Elevated remnant cholesterol as a potential predictor for cardiovascular events in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Objective: The risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains inadequately defined. Consequently, this study aims to evaluate the predictive value of remnant cholesterol (RC) for assessing CVD risk in RA patients.

Methods: Plasma RC levels were measured in 114 RA patients and 41 healthy controls, calculated as total cholesterol minus HDL-C and LDL-C.

Forebrain Eml1 depletion reveals early centrosomal dysfunction causing subcortical heterotopia.

Subcortical heterotopia is a cortical malformation associated with epilepsy, intellectual disability, and an excessive number of cortical neurons in the white matter. Echinoderm microtubule-associated protein like 1 (EML1) mutations lead to subcortical heterotopia, associated with abnormal radial glia positioning in the cortical wall, prior to malformation onset. This perturbed distribution of proliferative cells is likely to be a critical event for heterotopia formation; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unexplained.

Influencing factors for postpartum depression in women with gestational diabetes mellitus.

Objective: It remains undefined about the association between gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and postpartum depression (PPD). Hence, a cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the association between GDM and PPD among pregnant women and to investigate the influencing factors for PPD.

Methods: From June 2021 to June 2022, 205 parturients with GDM and 201 without GDM were included in the study as the GDM group and the control group, respectively.

Appendicitis links to the afterward subsequent psoriatic disease occurrence in Taiwan national health insurance research database: A population-based cohort study: Appendicitis links to psoriatic diseases.

Objective: To investigate the psoriatic disease risk among patients with previous appendicitis.

Methods: This study was a nationwide population-based case-control study about the association between the psoriatic disease risk among patients with a history of appendicitis in Taiwan. The study population consisted of newly diagnosed psoriatic disease with at least two outpatient visits, and the control group included those patients without psoriatic disease at the same index date.

An Improved Method and Device for Nucleic Acid Isolation Using a High-Salt Gel Electroelution Trap.

The success of DNA analytical methods, including long-read sequencing, depends on the availability of high-quality, purified DNA. Previously, we developed a method and device for isolating high-molecular-weight (HMW) DNA for long-read sequencing using a high-salt gel electroelution trap. Here, we present an improved version of this method for purifying nucleic acids with high yield and purity from even the most challenging biological samples.

Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Activity of Triple Enzyme-Embedded Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Nanoflowers (hNFs) in Comparison with Powerful Antimicrobial Agent Chitosan.

Organic-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers (hNFs) have high stability, reusability, low production cost, and overcome substrate/product inhibition. Antimicrobial activity of various hNFs has been reported to overcome environmental microbial contaminations and infections, which are considered major public health problems. α-amylase, protease, and lipase are the most common industrial enzymes exerting antimicrobial activity; therefore, we synthesized triple enzyme (α-amylase, protease, and lipase)-embedded hNFs by using pancreatin to evaluate their antimicrobial activity in comparison with one of the most potent antimicrobial polymer chitosan.

SPHK1 promotes bladder cancer metastasis via PD-L2/c-Src/FAK signaling cascade.

SPHK1 (sphingosine kinase type 1) is characterized as a rate-limiting enzyme in sphingolipid metabolism to phosphorylate sphingosine into sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) that can bind to S1P receptors (S1PRs) to initiate several signal transductions leading to cell proliferation and survival of normal cell. Many studies have indicated that SPHK1 is involved in several types of cancer development, however, a little is known in bladder cancer. The TCGA database analysis was utilized for analyzing the clinical relevance of SPHK1 in bladder cancer.

Umbilical cord blood-derived exosomes attenuate dopaminergic neuron damage of Parkinson's disease mouse model.

Background: Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a rich source of multifunctional stem cells characterized by low immunogenicity. Recent research in the fields of aging and regenerative medicine has revealed the potential of human umbilical cord blood-derived exosomes (UCB-Exos) in promoting wound healing, anti-aging, and regeneration. However, their role in neurodegenerative diseases, specifically Parkinson's disease (PD), remains unexplored.

Predicting the T790M mutation in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using brain metastasis MR radiomics: a study with an imbalanced dataset.

Background: Early detection of T790M mutation in exon 20 of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with brain metastasis is crucial for optimizing treatment strategies. In this study, we developed radiomics models to distinguish NSCLC patients with T790M-positive mutations from those with T790M-negative mutations using multisequence MR images of brain metastasis despite an imbalanced dataset. Various resampling techniques and classifiers were employed to identify the most effective strategy.

The Protective Effects of Mcl-1 on Mitochondrial Damage and Oxidative Stress in Imiquimod-Induced Cancer Cell Death.

Mitochondria, vital organelles that generate ATP, determine cell fate. Dysfunctional and damaged mitochondria are fragmented and removed through mitophagy, a mitochondrial quality control mechanism. The FDA-approved drug IMQ, a synthetic agonist of Toll-like receptor 7, exhibits antitumor activity against various skin malignancies.

Chemosensory anhedonia facilitates depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment in late-life depression.

Aim: Chemosensory anhedonia refers to the lack of hedonic ability to experience pleasure through the senses of smell and taste, which reduces the pleasure and comfort of food, and increases the risk of nutritional and immune deficiencies. However, there is no direct scientific evidence regarding chemosensory anhedonia in patients with late-life depression (LLD). The aim of this study was to investigate chemosensory anhedonia in patients with LLD, and its potential association with depressive symptoms and cognitive function.

Missing regulatory effects and viral triggers explored for childhood-onset asthma.

Missing regulatory effects of asthma genetic risks might be hidden within specific cell states. In this issue of Cell Genomics, Djeddi et al. uncover how airway epithelial cells, when activated by rhinovirus, influence genetic susceptibility to childhood-onset asthma, and this preview emphasizes the need to address these missing regulatory effects across diverse cell states.

IL-10 deficiency aggravates cell senescence and accelerates BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis in aged mice via PTEN/AKT/ERK pathway.

Background: Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is an aging-related progressive lung disorder. The aged lung undergoes functional and structural changes termed immunosenescence and inflammaging, which facilitate the occurrence of fibrosis. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a potent anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokine, yet it remains unclear how IL-10 deficiency-induced immunosenescence participates in the development of PF.

HDAC2-miR183-5p Epigenetic Circuit Contributes to the Growth of Philadelphia Chromosome-Positive B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia via PTEN/AKT and c-MYC Signaling Pathway.

Philadelphia chromosome-positive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph(+)B-ALL) is a hematological malignancy with a poor prognosis. Epigenetic abnormalities, especially abnormal histone acetylation and microRNAs (miRNAs) dysregulation, are a group of epigenetic patterns that contribute to leukemia progression. However, their regulatory mechanisms in Ph(+)B-ALL have not been fully elucidated.

Fgf9 promotes incisor dental epithelial stem cell survival and enamel formation.

Background: Understanding the role of cytokines in tooth development is critical for advancing dental tissue engineering. Fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9) is the only FGF consistently expressed throughout dental epithelial tissue, from the initiation of tooth bud formation to tooth maturation. However, mice lacking Fgf9 (Fgf9) surprisingly show no obvious abnormalities in tooth development, suggesting potential compensation by other FGFs.

Structural covariance network activity in the medial prefrontal cortex is modulated by childhood abuse in adolescents with depression.

Aberrant structural covariance (SC) in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is believed to play a crucial role in adolescent-onset major depressive disorder (AO-MDD). However, the effect of childhood abuse (CA) on SC in AO-MDD patients is still unknown. Here, we measured anomalous SC in the mPFC of AO-MDD patients and assessed the potential modulation of this feature by CA.

Integrative alternative splicing analysis reveals new prognosis signature in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The dysregulation of alternative splicing (AS) is increasingly recognized as a pivotal player in the pathogenesis, progression, and treatment resistance of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Despite its significance, the clinical implications of AS events in B-ALL remain largely unexplored. This study developed a prognostic model based on 18 AS events (18-AS), derived from a meticulous integration of bioinformatics methodologies and advanced machine learning algorithms.