Characterization of liver, adipose, and fecal microbiome in obese patients with MASLD: links with disease severity and metabolic dysfunction parameters.

Background: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) encompasses a range of histological findings from the generally benign simple steatosis to steatohepatitis (MASH) which can progress to fibrosis and cirrhosis. Several factors, including the microbiome, may contribute to disease progression.

Results: Here, we demonstrate links between the presence and abundance of specific bacteria in the adipose and liver tissues, inflammatory genes, immune cell responses, and disease severity.

Genomic and phenotypic correlates of mosaic loss of chromosome Y in blood.

Mosaic loss of Y (mLOY) is the most common somatic chromosomal alteration detected in human blood. The presence of mLOY is associated with altered blood cell counts and increased risk of Alzheimer disease, solid tumors, and other age-related diseases. We sought to gain a better understanding of genetic drivers and associated phenotypes of mLOY through analyses of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of a large set of genetically diverse males from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program.

The CD74 inhibitor DRhQ improves short-term memory and mitochondrial function in 5xFAD mouse model of Aβ accumulation.

Neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction are early events in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and contribute to neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment. Evidence suggests that the inflammatory axis mediated by macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) binding to its receptor, CD74, plays an important role in many central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as AD. Our group has developed DRhQ, a novel CD74 binding construct which competitively inhibits MIF binding, blocks macrophage activation and migration into the CNS, enhances anti-inflammatory microglia cell numbers and reduces pro-inflammatory gene expression.

Hair Straightener Use in Relation to Prevalent and Incident Fibroids in the Sister Study with a Focus on Black Women.

Background: Uterine fibroids disproportionately affect Black women, and exposure to chemicals from hair relaxers or straighteners ("straighteners") may contribute to fibroid development.

Objectives: We examined the association between straightener use and prevalent young-onset uterine fibroids (diagnosed before age 36 y), as well as incident fibroids (diagnosed age 36-60 y), with a focus on Black women. We also examined differences in associations across birth cohorts as proxies for formulation changes.

What Happens to Weight Following Abdominoplasty: An Analysis of 188 Consecutive Cases.

Background: Abdominoplasty may be considered a procedure performed after a patient has already lost weight, but many surgeons have clinically observed that patients continue to lose weight in the postoperative period. This study sought to quantify continued weight loss after abdominoplasty procedures.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on all abdominoplasty cases performed by the senior author between 2018 and 2022.

A sensitivity analysis of methodological variables associated with microbiome measurements.

The experimental methods employed during metagenomic sequencing analyses of microbiome samples significantly impact the resulting data and typically vary substantially between laboratories. In this study, a full factorial experimental design was used to compare the effects of a select set of methodological choices (sample, operator, lot, extraction kit, variable region, and reference database) on the analysis of biologically diverse stool samples. For each parameter investigated, a main effect was calculated that allowed direct comparison both between methodological choices (bias effects) and between samples (real biological differences).

A co-registration method to validate optical coherence tomography in the breast surgical cavity.

Breast-conserving surgery accompanied by adjuvant radiotherapy is the standard of care for patients with early-stage breast cancer. However, re-excision is reported in 20-30 % of cases, largely because of close or involved tumor margins in the specimen. Several intraoperative tumor margin assessment techniques have been proposed to overcome this issue, however, none have been widely adopted.

Echocardiographic phenotypes of diabetic myocardial disorder: evolution over 15 months follow-up in the ARISE-HF trial.

Background: Diabetic myocardial disorder (DbMD, evidenced by abnormal echocardiography or cardiac biomarkers) is a form of stage B heart failure (SBHF) at high risk for progression to overt HF. SBHF is defined by abnormal LV morphology and function and/or abnormal cardiac biomarker concentrations.

Objective: To compare the evolution of four DbMD groups based on biomarkers alone, systolic and diastolic dysfunction alone, or their combination.

The impact of co-housing on murine aging studies.

Analysis of preclinical lifespan studies often assume that outcome data from co-housed animals are independent. In practice, treatments, such as controlled feeding or putative life-extending compounds, are applied to whole housing units, and as a result, the outcomes are potentially correlated within housing units. We consider intra-class (here, intra-cage) correlation in three published and two unpublished lifespan studies of aged mice encompassing more than 20,000 observations.

Lifetime risk and projected burden of dementia.

Understanding the lifetime risk of dementia can inform public health planning and improve patient engagement in prevention. Using data from a community-based, prospective cohort study (n = 15,043; 26.9% Black race, 55.

"That's not fair on my kid": Carers' perspectives on sport participation and experiences for children in out-of-home care.

Children in out-of-home care participate in less organised sport than children from other household structures, potentially reducing opportunities for improvements in social, developmental, and health outcomes. Despite this, little is known about barriers and facilitators of sport participation for children in care. We aimed to explore carers' perspectives on the influences on children in care's participation and experiences in organised sport.

Rapid changes in plasma corticosterone and medial amygdala transcriptome profiles during social status change reveal molecular pathways associated with a major life history transition in mouse dominance hierarchies.

Social hierarchies are a common form of social organization across species. Although hierarchies are largely stable across time, animals may socially ascend or descend within hierarchies depending on environmental and social challenges. Here, we develop a novel paradigm to study social ascent and descent within male CD-1 mouse social hierarchies.

Six-Month Outcomes in the Long-Term Outcomes After the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Study.

Importance: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a life-threatening complication of COVID-19 infection. Data on midterm outcomes are limited.

Objective: To characterize the frequency and time course of cardiac dysfunction (left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] <55%), coronary artery aneurysms (z score ≥2.

Cigar, Pipe, and Smokeless Tobacco Use and Cardiovascular Outcomes From Cross Cohort Collaboration.

Importance: Cardiovascular health outcomes associated with noncigarette tobacco products (cigar, pipe, and smokeless tobacco) remain unclear, yet such data are required for evidence-based regulation.

Objective: To investigate the association of noncigarette tobacco products with cardiovascular health outcomes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study was conducted within the Cross Cohort Collaboration Tobacco Working Group by harmonizing tobacco-related data and conducting a pooled analysis from 15 US-based prospective cohorts with data on the use of at least 1 noncigarette tobacco product ranging between 1948 and 2015.

Evaluation of End-of-Life Quality Care Between American Indian and White North Carolina Decedents Diagnosed With Lung Cancer, 2003-2020.

Purpose: Lung cancer mortality rates for American Indians (AIs) are the highest among US race groups. End-of-life (EOL) care presents opportunities to limit aggressive and potentially unnecessary treatment. We evaluated differences in EOL quality of care between AI and White (WH) decedents with lung cancer.

Analysis of mouse lens morphological and proteomic abnormalities following depletion of βB3-crystallin.

Crystallin proteins serve as both essential structural and as well as protective components of the ocular lens and are required for the transparency and light refraction properties of the organ. The mouse lens crystallin proteome is represented by αA-, αB-, βA1-, βA2-, βA3-, βA4-, βB1-, βB2-, βB3-, γA-, γB-, γC-, γD-, γE, γF-, γN-, and γS-crystallin proteins encoded by 16 genes. Their mutations are responsible for lens opacification and early onset cataract formation.

The mycomembrane differentially and heterogeneously restricts antibiotic permeation.

The recalcitrance of to antibiotic treatment has been broadly attributed to the impermeability of the organism's outer mycomembrane. However, the studies that support this inference have been indirect and/or reliant on bulk population measurements. We previously developed the P eptidoglycan A ccessibility C lick- M ediated A ssessme N t (PAC-MAN) method to covalently trap azide-modified small molecules in the peptidoglycan cell wall of live mycobacteria, after they have traversed the mycomembrane.

ENDOTHELIAL PROX1 INDUCES BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER DISRUPTION IN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM.

The central nervous system (CNS) parenchyma has conventionally been believed to lack lymphatic vasculature, likely due to a non-permissive microenvironment that hinders the formation and growth of lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs). Recent findings of ectopic expression of LEC markers including Prospero Homeobox 1 (PROX1), a master regulator of lymphatic differentiation, and the vascular permeability marker Plasmalemma Vesicle Associated Protein (PLVAP), in certain glioblastoma and brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), has prompted investigation into their roles in cerebrovascular malformations, tumor environments, and blood-brain barrier (BBB) abnormalities. To explore the relationship between ectopic LEC properties and BBB disruption, we utilized endothelial cell-specific overexpression mutants.