Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating Causal Associations Among Inflammatory Proteins, Blood Metabolites, And Alzheimer’S Disease Risk, Shuai Liu, Jingjing Zhu, Hua Zhong, Dan Zhou, Quan Long, Zichen Zhang, Xiaochen Yang, Qing Wu, Chao Cheng, Jianyong Wu, Hung N Luu, Jing Wang, Bingxin Zhao, Chong Wu, Youping Deng, Lang Wu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a prevalent degenerative neurological disorder with limited treatment options. Prior studies reported specific metabolites and inflammatory proteins to be related to AD risk. However, the intricate relationship between inflammatory proteins, blood metabolites, and AD risk in European population remains unclear. Genetic instruments for 1,091 metabolites and 736 inflammatory proteins were derived from two recent comprehensive genome-wide association studies. Univariable Mendelian Randomization was employed to assess potential causal effects of metabolites on AD risk, potential effects of inflammatory proteins on metabolites, and effects of inflammatory proteins on AD risk. Multivariable MR (MVMR) was further applied to disentangle …

Heads Up! Designing A Nursing Assessment Tool For Early Recognition Of Intracranial Hypertension Post Head Injury, Sergio A. Dondiego

Honors Capstones

This meta-analysis identifies noninvasive clinical predictors of intracranial hypertension (IH) post head trauma to develop a multi-criteria IH screening tool designed for nurses to wear on their badge reels. High-sensitivity predictors were prioritized to assist in early IH suspicion. Findings suggest that radiographic-measured abnormalities including an optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) 5.6 mm and signs of significant head trauma via computed tomography (CT) were highly effective for predicting IH and were therefore defined as major criteria for the assessment tool. Other significant examination findings include a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score 8 and atypical pupillary reactivity. While age showed conflicting …

Tractor Workflow: A Scalable Nextflow Framework For Local Ancestry-Aware Genome-Wide Association Studies, Nirav N Shah, Taotao Tan, Jessica Honorato-Mauer, Yi-Sian Lin, Adam X Maihofer, Clement C Zai, Pgc-Ptsd Ancestry Working Group, Marcos Santoro, Caroline M Nievergelt, Elizabeth G Atkinson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Motivation: The routine exclusion of admixed individuals from traditional genome-wide association studies (GWAS) due to concerns about spurious associations has limited multi-ancestry genetic discovery. Tractor addresses this issue by incorporating local ancestry into association testing, enabling the identification of ancestry-enriched signals and generating ancestry-specific summary statistics. However, adoption has been constrained by the complexity of prerequisite steps, including phasing and local ancestry inference, which require substantial bioinformatics expertise and introduce key analytical decision points.

Results: We developed a scalable, automated Nextflow workflow that integrates phasing, local ancestry inference, and Tractor association testing into a reproducible end-to-end pipeline. To demonstrate its …

Nuclear Export As A Therapeutic Vulnerability In Zfta-Rela Ependymoma, Siri M Ippagunta, Amir Arabzade, Srinidhi Varadharajan, Erik Emanus, Amanda Bland, Alisha Kardian, Nicholas Laboe, Hua Sun, Tuyu Zheng, Amelia Hancock, Mark Zhai, Emma Caesar, Maxwell Park, Wilda Orisme, Melissa Johnson, Brittany Rodgers, Gregory H Turner, Jeffrey Steinberg, Burgess Freeman, Martine F Roussel, Anang Shelat, Richard Kriwacki, Thomas E Merchant, Benjamin Deneen, Michael D Taylor, Sameer Agnihotri, Shondra Pruett-Miller, Jacob A Steele, Anoop Murthy Kavirayani, David W Ellison, Arzu Onar-Thomas, Giles Robinson, Stephen C Mack, Kelsey C Bertrand

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Ependymoma (EPN) is the third most common pediatric brain tumor with no targeted therapies available to patients. In supratentorial ependymoma, the most frequent driver alteration is a gene fusion between ZFTA and RELA (denoted ZR), leads to constitutive localization of ZR in the nucleus. Because ZR is not currently druggable, we tested whether ZR expression leads to aberrant protein interactions that could represent therapeutic vulnerabilities.

Methods: Using CRISPR-Cas9 pooled screening, we identified many novel druggable ZR interacting proteins including XPO1, CARM1, SMARCA4, and CDK1. We focused on the nuclear export protein (XPO1), given the ability of most XPO1 inhibitors …

Experiences Of Discrimination, Paternal Support, And Hypertensive Disorders Of Pregnancy (Hdp) In The Miehr Study, Houston, Texas, Tahereh Alinia, Elaine Symanski, Juan Manuel Alvarez, Kristina Walker Whitworth

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Discrimination is a psychosocial stressor that, through activation of stress-response pathways, may influence risk of adverse perinatal health outcomes. However, few studies have evaluated the association between discrimination and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), and none have explored effect modification by race or paternal support, which may buffer the adverse effects of discrimination.

Methods: We included 1,847 non-Hispanic Black and White participants from the Maternal and Infant Environmental Health Riskscape (MIEHR) study. Krieger's validated Experiences of Discrimination (EOD) scale was used to assess occurrence (yes/no) and frequency (once, 2-3, ≥ 4 times) of discrimination in nine situations. We created …

Minimal Change Disease Following B-Cell Maturation Antigen-Directed Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy, Kiran Shivaraj, Omar Mamlouk, Amanda Tchakarov, Krina Patel, Ala Abudayyeh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a well-recognized complication of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, typically attributed to cytokine release syndrome and acute tubular injury. However, glomerular disease post CAR-T cell is rare. We report a case of minimal change disease presenting with AKI and nephrotic-range proteinuria 3 weeks after B-cell maturation antigen-directed CAR-T cell therapy, ciltacabtagene autoleucel, in a patient with relapsed refractory multiple myeloma. The kidney biopsy revealed diffuse podocyte foot process effacement and a predominance of CD4+ T cells with potential on-target, off-tumor effect of B-cell maturation antigen-directed CAR-T cell therapy, leading to podocyte injury. The patient …

Donor Sex And Platelet Storage Change The Therapeutic Effects Of Platelet-Derived Extracellular Vesicles On Endothelium, Mandeep Kaur, Malvika Gupta, Sowmya Shree Gopal, Charles E Wade, Jessica C Cardenas, Amit K Srivastava

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (PEVs) play an active role in vascular protection and repair and are being explored as a viable alternative to platelet therapy. Because platelet function and stability are shaped by donor sex and storage conditions, these same factors are likely to influence the PEVs they release. Understanding these influences is key to developing PEVs into a safe and dependable therapeutic option. In this study, we investigated how donor sex and platelet storage affect the therapeutic properties of PEVs. To address this, PEVs were isolated from platelets of healthy male and female donors. Platelets were either processed immediately after …

Targeting The Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation To Improve Depression And Anxiety In Parkinson's Disease, Brock Renicks

Honors Theses

The aim of this study is to observe the outcomes of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a treatment for Parkinson’s Disease (PD). This study will primarily look at changes in depression and anxiety, as these symptoms are often comorbid with Parkinson’s Disease. Transcranial direct current stimulation is a non-invasive, very low-intensity form of electrical stimulation of the brain. It is being increasingly used as a form of treatment for Parkinson’s Disease and depression and anxiety, however the literature is ambiguous, showing mixed results throughout various studies, with no standardization of tDCS administration. To determine the effect of tDCS on …

Plasma Constituents Promote Endothelial Thromboinflammatory Dysfunction After Hemorrhagic Shock, Kelly E Sanders, Marissa D Pokharel, Baron K Osborn, Yao-Wei Wang, Charles E Wade, Lucy Z Kornblith, Mitchell J Cohen, Jessica C Cardenas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Hemorrhagic shock (HS) following traumatic injury is hallmarked by innate immune activation, hypercoagulability, and thromboinflammatory complications. To date, the direct link between HS, injury severity, and endothelial cell (EC) contributions to thromboinflammation remains poorly understood. The goals of this study were to determine the impact of injury severity and HS on endothelial-mediated thromboinflammation and examine whether these changes increase the propensity for thrombosis.

Methods: Plasma from 89 male trauma patients, stratified by HS and injury severity, and 10 healthy subjects were assessed for inflammatory mediators by BioPlex. Human lung microvascular endothelial cells were exposed to patient plasma for 4 …

Advances In Glp-1 Receptor Agonists Delivery Systems For Obesity And Diabetes, Mehrnaz Abbasi, Kai Sun, Kevin W Huggins, Braeden Heath, Hannah Deloit, Lauren Mcginness, Kate Mccamy

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

Obesity and diabetes are chronic metabolic diseases affecting millions worldwide. Current treatments, including lifestyle changes, medications, and surgery, face challenges like poor adherence and side effects. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are recommended innovative medications for these conditions, with studies showing significant clinical benefits. GLP-1RAs are traditionally delivered orally or via subcutaneous injections, but these methods have limitations, including low bioavailability, poor solubility, the need for high doses, gastrointestinal side effects, and frequent dosing requirements. Novel delivery technologies offer promising strategies to overcome these challenges and enhance therapeutic effectiveness. Recent advances in drug delivery technologies, including nanocarrier- and microcarrier-based systems, …

An Investigation Of The Roles Aging, Gender And Age-Related Hearing Loss Play In Emotional Prosody Recognition, Giavanna Yowell

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Emotional prosody recognition is crucial for social interactions but is influenced by aging, gender, and age-related hearing loss (Lambrecht et al., 2012; Oerlemans et al., 2014; Palermo et al., 2013). No past studies have looked at all of these factors collectively. To address this shortcoming, the current study explored the relationships between aging, hearing loss and gender differences in emotional prosody recognition. The ability to recognize emotions through facial expressions was also included as a comparative measure. One hundred fifteen individuals (42 men and 73 women), ages 50 and older (M = 60.39, SD = 8.12), completed a hearing handicap …

Population Pharmacokinetics And Dosing Simulations Of Pentobarbital In The Pediatric Population, Victoria Etges Helfer, Lorena Medina-Aymerich, William J. Muller, Marisa Meyer, Amira Al-Uzri, Russell Mcculloh, Chi D. Hornik, Stephen J. Balevic, Rachel G. Greenberg, Daniel K. Benjamin, Sarah G. Anderson, Daniel Gonzalez

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Papers

Pentobarbital is a barbiturate with sedative and anticonvulsant properties, occasionally used in pediatric patients for preoperative sedation, deep sedation during mechanical ventilation, and seizure control. Despite its long-standing clinical use, age-appropriate dosing remains challenging due to variability across studies and limited pediatric pharmacokinetic (PK) data. This study (NCT01431326) aimed to characterize the population pharmacokinetics of pentobarbital in pediatric patients (birth to 21 years) and evaluate dosing strategies using model-based simulations. A two-compartment population PK model, allometrically scaled to total body weight, adequately described pentobarbital plasma concentrations, with no additional covariates identified as significant. Simulations were conducted across four age groups: …

Factors Associated With Postpartum Depression Symptoms Following Antepartum Hospitalization, Alison N Goulding, Daniel Palacios, Sukru Aras, Hu Chen, Sasidhar Pasupuleti, Marika Toscano, Nicole Cirino, Israel C Christie, Zhandong Liu, Emily S Miller, Terri L Fletcher

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Background: Hospitalized antepartum patients are at increased risk for postpartum depression (PPD). Developing approaches to identify those at highest risk for PPD would enable timely and targeted intervention.

Objective: We aimed to identify factors associated with the development of PPD symptoms in hospitalized antepartum patients and to assess their predictive utility.

Study design: This retrospective cohort study included pregnant individuals hospitalized in a regional referral center due to medical or obstetric complications between 2012 and 2025. Data were extracted from the electronic health record, including demographics, medical and obstetric history, hospitalization characteristics, and postpartum Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scores …

Interplay Between Genetic Ancestry, Self-Reported Race And Ethnicity, And Clinical Factors In Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Redial Consortium Report, Pragati Kore, Jennifer M Geris, Maria Leon-Camarena, Maria I Castellanos, Olga A Taylor, Veronica Garcia-Morales, Austin L Brown, Pagna Sok, Jeremy M Schraw, Van Huynh, Kathleen F Ludwig, Laura J Klesse, Sandi L Pruitt, Amy E Hughes, Kevin Tien, Kenneth M Heym, Timothy Griffin, Rodrigo Erana, Juan Carlos Bernini, Maria M Gramatges, Elizabeth G Atkinson, Philip J Lupo, Michael E Scheurer, Karen R Rabin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer in children, and its incidence and outcomes vary by race and ethnicity.

Methods: The Reducing Ethnic Disparities in Acute Leukemia (REDIAL) Consortium has assembled a cohort of patients < 25 years at diagnosis to examine genetic and neighborhood-level factors influencing ALL. As the cohort is ongoing, for this report, we examined sociodemographic and cytogenetic factors that might be associated with ALL outcome disparities.

Results: Among 2,512 patients diagnosed between 2005 and 2020, we observed distinct patterns of genetic ancestry and residential characteristics across self-reported race and ethnicity. Latino children, who comprised 55.3% of the cohort, had a mean Amerindigenous ancestry proportion of 50.9%, whereas non-Latino White children exhibited a predominantly European ancestry (mean = 78%). Neighborhood-level analysis revealed significant socioeconomic and geographic differences by …

Single-Nuclei Transcriptomic Profiling Of Human Myocardium In Long-Chain 3-Hydroxyacyl-Coenzyme A Dehydrogenase Deficiency, Hanna J Tadros, Diwakar Turaga, Yi Zhao, Chang-Ru Tsai, Lalita Wadhwa, Debra L Kearney, Iki Adachi, Xiao Li, James F Martin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Plasma Metabolites After 10-Weeks Of Glucose Vs Fructose-Sweetened Beverages In Subjects With Overweight/Obesity, Mélanie Guirette, Danielle E Haslam, Jiantao Ma, Peter J Havel, Kimber L Stanhope, Olga Ilkayeva, Christopher B Newgard, Nicola M Mckeown, Mark A Herman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

To identify metabolites as potential biomarkers of fructose vs glucose consumption and related metabolic changes, we conducted exploratory metabolomic profiling of fasting blood samples from participants in a double-blind, parallel-arm trial involving 31 male and female adults with overweight or obesity, both before and after supplementation with glucose- or fructose-sweetened beverages. Orthogonal Partial Least Square Discriminatory Analysis (OPLS-DA) was used to identify metabolites that could discriminate between the 2 intervention groups. Changes in 16 metabolites (5 of which are branched-chain amino acid catabolic pathway metabolites) and the branched chain keto acid (BCKA) composite score showed nominal (FDR adjusted P-value …

Robot-Assisted Resection Of Diaphragmatic And Hepatorenal Recess Peritoneal Endometriosis: Two Cases And A Narrative Review, Xiaoming Guan, Qiannan Yang, Daniel Y Lovell, Chunhua Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

In this report, we describe two cases of diaphragmatic endometriosis with concurrent hepatorenal recess peritoneal involvement managed using robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery with the da Vinci Xi platform. In both patients, diaphragmatic implants and hepatorenal recess peritoneal lesions were excised en bloc, followed by resection of additional pelvic and abdominal lesions. Case 1 involved a 45-year-old woman whose pathology confirmed endometriosis in 28 of 46 sites, including the diaphragm, umbilicus, bowel, hepatorenal recess peritoneum, and pelvic peritoneum. Case 2 involved a 32-year-old woman with histopathologic evidence of endometriosis in 26 of 34 resected sites, including the appendix, diaphragm, hepatorenal recess peritoneum, …

Derivation And Validation Of The Pediatric Community-Acquired Pneumonia Severity (Pedcaps) Score: A Prospective Cohort Study, Todd A Florin, Ron Reeder, Lilliam Ambroggio, Richard M Ruddy, Samir S Shah, Allison Cator, Matthew J Lipshaw, Geoffrey A Capraro, Laura F Sartori, Amy Y Cheng, Leah Tzimenatos, Patrick S Walsh, Claudia R Morris, Chris A Rees, Son H Mclaren, Tamar R Lubell, Chari D Larsen, Justin Moher, Eileen J Klein, Shubhada Hooli, Nathan Kuppermann

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a frequent and costly cause of pediatric emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. Previous prognostic tools for CAP are limited by small samples, single-center or retrospective designs, lack of generalizability to ED settings, lack of biomarkers, or limited objective data. To overcome these limitations, we will derive and externally validate a prediction rule for pediatric CAP severity in a large, multicenter prospective cohort.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort study of children 3 months to 18 years old with CAP who present to EDs within the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network. Enrollment began 8/2023 …

Noncanonical Clock Regulators Control Stress Responses In Digestive Diseases, Dishu Zhou, Roberto E López-Valiente, Samer G Mattar, Dongyin Guan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The digestive system is essential for nutrient absorption, processing, and waste elimination. The expression of many genes and physiological processes within this system exhibits a 24-h rhythmicity. However, modern lifestyle factors, such as jet lag, shift work, and irregular eating patterns, significantly disrupt these rhythms, triggering various stress responses and contributing to numerous digestive disorders. Here, we focus on emerging studies on noncanonical clock regulators involved in stress responses, integrate these novel findings into the established model of the core circadian clock, and highlight recent advances in the development of novel therapeutics targeting these 24-h regulators. In addition, we discuss …

Dyadic Agreement In And Task Correlates To A Measurement Of Conversational Success, Samantha Budge

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Successful conversation matters for social connection, wellbeing, and quality of life, but people do not always agree on whether a conversation was successful, even when they participated in the same interaction. Conversation is also commonly measured through task success, even though it’s unclear how task success correlates to how successful a conversation feels. This study examined how conversational success is experienced by different conversation partners and whether feeling successful in a conversation is related to how well a task is completed.

Participants took part in a structured conversational task and then rated their own conversational experience using a self-report questionnaire …

Optimized Ultrasound Imaging Of Phase-Change Nanodroplets, Charles R Dyall, Dmitry Nevozhay, Andy Liu, Trevor M Mitcham, George J Lu, Konstantin V Sokolov, Richard R Bouchard

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Phase-change nanodroplets (PCNDs) continue to generate significant research interest due to their potential to extravasate into tissue, to be targeted for molecular imaging and drug delivery, and to undergo an induced phase-change to "activated" microbubbles (MBs) for ultrasound (US) imaging. To accurately quantify molecular markers, however, one assumes a consistent proportion of PCNDs in a region of interest (ROI) are stably activated and imaged. Herein we present a framework for developing a diagnostic sequence that is optimized for PCND activation uniformity, contrast, and acquisition time. To develop this framework, activation was examined at three scales of increasing complexity: single, adjacent, …

Corrigendum To 'Risk Factors For Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome After Initial Detection Of Pulmonary Impairment After Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation' [Transplantation And Cellular Therapy 29/3 (2023) 204-204], Mansour Alkhunaizi, Badar Patel, Luis Bueno, Neel Bhan, Tahreem Ahmed, Muhammad H Arain, Rima Saliba, Gabriela Rondon, Burton F Dickey, Lara Bashoura, David E Ost, Liang Li, Shikun Wang, Elizabeth Shpall, Richard E Champlin, Rohtesh Mehta, Uday R Popat, Chitra Hosing, Amin M Alousi, Ajay Sheshadri

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Potential Impact Of Parasites In The Transmission Of Chronic Wasting Disease, Paulina Soto, Rodrigo Morales

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

A Rare Case Of Gastric Ascariasis, Sharon Pan, Kevin Yu, Blaine A Mathison, Yan Gao, Marc Roger Couturier, Salem Muayad, Violeta Chávez, Ranya Selim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Ascariasis, caused by the parasitic roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides, is one of the most common helminthic infections globally. Spread by contaminated soil through the fecal-oral route, A. lumbricoides typically infects the small intestine and has rarely been reported to infect the stomach.

Case summary: We describe an unusual case of a male in his 30s with a history of neuroendocrine tumor (NET) who immigrated from Colombia and who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and colonoscopy for further evaluation of abdominal pain. He was incidentally found to have a female Ascaris worm in his stomach that was retrieved during the EGD.

Conclusion: …

Multidisciplinary Approach To Complex Lower Extremity Limb Salvage In Pyogenic Arthritis, Pyoderma Gangrenosum, And Acne (Papa) Syndrome: A Case Report, Michael M Talanker, Anthony V Basta, Tien Do, Robert Tung, Addison Allen, Morgan Martin, Bryan L Ruygrok, Patrick J Kellam, Jeffrey G Trost, Mohin A Bhadkamkar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Limb salvage using free tissue transfer in patients with rare autoinflammatory syndromes is poorly described, and the safety of microvascular reconstruction in this population remains uncertain. Hereditary pyogenic arthritis, pyoderma gangrenosum, and acne (PAPA) syndrome is characterized by dysregulated inflammation, pathergy, and impaired wound healing, raising concern for flap compromise and postoperative complications. We report a rare case of lower extremity free tissue transfer in a patient with PAPA syndrome. A 66-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis and PAPA syndrome presented with rapid wound breakdown, violaceous ulceration, exposed hardware, and periprosthetic joint infection following left total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Examination revealed …

Severe, Non-Apneic Respiratory Dysfunction And Hypoxia Following Generalized Convulsive Seizures, Haley E Pysick, Rup K Sainju, Roshni Nair, Deidre N Dragon, Eduardo Bravo, Laura Vilella, Xiaojin Li, Samden D Lhatoo, George B Richerson, Brian K Gehlbach

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a devastating consequence of some generalized convulsive seizures (GCS). Recent work has focused on seizure related apnea as a biomarker of SUDEP risk, frequently without characterizing the adequacy of non-apneic ventilation or identifying other dysfunctional breathing patterns. We hypothesized that GCS frequently induce immediate, severe, non-apneic respiratory dysfunction that can induce critical hypoxia and bradycardia and sought to characterize breathing patterns after GCS.

Methods: Adult patients admitted to an epilepsy monitoring unit were studied. The effects of GCS on breathing and heart rate were analyzed using nasal pressure transducers, chest and abdominal …

Assessment Of Skin In Patients With Systemic Sclerosis Using High-Frequency Ultrasound And Shear Wave Elastography: A Comparative Study With Histology, Molecular, And Clinical Parameters, Ruhani Desai, Filemon Tan, Minghua Wu, Jeffery L Browning, Samuel Theodore, Meng Zhang, Brian Skaug, Harshdeep Singh Chawla, Manmohan Singh, Salavat Aglyamov, Kirill V Larin, Maureen Mayes, Shervin Assassi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Ultrasound (US) has been proposed as a potential tool for assessing skin fibrosis in systemic sclerosis (SSc). However, a large-scale comparison of US-based assessment with histologic markers of skin fibrosis has not been reported. We evaluated US-based skin assessments for their face validity (differentiation between involved SSc and healthy control [HC] skin), construct validity (comparison to modified Rodnan skin score [mRSS]), and criterion validity (comparison to histologic and gene expression fibrosis markers).

Methods: Twenty HCs and 52 patients with SSc underwent clinical and US assessment followed by a forearm skin biopsy. Predefined areas were assessed on the finger, hand, …

Brief Report: Hepatitis B Vaccination Histories In Persons With Hiv Needing Revaccination, Minhee Kang, Triin Umbleja, Anchalee Avihingsanon, Sandra W Cardoso, Josphat Kosgei, Karen J Vigil, Ta Thi Dieu Ngan, Unoda Chakalisa, Stephanie Caruso, Kenneth E Sherman, Kristen M Marks

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Past studies of hepatitis B vaccines in people with HIV (PWH) have shown mixed results about improving responses with increases in dose or dose frequency, leading to inconsistent guidelines and practice. We examined vaccine series completion and revaccinations in PWH lacking a seroprotective response.

Methods: Hepatitis B vaccination histories were evaluated as a retrospective study in 561 participants of A5379 trial (NCT04193189). Individuals in 41 sites in Africa, Asia, South America, and the United States qualified for the trial with antibody titers below the seroprotective level (< 10 mIU/mL) despite past hepatitis B vaccinations. The primary measure of interest was the number of vaccines in the past vaccination records.

Results: Of the 1098 trial candidates, 561 (51%) did not …

Quantitative Muscle Magnetic Resonance Imaging Demonstrates Resolution Of Muscle Edema In Refractory Dermatomyositis: A Post Hoc Analysis Of A Proof-Of-Concept Clinical Trial Of Tofacitinib, Mona Dabiri, Anshula Nallapati, Marwin Groener, Patrick Debs, Jemima Albayda, Eleni Tiniakou, Lisa Christopher-Stine, Laura Fayad, Julie J Paik

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To evaluate changes in muscle edema using short-tau inversion recovery (STIR) imaging and quantitative diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) mapping in patients with refractory dermatomyositis (DM) treated with tofacitinib.

Methods: This post hoc imaging analysis included patients from a 12-week, open-label trial of tofacitinib 11 mg daily in refractory DM. Bilateral thigh magnetic resonance imaging was obtained at baseline and week 12 using standardized STIR, T1-weighted, and DWI sequences. Muscle edema (ME) and fascial edema were assessed qualitatively on STIR imaging. ADC values were measured in muscles demonstrating baseline STIR hyperintensity using three nonoverlapping regions of …

Race To Mitigate Aortic Dissection: Exercise, Pde5a, And The Dissecting Aorta, Siddharth K Prakash

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.