Off-the-shelf allogeneic natural killer cells for the treatment of COVID-19.

Low levels and function of natural killer (NK) cells are associated with increased coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. NK cell immunotherapy may improve immune function to reduce infection severity. We conducted a first-in-human, open-label, phase 1, dose-escalating (100 × 10, 300 × 10, or 900 × 10 cells) study of a single dose of DVX201, a cord-blood-derived allogeneic NK cell therapy, in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

Sociodemographic differences in treatment of acute respiratory infections in pediatric urgent cares.

Objective: To determine whether differences exist in antibiotic prescribing for respiratory infections in pediatric urgent cares (PUCs) by patient race/ethnicity, insurance, and language.

Design: Multi-center cohort study.

Setting: Nine organizations (92 locations) from 22 states and Washington, DC.

Tobacco Use, Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems, and Vulnerable Populations: Current Landscape and Opportunities for Improvement.

The tobacco epidemic has claimed countless lives, caused significant morbidity, and cost billions of dollars in direct costs and lost productivity. Despite its acute vascular effects, nicotine alone has not been definitively linked to cardiovascular events. Rather, additives found in cigarettes and other tobacco products likely play a bigger role in tobacco's link to cardiovascular events.

Functional Immunophenotyping for Precision Therapies in Sepsis.

Sepsis remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. While many more patients are surviving the acute event, a substantial number enter a state of persistent inflammation and immunosuppression, rendering them more vulnerable to infections. Modulating the host immune response has been a focus of sepsis research for the past fifty years, yet novel therapies have been few and far between.

Modeling HPV Self-Sampling Impact on Cervical Cancer in East African Immigrants.

Introduction: Cervical cancer screening uptake among East African immigrants in the U.S. is low.

Evaluating How Beliefs Among Pediatric Cardiology Providers May Affect Fetal Cardiac Counseling-A National Perspective.

Background: Prenatal counseling following a fetal diagnosis of critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) is challenging and requires delivery of detailed and complete information to ensure appropriate decision making and pregnancy support.

Methods: An anonymous 50-item survey was distributed to providers who performed fetal cardiac counseling. The primary purpose was to evaluate on a national scale physician beliefs and attitudes toward available choices after a fetal diagnosis of CCHD and their association with reported counseling practices.

National Trends of Common Gynecologic Procedures Among Pediatric Hospitals: A National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric (NSQIP-P) Database Analysis.

Background: Gynecologic surgeries have in general been performed in pediatric hospitals by both gynecologists and other surgical specialists. This study assessed current practices and outcomes using a national database.

Methods: Procedures performed by gynecologists in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric database (NSQIP-P) from 2012 to 2021 were reviewed and used to identify a set of common gynecologic procedures for which outcomes could be compared across specialties.

Role of MRI in Active Surveillance of Prostate Cancer.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays an important role in the management of patients with prostate cancer on active surveillance. In this review, we will explore the incorporation of MRI into active surveillance protocols, detailing its impact on clinical decision-making and patient management and discussing how it aligns with current guidelines and practice patterns. The role of MRI in this patient population continues to evolve over time, and we will discuss some of the recent advancements in the field and highlight potential areas for future research endeavors.

Integration of Palliative Care into Heart Failure Care: Consensus-Based Recommendations from the Heart Failure Society of America.

Heart failure (HF) is characterized by significant symptoms, compromised quality of life, frequent hospital admissions, and high mortality rates; palliative care (PC) is, therefore, highly relevant for patients with HF and their clinicians. Multiple guidelines and consensus statements recommend the provision of PC alongside HF management. However, few resources exist to guide the integration of PC into HF care, for both primary PC (provided by HF clinicians in the course of HF care) and specialty PC (provided by PC specialists).

Effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists on kidney and cardiovascular disease outcomes: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Background: GLP-1 receptor agonists reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and can also have kidney benefits. However, whether GLP-1 receptor agonists improve clinically important kidney outcomes remains uncertain. We aimed to comprehensively assess the effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists on kidney and cardiovascular disease outcomes by performing a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Molecular convergence of risk variants for congenital heart defects leveraging a regulatory map of the human fetal heart.

Congenital heart defects (CHD) arise in part due to inherited genetic variants that alter genes and noncoding regulatory elements in the human genome. These variants are thought to act during fetal development to influence the formation of different heart structures. However, identifying the genes, pathways, and cell types that mediate these effects has been challenging due to the immense diversity of cell types involved in heart development as well as the superimposed complexities of interpreting noncoding sequences.

Corrigendum: Oral swabs as a proxy for direct ruminal microbiome sampling in Holstein dairy cows is correlated with sample color.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.

Early combination therapy with SGLT2i and GLP-1 RA or dual GIP/GLP-1 RA in type 2 diabetes.

Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and glucagon-Like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) are recommended in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) for glycaemic control and for people with high cardiovascular risk. However, current guidelines do not specifically address the role of initial early combination therapy with SGLT2i and GLP-1 RA or dual gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP)/GLP-1 RA, but rather sequential initiation with either in T2D. This review synthesizes the available evidence on the use of SGLT2i and GLP-1-based therapies for T2D and provides a rationale for their combination.

Semiautomated measures of foveal immaturity from handheld swept-source optical coherence tomography are associated with retinopathy of prematurity severity.

Background/aims: Handheld swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) was previously used to measure foveal maturity through semiautomated methods in awake premature infants. This study assesses the relationship between foveal maturity and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) severity.

Methods: This is a prospective, observational study using handheld SS-OCT imaging of premature infants undergoing ROP screening.

A conditional smoothened (smo) allele on an inbred C57BL/6J genetic background has a hypomorphic smo mutant phenotype.

We have introduced the floxed allele of Smoothened (Smo) carried by the mouse line Smo into the C57BL/6J strain by serial backcross. Recapitulation of the Smo null phenotype was confirmed by deleting the allele using E2a-cre and intercrossing heterozygous Smo ± mice. No homozygous mutant embryos were identified at E9.

Effects of Integrated Care Approaches to Address Co-occurring Depression and Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Depressive symptoms frequently co-occur with diabetes and, when unaddressed, can function to worsen diabetes control and increase the risk of diabetes-related morbidity. Integrated care (IC) approaches aim to improve outcomes among people with diabetes and depression, but there are no current meta-analyses examining their effects.

Purpose: In our study we summarize the effects of IC approaches to address depression and diabetes and examine moderating effects of IC approaches (e.

Childhood-onset lupus nephritis is characterized by complex interactions between kidney stroma and infiltrating immune cells.

Children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are at increased risk of developing kidney disease, termed childhood-onset lupus nephritis (cLN). Single-cell transcriptomics of dissociated kidney tissue has advanced our understanding of LN pathogenesis, but loss of spatial resolution prevents interrogation of in situ cellular interactions. Using a technical advance in spatial transcriptomics, we generated a spatially resolved, single-cell resolution atlas of kidney tissue from eight patients with cLN and four control individuals.

Dose-Related Mutagenic and Clastogenic Effects of Benzo[]fluoranthene in Mouse Somatic Tissues Detected by Duplex Sequencing and the Micronucleus Assay.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are common environmental pollutants that originate from the incomplete combustion of organic materials. We investigated the clastogenicity and mutagenicity of benzo[]fluoranthene (BbF), one of 16 priority PAHs, in MutaMouse males after a 28 day oral exposure. BbF causes robust dose-dependent increases in micronucleus frequency in peripheral blood, indicative of chromosome damage.