Design and evaluation of a multi-epitope HIV-1 vaccine based on human parvovirus virus-like particles.

The development of a protective HIV vaccine remains a challenge given the high antigenic diversity and mutational rate of the virus, which leads to viral escape and establishment of reservoirs in the host. Modern antigen design can guide immune responses towards conserved sites, consensus sequences or normally subdominant epitopes, thus enabling the development of broadly neutralizing antibodies and polyfunctional lymphocyte responses. Conventional epitope vaccines can often be impaired by low immunogenicity, a limitation that may be overcome by using a carrier system.

Scalable Bioreactor-based Suspension Approach to Generate Stem Cell-derived Islets From Healthy Donor-derived iPSCs.

Background: Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) offer the potential to generate autologous iPSC-derived islets (iPSC islets), however, remain limited by scalability and product safety.

Methods: Herein, we report stagewise characterization of cells generated following a bioreactor-based differentiation protocol. Cell characteristics were assessed using flow cytometry, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, patch clamping, functional assessment, and in vivo functional and immunohistochemistry evaluation.

Rifaximin-Alpha Increases Lactase Activity in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome Without Constipation and Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome symptoms are associated with diverse pathophysiological mechanisms including small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and food intolerance. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth leads to the decreased activity of several digestive enzymes, including lactase.

Aims: To assess the efficacy of rifaximin-alpha on the symptoms and lactase activity of patients with irritable bowel syndrome without constipation.

Brain reserve in hepatic encephalopathy: Pathways of damage and preventive strategies through lifestyle and therapeutic interventions.

Brain reserve is an important concept to understand the variability of damage associated with brain-related diseases and includes the adaptation of cognitive processes to preserve brain function. A good cognitive reserve might delay the onset of clinical manifestations of neurodegenerative diseases as well as hepatic encephalopathy, improving the quality of life in patients with chronic liver diseases. By stimulating activities and maintaining overall health, individuals may be able to enhance their brain's resilience to age-related changes and pathology.

Morphological changes in the fetal kidney induced by exposure to fluoride during pregnancy.

To determine if fluoride's established negative impact on adult kidney health begins during gestation, an intergenerational model of Wistar rats was exposed to two doses of fluoride (2.5 or 5.0 mg/kg/day via gavage) 20 days before mating and during gestation (20 days).

The association between breakfast frequency and diabetes incidence in middle-aged women: Results from the MTC study.

Background And Aims: Breakfast consumption could have a synchronizer role in chronobiological functions. Across observational studies, the assessment of breakfast frequency consumption is heterogeneous, therefore consensus on the relation between of weekly frequency of breakfast consumption and the risk of diabetes is unclear. We examined the relation between weekly breakfast frequency consumption and the incidence of diabetes in middle-age women.

Ketosis Suppression and Ageing (KetoSAge) Part 2: The Effect of Suppressing Ketosis on Biomarkers Associated with Ageing, HOMA-IR, Leptin, Osteocalcin, and GLP-1, in Healthy Females.

Metabolic dysfunctions are among the best documented hallmarks of ageing. Cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic-dysfunction-associated steatosis liver disease, and fragility fractures are diseases of hyperinsulinaemia that reduce life and healthspan. We studied the effect of suppressing ketosis in 10 lean (BMI 20.

The evolving role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cervical and endometrial cancer.

The introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has revolutionized the treatment landscape for numerous tumor types, including cervical and endometrial cancers. Multiple ICIs against programmed cell death-1 (PD-1), programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) have demonstrated encouraging outcomes in controlled clinical studies for advanced cervical and endometrial cancers. For advanced cervical cancer, approved ICIs as second-line treatment include cemiplimab, nivolumab, and pembrolizumab as single agents.

Granulomatous Panniculitis as an Initial Manifestation of Sjögren Syndrome.

A 65-year-old woman presented with unexplained weight loss, recurrent fever, and a dermatosis with painful nodules on the extremities. Biopsies showed focal lobular panniculitis with neutrophilic microgranulomas. Comprehensive investigations ruled out infection and hematologic and solid organ neoplasms.

Type 2 diabetes in latin America: recommendations on the flash glucose monitoring system.

Objective: To establish recommendations through the consensus of a Latin American experts panel on the use of the flash glucose monitoring system (fCGM) in people living with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) regarding the benefits and challenges of using the fCGM.

Methods: An executive committee of experts was created, comprised by a panel of fifteen physicians, including endocrinologists and internal medicine physicians, with expertise in management of adult patients with T2DM. The experts were from various countries: Colombia, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil.

Mind the Gap in Kidney Care: Translating What We Know Into What We do.

Historically, it takes an average of 17 years to move new treatments from clinical evidence to daily practice. Given the highly effective treatments now available to prevent or delay kidney disease onset and progression, this is far too long. The time is now to narrow the gap between what we know and what we do.

Evaluation of the safety and tolerability of exogenous ketosis induced by orally administered free beta-hydroxybutyrate in healthy adult subjects.

Beta-hydroxybutyrate (D-BHB) is a metabolite with intrinsic signalling activity that has gained attention as a potentially clinically useful supplement. There are available supplements for inducing ketosis: ketone salts, ketone esters and medium-chain triglycerides. Even when all of them raise D-BHB in the blood and all are safe and well tolerated, they significantly differ in their safety profile, their palatability and their price.

Convenience stores: an obesogenic promoter in a metropolitan area of northern Mexico?

Introduction: The prevalence of obesity in the Mexican school-age (5-11 years old) population increased from 8.9 to 18.1% between 1999 and 2022.

Caring for Patients with Gestational Hypertensive Disorders: Essential Takeaways.

Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP) are a group of conditions-including chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia with and without end-organ damage, and acute complications, which include HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets) syndrome and eclampsia-that could lead to severely adverse outcomes for both mother and fetus. The incidence of HDP has increased, affecting one out of seven delivery hospitalizations. Physicians should be aware of HDP for early identification and proper treatment to improve patient outcomes.

The ecto-enzyme CD38 modulates CD4T cell immunometabolic responses and participates in HIV pathogenesis.

Despite abundant evidence correlating T cell CD38 expression and HIV infection pathogenesis, its role as a CD4T cell immunometabolic regulator remains unclear. We find that CD38's extracellular glycohydrolase activity restricts metabolic reprogramming after T cell receptor (TCR)-engaging stimulation in Jurkat T CD4 cells, together with functional responses, while reducing intracellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and nicotinamide mononucleotide concentrations. Selective elimination of CD38's ectoenzyme function licenses them to decrease the oxygen consumption rate/extracellular acidification rate ratio upon TCR signaling and to increase cycling, proliferation, survival, and CD40L induction.

Positron emission tomography and its role in the assessment of vulnerable plaques in comparison to other imaging modalities.

The diagnosis and management of vulnerable plaques are topics of high interest in the cardiovascular field. Although imaging techniques like computed tomography angiography (MCTA) and ultrasonography (USG) can structurally evaluate atherosclerotic plaques, they are limited in examining internal cellular processes. Positron emission tomography (PET) molecular imaging, on the other hand, can highlight these cellular processes, including inflammation, angiogenesis, and lipid oxidation.

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, an American plant used as sweetener: Study of its effects on body mass control and glycemia reduction in Wistar male and female rats.

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni water extracts have been used as a natural sweetener and customary medicine by the indigenous inhabitants of South America for several hundred years. This plant was sent to Europe in the 16th century and was described by Peter Jacob Esteve in Spain. Recently the food industry has started to employ S.

Remnant cholesterol and low-grade inflammation jointly in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: implications for clinical trials.

Purpose Of Review: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is the leading cause of death despite the development of effective treatments. Recently, elevated remnant cholesterol and low-grade inflammation have emerged as factors explaining part of the residual ASCVD risk. Interestingly, the coexistence of both high remnant cholesterol and low-grade inflammation can further increase the risk of ASCVD.