Cardiovascular-Liver-Metabolic Health: Recommendations in Screening, Diagnosis, and Management of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in Cardiovascular Disease via Modified Delphi Approach.

There is a new awareness of the widespread nature of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and its connection to cardiovascular disease (CVD). This has catalyzed collaboration between cardiologists, hepatologists, endocrinologists, and the wider multidisciplinary team to address the need for earlier identification of those with MASLD who are at increased risk for CVD. The overlap in the pathophysiologic processes and parallel prevalence of CVD, metabolic syndrome, and MASLD highlight the multisystem consequences of poor cardiovascular-liver-metabolic health.

Mass spectrometric detection of neutrophil elastase cleaved corticosteroid binding globulin and its association with Asn347 site glycosylation, in septic shock patients.

Background: Corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) modulates tissue cortisol availability via modification of cortisol:CBG binding affinity in response to multiple factors, including neutrophil elastase (NE) cleavage of the reactive centre loop (RCL), converting high affinity CBG (haCBG) to low affinity CBG (laCBG). In vitro, glycosylation of the RCL at Asn347 affects NE cleavage susceptibility. To date, no direct measurement of laCBG, which would verify NE cleavage, has been reported.

Indigenous-non-Indigenous disparities in health and social outcomes 5 years after first episode psychosis: national cohort study.

Background: There are ethnic differences, including differences related to indigeneity, in the incidence of first episode psychosis (FEP) and pathways into care, but research on ethnic disparities in outcomes following FEP is limited.

Aims: In this study we examined social and health outcomes following FEP diagnosis for a cohort of Māori (Indigenous people of New Zealand) and non-Māori (non-Indigenous) young people. We have focused on understanding the opportunities for better outcomes for Māori by examining the relative advantage of non-Māori with FEP.

Acute Severe Ulcerative Colitis: An International Delphi Consensus on Clinical Trial Design and Endpoints.

Background & Aims: Interventional clinical trials in ASUC are characterised by substantial heterogeneity due to a lack of consensus in several key areas of trial design - this impedes clinical research efforts to identify novel therapies. The objective of this initiative was to achieve the first consensus and provide clear position statements on ASUC trial design.

Methods: A modified Delphi consensus approach was employed with a panel of twenty clinicians with international representation and expertise in ASUC trial design and delivery.

Methodological and reporting recommendations for clinical trials in Nutritional Psychiatry: Guidelines from the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research.

Research on nutraceutical and dietary interventions in psychiatry has grown substantially, but progress is hindered by methodological inconsistencies and limited reporting standards. To address this, the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research presents the first guidelines on clinical trial design, conduct, and reporting for future clinical trials in this area. Recommendations were developed using a Delphi process including eighteen researchers with considerable clinical trial expertise and experience in either methodology, nutraceutical, or dietary interventions in psychiatry.

Parental perspectives following the implementation of advanced hybrid closed-loop therapy in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes and elevated glycaemia.

Aims: To identify from a parental perspective facilitators and barriers of effective implementation of advanced hybrid closed-loop (AHCL) therapy in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) with elevated glycaemia.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of participants while in a post-trial extension phase of the CO-PILOT randomized controlled trial. The Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behaviour Model and Theoretical Domain Framework informed the interviews and framework analysis.

A worldwide study of subcortical shape as a marker for clinical staging in Parkinson's disease.

Alterations in subcortical brain regions are linked to motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, associations between clinical expression and regional morphological abnormalities of the basal ganglia, thalamus, amygdala and hippocampus are not well established. We analyzed 3D T1-weighted brain MRI and clinical data from 2525 individuals with PD and 1326 controls from 22 global sources in the ENIGMA-PD consortium.

The impact of a prebiotic-rich diet and/or probiotic supplements on human cognition: Secondary outcomes from the 'Gut Feelings' randomised controlled trial.

Background: Emerging evidence indicates that gut microbiota-targeted interventions may lead to improvements in cognition. We assessed whether a prebiotic-rich dietary intervention, probiotic supplement, or synbiotic combination of both would improve human cognition, as part of the 'Gut Feelings' trial.

Methods: An 8-week, 2 × 2 factorial randomised controlled trial was conducted on 118 adults with low mood and potential for dietary improvement.

Assessing the Impact of Serum Calcium, 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D, Ferritin, and Uric Acid Levels on Colorectal Cancer Risk.

Background: The aim of this study is to investigate whether vitamin D, calcium, ferritin, and uric acids play a beneficial biomarker role in the prevention of colorectal cancer (CRC) risk.

Methods: The case-control design was employed, including 650 CRC cases and 650 controls aged 35 to 70 years, comprising both men and women. The study encompasses sociodemographic data, clinical information, radiological diagnoses, and biochemical measurements.

Proteome-Wide Genetic Investigation of Large Artery Stiffness.

The molecular mechanisms contributing to large artery stiffness (LAS) are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between circulating plasma proteins and LAS using complementary proteomic and genomic analyses. A total of 106 proteins associated with carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity, a noninvasive measure of LAS, were identified in 1,178 individuals from the Asklepios study cohort.

Decreased lipidated ApoE-receptor interactions confer protection against pathogenicity of ApoE and its lipid cargoes in lysosomes.

While apolipoprotein E (APOE) is the strongest genetic modifier for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD), the molecular mechanisms underlying isoform-dependent risk and the relevance of ApoE-associated lipids remain elusive. Here, we report that impaired low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor (LDLR) binding of lipidated ApoE2 (lipApoE2) avoids LDLR recycling defects observed with lipApoE3/E4 and decreases the uptake of cholesteryl esters (CEs), which are lipids linked to neurodegeneration. In human neurons, the addition of ApoE carrying polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)-CE revealed an allelic series (ApoE4 > ApoE3 > ApoE2) associated with lipofuscinosis, an age-related lysosomal pathology resulting from lipid peroxidation.

Unacceptable Behaviors Towards Health Professional Clinical Students: Protocol For a Mixed-Methods Study.

Background And Aims: Previous studies describe the occurrence of unacceptable behaviors reported by students pursuing health professional education in Aotearoa, New Zealand and across the globe. These include, but are not limited to, experiences of verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and discrimination based on race/ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, and sexual orientation. University of Otago teaching staff across the various health professional programs often receive anecdotal reports of these phenomena from their clinical students.

Access to gluten-free foods for people with coeliac disease in New Zealand.

Aim: A strict gluten-free (GF) diet is the current mainstay of treatment for coeliac disease (CD). A limited range of GF foods are available on prescription for those with CD. GF foods purchased in shops are typically more expensive than gluten-containing equivalents.

Comparing five-year and ten-year predicted cardiovascular disease risk in Aotearoa New Zealand: national data linkage study of 1.7 million adults.

Aim: There is no consensus on the optimal time horizon for predicting cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk to inform treatment decisions. New Zealand and Australia recommend 5 years, whereas most countries recommend 10 years. We compared predicted risk and treatment-eligible groups using 5-year and 10-year equations.