Drivers and barriers to health-seeking behaviors and interactions: a qualitative study of Black patients with lung cancer and with peripheral artery disease.

Objective: To identify factors that may influence health-seeking behaviors and health system interactions from the perspective of Black patients with lung cancer (LC) or peripheral artery disease (PAD).

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted virtually with Black patients in the United States. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was performed.

Association Between Social Determinants of Health and Concussion Among High School Students in the United States.

We examined the association between social determinants of health and the likelihood of sustaining a concussion among adolescents. Participants in this cross-sectional study were 7164 high school students who completed the 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (52.7% girls; mean age = 16.

Medical Mistrust and Willingness to Use Mental Health Services Among a Cohort of Black Adults.

Objective: Black adults experience depression that is more severe than that of their White counterparts, yet they are less likely to receive treatment from a mental health professional. This study aimed to examine the relationships between medical mistrust or trust and the willingness to seek mental health care.

Methods: The authors conducted an online cross-sectional survey of 1,043 Black adults in the United States.

Relating externalizing psychopathology to personality across different structural levels and timescales.

Personality dysfunction may be a key driver of externalizing psychopathology, but more research is needed to understand how personality dysfunction relates to externalizing psychopathology. Moreover, psychopathology manifests in daily life, and little work has considered how day-to-day changes in personality dysfunction influence the expression of externalizing behaviors and urges. The present research examined how the alternative model of personality disorders (AMPD) related to broad and narrower aspects of externalizing psychopathology.

Adolescent health and the intersectionality of ethnicity/race, sex, and sexual orientation: A national probability sample from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study.

Although children with marginalized sociodemographic characteristics are exposed to increased health risk and disparities, there is a paucity of population-based research on health status of children occupying multiple social marginalities. The present study investigated implications of children's intersectional sociodemographic characteristics on health risk indicators. In this longitudinal cohort study, we used longitudinal data from the ongoing Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study.

Unusual Phospholipids from Linked to Depression.

A multifactorial association study detected a probable causal connection between the prevalence of in the gut microbiome and the incidence of major depressive disorder (MDD) in the human host. A bioassay-guided fractionation approach identified bacterially produced metabolites that induced pro-inflammatory immune responses. The metabolites are unusual phospholipids that resemble conventional cardiolipins, in which diethanolamine (DEA) replaces the central glycerol.

Age-Related Ventricular Tachycardia Substrate Characteristics for Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot Before Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Placement.

Background: Ventricular tachycardia (VT) substrate characteristics before transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) in repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF) are unknown.

Objectives: In this study, the authors sought to evaluate substrates for sustained monomorphic VT before TPVR in rTOF.

Methods: Retrospective (2017 to 2021) and prospective (commencing 2021) rTOF patients with native right ventricular outflow tract referred for electrophysiology study (EPS) before TPVR were included.

A Retrospective Cohort Study of Transgender Adolescents' Gender-Affirming Hormone Discontinuation.

Purpose: To understand the rate of, and reasons for, discontinuation of gender-affirming hormones (GAH) in transgender adolescents.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of individuals starting GAH between January 2007 and December 2022. Individuals were included if they were diagnosed with gender dysphoria, were prescribed GAH, and took GAH continuously for a minimum of 6 months.

Emotional Health of Transgender Youth 24 Months After Initiating Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy.

Purpose: Limited data exist about the emotional health of transgender youth, either before or after initiation of gender-affirming hormone (GAH). The objectives were: (1) Investigate and verify the factor structure of the National Institutes of Health Toolbox Emotional Battery (NIHTB-EB) among trans and non-binary (TNB) youth; (2) Examine changes in emotional health over 24 months of GAH treatment; and (3) Examine the extent to which changes in emotional health were associated with improved appearance congruence (AC).

Methods: Study respondents were from Trans Youth Care - United States (TYCUS) study, an observational, prospective, longitudinal study of adolescents initiating GAH enrolled between 2016 and 2019.

Risk of cardiovascular disease following degarelix versus gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists in patients with prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Prostate cancer treatment involves hormonal therapies that may carry cardiovascular risks, particularly for long-term use. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonists, such as degarelix, may offer advantages over agonists, but comprehensive comparative cardiovascular outcomes are not well established. This study aimed to systematically review and analyze the cardiovascular safety profiles of degarelix compared to those of traditional GnRH agonists, providing critical insights for optimizing treatment strategies.

Metabolomics signatures of serotonin reuptake inhibitor (escitalopram), serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (duloxetine) and cognitive-behavioral therapy on key neurotransmitter pathways in major depressive disorder.

Metabolomics provides powerful tools that can inform about heterogeneity in disease and response to treatments. In this exploratory study, we employed an electrochemistry-based targeted metabolomics platform to assess the metabolic effects of three randomly-assigned treatments: escitalopram, duloxetine, and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in 163 treatment-naïve outpatients with major depressive disorder. Serum samples from baseline and 12 weeks post-treatment were analyzed using targeted liquid chromatography-electrochemistry for metabolites related to tryptophan, tyrosine metabolism and related pathways.

Finerenone and new-onset diabetes in heart failure: a prespecified analysis of the FINEARTS-HF trial.

Background: Data on the effect of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist therapy on HbA levels and new-onset diabetes are conflicting. We aimed to examine the effect of oral finerenone, compared with placebo, on incident diabetes in the Finerenone Trial to Investigate Efficacy and Safety Superior to Placebo in Patients with Heart Failure (FINEARTS-HF) trial.

Methods: In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 6001 participants with heart failure with New York Heart Association functional class II-IV, left ventricular ejection fraction 40% or higher, evidence of structural heart disease, and elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels were randomly assigned to finerenone or placebo, administered orally.

Dissection of type 2 diabetes: a genetic perspective.

Diabetes is a leading cause of global mortality and disability, and its economic burden is substantial. This Review focuses on type 2 diabetes, which makes up 90-95% of all diabetes cases. Type 2 diabetes involves a progressive loss of insulin secretion often alongside insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.

The role of the hippocampus in working memory and word reading: Novel neural correlates of reading among youth living in the context of economic disadvantage.

A left-lateralized cortical reading circuit underlies successful reading and fails to engage in individuals with reading problems. Studies identifying this circuit included youth from economically advantaged backgrounds and focused on cortical, not subcortical, structures. However, among youth with low scores on reading tests who are living in the context of economic disadvantage, this brain network is actively engaged during reading, despite persistent reading problems.

Healthcare Costs and Early Complications in Liver-Transplanted Patients With Portal Vein Thrombosis: Experience From a Colombian Reference Center.

Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the direct healthcare costs and early complications associated with pretransplant portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in cirrhotic patients undergoing their first orthotopic liver transplant (LT) at a hospital in Colombia from 2013 to 2021.

Methods: A registry-based retrospective follow-up study was conducted on cirrhotic patients aged 14 years or older who underwent their first LT at the San Vicente Fundación Rionegro Hospital between January 2013 and April 2021. The primary outcomes were early (30-day) vascular and biliary complications and direct healthcare costs.

Protocol for mitochondrial variant enrichment from single-cell RNA sequencing using MAESTER.

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) enables detailed characterization of cell states but often lacks insights into tissue clonal structures. Here, we present a protocol to probe cell states and clonal information simultaneously by enriching mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variants from 3'-barcoded full-length cDNA. We describe steps for input library preparation, mtDNA enrichment, PCR product cleanup, and paired-end sequencing.

Prognostic Value of D-Dimer in Acute Type A Aortic Dissection and Intramural Hematoma: Observations from the Acute Aortic Syndrome Group of the Registry of Acute Non-Traumatic Chest Pain in China.

Background: Acute type A aortic dissection (AAD) and acute type A intramural hematoma (AIMH) are life-threatening conditions with high mortality rates, and prognostic indicators are critical for guiding urgent treatment decisions. We assessed the prognostic significance of admission D-dimer levels in patients with AAD and AIMH.

Methods And Results: The prospective, multicenter, observational study in China recruited participants from 2013 to 2019.

Correlating autonomic physiology with symptoms of autonomic dysreflexia after spinal cord injury.

Background: Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) commonly have autonomic dysreflexia (AD) with increased sympathetic activity. After SCI, individuals have decreased baroreflex sensitivity and increased vascular responsiveness.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between baroreflex and blood vessel sensitivity with AD symptoms.