrospectively retrieved.

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Background: Comprising nearly 35% of brain lipids, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are essential for optimal brain function. However, the role of PUFA on cognitive health outcomes later in life is largely unknown.

Objective: We investigated prospective associations of plasma phospholipid omega-3 (ALA [18 : 3], EPA [20 : 5], DPA [22 : 5], DHA [22 : 6]) and omega-6 (LA [18 : 2], AA [20 : 4]) PUFA with cognitive decline, risk of cognitive impairment and dementia among adults aged≥65 years in the Cardiovascular Health Study.

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Misfolded Aβ is involved in the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the role of its polymorphic variants or conformational strains in AD pathogenesis is not fully understood. Here, we study the seeding properties of two structurally defined synthetic misfolded Aβ strains (termed 2F and 3F) using in vitro and in vivo assays.

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Background: Metabolite signatures of long-term alcohol consumption are lacking. To better understand the molecular basis linking alcohol drinking and cardiovascular disease (CVD), we investigated circulating metabolites associated with long-term alcohol consumption and examined whether these metabolites were associated with incident CVD.

Methods: Cumulative average alcohol consumption (g/day) was derived from the total consumption of beer, wine and liquor on average of 19 years in 2,428 Framingham Heart Study Offspring participants (mean age 56 years, 52% women).

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Background: Diet is associated with metabolic (dysfunction)-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), but the dietary composition associated with MAFLD risk has not been well-examined.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess the association of two healthy eating indices with the presence and severity of MAFLD in a sample of Veterans in a primary care setting.

Methods: This was a single center cross-sectional study using a random stratified sample of Veterans enrolled in primary care.

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An ERK5-NRF2 Axis Mediates Senescence-Associated Stemness and Atherosclerosis.

Circ Res

June 2023

Departments of Cardiology (J.-i.A., M.I., K.A.K., V.S.K.S., L.-L.L., A.P.B., Y.J.G., A.D., N.L.P., K.F., S. Kotla), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.

Background: ERK5 (extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5) is a dual kinase transcription factor containing an N-terminal kinase domain and a C-terminal transcriptional activation domain. Many ERK5 kinase inhibitors have been developed and tested to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases. However, recent data have raised questions about the role of the catalytic activity of ERK5 in proliferation and inflammation.

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Antithrombin, Protein C, and Protein S: Genome and Transcriptome-Wide Association Studies Identify 7 Novel Loci Regulating Plasma Levels.

Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol

July 2023

Unit of genomics of Complex Disease, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB SANT PAU), Barcelona, Spain (G.T.-S., N.-Q.L., A.M.-P., J.C.S., J.M.S., M.S.-L.).

Background: Antithrombin, PC (protein C), and PS (protein S) are circulating natural anticoagulant proteins that regulate hemostasis and of which partial deficiencies are causes of venous thromboembolism. Previous genetic association studies involving antithrombin, PC, and PS were limited by modest sample sizes or by being restricted to candidate genes. In the setting of the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology consortium, we meta-analyzed across ancestries the results from 10 genome-wide association studies of plasma levels of antithrombin, PC, PS free, and PS total.

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Objective: To investigate the effect of printing material and air abrasion of bracket pads on the shear bond strength of 3D-printed plastic orthodontic brackets when bonded to the enamel of extracted human teeth.

Materials And Methods: Premolar brackets were 3D-printed using the design of a commercially available plastic bracket in two biocompatible resins: Dental LT Resin and Dental SG Resin (n = 40/material). 3D-printed brackets and commercially manufactured plastic brackets were divided into two groups (n = 20/group), one of which was air abraded.

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