Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Rsv F P27 Peptide: Current Knowledge, Important Questions, Wanderson Rezende, Hadley E Neal, Rebecca E Dutch, Pedro A Piedra

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remains a leading cause of hospitalizations and death for young children and adults over 65. The worldwide impact of RSV has prioritized the search for an RSV vaccine, with most targeting the critical fusion (F) protein. However, questions remain about the mechanism of RSV entry and RSV F triggering and fusion promotion. This review highlights these questions, specifically those surrounding a cleaved 27 amino acids long peptide within F, p27.

Tanshinone Iia Inhibits Cell Viability And Promotes Puma-Mediated Apoptosis Of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Shuangze Han, Xinfang Yu, Ruirui Wang, Xiaocong Wang, Lulu Liu, Qing Zhao, Rongbo Xie, Ming Li, Zhong Su Zhou

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Apoptosis alteration is responsible for tumorigenesis and tumor resistance to therapies. The natural product Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) exhibits potent inhibitory effects against various tumors. However, the effect of Tan IIA on apoptosis and its underlying mechanism remains elusive in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Here, we demonstrated that Tan IIA dose-dependently suppressed cell viability and colony formation in CAL27, SCC4, and SCC25 cells. Moreover, Tan IIA inhibited Akt activation from inducing Foxo3a dephosphorylation and PUMA-mediated apoptosis. PUMA or Foxo3a knockdown compromised the inhibitory effect of Tan IIA on OSCC cells. Tan IIA administration inhibited CAL27-deprived xenograft tumor growth and …

Ultrahigh Resolution Lipid Mass Spectrometry Imaging Of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer Mouse Models, Xin Ma, Andro Botros, Sylvia R Yun, Eun Young Park, Olga Kim, Soojin Park, Thu-Huyen Pham, Ruihong Chen, Murugesan Palaniappan, Martin M Matzuk, Jaeyeon Kim, Facundo M Fernández

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No effective screening tools for ovarian cancer (OC) exist, making it one of the deadliest cancers among women. Considering that little is known about the detailed progression and metastasis mechanism of OC at a molecular level, it is crucial to gain more insights into how metabolic and signaling alterations accompany its development. Herein, we present a comprehensive study using ultra-high-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) to investigate the spatial distribution and alterations of lipids in ovarian tissues collected from double knockout (n = 4) and triple mutant mouse models (n …

Subcortical Functional Connectivity And Its Association With Walking Performance Following Deployment Related Mild Tbi, Mary R Newsome, Sarah L Martindale, Nicholas Davenport, Emily L Dennis, Marlene Diaz, Carrie Esopenko, Cooper Hodges, George R Jackson, Qisheng Liu, Kimbra Kenney, Andrew R Mayer, Jared A Rowland, Randall S Scheibel, Joel L Steinberg, Brian A Taylor, David F Tate, J Kent Werner, William C Walker, Elisabeth A Wilde

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: The relation between traumatic brain injury (TBI), its acute and chronic symptoms, and the potential for remote neurodegenerative disease is a priority for military research. Structural and functional connectivity (FC) of the basal ganglia, involved in motor tasks such as walking, are altered in some samples of Service Members and Veterans with TBI, but any behavioral implications are unclear and could further depend on the context in which the TBI occurred.

METHODS: In this study, FC from caudate and pallidum seeds was measured in Service Members and Veterans with a history of mild TBI that occurred during combat deployment, …

Physiologic Profile Associated With Severe Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome In Children: A Retrospective Study, Fabio Savorgnan, Alvaro Moreira, Axel Moreira, Ananth Annapragada, S Kristen Sexson Tejtel, Saul Flores, Craig G Rusin, Lara Shekerdemian, Sebastian Acosta

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical presentation and physiologic profile of individuals with varying degrees of severity of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).

METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of children diagnosed with MIS-C admitted to a single quaternary children's hospital from May 2020 to April 2021. We created an MIS-C severity score using the following parameters: hospital admission status (e.g., floor vs intensive care unit), need for inotropic or vasoactive medications, and need for mechanical ventilation. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to associate risk factors corresponding to the MIS-C severity score.

RESULTS: …

The Many Faces Of Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy: An Overview, Hanna J Tadros, Christina Y Miyake, Debra L Kearney, Jeffrey J Kim, Susan W Denfield

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (AC) is a disease that involves electromechanical uncoupling of cardiomyocytes. This leads to characteristic histologic changes that ultimately lead to the arrhythmogenic clinical features of the disease. Initially thought to affect the right ventricle predominantly, more recent data show that it can affect both the ventricles or the left ventricle alone. Throughout the recent era, diagnostic modalities and criteria for AC have continued to evolve and our understanding of its clinical features in different age groups as well as the genotype to the phenotype correlations have improved. In this review, we set out to detail the epidemiology, etiologies, …

Hereditary Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Burden In Pediatrics: A Single Referral Center Experience, Maki Ishizuka, Wenxin Zou, Elise Whalen, Erin Ely, Ryan D Coleman, Dolores H Lopez-Terrada, Daniel J Penny, Yuxin Fan, Nidhy P Varghese

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Hereditary pulmonary arterial hypertension (HPAH) is a rare yet serious type of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The burden in the pediatric population remains high yet underreported. The objective of this study is to describe the distribution of mutations found on targeted PAH panel testing at a large pediatric referral center.

METHODS: Children with PAH panel administered by the John Welsh Cardiovascular Diagnostic Laboratory at Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas between October 2012 to August 2021 were included into this study. Medical records were retrospectively reviewed for clinical correlation.

RESULTS: Sixty-six children with PAH …

Semi-Automated Construction Of Patient-Specific Aortic Valves From Computed Tomography Images, Dan Lior, Charles Puelz, Colin Edwards, Silvana Molossi, Boyce E Griffith, Ravi K Birla, Craig G Rusin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

This paper presents a semi-automatic method for the construction of volumetric models of the aortic valve using computed tomography angiography images. Although the aortic valve typically cannot be segmented directly from a computed tomography angiography image, the method described herein uses manually selected samples of an aortic segmentation derived from this image to inform the construction. These samples capture certain physiologic landmarks and are used to construct a volumetric valve model. As a demonstration of the capabilities of this method, valve models for 25 pediatric patients are created. A selected valve anatomy is used to perform fluid-structure interaction simulations using …

Pediatric Traumatic Hemorrhagic Shock Consensus Conference Research Priorities, Robert T Russell, Melania M Bembea, Matthew A Borgman, Randall S Burd, Barbara A Gaines, Mubeen Jafri, Cassandra D Josephson, Christine M Leeper, Julie C Leonard, Jennifer A Muszynski, Kathleen K Nicol, Daniel K Nishijima, Paul A Stricker, Adam M Vogel, Trisha E Wong, Philip C Spinella

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Traumatic injury is the leading cause of death in children and adolescents. Hemorrhagic shock remains a common and preventable cause of death in the pediatric trauma patients. A paucity of high-quality evidence is available to guide specific aspects of hemorrhage control in this population. We sought to identify high-priority research topics for the care of pediatric trauma patients in hemorrhagic shock.

METHODS: A panel of 16 consensus multidisciplinary committee members from the Pediatric Traumatic Hemorrhagic Shock Consensus Conference developed research priorities for addressing knowledge gaps in the care of injured children and adolescents in hemorrhagic shock. These ideas were …

Diagnostic Performance Of Point-Of-Use Ultrasound Of Resuscitation Outcomes: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of 3265 Patients, Maciej Dudek, Lukasz Szarpak, Frank W Peacock, Aleksandra Gasecka, Tomasz Michalski, Pawel Wroblewski, Halla Kaminska, Gabriela Borkowska, Ewa Skrzypek, Adam Smereka, Jaroslaw Meyer-Szary, Sylwia Marciniak, Mariola Malecka

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Echocardiography in the setting of resuscitation can provide information as to the cause of the cardiac arrest, as well as indicators of futility. This systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to determine the value of point-of-care ultrasonography (PoCUS) in the assessment of survival for adult patients with cardiac arrest.

METHODS: This meta-analysis was performed in adherence to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane have been searched from databases inception until March 2nd 2021. The search was limited to adult patients with cardiac arrest and without publication dates or …

Protocol For The Promoting Resilience In Stress Management (Prism) Intervention: A Multi-Site Randomized Controlled Trial For Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes, Maeve B O'Donnell, Samantha R Scott, Britney M Ellisor, Viena T Cao, Chuan Zhou, Miranda C Bradford, Catherine Pihoker, Daniel J Desalvo, Faisal S Malik, Marisa E Hilliard, Abby R Rosenberg, Joyce P Yi-Frazier

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are at high risk for elevated diabetes distress, which greatly impacts diabetes management, glycemic outcomes and overall quality of life. Developing protective skills and "resilience resources" to navigate adversity and manage diabetes distress has high potential to help adolescents with T1D achieve optimal behavioral, psychological, and health outcomes. The "Promoting Resilience in Stress Management" (PRISM) program is a manualized, brief, skills-based intervention delivered over 6 months via two 45-60 min one-on-one sessions and a family meeting with a PRISM coach, and supplemented by booster calls and a digital app. This trial (PRISM versus …

The Role Of Supervised School Therapy In Poorly Controlled Asthma In Children, Muppala Raju, Malvika Sagar, Andrew Bush, Eugene Quaye, Shekhar Ghamande, Sonal Malhotra, Mercedes E Arroliga

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: In children, nonadherence to inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy leads to poor asthma control and complications.

METHODS: We evaluated the benefit from initiation of ICS administration once daily at school. We retrospectively chose patients from our pediatric pulmonary clinic who had poorly controlled asthma and prescribed ICS daily. For the study period, we examined the number of corticosteroid courses, emergency room visits, hospital admissions, symptom history, and pulmonary function tests.

RESULTS: Thirty-four patients who satisfied the inclusion criteria began the intervention. Preintervention, there were a mean number of 2.6 oral corticosteroid courses compared to 2 courses in the year following …

Vaccine-Linked Chemotherapy Improves Cardiac Structure And Function In A Mouse Model Of Chronic Chagas Disease, Kathryn M Jones, Elise N Mangin, Corey L Reynolds, Liliana E Villanueva, Julio Vladimir Cruz, Leroy Versteeg, Brian Keegan, April Kendricks, Jeroen Pollet, Fabian Gusovsky, Maria Elena Bottazzi, Peter J Hotez

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Chagas disease, caused by chronic infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, affects 6-7 million people worldwide. The major clinical manifestation of Chagas disease is chronic Chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC), which encompasses a spectrum of symptoms including arrhythmias, hypertrophy, dilated cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and sudden death. Current treatment is limited to two antiparasitic drugs, benznidazole (BNZ) and nifurtimox, but both have limited efficacy to halt the progression of CCC. We developed a vaccine-linked chemotherapy strategy using our vaccine consisting of recombinant Tc24-C4 protein and a TLR-4 agonist adjuvant in a stable squalene emulsion, in combination with low dose benznidazole treatment. …

Heterologous Mrna-Protein Vaccination With Tc24 Induces A Robust Cellular Immune Response Against Trypanosoma Cruzi, Characterized By An Increased Level Of Polyfunctional Cd8+ T-Cells, Cristina Poveda, Ana Carolina Leão, Chiara Mancino, Francesca Taraballi, Yi-Lin Chen, Rakesh Adhikari, Maria Jose Villar, Rakhi Kundu, Duc M Nguyen, Leroy Versteeg, Ulrich Strych, Peter J Hotez, Maria Elena Bottazzi, Jeroen Pollet, Kathryn M Jones

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Tc24 is a Trypanosoma cruzi-derived flagellar protein that, when formulated with a TLR-4 agonist adjuvant, induces a balanced immune response in mice, elevating IgG2a antibody titers and IFN-γ levels. Furthermore, vaccination with the recombinant Tc24 protein can reduce parasite levels and improve survival during acute infection. Although some mRNA vaccines have been proven to elicit a stronger immune response than some protein vaccines, they have not been used against T. cruzi. This work evaluates the immunogenicity of a heterologous prime/boost vaccination regimen using protein and mRNA-based Tc24 vaccines. Mice (C57BL/6) were vaccinated twice subcutaneously, three weeks apart, with …

Analysis Of Variable Major Protein Antigenic Variation In The Relapsing Fever Spirochete, Borrelia Miyamotoi, In Response To Polyclonal Antibody Selection Pressure, Robert D Gilmore, Brittany A Armstrong, Kevin S Brandt, Taylor J Van Gundy, Andrias Hojgaard, Job E Lopez, Alexander R Kneubehl

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Borrelia miyamotoi is a tick-transmitted spirochete that is genetically grouped with relapsing fever Borrelia and possesses multiple archived pseudogenes that encode variable major proteins (Vmps). Vmps are divided into two groups based on molecular size; variable large proteins (Vlps) and variable small proteins (Vsps). Relapsing fever Borrelia undergo Vmp gene conversion at a single expression locus to generate new serotypes by antigenic switching which is the basis for immune evasion that causes relapsing fever in patients. This study focused on B. miyamotoi vmp expression when spirochetes were subjected to antibody killing selection pressure. We incubated a low passage parent …

Prevalence Of Trypanosoma Cruzi, The Etiologic Agent Of Chagas Disease, Infection In Texas Skunks (Mammalia: Mephitidae), Bonnie E Gulas-Wroblewski, Rodion Gorchakov, Rebecca B Kairis, Robert C Dowler, Kristy O Murray

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background:

Chagas disease is one of the world's most neglected tropical diseases, infecting over six million people across the Americas. The hemoparasite Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent for the disease, circulating in domestic, peridomestic, and sylvatic transmission cycles that are maintained by triatomine vectors and a diversity of wild and synanthropic hosts. Public health and wildlife management interventions targeting the interruption of T. cruzi transmission rely on an understanding of the dynamics driving the ecology of this zoonotic pathogen. One wildlife host that purportedly plays a role in the transmission of Chagas disease within the southern United States is …

Immunomodulatory Proteins From Hookworms Reduce Cardiac Inflammation And Modulate Regulatory Responses In A Mouse Model Of Chronic Trypanosoma Cruzi Infection, Kathryn M Jones, Bin Zhan, Keenan J Ernste, Maria Jose Villar, Nalini Bisht, Duc Nguyen, Li-Yen Chang, Cristina Poveda, Gonteria J Robinson, Akshar J Trivedi, Colby J Hofferek, William K Decker, Vanaja Konduri

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction

Hookworms are parasitic helminths that secrete a variety of proteins that induce anti-inflammatory immune responses, stimulating increased CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells and IL-10 production. Hookworm-derived recombinant proteins AIP-1 and AIP-2 have been shown to reduce inflammation in mouse models of inflammatory bowel disease and inflammatory airway disease by inducing CD4+Foxp3+ cells and IL-10 production. In contrast, chronic infection with the protozoal parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, leads to chronic inflammation in tissues. Persistence of the parasites in tissues drives chronic low-grade inflammation, with increased infiltration of inflammatory cells into the heart, accompanied by increased …

Healthcare Workers' Well-Being: A Systematic Review Of Positive Psychology Interventions, Alexandra P Townsley, Jenny Li-Wang, Rajani Katta

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Given persistent occupational stressors and multiple challenges in the delivery of healthcare, there is an increased focus on the well-being of healthcare workers. Responding to these challenges will require a multipronged approach, focusing on system level, organization, and individual actions. Positive psychology interventions (PPIs) represent a promising area for individual action. This systematic review indicates that PPI, delivered via many methods, holds promise for improving the well-being of healthcare workers, although there is a clear need for additional randomized controlled trials utilizing defined and standardized outcome measures. In this review, the most commonly evaluated PPIs were mindfulness-based or gratitude-based interventions. …

The Current Burden And Future Solutions For Preoperative Cataract-Refractive Evaluation Diagnostic Devices: A Modified Delphi Study, Bonnie An Henderson, Jaime Aramberri, Robin Vann, Adi Abulafia, Margaret Ainslie-Garcia, John Berdahl, Nicole Ferko, Kjell Gunnar Gundersen, So Goto, Preeya Gupta, Samuel Multack, Elizabeth Persaud, Duna Raoof, Giacomo Savini, H John Shammas, Li Wang, Wendy Zhi Wang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Purpose: To obtain consensus on the key areas of burden associated with existing devices and to understand the requirements for a comprehensive next-generation diagnostic device to be able to solve current challenges and provide more accurate prediction of intraocular lens (IOL) power and presbyopia correction IOL success.

Patients and methods: Thirteen expert refractive cataract surgeons including three steering committee (SC) members constituted the voting panel. Three rounds of voting included a Round 1 structured electronic questionnaire, Round 2 virtual face-to-face meeting, and Round 3 electronic questionnaire to obtain consensus on topics related to current limitations and future solutions for preoperative …

Editorial: Identifying Genetics-Based Mechanisms And Treatments For Neurodevelopmental And Psychiatric Disorders Through Data Integration, Kaifang Pang, Li Wang, Suhua Chang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Risk Factors Of Local Control In Adrenal Metastases Treated By Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy – A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Xuehong Liao, Kazushi Kishi, Kaixin Du, Ritsuko Komaki, Junetsu Mizoe, Gosuke Aikawa, Wei Zheng, Chao Pan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: This study is aimed to explore risk factors affect the therapy outcomes of adrenal metastases (AM) for stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and guide clinical dose selection.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched in September 22, 2022 in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines (PRISMA). Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were used to search for sources of heterogeneity and identify risky outcomes factors. Publication bias test and sensitivity analysis were also conducted.

RESULTS: Thirty-three studies with full text from 2009 to 2022 about AM with SBRT on 1483 patients were …

Recent Advances In Biological Pumps As A Building Block For Bioartificial Hearts, Sunita Brimmer, Pengfei Ji, Aditya K Birla, Sundeep G Keswani, Christopher A Caldarone, Ravi K Birla

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The field of biological pumps is a subset of cardiac tissue engineering and focused on the development of tubular grafts that are designed generate intraluminal pressure. In the simplest embodiment, biological pumps are tubular grafts with contractile cardiomyocytes on the external surface. The rationale for biological pumps is a transition from planar 3D cardiac patches to functional biological pumps, on the way to complete bioartificial hearts. Biological pumps also have applications as a standalone device, for example, to support the Fontan circulation in pediatric patients. In recent years, there has been a lot of progress in the field of biological …

Inotropic Score And Vasoactive Inotropic Score As Predictors Of Outcomes In Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia: A Single Center Retrospective Study, Srirupa Hari Gopal, Cynthia L Toy, Morcos Hanna, Betul Yilmaz Furtun, Joseph L Hagan, Ahmed A Nassr, Caraciolo J Fernandes, Sundeep Keswani, Sharada H Gowda

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) have varying degrees of pulmonary hypoplasia, pulmonary hypertension (PH) and cardiac dysfunction. These neonates frequently require vasoactive support and are at high risk for mortality and morbidity, including prolonged ventilator support, need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), prolonged length of stay, and need for tracheostomy. However, identifying which infants are at increased risk can be challenging. In this study, we sought to investigate the utility of the inotropic score (IS) and vasoactive inotropic score (VIS) as tools to predict significant clinical outcomes and overall survival in patients with CDH. Additionally, we evaluated the …

Tcga Expression Analyses Of 10 Carcinoma Types Reveal Clinically Significant Racial Differences, Brian Lei, Xinyin Jiang, Anjana Saxena

Publications and Research

Epidemiological studies reveal disparities in cancer incidence and outcome rates between racial groups in the United States. In our study, we investigated molecular differences between racial groups in 10 carcinoma types. We used publicly available data from The Cancer Genome Atlas to identify patterns of differential gene expression in tumor samples obtained from 4112 White, Black/African American, and Asian patients. We identified race-dependent expression of numerous genes whose mRNA transcript levels were significantly correlated with patients’ survival. Only a small subset of these genes was differentially expressed in multiple carcinomas, including genes involved in cell cycle progression such as CCNB1 …

Radiation-Induced Gastrointestinal (Gi) Syndrome As A Function Of Age, Hongyan Li, Herman C. Kucharavy, Carla Hajj, Liyang Zhao, Guoqiang Hua, Ryan Glass, Phillip B. Paty, Zvi Fuks, Richard Kolesnick, Karen Hubbard, Adriana Haimovitz-Friedman

Publications and Research

Previous studies show increased sensitivity of older mice (28–29 months) compared with young adult mice (3 months, possessing a mature immune system) to radiation-induced GI lethality. Age-dependent lethality was associated with higher levels of apoptotic stem cells in small intestinal crypts that correlated with sphingomyelinase activity, a source of pro-apoptotic ceramide. The objective of this study is to determine whether the cycling crypt base columnar cells (CBCs) in aging animals are specifically more sensitive to radiation effects than the CBCs in young adult mice, and to identify factors that contribute to increased radiosensitivity. Mortality induced by subtotal body radiation was …

The Impact Of Whole Fruits High In Anthocyanins On Blood Lipids In Middle-Aged Women, Denise N. Leininger

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Cardiometabolic Diseases (CMDs) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women. During the menopause transition, drops in estrogen play a favorable role in the excess accumulation of Intraabdominal Fat (IAF), altering blood lipid metabolism and inducing inflammatory responses in CMDs attributed to dyslipidemia. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined current research on the effects of whole fruits high in anthocyanins on blood lipid metabolism in women at risk for CMDs. This meta-analysis included 15 studies using the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Overall, effect sizes were not significant when exploring blood lipid marker outcomes High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL), Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL), …

Indices Of Sarcopenic Obesity Are Important Predictors Of Finite Element Analysis-Derived Bone Strength In Older Adults With Obesity, Giulia Gregori, Arjun Paudyal, Yoann Barnouin, Alessandra Celli, Martha Belen Segoviano-Escobar, Reina Armamento-Villareal, Nicola Napoli, Clifford Qualls, Dennis T Villareal

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The expanding population of older adults with obesity is a public health challenge, in part, because of the increased risk of fractures despite normal or high bone mineral density. Potential factors predisposing to fractures in this group include sarcopenia associated with obesity and impaired bone quality. We aimed to determine the contribution of sarcopenic obesity (SO) indices to bone strength as assessed by microfinite element analysis (μFEA) of high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT).

METHODS: One-hundred eighty-nine older (age ≥ 65 years) adults with obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m

RESULTS: Both ALM/W and HGS were positively correlated explaining 28% …

Weight Strategy In Older Adults With Obesity: Calorie Restriction Or Not?, Georgia Colleluori, Dennis T Villareal

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Along with the marked increase in the population of older adults with obesity is the need for effective strategies to treat aging- and obesity-related complications. This review highlights recent progress in obesity management in older adults.

RECENT FINDINGS: Although calorie restriction is needed to significantly reduce fat mass, an exercise protocol is crucial to ameliorate functional outcomes. The addition of a resistance exercise protocol improves the response of muscle protein synthesis to anabolic stimuli, preventing the calorie restriction-induced reduction in muscle and bone mass. The addition of an aerobic exercise protocol improves cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive function. …

Milder Loss Of Insulin-Containing Islets In Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes And Type 2 Diabetes-Associated Tcf7l2 Genetic Variants, Maria J Redondo, Sarah J Richardson, Daniel Perry, Charles G Minard, Alice L J Carr, Todd Brusko, Irina Kusmartseva, Alberto Pugliese, Mark A Atkinson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: TCF7L2 variants are the strongest genetic risk factor for type 2 diabetes. In individuals with type 1 diabetes, these variants are associated with a higher C-peptide AUC, a lower glucose AUC during an OGTT, single autoantibody positivity near diagnosis, particularly in individuals older than 12 years of age, and a lower frequency of type 1 diabetes-associated HLA genotypes. Based on initial observations from clinical cohorts, we tested the hypothesis that type 2 diabetes-predisposing TCF7L2 genetic variants are associated with a higher percentage of residual insulin-containing cells (ICI%) in pancreases of donors with type 1 diabetes, by examining genomic data …

Risk Stratification For Hepatocellular Cancer Among Patients With Cirrhosis Using A Hepatic Fat Polygenic Risk Score, Aaron P Thrift, Fasiha Kanwal, Yanhong Liu, Saira Khaderi, Amit G Singal, Jorge A Marrero, Nicole Loo, Sumeet K Asrani, Michelle Luster, Abeer Al-Sarraj, Jing Ning, Spiridon Tsavachidis, Xiangjun Gu, Christopher I Amos, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Polygenic risk scores (PRS) hold the promise to refine prognostication in hepatocellular cancer (HCC). The few available HCC PRS include germline risk variants identified among individuals of mostly European ancestry, but data are lacking on the transportability of these PRS in multiethnic U.S patients with cirrhosis from multiple etiologies.

METHODS: We used data from 1644 patients with cirrhosis enrolled in two prospective cohort studies in the U.S. Patients were followed until HCC diagnosis, death, liver transplantation, or last study visit through June 30, 2021. The high-risk variants in PNPLA3-MBOAT7-TM6SF2-GCKR were combined in a PRS and we evaluated its association …