Repeated Binge Alcohol Drinking Leads to Reductions in Corticostriatal Theta Coherence in Female but not Male Mice.

Decreased functional connectivity between the striatum and frontal cortex is observed in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD), and predicts the probability of relapse in abstinent individuals with AUD. To further our understanding of how repeated alcohol (ethanol; EtOH) consumption impacts the corticostriatal circuit, extracellular electrophysiological recordings (local field potentials; LFPs) were gathered from the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) of C57BL/6J mice voluntarily consuming EtOH or water using a 'drinking-in-the-dark' (DID) procedure. Following a three-day acclimation period wherein only water access was provided during DID, mice were given 15 consecutive days of access to EtOH.

An Rtn4/Nogo-A-interacting micropeptide modulates synaptic plasticity with age.

Micropeptides, encoded from small open reading frames of 300 nucleotides or less, are hidden throughout mammalian genomes, though few functional studies of micropeptides in the brain are published. Here, we describe a micropeptide known as the Plasticity-Associated Neural Transcript Short (Pants), located in the 22q11.2 region of the human genome, the microdeletion of which conveys a high risk for schizophrenia.

Role of Nischarin in the pathology of diseases: a special emphasis on breast cancer.

Nischarin has been demonstrated to have tumor suppressor functions. In this review, we comprehensively discuss up to date information about Nischarin. In addition, this paper aims to report the prognostic value, clinical relevance, and biological significance of the Nischarin gene (NISCH) in breast cancer (BCa) patients using the Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium (METABRIC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets.

Association of Serum Magnesium with Blood Pressure in Patients with Hypertensive Crises: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.

The role of magnesium in blood pressure has been studied among hypertensive patients; however, there is a dearth of studies exploring the role of magnesium in hypertensive crises. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between serum magnesium and blood pressure in patients with hypertensive crises. This was a single-center, retrospective, chart review, cross-sectional study of patients with hypertensive crises.

Evaluation of serum calcium differences in hypertensive crises and control patients: A randomly matched case-control study.

The role of calcium in blood pressure has been widely studied among hypertensive patients; however, no study has explored the role of calcium in hypertensive crises. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the differences in serum calcium levels between hypertensive crises patients and a 1:1 random matched controls (age-, sex-, race-, diabetes, and body mass index matched). This study is a single-center, retrospective, chart review, case-control study of patients with hypertensive crises (case group) and patients without hypertensive crises (control group).

Evolution of the Epigenetic Landscape in Childhood B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Its Role in Drug Resistance.

Although B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common malignancy in children and while highly curable, it remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality. The outgrowth of tumor subclones carrying mutations in genes responsible for resistance to therapy has led to a Darwinian model of clonal selection. Previous work has indicated that alterations in the epigenome might contribute to clonal selection, yet the extent to which the chromatin state is altered under the selective pressures of therapy is unknown.

Association of Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase With Necrotizing Enterocolitis Among Premature Infants.

Importance: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants is an often-fatal gastrointestinal tract emergency. A robust NEC biomarker that is not confounded by sepsis could improve bedside management, lead to lower morbidity and mortality, and permit patient selection in randomized clinical trials of possible therapeutic approaches.

Objective: To evaluate whether aberrant intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) biochemistry in infant stool is a molecular biomarker for NEC and not associated with sepsis.

Patterns and Correlates of Internet Use, Cell Phone Use, and Attitudes Toward Patient Portals Among a Predominantly Mexican-American Clinic Population.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe access and health-related use of the Internet and cell phones, and attitudes toward patient portals among a predominantly Hispanic patient population residing along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Improved Clinical Sensitivity of a Reflexive Algorithm to Minimize False-Negative Test Results by a Urine Benzodiazepine Immunoassay Screen.

Background: Urine drug testing is an essential component of treating patients for chronic pain and/or anxiety and is used to monitor compliance during treatment. A common algorithm is to use an immunoassay as a urine drug screen (UDS), followed by mass spectrometry to confirm all presumptive positive samples. Many UDSs, however, have significant limitations, and false-negative test results can be common due to lack of antibody specificity.

Air bubbles and hemolysis of blood samples during transport by pneumatic tube systems.

Background: Transport of blood samples through pneumatic tube systems (PTSs) generates air bubbles in transported blood samples and, with increasing duration of transport, the appearance of hemolysis. We investigated the role of air-bubble formation in PTS-induced hemolysis.

Methods: Air was introduced into blood samples for 0, 1, 3 or 5min to form air bubbles.

Human interstitial cellular model in therapeutics of heart valve calcification.

Calcific aortic valve disease is a common, severe heart condition that is currently with no proven, effective drug treatment and requires a surgical valve replacement or an entire heart explanation. Thus, developing novel, targeted therapeutic approaches becomes a major goal for cardiovascular disease research. To achieve this goal, isolated heart valve interstitial cells could be an advanced model to explore molecular mechanisms and measure drug efficacy.

Adipocyte Fatty-Acid Binding Protein is Overexpressed in Cirrhosis and Correlates with Clinical Outcomes.

Fatty-acid-binding proteins (FABPs) are small intracellular proteins that coordinate lipid-mediated processes by targeting metabolic and immune response pathways. The aim of the study was to investigate plasma FABPs levels and their relationship with clinical outcomes in cirrhosis. Plasma levels of L-FABP1(liver and kidney), I-FABP2(intestine), and A-FABP4(adipocyte and macrophages) were measured in 274 patients with decompensated cirrhosis.

Transgenic expression of human APOL1 risk variants in podocytes induces kidney disease in mice.

African Americans have a heightened risk of developing chronic and end-stage kidney disease, an association that is largely attributed to two common genetic variants, termed G1 and G2, in the APOL1 gene. Direct evidence demonstrating that these APOL1 risk alleles are pathogenic is still lacking because the APOL1 gene is present in only some primates and humans; thus it has been challenging to demonstrate experimental proof of causality of these risk alleles for renal disease. Here we generated mice with podocyte-specific inducible expression of the APOL1 reference allele (termed G0) or each of the risk-conferring alleles (G1 or G2).

Prospective Investigation of a Novel Ultrasound-assisted Lumbar Puncture Technique on Infants in the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Objective: The objective was to describe a novel ultrasound-assisted lumbar puncture (UALP) technique and to compare it to standard lumbar puncture (SLP) technique in infants.

Methods: A prospective, randomized, controlled study in infants 60 days old and younger undergoing a lumbar puncture (LP) in a pediatric emergency department. Patients with a spinal anomaly or ventriculoperitoneal shunt were excluded.

Immune senescence and vaccines to prevent herpes zoster in older persons.

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) T-cell-mediated immunity (VZV-CMI) in older persons prevents latent VZV in sensory neurons from reactivating to cause herpes zoster. VZV-CMI declines greatly with aging, but can be restored by the licensed zoster vaccine. However, the vaccine-induced boost in VZV-CMI (which determines the efficacy of the vaccine) is a function of the age of the vaccinee, and the duration of this boost wanes with time.

Regional disparities in treatment and survival of early stage non-small cell lung cancer.

Objectives: Recently, disparities related to ethnicity and rural place of residence for initial treatment and mortality of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have been reported. As a large proportion of residents in New Mexico are either Hispanic or reside in rural areas, we hypothesized that mortality of patients with early stage NSCLC would be higher in New Mexico compared to other areas of the country.

Methods: We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program registry to compare mortality from Stages 1A-2B NSCLC in New Mexico to other SEER registries between 1988-1997, and determined whether differences were related to demographics, tumor stage, place of residence, ethnicity, or receipt of surgical treatment.

Managing treatment-emergent sexual dysfunction associated with serotonergic antidepressants: before and after sildenafil.

Sexual dysfunction is a common and troublesome side effect associated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and other antidepressants that reportedly occurs in 40%-70% of patients prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Management of this iatrogenic condition has relied on "clinical wisdom" derived over decades primarily from open-label, non-placebo-controlled, selected case and literature review studies. Management approaches fall into four broad categories: 1) antidote, 2) avoidance, 3) augmentation/switching, and 4) adaptation.

EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration of the pancreas: evaluation of pancreatitis as a complication.

Background: EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration is rapidly becoming the procedure of choice for the diagnostic evaluation of pancreatic masses. Acute pancreatitis has been reported after EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration of the pancreas. This study evaluated the effect of EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration on the pancreas by serial measurement of amylase and lipase levels and determining the frequency of acute pancreatitis after EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration of pancreatic masses.

Intracellular trafficking and metabolic turnover of ligand-bound guanylyl cyclase/atrial natriuretic peptide receptor-A into subcellular compartments.

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is the first described member of the natriuretic peptide hormone family. ANP elicits natriuretic, diuretic, vasorelaxant and antiproliferative effects, important factors in the control of blood pressure homeostasis. One of the principal loci involved in the regulatory action of ANP is the guanylyl cyclase-linked ANP-receptor which has been designated as NPRA, also referred to as GC-A, whose ANP-binding efficiency and guanylyl cyclase activity vary remarkably in different target tissues.

Ligand-regulated internalization, trafficking, and down-regulation of guanylyl cyclase/atrial natriuretic peptide receptor-A in human embryonic kidney 293 cells.

We examined the kinetics of internalization, trafficking, and down-regulation of recombinant guanylyl cyclase/natriuretic peptide receptor-A (NPRA) utilizing stably transfected 293 cells expressing a very high density of receptors. After atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) binding to NPRA, ligand-receptor complexes are internalized, processed intracellularly, and sequestered into subcellular compartments, which provided an approach to examining directly the dynamics of metabolic turnover of NPRA in intact cells. The translocation of ligand-receptor complexes from cell surface to intracellular compartments seems to be linked to ANP-dependent down-regulation of NPRA.