Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Patients' And Caregivers' Needs, Experiences, Preferences And Research Priorities In Spiritual Care: A Focus Group Study Across Nine Countries., Lucy Ellen Selman, Lisa Jane Brighton, Shane Sinclair, Ikali Karvinen, Richard Egan, Peter Speck, Richard A Powell, Ewa Deskur-Smielecka, Myra Glajchen, Shelly Adler, Christina Puchalski, Joy Hunter, Nancy Gikaara, Jonathon Hope

Medicine Faculty Publications

Background:

Spiritual distress is prevalent in advanced disease, but often neglected, resulting in unnecessary suffering. Evidence to inform spiritual care practices in palliative care is limited.

Aim:

To explore spiritual care needs, experiences, preferences and research priorities in an international sample of patients with life-limiting disease and family caregivers.

Design:

Focus group study.

Setting/participants:

Separate patient and caregiver focus groups were conducted at 11 sites in South Africa, Kenya, South Korea, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland and Poland. Discussions were transcribed, translated into English and analysed thematically.

Results:

A total of 74 patients participated: median age …

Combination Targeted Pulmonary Hypertension Therapy In The Resolution Of Dasatinib-Associated Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension., Arun Jose, Hind Rafei, Jalil Ahari

Medicine Faculty Publications

Dasatinib is a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor used in the treatment of hematological malignancies. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare but known complication. The mainstay of treatment is cessation of Dasatinib, and while clinical improvement is rapid, complete hemodynamic resolution of pulmonary hypertension (PH) still remains exceedingly uncommon. We present a case of Dasatinib-induced PAH in a woman with chronic myeloid leukemia, who demonstrated rapid and complete clinical and hemodynamic resolution following treatment with combination pulmonary vasodilator therapy using an endothelin receptor antagonist and a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor. This case suggests there may be an association between the use of …

Cardio-Metabolic Benefits Of Plant-Based Diets., Hana Kahleova, Susan Levin, Neal Barnard

Medicine Faculty Publications

Cardio-metabolic disease, namely ischemic heart disease, stroke, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, represent substantial health and economic burdens. Almost one half of cardio-metabolic deaths in the U.S. might be prevented through proper nutrition. Plant-based (vegetarian and vegan) diets are an effective strategy for improving nutrient intake. At the same time, they are associated with decreased all-cause mortality and decreased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and coronary heart disease. Evidence suggests that plant-based diets may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease events by an estimated 40% and the risk of cerebral vascular disease events by 29%. These diets also …

Plk2 Plays An Essential Role In High D-Glucose-Induced Apoptosis, Ros Generation And Inflammation In Podocytes., Hong-Hong Zou, Ping-Ping Yang, Tian-Lun Huang, Xiao-Xu Zheng, Gao-Si Xu

Medicine Faculty Publications

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a serious complication of hyperglycemia. Currently, there is no effective therapeutic intervention for DKD. In this study, we sought to provide a set of gene profile in diabetic kidneys. We identified 338 genes altered in diabetes-induced DKD glomeruli, and PLK2 exhibited the most dramatic change. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) indicated multiple signaling pathways are involved DKD pathogenesis. Here, we investigated whether PLK2 contributes to podocyte dysfunction, a characteristic change in the development of DKD. High D-glucose (HDG) significantly increased PLK2 expression in mouse podocytes. Suppressing PLK2 attenuated HDG-induced apoptosis and inflammatory responses both in …

Risk Factors For Heart Failure In Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: The Cric (Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort) Study., Jiang He, Michael Shlipak, Amanda Anderson, Jason A Roy, Harold I Feldman, Radhakrishna Reddy Kallem, Radhika Kanthety, John W Kusek, Akinlolu Ojo, Mahboob Rahman, Ana C Ricardo, Elsayed Z Soliman, Myles Wolf, Xiaoming Zhang, Dominic Raj, Lee Hamm

Medicine Faculty Publications

Background Heart failure is common in patients with chronic kidney disease. We studied risk factors for incident heart failure among 3557 participants in the CRIC (Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort) Study.

Methods and Results Kidney function was assessed by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) using serum creatinine, cystatin C, or both, and 24‐hour urine albumin excretion. During an average of 6.3 years of follow‐up, 452 participants developed incident heart failure. After adjustment for age, sex, race, and clinical site, hazard ratio (95% CI) for heart failure associated with 1 SD lower creatinine‐based eGFR was 1.67 (1.49, 1.89), 1 SD lower cystatin …

Change In Physical Activity And Sitting Time After Myocardial Infarction And Mortality Among Postmenopausal Women In The Women's Health Initiative-Observational Study., Anna M Gorczyca, Charles B Eaton, Michael J Lamonte, Joann E Manson, Jeanne D Johnston, Aurelian Bidulescu, Molly E Waring, Todd Manini, Lisa W Martin, Marcia L Stefanick, Ka He, Andrea K Chomistek

Medicine Faculty Publications

Background

How physical activity (PA) and sitting time may change after first myocardial infarction (MI) and the association with mortality in postmenopausal women is unknown.

Methods and Results

Participants included postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative‐Observational Study, aged 50 to 79 years who experienced a clinical MI during the study. This analysis included 856 women who had adequate data on PA exposure and 533 women for sitting time exposures. Sitting time was self‐reported at baseline, year 3, and year 6. Self‐reported PA was reported at baseline through year 8. Change in PA and sitting time were calculated as the …

Single-Trait And Multi-Trait Genome-Wide Association Analyses Identify Novel Loci For Blood Pressure In African-Ancestry Populations., Jingjing Liang, Thu H Le, Digna R Velez Edwards, Bamidele O Tayo, Kyle J Gaulton, Jennifer A Smith, Lisa W Martin, +Several Additional Authors

Medicine Faculty Publications

Hypertension is a leading cause of global disease, mortality, and disability. While individuals of African descent suffer a disproportionate burden of hypertension and its complications, they have been underrepresented in genetic studies. To identify novel susceptibility loci for blood pressure and hypertension in people of African ancestry, we performed both single and multiple-trait genome-wide association analyses. We analyzed 21 genome-wide association studies comprised of 31,968 individuals of African ancestry, and validated our results with additional 54,395 individuals from multi-ethnic studies. These analyses identified nine loci with eleven independent variants which reached genome-wide significance (P < 1.25×10−8) for either systolic and diastolic blood pressure, hypertension, or for combined traits. Single-trait analyses identified two loci (TARID/TCF21 and LLPH/TMBIM4) …

Unification Of De Novo And Acquired Ibrutinib Resistance In Mantle Cell Lymphoma., Xiaohong Zhao, Tint Lwin, Ariosto Silva, Bijal Shah, Jiangchuan Tao, Bin Fang, Eduardo Sotomayor, +Several Additional Authors

Medicine Faculty Publications

The novel Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib has demonstrated high response rates in B-cell lymphomas; however, a growing number of ibrutinib-treated patients relapse with resistance and fulminant progression. Using chemical proteomics and an organotypic cell-based drug screening assay, we determine the functional role of the tumour microenvironment (TME) in ibrutinib activity and acquired ibrutinib resistance. We demonstrate that MCL cells develop ibrutinib resistance through evolutionary processes driven by dynamic feedback between MCL cells and TME, leading to kinome adaptive reprogramming, bypassing the effect of ibrutinib and reciprocal activation of PI3K-AKT-mTOR and integrin-β1 signalling. Combinatorial disruption of B-cell receptor signalling and …

Use Of P53-Silenced Endothelial Progenitor Cells To Treat Ischemia In Diabetic Peripheral Vascular Disease., Nabanita Kundu, Cleyton C Domingues, Cyril Chou, Neeki Ahmadi, Sara Houston, D Joseph Jerry, Sabyasachi Sen

Medicine Faculty Publications

Background Peripheral vascular disease is a major diabetes mellitus‐related complication. In this study, we noted that expressions of proapoptotic p53 gene and its downstream cascade gene such as p21 are upregulated in hyperglycemia. Therefore, we investigated whether p53‐ and p21‐silenced endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were able to survive in hyperglycemic milieu, and whether transplantation of either p53 knockout (KO) or p21KO or p53‐ and p21‐silenced EPCs could improve collateral vessel formation and blood flow in diabetic vaso‐occlusive peripheral vascular disease mouse models.

Methods and Results We transplanted p53 and p21KO mouse EPCs (mEPCs) into streptozotocin–induced diabetic (type 1 diabetes mellitus …

History Of Periodontitis Diagnosis And Edentulism As Predictors Of Cardiovascular Disease, Stroke, And Mortality In Postmenopausal Women., Michael J Lamonte, Robert J Genco, Kathleen M Hovey, Robert B Wallace, Jo L Freudenheim, Dominique S Michaud, Xiaodan Mai, Lesley F Tinker, Christian R Salazar, Christopher A Andrews, Wenjun Li, Charles B Eaton, Lisa W Martin, Jean Wactawski-Wende

Medicine Faculty Publications

Background

Few studies have reported associations between periodontitis and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in older women, which is the objective of the present investigation.

Methods and Results

Participants were 57 001 postmenopausal women ages 55 to 89 years (mean 68 years; >85% 60 and older) who were enrolled (1993–1998) in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, and were without known CVD when history of periodontitis and edentulism was assessed by questionnaire at study Year‐5 (1998–2003). There were 3589 incident CVD events and 3816 total deaths during a mean follow‐up of 6.7 years. In multivariable analysis, periodontitis was not associated with …

Maternal Characteristics And Obstetrical Complications Impact Neonatal Outcomes In Indonesia: A Prospective Study., Trisari Anggondowati, Ayman A E El-Mohandes, S Nurul Qomariyah, Michele Kiely, Judith J Ryon, Reginald F Gipson, Benjamin Zinner, Anhari Achadi, Linda L Wright

Medicine Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: We investigated associations between maternal characteristics, access to care, and obstetrical complications including near miss status on admission or during hospitalization on perinatal outcomes among Indonesian singletons.

METHODS: We prospectively collected data on inborn singletons at two hospitals in East Java. Data included socio-demographics, reproductive, obstetric and neonatal variables. Reduced multivariable models were constructed. Outcomes of interest included low and very low birthweight (LBW/VLBW), asphyxia and death.

RESULTS: Referral from a care facility was associated with a reduced risk of LBW and VLBW [AOR = 0.28, 95% CI = 0.11-0.69, AOR = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.04-0.75, respectively], stillbirth …

Gastrointestinal-Renal Axis: Role In The Regulation Of Blood Pressure., Jian Yang, Pedro A Jose, Chunyu Zeng

Medicine Faculty Publications

Hypertension is one of the most common and important health problems worldwide.1 It has been estimated that 29% of the world's adult population, or 1.56 billion people, will have hypertension by the year 2025.2The prevalence of high blood pressure and its adverse consequences result in a heavy burden for hypertensive patients from high‐, middle‐, and low‐income countries.2, 3 Many monogenic causes of hypertension have been reported. However, determining the causes of essential hypertension has been hampered because it is a complex disorder with genetic, epigenetic, and environmental determinants. Among numerous environmental factors, sodium intake is …

Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1: A Urinary Biomarker Of Kidney Disease., S Movafagh, Dominic Raj, M Sanaei-Ardekani, D Bhatia, K Vo, M Mahmoudieh, R Rahman, E H Kim, Arthur F Harralson

Medicine Faculty Publications

Identifying noninvasive biomarkers of kidney disease is valuable for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) expression is known to be elevated in the kidneys in several renal disease pathologies. We hypothesized that the urinary HIF-1a mRNA level may be a suitable biomarker for expression of this protein in chronic kidney disease (CKD). We compared HIF-1a mRNA levels from urine pellets of CKD and healthy subjects. To ensure that urinary HIF-1a mRNA is of kidney origin, we examined colocalization of HIF-1a mRNA with two kidney specific markers in urine cells. We found that HIF-1a mRNA is readily quantifiable …

Predictors Of High On-Aspirin Platelet Reactivity In Elderly Patients With Coronary Artery Disease., J W Zhang, W W Liu, Timothy A Mccaffrey, X Q He, W Y Liang, X H Chen, X R Feng, Sidney W Fu, M L Liu

Medicine Faculty Publications

Objectives

Previous studies have illustrated the link between high on-aspirin platelet reactivity (HAPR) with increasing thrombotic risks. The aim of our study was to investigate relative risk factors of HAPR in elderly patients with coronary artery disease.

Methods

Elderly, hospitalized coronary artery disease patients on regular aspirin treatment were enrolled from January 2014 to September 2016. Medical records of each patient were collected, including demographic information, cardiovascular risk factors, concomitant drugs and routine biological parameters. Arachidonic acid (AA, 0.5 mg/mL) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP, 5 µmol/L) induced platelet aggregation were measured via light transmission assay (LTA) to evaluate antiplatelet responses, …

Post-Transfusion Purpura: A Case Report Of An Underdiagnosed Phenomenon, Hind Rafei, Raza Yunus, Samah Nassereddine

Medicine Faculty Publications

Post-transfusion purpura is a rare transfusion-related complication that often goes undiagnosed. It is due to alloimmunization against platelet antigens which leads to acute profound thrombocytopenia following the transfusion of any platelet-containing product (red blood cells or platelets). It is commonly seen in multiparous women. Here, we report a case of post-transfusion purpura in a 56-year-old multiparous woman who developed acute thrombocytopenia seven days following a packed red blood cell transfusion. We will discuss the clinical presentation, diagnosis, workup and treatment of this rare disease. It is important to recognize this entity separately and to include it in the differential diagnosis …

Review Of Current Immunologic Therapies For Hidradenitis Suppurativa, Victoria K. Shanmugam, Nadia Meher Zaman, Sean Mcnish, Faye Hant

Medicine Faculty Publications

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, recurrent, inflammatory disease of apocrine gland-bearing skin which affects approximately 1–4% of the population. The disease is more common in women and patients of African American descent and approximately one-third of patients report a family history. Obesity and smoking are known risk factors, but associations with other immune disorders, especially inflammatory bowel disease, are also recognized. The pathogenesis of HS is poorly understood and host innate or adaptive immune response, defective keratinocyte function, and the microbial environment in the hair follicle and apocrine gland have all been postulated to play a role in disease …

Selective Autonomic Stimulation Of The Av Node Fat Pad To Control Rapid Post-Operative Atrial Arrhythmias., Marco A Mercader, Dingchao He, Aditya C Sharma, Mark C Marchitto, Gregory Trachiotis, Gene A Bornzin, Richard A. Jonas, Jeffrey P Moak

Medicine Faculty Publications

Junctional ectopic tachycardia (JET) and atrial fibrillation (AF) occur in patients recovering from open-heart surgery (OHS). Pharmacologic treatment is used for the control of post-operative atrial arrhythmias (POAA), but is associated with side effects. There is a need for a reversible, modulated solution to rate control. We propose a non-pharmacologic technique that can modulate AV nodal conduction in a selective fashion. Ten mongrel dogs underwent OHS. Stimulation of the anterior right (AR) and inferior right (IR) fat pad (FP) was done using a 7-pole electrode. The IR was more effective in slowing the ventricular rate (VR) to AF (52 +/- …

Plasmablastic Lymphoma: Case Report Of Prolonged Survival Of An Advanced Human Immunodeficiency Patient And Literature Review, Hind Rafei, Ehab El-Bahesh, Antoine Finianos, Min-Ling Liu, Geraldine Schechter

Medicine Faculty Publications

Clinical Practice Points. Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a rare and highly aggressive variant of diffuse large B cell lymphoma with median survival of advanced stage patients varying between 6 and 15 months in previous reports. We report here a human immunodeficiency virus-infected patient surviving over 12 years following treatment for advanced PBL with EPOCH chemotherapy and intrathecal therapy. This case highlights the potential for improved survival in PBL with intensive chemotherapy. Further, literature review suggests promising prospects utilizing novel targeted therapies to increase the rate of prolonged responses.