Neurofilament light chain in plasma as a sensitive diagnostic biomarker of peripheral neurotoxicity: In Vivo mouse studies with oxaliplatin and paclitaxel - NeuroDeRisk project.

Identifying compounds that are neurotoxic either toward the central or the peripheral nervous systems (CNS or PNS) would greatly benefit early stages of drug development by derisking liabilities and selecting safe compounds. Unfortunately, so far assays mostly rely on histopathology findings often identified after repeated-dose toxicity studies in animals. The European NeuroDeRisk project aimed to provide comprehensive tools to identify compounds likely inducing neurotoxicity.

Estimated Effect of Parathyroidectomy on Long-Term Kidney Function in Adults With Primary Hyperparathyroidism.

Background: Multidisciplinary guidelines recommend parathyroidectomy to slow the progression of chronic kidney disease in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) and an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m. Limited data address the effect of parathyroidectomy on long-term kidney function.

Elderly Bipolar Disorder.

Purpose Of Review: With more individuals reaching older ages, bipolar disorder is no longer a rare illness in the elderly. Despite the growing number of the older individuals with the illness, there are few studies that focus on bipolar disorder in the geriatric population leading to gaps in clinical knowledge and treatment. The aim of this study is therefore to increase understanding by summarizing the available literature on the epidemiology, symptomatology, comorbidities, and treatment recommendations in this cohort, as well as to suggest areas for future clinical and research focus.

Depression, Alcoholics Anonymous Involvement, and Daily Drinking Among Patients with co-occurring Conditions: A Longitudinal Parallel Growth Mixture Model.

Background: Patients with cooccurring mental health and substance use disorders often find it difficult to sustain long-term recovery. One predictor of recovery may be how depression symptoms and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) involvement influence alcohol consumption during and after inpatient psychiatric treatment. This study utilized a parallel growth mixture model to characterize the course of alcohol use, depression, and AA involvement in patients with cooccurring diagnoses.

Disparities in Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in the Veterans Health Administration.

Objectives: A variety of patients - including women, older, racial/ethnic minority, rural, homeless, and justice-involved patients - are vulnerable to experiencing poor healthcare access and quality, such as lower quality substance use disorder treatment, than other populations. The current study examined receipt of medications for opioid use disorder by vulnerable populations within Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities to determine whether there are patient and facility factors that are associated with disparities in care.

Methods: Using national VHA clinical/administrative data from Fiscal Year 2017, we calculated receipt of medications for opioid use disorder using the American Society for Addiction Medicine quality measure specifications.

Adenosine/A2B Receptor Signaling Ameliorates the Effects of Aging and Counteracts Obesity.

The combination of aging populations with the obesity pandemic results in an alarming rise in non-communicable diseases. Here, we show that the enigmatic adenosine A2B receptor (A2B) is abundantly expressed in skeletal muscle (SKM) as well as brown adipose tissue (BAT) and might be targeted to counteract age-related muscle atrophy (sarcopenia) as well as obesity. Mice with SKM-specific deletion of A2B exhibited sarcopenia, diminished muscle strength, and reduced energy expenditure (EE), whereas pharmacological A2B activation counteracted these processes.

Interhospital variability in time to discharge to rehabilitation among insured trauma patients.

Background: Hospital costs are partly a function of length of stay (LOS), which can be impacted by the local availability of postacute care (PAC) resources (inpatient rehabilitation and skilled nursing facilities), particularly for injured patients. We hypothesized that LOS for trauma patients destined for PAC would be variable based on insurance type and hospitals from which they are discharged.

Methods: We used the 2014 to 2015 National Inpatient Sample from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.

American Joint Replacement Registry Risk Calculator Does Not Predict 90-day Mortality in Veterans Undergoing Total Joint Replacement.

Background: The American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) Total Joint Risk Calculator uses demographic and clinical parameters to provide risk estimates for 90-day mortality and 2-year periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). The tool is intended to help surgeons counsel their Medicare-eligible patients about their risk of death and PJI after total joint arthroplasty (TJA). However, for a predictive risk model to be useful, it must be accurate when applied to new patients; this has yet to be established for this calculator.

Association of circulating metabolites with healthy diet and risk of cardiovascular disease: analysis of two cohort studies.

Diet may modify metabolomic profiles towards higher or lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. We aimed to identify metabolite profiles associated with high adherence to dietary recommendations - the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) - and the extent to which metabolites associated with AHEI also predict incident CVD. Relations between AHEI score and 80 circulating lipids and metabolites, quantified by nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics, were examined using linear regression models in the Whitehall II study (n = 4824, 55.

Applying American Society of Addiction Medicine Performance Measures in Commercial Health Insurance and Services Data.

Objectives: ASAM's Standards of Care for the Addiction Specialist established appropriate care for the treatment of substance use disorders. ASAM identified three high priority performance measures for specification and testing for feasibility in various systems using administrative claims: use of pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder (AUD); use of pharmacotherapy for opioid use disorder (OUD); and continuity of care after withdrawal management services. This study adds to the initial testing of these measures in the Veteran's Health Administration (VHA) by testing the feasibility of specifications in commercial insurance data (Cigna).

Prospective Evaluation of Lymph Node Processing at Staging Surgery for High-grade Endometrial Cancer.

To determine whether the processing of additional adipose tissue collected during lymph node (LN) dissection results in the identification of additional LNs during endometrial cancer (EC) staging and to determine if the division of LNs into nodal basin-specific specimens has an effect on the number of LNs identified during EC staging. A prospective randomized controlled trial was performed on women with high-grade EC undergoing surgical staging. Subjects were randomized to collection of LNs into nodal basin-specific containers on the randomized side versus simple labeling on the nonrandomized side.

Predictive Validity of Outpatient Follow-up After Detoxification as a Quality Measure.

Objectives: Care coordination for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment is a persistent challenge. Timely outpatient follow-up after detoxification from alcohol and opiates is associated with improved outcomes, leading some care systems to attempt to measure and incentivize this practice. This study evaluated the predictive validity of a 7-day outpatient follow-up after detoxification quality measure used by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Effect of particle size and partial replacement of alfalfa hay by soya bean hulls on nutrient intake, total tract digestibility and rumen degradability of diets by Holstein steers.

This study examined the effect of alfalfa hay (AH) particle size and the replacement of soya bean hull (SH) for AH within the diet of restricted fed Holstein steers on dry matter intake (DMI), total tract digestion, ruminal digestion, ruminal pH and ammonia nitrogen content, and faecal pH. Four rumen-cannulated Holstein steers averaging 353 ± 9.6 kg of BW were assigned to a 4 × 4 Latin square experiment with four periods and a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments.

Plasma fetuin-A/α2-HS-glycoprotein correlates negatively with inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and activation biomarkers in individuals with type-2 diabetes.

Background: Fetuin-A/AHSH is a novel hepatokine that acts as a vascular calcification inhibitor and as an endogenous TLR-4 ligand. Fetuin-A may act as a positive or negative acute phase protein (APP) in disease conditions. The relationship between circulatory fetuin-A and inflammatory biomarkers in type-2 diabetes (T2D) remains controversial.

Specifying and Pilot Testing Quality Measures for the American Society of Addiction Medicine's Standards of Care.

Objectives: In 2013, the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) approved its Standards of Care for the Addiction Specialist Physician. Subsequently, an ASAM Performance Measures Panel identified and prioritized the standards to be operationalized into performance measures. The goal of this study is to describe the process of operationalizing 3 of these standards into quality measures, and to present the initial measure specifications and results of pilot testing these measures in a large health care system.

The PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway is a potential predictor of distinct invasive and migratory capacities in human ovarian cancer cell lines.

Objectives: To explore the genetic and molecular events that control subclones exhibiting distinct invasive/migratory capacities derived from human epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cell line A2780 and SKOV3.

Methods: Single-cell subclones were isolated and established that were derived from the SKOV3 and A2780 cell lines through limiting dilution methodology. Transwell insert assays and MTT assays were performed to screen and identify the subclones exhibiting the highest and the lowest invasive/migratory capacities, and the selected subclones were renamed as A-H (A2780 high), A-L (A2780 low), S-H (SKOV3 high), and S-L (SKOV3 low).

Cystic fibrosis involving the cervix, mimicking a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma: a case report.

We describe clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical features of an unusual case of cystic fibrosis manifesting in the cervix as a mass lesion, mimicking cervical adenocarcinoma. A 24-year-old nulligravida with cystic fibrosis developed heavy postcoital vaginal bleeding 4 months after starting oral contraceptives and was found to have a cervical mass. She underwent a loop electrosurgical excision of the mass, and microscopic examination revealed a florid endocervical proliferation, extending to the margins.