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Increased Rate Of Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections In Hospitalized Immunocompromised Pediatric Patients, Sarah Khafaja, Yara Salameh, Celina F Boutros, Cherine Awad, Kawthar Faour, Nadim Tfaily, Sarah Merhi, Zeinab El Zein, Samer Bou Karroum, Dana Oweini, Danielle Fayad, George F Araj, Ramia Zakhour, Ghassan S Dbaibo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections are considered a major public health threat. Immunocompromised pediatric patients are at a great risk of severe or overwhelming infections. The aim of this study was to describe the frequency of infections with multidrug resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) in immunocompromised pediatric patients and to determine the risk factors. In addition, we aimed to identify the antimicrobial resistance patterns of these isolates.

Materials and methods: This was a retrospective observational study conducted at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) from 2009 to 2017. The study included immunocompromised patients 18 years of age …

Activation Of Piezo1 Increases The Sensitivity Of Breast Cancer To Hyperthermia Therapy, Shao-Kang Wang, Xiao-Ting Zhang, Xuan-Yao Jiang, Bi-Jiang Geng, Tao-Lin Qing, Lei Li, Yun Chen, Jin-Feng Li, Xiao-Fang Zhang, Shuo-Gui Xu, Jiang-Bo Zhu, Yu-Ping Zhu, Mei-Tang Wang, Ji-Kuai Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Photothermal therapy (PTT) of nanomaterials is an emerging novel therapeutic strategy for breast cancer. However, there exists an urgent need for appropriate strategies to enhance the antitumor efficacy of PTT and minimize damage to surrounding normal tissues. Piezo1 might be a promising novel photothermal therapeutic target for breast cancer. This study aims to explore the potential role of Piezo1 activation in the hyperthermia therapy of breast cancer cells and investigate the underlying mechanisms. Results showed that the specific agonist of Piezo1 ion channel (Yoda1) aggravated the cell death of breast cancer cells triggered by heat stress

Willingness To Accept Monkeypox Vaccine And Its Correlates Among Men Who Have Sex With Men In Southern China: A Web-Based Online Cross-Sectional Study, Xinju Huang, Zhifeng Lin, Jiao Qin, Dee Yu, Fei Zhang, Ganggang Fang, Xi Chen, Jinfeng He, Ping Cen, Mu Li, Rongjing Zhang, Tong Luo, Junjun Jiang, Sanqi An, Hao Liang, Li Ye, Bingyu Liang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The May 2022 global outbreak of monkeypox (MPX) poses a threat to the health of men who have sex with men. However, there is limited data on the willingness of MSM to receive monkeypox vaccination in Southern China. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of MPX, concerns regarding MPX, and willingness to receive monkeypox vaccination, as well as their correlates, among MSM in China.

METHODS: We conducted a Web-based online survey of MSM in Southern China from August to September 2022. Data were collected on the socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, worries, concerns regarding MPX and willingness to receive monkeypox …

Covid-19 Convalescent Plasma Therapy: Long-Term Implications, Hyunah Yoon, Yi Li, Keith S Goldfeld, Gia F Cobb, Caroline L Sturm-Reganato, Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, Dushyantha T Jayaweera, Julie V Philley, Mahalia S Desruisseaux, Marla J Keller, Judith S Hochman, Liise-Anne Pirofski, Mila B Ortigoza

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The long-term effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) acute treatments on postacute sequelae of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (PASC) is unknown. The CONTAIN-Extend study explores the long-term impact of COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) therapy on postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) symptoms and general health 18 months following hospitalization.

METHODS: The CONTAIN-Extend study examined 281 participants from the original CONTAIN COVID-19 trial (CONTAIN-RCT, NCT04364737) at 18 months post-hospitalization for acute COVID-19. Symptom surveys, global health assessments, and biospecimen collection were performed from November 2021 to October 2022. Multivariable logistic and linear regression estimated associations between …

Multiple Unfolded Protein Response Pathways Cooperate To Link Cytosolic Dsdna Release To Stimulator Of Interferon Gene Activation, Tiancheng Hu, Yiping Liu, Jeremy Fleck, Cason King, Elaine Schalk, Zhenyu Zhang, Andrew Mehle, Judith A Smith

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) sensor STING has been increasingly implicated in responses to "sterile" endogenous threats and pathogens without nominal DNA or cyclic di-nucleotide stimuli. Previous work showed an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response, known as the unfolded protein response (UPR), activates STING. Herein, we sought to determine if ER stress generated a STING ligand, and to identify the UPR pathways involved. Induction of IFN-β expression following stimulation with the UPR inducer thapsigargin (TPG) or oxygen glucose deprivation required both STING and the dsDNA-sensing cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS). Furthermore, TPG increased cytosolic mitochondrial DNA, and immunofluorescence visualized dsDNA punctae in …

Post-Covid-19 Cognitive Symptoms In Patients Assisted By A Teleassistance Service: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Lívia Paula Freire Bonfim, Thais Rotsen Correa, Bruno Cabaleiro Cortizo Freire, Thais Marques Pedroso, Daniella Nunes Pereira, Thalita Baptisteli Fernandes, Luciane Kopittke, Clara Rodrigues Alves De Oliveira, Antonio Lucio Teixeira, Milena Soriano Marcolino

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Four years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the frequency of long-term post-COVID-19 cognitive symptoms is a matter of concern given the impact it may have on the work and quality of life of affected people.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the incidence of post-acute COVID-19 cognitive symptoms, as well as the associated risk factors.

METHODS: Retrospective cohort, including outpatients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and who were assisted by a public telehealth service provided by the Telehealth Network of Minas Gerais (TNMG), during the acute phase of the disease, between December/2020 and March/2022. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire, applied …

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Novel Perspectives - How To Teach An Old Dog New Tricks, Tamar Tadmor, Jan Burger

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Synergistic Effects Of Β-Nafeo2 Ferrite Nanoparticles For Photocatalytic Degradation, Antibacterial, And Antioxidant Applications†, Forsad Al Hossain, M Tanjid Hasan Tonmoy, Sri Nuvvula, Brittany P Chapman, Rajesh K Gupta, Andrew A Lover, Rhoel R Dinglasan, Stephanie Carreiro, Tauhidur Rahman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Syndromic surveillance is an effective tool for enabling the timely detection of infectious disease outbreaks and facilitating the implementation of effective mitigation strategies by public health authorities. While various information sources are currently utilized to collect syndromic signal data for analysis, the aggregated measurement of cough, an important symptom for many illnesses, is not widely employed as a syndromic signal. With recent advancements in ubiquitous sensing technologies, it becomes feasible to continuously measure population-level cough incidence in a contactless, unobtrusive, and automated manner. In this work, we demonstrate the utility of monitoring aggregated cough count as a syndromic indicator to …

Therapeutic Efficacy Of A Potent Anti-Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus Antibody Is Contingent On Fc Effector Functionslc6a1 Variant Pathogenicity, Molecular Function And Phenotype: A Genetic And Clinical Analysis, Jennifer L Schwedler, Maxwell A Stefan, Christine E Thatcher, Peter R Mcilroy, Anupama Sinha, Ashlee M Phillips, Christopher A Sumner, Colleen M Courtney, Christina Y Kim, Dina R Weilhammer, Brooke Harmon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The development of specific, safe, and potent monoclonal antibodies (Abs) has led to novel therapeutic options for infectious disease. In addition to preventing viral infection through neutralization, Abs can clear infected cells and induce immunomodulatory functions through engagement of their crystallizable fragment (Fc) with complement proteins and Fc receptors on immune cells. Little is known about the role of Fc effector functions of neutralizing Abs in the context of encephalitic alphavirus infection. To determine the role of Fc effector function in therapeutic efficacy against Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), we compared the potently neutralizing anti-VEEV human IgG F5 (hF5) Ab …

Faslpr Gene Dosage Tunes The Extent Of Lymphoproliferation And T Cell Differentiation In Lupus, Ritu Bohat, Xiaofang Liang, Yanping Chen, Chunyu Xu, Ningbo Zheng, Ashley Guerrero, Jiakai Hou, Roshni Jaffery, Nicholas A Egan, Yaxi Li, Yitao Tang, Esra Unsal, Adolfo Robles, Si Chen, Angela M Major, Hadil Elldakli, Sang-Hyuk Chung, Han Liang, M John Hicks, Yong Du, Jamie S Lin, Xiqun Chen, Chandra Mohan, Weiyi Peng

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Sle1 and Fas^lpr are two lupus susceptibility loci that lead to manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. To evaluate the dosage effects of Fas^lpr in determining cellular and serological phenotypes associated with lupus, we developed a new C57BL/6 (B6) congenic lupus strain, B6.Sle1/Sle1.Fas^lpr/+ (Sle1homo.lprhet) and compared it with B6.Fas^lpr/lpr (lprhomo), B6.Sle1/Sle1 (Sle1homo), and B6.Sle1/Sle1.Fas^lpr/lpr (Sle1homo.lprhomo) strains. Whereas Sle1homo.lprhomo mice exhibited profound lymphoproliferation and early mortality, Sle1homo.lprhet mice had a lifespan comparable to B6 mice, with no evidence of splenomegaly or lymphadenopathy. Compared to B6 monogenic lupus strains, Sle1homo.lprhet mice exhibited significantly …

Parents' Stigmatizing Beliefs About The Hpv Vaccine And Their Association With Information Seeking Behavior And Vaccination Communication Behaviors, Ashley Hedrick Mckenzie, Ross Shegog, Lara S Savas, C Mary Healy, L Aubree Shay, Sharice Preston, Sharon Coan, Travis Teague, Erica Frost, Stanley W Spinner, Sally W Vernon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Parents' stigmatizing beliefs about the HPV vaccine, such as beliefs that it promotes adolescent sexual activity, constitute a notable barrier to vaccine uptake. The purpose of this study is to describe the associations between parents' stigmatizing beliefs about the HPV vaccine, psychosocial antecedents to vaccination, and parents' intentions to vaccinate their children. Parents of vaccine-eligible children (

Para-Infectious Brain Injury In Covid-19 Persists At Follow-Up Despite Attenuated Cytokine And Autoantibody Responses, Benedict D Michael, Cordelia Dunai, Edward J Needham, Kukatharmini Tharmaratnam, Robyn Williams, Yun Huang, Sarah A Boardman, Jordan J Clark, Parul Sharma, Krishanthi Subramaniam, Greta K Wood, Ceryce Collie, Richard Digby, Alexander Ren, Emma Norton, Maya Leibowitz, Soraya Ebrahimi, Andrew Fower, Hannah Fox, Esteban Tato, Mark A Ellul, Geraint Sunderland, Marie Held, Claire Hetherington, Franklyn N Egbe, Alish Palmos, Kathy Stirrups, Alexander Grundmann, Anne-Cecile Chiollaz, Jean-Charles Sanchez, James P Stewart, Michael Griffiths, Tom Solomon, Gerome Breen, Alasdair J Coles, Nathalie Kingston, John R Bradley, Patrick F Chinnery, Jonathan Cavanagh, Sarosh R Irani, Angela Vincent, J Kenneth Baillie, Peter J Openshaw, Malcolm G Semple, Covid-Cns Consortium, Isaric4c Investigators, Leonie S Taams, David K Menon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

To understand neurological complications of COVID-19 better both acutely and for recovery, we measured markers of brain injury, inflammatory mediators, and autoantibodies in 203 hospitalised participants; 111 with acute sera (1-11 days post-admission) and 92 convalescent sera (56 with COVID-19-associated neurological diagnoses). Here we show that compared to 60 uninfected controls, tTau, GFAP, NfL, and UCH-L1 are increased with COVID-19 infection at acute timepoints and NfL and GFAP are significantly higher in participants with neurological complications. Inflammatory mediators (IL-6, IL-12p40, HGF, M-CSF, CCL2, and IL-1RA) are associated with both altered consciousness and markers of brain injury. Autoantibodies are more common …

Simvastatin In Critically Ill Patients With Covid-19, Thomas E Hills, Elizabeth Lorenzi, Lindsay R Berry, Murali Shyamsundar, Farah Al-Beidh, Djillali Annane, Yaseen Arabi, Diptesh Aryal, Carly Au, Abigail Beane, Zahra Bhimani, Marc Bonten, Charlotte A Bradbury, Frank M Brunkhorst, Aidan Burrell, Meredith Buxton, Carolyn S Calfee, Maurizio Cecconi, Allen C Cheng, Matthew E Cove, Michelle A Detry, Lise J Estcourt, Mark Fitzgerald, Ewan C Goligher, Herman Goossens, Cameron Green, Rashan Haniffa, David A Harrison, Madiha Hashmi, Alisa M Higgins, Christopher Horvat, David T Huang, Nao Ichihara, Deva Jayakumar, Peter S Kruger, François Lamontagne, Lamprini Lampro, Patrick R Lawler, John C Marshall, Alexina J Mason, Anna Mcglothlin, Shay Mcguinness, Zoe K Mcquilten, Bryan J Mcverry, Paul R Mouncey, Srinivas Murthy, Matthew D Neal, Alistair D Nichol, Cecilia M O'Kane, Rachael L Parke, Jane C Parker, Ebenezer Rabindrarajan, Luis F Reyes, Kathryn M Rowan, Hiroki Saito, Marlene Santos, Christina T Saunders, Christopher W Seymour, Manu Shankar-Hari, Pratik Sinha, B Taylor Thompson, Alexis F Turgeon, Anne M Turner, Frank Van De Veerdonk, Sebastian Weis, Ian S Young, Ryan Zarychanski, Roger J Lewis, Colin J Mcarthur, Derek C Angus, Scott M Berry, Lennie P G Derde, Steve A Webb, Anthony C Gordon, Daniel F Mcauley

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of simvastatin in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is unclear.

METHODS: In an ongoing international, multifactorial, adaptive platform, randomized, controlled trial, we evaluated simvastatin (80 mg daily) as compared with no statin (control) in critically ill patients with Covid-19 who were not receiving statins at baseline. The primary outcome was respiratory and cardiovascular organ support-free days, assessed on an ordinal scale combining in-hospital death (assigned a value of -1) and days free of organ support through day 21 in survivors; the analyis used a Bayesian hierarchical ordinal model. The adaptive design included prespecified statistical …

Evaluation Of A Targeted Covid-19 Community Outreach Intervention: Case Report For Precision Public Health, Isela De La Cerda, Cici X Bauer, Kehe Zhang, Miryoung Lee, Michelle Jones, Arturo Rodriguez, Joseph B Mccormick, Susan P Fisher-Hoch

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Cameron County, a low-income south Texas-Mexico border county marked by severe health disparities, was consistently among the top counties with the highest COVID-19 mortality in Texas at the onset of the pandemic. The disparity in COVID-19 burden within Texas counties revealed the need for effective interventions to address the specific needs of local health departments and their communities. Publicly available COVID-19 surveillance data were not sufficiently timely or granular to deliver such targeted interventions. An agency-academic collaboration in Cameron used novel geographic information science methods to produce granular COVID-19 surveillance data. These data were used to strategically target an …

The Potential For Development Of Clinically Relevant Microbial Resistance To Rifaximin-Α: A Narrative Review, Herbert L Dupont

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Rifaximin-α is a gut-targeted antibiotic indicated for numerous gastrointestinal and liver diseases. Its multifaceted mechanism of action goes beyond direct antimicrobial effects, including alterations in bacterial virulence, cytoprotective effects on host epithelial cells, improvement of impaired intestinal permeability, and reduction of proinflammatory cytokine expression via activation of the pregnane X receptor. Rifaximin-α is virtually non-absorbed, with low systemic drug levels contributing to its excellent safety profile. While there are high concentrations of drug in the colon, low water solubility leads to low colonic drug bioavailability, protecting the gut microbiome. Rifaximin-α appears to be more active in the bile-rich small bowel. …

Interlaboratory Comparison Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Phage Susceptibility Testing, Krupa Parmar, Lauren Komarow, Damon W Ellison, Andrey A Filippov, Mikeljon P Nikolich, Joseph R Fackler, Martin Lee, Anjna Nair, Priyesh Agrawal, Pranita D Tamma, Maria Souli, Scott R Evans, Kerryl E Greenwood-Quaintance, Scott A Cunningham, Robin Patel, Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Standardized approaches to phage susceptibility testing (PST) are essential to inform selection of phages for study in patients with bacterial infections. There is no reference standard for assessing bacterial susceptibility to phage. We compared agreement between PST performed at three centers: two centers using a liquid assay standardized between the sites with the third, a plaque assay. Four Pseudomonas aeruginosa phages: PaWRA01ø11 (EPa11), PaWRA01ø39 (EPa39), PaWRA02ø83 (EPa83), PaWRA02ø87 (EPa87), and a cocktail of all four phages were tested against 145 P. aeruginosa isolates. Comparisons were made within measurements at the two sites performing the liquid assay and between these …

Plants As Vectors For Environmental Prion Transmission, Christina M Carlson, Samuel Thomas, Matthew W Keating, Paulina Soto, Nicole M Gibbs, Haeyoon Chang, Jamie K Wiepz, Annabel G Austin, Jay R Schneider, Rodrigo Morales, Christopher J Johnson, Joel A Pedersen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Prions cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases and exhibit remarkable durability, which engenders a wide array of potential exposure scenarios. In chronic wasting disease of deer, elk, moose, and reindeer and in scrapie of sheep and goats, prions are transmitted via environmental routes and the ability of plants to accumulate and subsequently transmit prions has been hypothesized, but not previously demonstrated. Here, we establish the ability of several crop and other plant species to take up prions via their roots and translocate them to above-ground tissues from various growth media including soils. We demonstrate that plants can accumulate prions in above-ground tissues …

Identification Of Candidate Dna Methylation Biomarkers Related To Alzheimer’S Disease Risk By Integrating Genome And Blood Methylome Data, Yanfa Sun, Jingjing Zhu, Yaohua Yang, Zichen Zhang, Hua Zhong, Guanghua Zeng, Dan Zhou, Richard S Nowakowski, Jirong Long, Chong Wu, Lang Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease with a late onset. It is critical to identify novel blood-based DNA methylation biomarkers to better understand the extent of the molecular pathways affected in AD. Two sets of blood DNA methylation genetic prediction models developed using different reference panels and modelling strategies were leveraged to evaluate associations of genetically predicted DNA methylation levels with AD risk in 111,326 (46,828 proxy) cases and 677,663 controls. A total of 1,168 cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites showed a significant association with AD risk at a false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05. Methylation levels of 196 CpG sites were correlated with expression levels of 130 adjacent genes in blood. Overall, 52 CpG sites of 32 genes showed consistent association directions for the methylation-gene expression-AD risk, including nine genes (CNIH4, THUMPD3, SERPINB9, MTUS1, CISD1, FRAT2, CCDC88B, FES, and SSH2) firstly reported as AD risk genes. Nine of 32 genes were enriched in dementia and AD disease categories (P values ranged from 1.85 × 10-4 to 7.46 × 10-6), and 19 genes in a neurological disease network (score = 54) were also observed. Our findings improve the understanding of genetics and etiology for AD.

Genetic Determinants Underlying The Progressive Phenotype Of Β-Lactam/Β-Lactamase Inhibitor Resistance In Escherichia Coli, William C Shropshire, Hatim Amiji, Jordan Bremer, Selvalakshmi Selvaraj Anand, Benjamin Strope, Pranoti Sahasrabhojane, Marc Gohel, Samuel Aitken, Sarah Spitznogle, Xiaowei Zhan, Jiwoong Kim, David E Greenberg, Samuel A Shelburne

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Currently, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data have not shown strong concordance with Escherichia coli susceptibility profiles to the commonly used β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor (BL/BLI) combinations: ampicillin-sulbactam (SAM), amoxicillin-clavulanate (AMC), and piperacillin-tazobactam (TZP). Progressive resistance to these BL/BLIs in the absence of cephalosporin resistance, also known as extended-spectrum resistance to BL/BLI (ESRI), has been suggested to primarily result from increased copy numbers of bla TEM variants, which is not routinely assessed in WGS data. We sought to determine whether addition of gene amplification could improve genotype-phenotype associations through WGS analysis of 147 E. coli bacteremia isolates with increasing categories of BL/BLI non-susceptibility ranging …

The Defined Tlr3 Agonist, Nexavant, Exhibits Anti-Cancer Efficacy And Potentiates Anti-Pd-1 Antibody Therapy By Enhancing Immune Cell Infiltration, Seung-Hwan Lee, Young-Ho Choi, Soon Myung Kang, Min-Gyu Lee, Arnaud Debin, Eric Perouzel, Seung-Beom Hong, Dong-Ho Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Nexavant was reported as an alternative to the TLR3 agonist of Poly(I:C) and its derivatives. The physicochemical properties, signaling pathways, anti-cancer effects, and mechanisms of Nexavant were investigated. The distinctive characteristics of Nexavant compared to that of Poly(I:C) were demonstrated by precise quantification, enhanced thermostability, and increased resistance to RNase A. Unlike Poly(I:C), which activates TLR3, RIG-I, and MDA5, Nexavant stimulates signaling through TLR3 and RIG-I but not through MDA5. Compared to Poly(I:C), an intratumoral Nexavant treatment led to a unique immune response, immune cell infiltration, and suppression of tumor growth in various animal cancer models. Nexavant therapy outperformed anti-PD-1 …

Novel Insights Into The Pathogenesis Of Human Post-Primary Tuberculosis From Archival Material Of The Pre-Antibiotic Era, 1931-1947, Syeda Mariam Riaz, Kurt Hanevik, Lars Helgeland, Lisbet Sviland, Robert L Hunter, Tehmina Mustafa

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OBJECTIVES: Primary and post-primary tuberculosis (TB) are distinct entities. The aim of this study was to study the histopathology of primary and post-primary TB by using the unique human autopsy material from the pre-antibiotic era, 1931-1947.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Autopsy data were collected from the autopsy journals, and the human tissue was collected from the pathology archives at the Department of Pathology, the Gades Institute.

RESULTS: Histological presentations of TB lesions showed great diversity within a single lung. Post-primary TB starts as a pneumonia forming early lesions, characterized by the infiltration of foamy macrophages containing mycobacterial antigens within alveoli, and …

Association Between Viral Infections And Glioma Risk: A Two-Sample Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Analysis, Sheng Zhong, Wenzhuo Yang, Zhiyun Zhang, Yangyiran Xie, Lin Pan, Jiaxin Ren, Fei Ren, Yifan Li, Haoqun Xie, Hongyu Chen, Davy Deng, Jie Lu, Hui Li, Bo Wu, Youqi Chen, Fei Peng, Vinay K Puduvalli, Ke Sai, Yunqian Li, Ye Cheng, Yonggao Mou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Glioma is one of the leading types of brain tumor, but few etiologic factors of primary glioma have been identified. Previous observational research has shown an association between viral infection and glioma risk. In this study, we used Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to explore the direction and magnitude of the causal relationship between viral infection and glioma.

Methods: We conducted a two-sample bidirectional MR analysis using genome-wide association study (GWAS) data. Summary statistics data of glioma were collected from the largest meta-analysis GWAS, involving 12,488 cases and 18,169 controls. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with exposures were used as instrumental …

Immune Evasion And Membrane Fusion Of Sars-Cov-2 Xbb Subvariants Eg51 And Xbb23, Julia N Faraone, Panke Qu, Negin Goodarzi, Yi-Min Zheng, Claire Carlin, Linda J Saif, Eugene M Oltz, Kai Xu, Daniel Jones, Richard J Gumina, Shan-Lu Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Immune evasion by SARS-CoV-2 paired with immune imprinting from monovalent mRNA vaccines has resulted in attenuated neutralizing antibody responses against Omicron subvariants. In this study, we characterized two new XBB variants rising in circulation - EG.5.1 and XBB.2.3, for their neutralization and syncytia formation. We determined the neutralizing antibody titers in sera of individuals that received a bivalent mRNA vaccine booster, BA.4/5-wave infection, or XBB.1.5-wave infection. Bivalent vaccination-induced antibodies neutralized ancestral D614G efficiently, but to a much less extent, two new EG.5.1 and XBB.2.3 variants. In fact, the enhanced neutralization escape of EG.5.1 appeared to be driven by its key …

Re: Incidence Of Sars-Cov-2 Breakthrough Infections After Vaccination In Adults: A Population-Based Survey Through 1 March 2023, Stacia M Desantis, Ashraf Yaseen, Tianyao Hao, Luis León-Novelo, Yashar Talebi, Melissa A Valerio-Shewmaker, Cesar L Pinzon Gomez, Sarah E Messiah, Harold W Kohl, Steven H Kelder, Jessica A Ross, Lindsay N Padilla, Mark Silberman, Samantha Wylie, David Lakey, Jennifer A Shuford, Stephen J Pont, Eric Boerwinkle, Michael D Swartz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

A Double-Robust Test For High-Dimensional Gene Coexpression Networks Conditioning On Clinical Information, Maomao Ding, Ruosha Li, Jin Qin, Jing Ning

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It has been increasingly appealing to evaluate whether expression levels of two genes in a gene coexpression network are still dependent given samples' clinical information, in which the conditional independence test plays an essential role. For enhanced robustness regarding model assumptions, we propose a class of double-robust tests for evaluating the dependence of bivariate outcomes after controlling for known clinical information. Although the proposed test relies on the marginal density functions of bivariate outcomes given clinical information, the test remains valid as long as one of the density functions is correctly specified. Because of the closed-form variance formula, the proposed …

Influenza Viral Infection Is A Risk Factor For Severe Illness In Covid-19 Patients: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study, Jeong-Hwan Hwang, Yeon Seok You, Sang Woo Yeom, Min Gyu Lee, Jong-Hwan Lee, Min Gul Kim, Jong Seung Kim

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In order to prepare for the twindemic of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infection, we investigated the association between influenza infection and subsequent severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection. A population-based nationwide cohort study was performed using data from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) in the Republic of Korea. This study included 274,126 individuals who underwent SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing between 20 January 2020 and 1 October 2020. Among these patients, 28,338 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and 4,003 of these individuals had a history of influenza. The control group was selected through 1:1 propensity score matching. In the group of 4,003 COVID-19-positive individuals with …

Localization, Tissue Biology, And T Cell State — Implications For Cancer Immunotherapy, Jason M Schenkel, Kristen E Pauken

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Tissue localization is a critical determinant of T cell immunity. CD8+ T cells are contact-dependent killers, which requires them to physically be within the tissue of interest to kill peptide-MHC class I-bearing target cells. Following their migration and extravasation into tissues, T cells receive many extrinsic cues from the local microenvironment, and these signals shape T cell differentiation, fate and function. Because major organ systems are variable in their functions and compositions, they apply disparate pressures on T cells to adapt to the local microenvironment. Additional complexity arises in the context of malignant lesions (either primary or metastatic), and this …

Modulating A Prebiotic Food Source Influences Inflammation And Immune-Regulating Gut Microbes And Metabolites: Insights From The Be Gone Trial, Xiaotao Zhang, Ehsan Irajizad, Kristi L Hoffman, Johannes F Fahrmann, Fangyu Li, Yongwoo David Seo, Gladys J Browman, Jennifer B Dennison, Jody Vykoukal, Pamela N Luna, Wesley Siu, Ranran Wu, Eunice Murage, Nadim J Ajami, Jennifer L Mcquade, Jennifer A Wargo, James P Long, Kim-Anh Do, Johanna W Lampe, Karen M Basen-Engquist, Pablo C Okhuysen, Scott Kopetz, Samir M Hanash, Joseph F Petrosino, Paul Scheet, Carrie R Daniel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Accessible prebiotic foods hold strong potential to jointly target gut health and metabolic health in high-risk patients. The BE GONE trial targeted the gut microbiota of obese surveillance patients with a history of colorectal neoplasia through a straightforward bean intervention.

METHODS: This low-risk, non-invasive dietary intervention trial was conducted at MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX, USA). Following a 4-week equilibration, patients were randomized to continue their usual diet without beans (control) or to add a daily cup of study beans to their usual diet (intervention) with immediate crossover at 8-weeks. Stool and fasting blood were collected every 4 …

Wastewater Analysis Of Mpox Virus In A City With Low Prevalence Of Mpox Disease: An Environmental Surveillance Study, Jeremiah Oghuan, Carlos Chavarria, Scout R Vanderwal, Anna Gitter, Akpevwe Amanda Ojaruega, Carlos Monserrat, Cici X Bauer, Eric L Brown, Sara Javornik Cregeen, Jennifer Deegan, Blake M Hanson, Michael Tisza, Hector I Ocaranza, John Balliew, Anthony W Maresso, Janelle Rios, Eric Boerwinkle, Kristina D Mena, Fuqing Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Tracking infectious diseases at the community level is challenging due to asymptomatic infections and the logistical complexities of mass surveillance. Wastewater surveillance has emerged as a valuable tool for monitoring infectious disease agents including SARS-CoV-2 and Mpox virus. However, detecting the Mpox virus in wastewater is particularly challenging due to its relatively low prevalence in the community. In this study, we aim to characterize three molecular assays for detecting and tracking the Mpox virus in wastewater from El Paso, Texas, during February and March 2023.

METHODS: In this study, a combined approach utilizing three real-time PCR assays targeting the …

Cannabinoids In Periodontology: Where Are We Now?, Yésica Carmona Rendón, Hernán Santiago Garzón, Bruno Bueno-Silva, Roger M Arce, Lina Janeth Suárez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Cannabinoids are a well-documented treatment modality for various immune and inflammatory diseases, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Crohn's disease, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and a range of neurodegenerative conditions. However, limited information is available regarding the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids in treating periodontal disease.

Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze the current evidence on the antibacterial and immunomodulatory effects of cannabis and its role in the healing and regeneration processes within periodontal tissues.

Results: This review discusses the potential role of cannabinoids in restoring periodontal tissue homeostasis.

Conclusions: The examination of the endocannabinoid system and the …