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Acute Appendicitis: A Potential Complication Of Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device Support, Joshua S. Roark, Akinniran A. Abisogun, Jason N. Katz

The VAD Journal

Acute appendicitis, while common in younger patients, is an unusual cause for hospitalization among older adults. We report a case series of 3 individuals who had been previously implanted with a continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) for end-stage heart failure, and who subsequently developed acute appendicitis. Both axial-flow technology and nonpulsatile systemic blood flow have been implicated as potential causes for bleeding and thrombosis in contemporary LVAD populations(1-3). This case series represents the first report of acute appendicitis as an adverse event following LVAD implantation and represents a patient demographic that would historically be at very low-risk for this …

A Pilot Study Of Circulating Tumor Cells In Stage Iv Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma, Max Haid, Edward Chesna, Mary Theodoroff, Debra K. Spaeth, Cheruppolil R. Santhosh-Kumar, Zahid N. Dar

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose

Measurement of the number of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the bloodstream has been shown to have prognostic significance in treating breast carcinoma. This pilot study was formulated to determine if stage IV non-small cell lung carcinomas similarly shed malignant cells into the circulation and if their presence has prognostic significance.

Methods

Patients with stage IV non-small cell lung carcinomas were tested once for CTCs in 7.5 ml of their blood prior to receiving any treatments. A proprietary blood collection kit produced by Veridex LLC (Raritan, NJ), which manufactures the instrument that performs the immunomagnetic CELLSEARCH^® CTC assay, …

Abstracts From The 22nd Annual Health Care Systems Research Network Conference, April 13–16, 2016, Atlanta, Georgia

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

This proceedings supplement includes selected abstracts presented at the 22nd annual conference of the Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN), held April 13–16, 2016, in Atlanta, Georgia. The HCSRN connects the resources and capabilities of research departments from its member health care systems. Collectively, the organization represents more than 1,900 scientists and research staff from an array of disciplines such as epidemiology, economics, disparities, outcomes and quality assessment, trials and genomics.

Agenda (Pdf), Lsu Health Sciences Center - New Orleans

Usher Syndrome in Louisiana

Agenda for the Usher Syndrome in Louisiana 2nd Symposium held August 6, 2016.

A Primate Apol1 Variant That Kills Trypanosoma Brucei Gambiense, Anneli Cooper, Paul Capewell, Caroline Clucas, Nicola Veitch, William Weir, Russell Thompson, Jayne Raper, Annette Macleod

Publications and Research

Humans are protected against infection from most African trypanosomes by lipoprotein complexes present in serum that contain the trypanolytic pore-forming protein, Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1). The human-infective trypanosomes, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in East Africa and T. b. gambiense in West Africa have separately evolved mechanisms that allow them to resist APOL1-mediated lysis and cause human African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, in man. Recently, APOL1 variants were identified from a subset of Old World monkeys, that are able to lyse East African T. b. rhodesiense, by virtue of C-terminal polymorphisms in the APOL1 protein that hinder that parasite’s resistance mechanism. Such variants …

Pathway By Which Vagus Nerve Stimulation Of B Fibers Affects Heart Rate, Kelsey Wasilczuk, Matthew Ward, Pedro Irazoqui

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Heart failure (HF) affects over 5 million adults in the United States. Many HF patients have a high resting heart rate, which is correlated with a high mortality rate. In recent years, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has become an increasingly researched therapy to reduce the resting heart rate of HF patients. However, current dosage given during VNS is increased incrementally at the doctor’s office until side effects present themselves in a patient. In addition, the means by which the therapy works is not completely understood. To better understand the therapy’s mechanisms, the right cervical vagus nerve of several Long Evans …

The Genetic Architecture Of Type 2 Diabetes, Christian Fuchsberger, Jason Flannick, Tanya M. Teslovich, Anubha Mahajan, Vineeta Agarwala, Kyle J. Gaulton, Joanne E. Curran, Satish Kumar, John Blangero, Ravi Duggirala

School of Medicine Publications

The genetic architecture of common traits, including the number, frequency, and effect sizes of inherited variants that contribute to individual risk, has been long debated. Genome-wide association studies have identified scores of common variants associated with type 2 diabetes, but in aggregate, these explain only a fraction of heritability. To test the hypothesis that lower-frequency variants explain much of the remainder, the GoT2D and T2D-GENES consortia performed whole genome sequencing in 2,657 Europeans with and without diabetes, and exome sequencing in a total of 12,940 subjects from five ancestral groups. To increase statistical power, we expanded sample size via genotyping …

Mapping An Epitope In Ebna-1 That Is Recognized By Monoclonal Antibodies To Ebna-1 That Cross-React With Dsdna, Pragya Yadav, Matthew T. Carr, Ruby Yu, Alice Mumbey-Wafula, Linda Spatz

Publications and Research

Introduction: The Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) has been associated with the autoimmune disease, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). EBV nuclear antigen-I (EBNA-1) is the major nuclear protein of EBV. We previously generated an IgG monoclonal antibody (MAb) to EBNA-1, 3D4, and demonstrated that it crossreacts with double stranded DNA (dsDNA) and binds the 148 amino acid viral binding site (VBS) in the carboxyl region of EBNA-1. The aim of the present study was to characterize another antibody to EBNA-1 that cross-reacts with dsDNA, compare its immunoglobulin genes to 3D4, and finely map the epitope in EBNA-1 that is recognized by these …

Surveillance, Epidemiological, And Virological Detection Of Highly Pathogenic H5n1 Avian Influenza Viruses In Duck And Poultry From Bangladesh, Wahedul Karim Ansari, Md Safiullah Parvej, Mohamed E. El Zowalaty, Sally Jackson, Stephen A. Bustin, Adel K. Ibrahim, Md Tanvir Rahman, Han Zhang, Mohammad Ferdousur Rahman Khan, Md Mostakin Ahamd, Md. Fasiur Rahman, Marzia Rahman, Khm Nazmul H. Nazir, Sultan Ahmed, Md Liakot Hossenn, Md Abdul Kafi, Mat Yamage, Nitish C. Debnath, Graba Ahmed, Hossam Ashour, Md Masoud, Ayman Noreddin, Md B. Rahman

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) continue to pose a global threat. Waterfowl are the main reservoir and are responsible for the spillover of AIVs to other hosts. This study was conducted as part of routine surveillance activities in Bangladesh and it reports on the serological and molecular detection of H5N1 AIV subtype. A total of 2169 cloacal and 2191 oropharyngeal swabs as well as 1725 sera samples were collected from live birds including duck and chicken in different locations in Bangladesh between the years of 2013 and 2014. Samples were tested using virus isolation, serological tests and molecular methods of RT-PCR. …

Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma During Pregnancy., Jessica Davis, Showkat Bashir, Helmae Wubneh, Marie L. Borum

Surgery Faculty Publications

We present a rare case of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma diagnosed antepartum. A high index of suspicion must be maintained to diagnose pancreatic cancer during pregnancy. We recommend a thorough history and physical and aggressive pursuit of sensitive imaging in patients with persistent symptoms. If pancreatic adenocarcinoma is diagnosed, a multidisciplinary approach that focuses on patient goals should be undertaken. The effect of pregnancy on tumor growth rates is unknown.

Malignant Hyperthermia, Taylor M. Morriss

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Complications related to the anesthetic process are multifaceted and abundant. As a future nurse anesthesia student, the underlying pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of anesthesia-related complications are of particular interest. One such anesthesia-induced life-threatening metabolic process involves the hypermetabolism of skeletal muscle. This pharmacogenetic process, known as malignant hyperthermia (MH), has a variable incidence rate ranging from 1:10,000 to 1: 250,000 anesthetic cases. However, the prevalence of the genetic abnormalities may be as great as one in 400 individuals (Rosenberg, Pollock, Schiemann, Bulger, & Stowell, 2015, p. 1). “Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a rare, but life-threatening, autosomal-dominant inherited disorder that may …

The Role Of Neurovascular Compromise, Autoimmune Antibodies And Neuronal Calcium Sensor Proteins During The Onset And Progression Of Alzheimer's Disease - Linking The Retina With The Brain, Hao Wu

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the main cause of dementia, is a progressive and irreversible neurodegenerative disease. The pathological hallmarks of the disease include bloodbrain barrier (BBB) breach, neurofibrillary tang les and amyloid plaques. Also, emerging evidence has raised the possibility that instead of a secondary consequence, the neuroinflammation contributes to the development and early progression of AD. However, the mechanism underlying the blood-neural barrier (BNB), chronic inflammation and neuronal degenerative diseases (NDDs) remain to be elucidated.

To explore the role of the chronic inflammation in NDDs and delineate the early steps of these diseases, in vivo drug-induced and transgenic mouse models …

Blood-Tissue Barriers And Autoantibodies In Neurodegenerative Disease Pathogenesis: An Approach To Diagnostics And Disease Mechanism, Eric Luria Goldwaser

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Brain homeostasis can be affected in a number of ways that lead to gross anatomical, cellular, and molecular disturbances giving rise to diseases like Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias. Unfortunately, the mechanistic pathoetiology of AD’s hallmark features of cerebral amyloid plaque buildup and neuronal death are still disputed. Using human brain AD sections, immunohistochemistry experiments revealed internalized surface proteins, co-localized to an expanded lysosomal compartment. Other stains for amyloid-β1-42 (Aβ42) and various immunoglobulin (Ig) species displayed them leaking out of the cerebrovasculature through a dysfunctional blood-brain barrier (BBB), binding to neurons in the vicinity, and localizing to intracellular vesicles …

Hepatic Fibrosis And Immune Phenotype Vary By Hcv Viremia In Hcv/Hiv Co-Infected Subjects: A Women's Interagency Hiv Study., Seema N Desai, Jennifer L Dodge, Alan L Landay, Marshall J Glesby, Patricia S. Latham, Maria C Villacres, Audrey L French, Stephen J Gange, Ruth M Greenblatt, Marion G Peters

Pathology Faculty Publications

HCV and HIV independently lead to immune dysregulation. The mechanisms leading to advanced liver disease progression in HCV/HIV coinfected subjects remain unclear.

In this cross-sectional study, we assessed the association of HCV viremia, liver fibrosis, and immune response patterns in well-characterized HIV phenotypes: Elite controllers (Elites), HIV controlled (ARTc), and HIV uncontrolled (ARTuc) matched by age and race. Groups were stratified by HCV RNA status. Regulatory T-cell frequencies, T-cell activation (HLADR+CD38+), apoptosis (Caspase-3+), and intracellular cytokines (interferon-γ, IL-2, IL-17) were assessed using multiparametric flow-cytometry. Liver fibrosis was scored by AST to platelet ratio index (APRI).

We found liver fibrosis (APRI) …

Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion, Rodney Richmond

Faculty Research ​and Publications

No abstract provided.

Air Pollution, Pulmonary Oxidative Stress, And The Endothelin System In The Development Of Cardiovascular Injury., Jordan B. Finch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project was to examine the role of endothelin-1 (ET-1) as a mediator in the pathway between air pollution exposure and the development of vascular injury. A human cohort and male mice (C57BL/6 and ecSOD-Tg) were used to evaluate changes in the ET-1 system in response to exposures of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Human ET-1 levels were significantly associated with environmental factors and markers of vascular change, but were decreased with increased PM2.5. No association was seen between ET-1 and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) except for EPC-4, possibly indicating a regulatory relationship with this specific population. In …

Vinyl Chloride-Diet Interactions In Liver Disease : Potential Roles Of Autophagy And Energy Management., Anna L. Lang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vinyl chloride (VC) is a prevalent environmental toxicant that has been shown to cause liver injury at high, occupational exposures. However, most studies have not addressed interactions of low doses with risk-modifying factors. This study aims to explore low-level VC metabolite exposure interactions with other potential risk-modifying factors and their effect on underlying liver disease. We examined sub-hepatotoxic effects of a VC metabolite (chloroethanol, CE) in two murine models of liver injury using ethanol and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In both, CE significantly enhanced liver injury when compared to either ethanol or LPS alone. Previous studies have shown an increase in mTOR …

Advanced Interventional Therapy For Radiation-Induced Cardiovascular Disease, Daisy C Nieto

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

This report describes the case of a 61-year-old woman who presented with dyspnea, aortic stenosis, and coronary artery disease-typical side effects of radiation therapy for Hodgkin lymphoma. A poor candidate for surgery, she underwent successful high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention and subsequent transcatheter aortic valve replacement. This report highlights some of the cardiovascular-specific sequelae of radiation therapy for cancer treatment; in addition, possible directions for future investigations are discussed.

Coronary-Cameral Fistula Caused By Guidewire Trauma And Resolved By Coil Embolization, Suvro Banerjee, Soumya Patra

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

A 57-year-old woman presented with effort angina. A coronary angiogram revealed critical 2-vessel disease, for which she subsequently underwent percutaneous coronary intervention. During angioplasty, a coronary guidewire-inadvertently passed into the right ventricle through the septal branches of the posterior descending coronary artery-caused a coronary artery-to-right ventricular fistula. This fistula was successfully closed percutaneously by coil embolization. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a case in which a coronary artery-to-right ventricular fistula caused by a guidewire was managed successfully by coil embolization.

Endothelial Hspa12b Is A Novel Protein For The Preservation Of Cardiovascular Function In Polymicrobial Sepsis Via Exosome Mir-126, Xia Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sepsis is the most frequent cause of mortality in most intensive care units. Cardiovascular dysfunction is a major complication associated with sepsis, with high mortality rates up to 70%. Currently, there is no effective treatment approach for sepsis.

The integrity of the endothelium is fundamental for the homeostasis of the cardiovascular system. Sepsis induces endothelial cell injury which is the key factor for multiple organ failure. The increased expression of adhesion molecules and chemokines in endothelial cell promotes leukocytes infiltration into the tissue. The loss of tight junction proteins and increased permeability of the endothelial cells will provoke tissue hypoxia …

Identification Of Biomarkers Associated With Rous Sarcoma Virus-Induced Tumors In Two Divergently Selected Chicken Lines, Ashley Hayden

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Poultry has become especially important to genetic research due to breeding feasibility, short generation turnover, and ease of maintaining large populations. The discovery of virus induced cancer has paved the way for further genetic studies. Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) is a tumor-causing virus that infects poultry. While not prevalent today, it can serve as a model for virus-induced cancer in humans and create additional insight to marker assisted selection in poultry. Genetically selected Arkansas Progressor (AP) and Arkansas Regressor (AR) chicken lines have been established and maintained at the Arkansas Experimental Station (AES) in Fayetteville, AR. Previous research has investigated …

Repetitive, Pre-Anesthetic Fasting And Malnutrition In A Pediatric Oncology Population Undergoing Radiation Therapy, Laura P. Santibáñez

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Background: Pediatric oncology patients often experience nutritional status changes, particularly malnutrition, which may adversely affect their outcomes. Although the consequences of malnutrition are elucidated, its causes remain unclear. A possible cause of malnutrition in pediatric oncology patients is repetitive, pre-anesthetic fasting prior to non-invasive procedures and treatments, such as anesthesia-assisted radiation therapy (AART). This exploratory study investigated the association between repetitive, pre-anesthetic fasting and non-fasting days and malnutrition in pediatric oncology patients receiving AART.

Procedure: A retrospective cohort of 138 pediatric oncology patients (£ 10 years of age) who received any type of radiation therapy (RT) with or without anesthesia …

Underuse Of Oral Anticoagulants For Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation: Past, Present, And Future, Ramsey M Wehbe, Ajay Yadlapati

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

No abstract provided.

Periodontitis In Chronic Heart Failure, Hanna Fröhlich, Kristina Herrmann, Jennifer Franke, Alamara Karimi, Tobias Täger, Rita Cebola, Hugo A Katus, Christian Zugck, Lutz Frankenstein

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Periodontal disease has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether a correlation between periodontitis and chronic heart failure exists, as well as the nature of the underlying cause.

We enrolled 71 patients (mean age, 54 ± 13 yr; 56 men) who had stable chronic heart failure; all underwent complete cardiologic and dental evaluations. The periodontal screening index was used to quantify the degree of periodontal disease. We compared the findings to those in the general population with use of data from the 4th German Dental Health Survey.

Gingivitis, moderate …

Association Between High Endocardial Unipolar Voltage And Improved Left Ventricular Function In Patients With Ischemic Cardiomyopathy, Ki Park, Dejian Lai, Eileen M Handberg, Lem Moyé, Emerson C Perin, Carl J Pepine, R David Anderson

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

We know that endocardial mapping reports left ventricular electrical activity (voltage) and that these data can predict outcomes in patients undergoing traditional revascularization. Because the mapping data from experimental models have also been linked with myocardial viability, we hypothesized an association between increased unipolar voltage in patients undergoing intramyocardial injections and their subsequent improvement in left ventricular performance.

For this exploratory analysis, we evaluated 86 patients with left ventricular dysfunction, heart-failure symptoms, possible angina, and no revascularization options, who were undergoing endocardial mapping. Fifty-seven patients received bone marrow mononuclear cell (BMC) injections and 29 patients received cell-free injections of a …

Influences On Self-Care In Women With Heart Failure: A Pilot Study, Joy Corcione

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Background: Heart Failure self-care becomes exceedingly difficult to perform as the disease progresses; therefore social support becomes important in facilitating heart failure self-care. Woman with heart failure represent a significant and growing vulnerable population. Women tend to have lower self-confidence in providing self-care, experience greater negative emotions, decreased social support, experience more adverse psychosocial factors affecting self-care and experience greater psychosocial adversity than do men. Self-care is vital in managing heart failure and social support greatly facilitates self-care behaviors.

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to gain a deeper understanding about the sources of perceived social support and …

An Evaluation Of African American Fathers’ Perceptions And Influences On Child Food Choices And Physical Activity Behaviors, Valerie Annette Richardson

Dissertations

Child obesity is affecting children’s health nationwide. Rates are highest among African Americans (AA) in the South. Research has explored parents’ influence on child eating and activity, but most has reported on mothers’ influences. The purpose of this research was to investigate perceptions about AA fathers’ influences on their children’s eating and physical activity. Using a structured focus group questionnaire based on the parent layer constructs of Birch and Ventura’s Ecological Model for Child Overweight (2009), four focus groups were conducted with 28 AA fathers with children 6- to 11-years-old in a rural and an urban church setting in southeast …

Regulation Of Breast Cancer Initiation And Progression By 14-3-3zeta, Chia-Chi Chang

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

14-3-3ζ is a ubiquitously expressed family member of proteins that have been implicated to have oncogenic potential through its interactions and involvement in cancer initiation and progression. 14-3-3ζ belongs to the highly conserved 14-3-3ζ protein family and modulates numerous pathways in cancer. Overexpression of 14-3-3ζ is an early event, occurs in more than 40% of human breast cancer cases, and is associated with disease recurrence and poor prognosis. Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer. Cancer cells elevate aerobic glycolysis to produce metabolic intermediates and reducing equivalents, thereby facilitating cellular adaptation to the adverse environment and sustaining fast proliferation. Interestingly, …

Loss Of Exogenous Androgen Dependence By Prostate Tumor Cells Is Associated With Elevated Glucuronidation Potential, Brenna M. Zimmer, Michelle E. Howell, Qin Wei, Linlin Ma, Trevor Romsdahl, Eileen G. Loughman, Jennifer E. Markham, Javier Seravalli, Joseph J. Barycki, Melanie A. Simpson

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Prostate epithelial cells control the potency and availability of androgen hormones in part by inactivation and elimination. UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (UGDH) catalyzes the NAD⁺-dependent oxidation of UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronate, an essential precursor for androgen inactivation by the prostate glucuronidation enzymes UGT2B15 and UGT2B17. UGDH expression is androgen stimulated, which increases the production of UDP-glucuronate, and fuels UGT-catalyzed glucuronidation. In this study, we compared the glucuronidation potential and its impact on androgen-mediated gene expression in an isogenic LNCaP model for androgen dependent versus castration resistant prostate cancer. Despite significantly lower androgen-glucuronide output, LNCaP 81 castration resistant tumor cells expressed higher …

Epigenetic Modulation In Braf Mutated Metastatic Colorectal Cancer, Van Morris

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Introduction: BRAF V600E mutations are associated with poor clinical outcomes for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Unlike other tumors with the same mutation, BRAF inhibitors are ineffective as monotherapy. CRC tumors with BRAF V600E mutations are associated with global hypermethylation, which may turn off tumor suppressor gene expression. We studied demethylation in BRAF V600E mCRC to restore sensitivity to BRAF inhibitors.

Methods: Tumor databanks were investigated for genes differentially expressed according to BRAF mutation status to identify genes which may be particularly susceptible to epigenetic influence. Mouse xenograft models of BRAFV600E mCRC were treated with vemurafenib or azacitidine, alone …