Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Enriched Pathways In Gut Microbiome Predict Response To Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Treatment Across Demographic Regions And Various Cancer Types, Xunhui Cai, Jennifer Y Cho, Lijun Chen, Yufeng Liu, Fenghu Ji, Katia Salgado, Siyi Ge, Dehua Yang, Hui Yu, Jianbo Shao, P Andrew Futreal, Boris Sepesi, Don Gibbons, Yaobing Chen, Guoping Wang, Chao Cheng, Meng Wu, Jianjun Zhang, Ansel Hsiao, Tian Xia

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Understanding the effect of gut microbiota function on immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) responses is urgently needed. Here, we integrated 821 fecal metagenomes from 12 datasets to identify differentially abundant genes and construct random forest models to predict ICI response. Gene markers demonstrated excellent predictive performance, with an average area under the curve (AUC) of 0.810. Pathway analyses revealed that quorum sensing (QS), ABC transporters, flagellar assembly, and amino acid biosynthesis pathways were enriched between responders (R) and non-responders (NRs) across 12 datasets. Furthermore,

Progesterone Signaling In Oviductal Epithelial Cells Modulates The Immune Response To Support Preimplantation Embryonic Development, Emily A Mcglade, Jiude Mao, Kalli K Stephens, Ryan M Marquardt, Feyza Nur Arguc, Peter F Lais, San-Pin Wu, Sarayut Winuthayanon, Haval Shirwan, Esma S Yolcu, Mark I Hunter, James K Pru, John P Lydon, Francesco J Demayo, Wipawee Winuthayanon

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

More than 60% of pregnancy losses occur during the first trimester, highlighting the need to understand the role of the oviduct in early pregnancy. In this study, we conditionally ablated the classical progesterone receptor (Pgr) in oviductal epithelial cells, called the Pgrd/d mouse model. We found that 40% of embryos collected from Pgrd/d females were nonviable or developmentally delayed, indicating that epithelial PGR expression is crucial for embryonic development. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed up-regulation of proinflammatory genes, including interleukin-22 (IL-22), in the epithelial cells of Pgrd/d females. Pharmacological inhibition of inflammation using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs …

Scoping Review Of Algorithms For Electronic Fetal Monitoring, Katherine Sabatier, Kate Fouquier Cnm, Phd, Facnm

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Purpose/Background

The purpose of this scoping review is to review the use of an algorithm in evaluating continuous external fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring in labor as opposed to clinician judgment for improved fetal outcomes, including earlier recognition of abnormal tracings (Clark et al., 2017). FHR monitoring was created to evaluate for fetal hypoxia in labor and has become standard practice (Gyllencreutz et al., 2018). One of the goals of the use of cardiotocography is to decrease hypoxia-induced fetal metabolic acidemia and neurologic injury. There are multiple options for individual or computer-based algorithms in evaluating FHR to reduce fetal acidemia …

The Impact Of An Iron-Rich Diet On Fatigue In Menstruating Women With Non-Anemic Iron Deficiency, Meagan Seraydar, Lauren Latimer, Sam Miragliatto

Department of Nutrition Student Projects

Fatigue without diagnosed anemia is prevalent in menstruating women, with iron deficiency being a potential contributor. While iron supplementation is a standard intervention, dietary sources of iron may offer a sustainable alternative. This study aims to assess the impact of an iron-rich diet on fatigue levels in menstruating women. A 12-week randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted, assigning participants to either an iron-rich diet group or a control group following their usual diet without specific iron recommendations. Fatigue will be measured using the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) at baseline, six weeks, and twelve weeks, alongside iron status biomarkers, including …

Antithrombotic Therapy Improves Icu Mortality Of Septic Patients With Peripheral Vascular Disease In Shebin Elkom Teaching Hospital, Talal Ibrahim Mostafa Hagag, Mohamed Abdelsamie Abdelkhalek Elbahat, Shimaa Mohamed Wahed Kalama Dr

Journal of Medicine in Scientific Research

Background One of the main reasons critically ill patients suffer from severe illness and pass away, especially those who already have peripheral vascular disease (PVD), is sepsis. Sepsis's hypercoagulable condition exacerbates microvascular thrombosis, resulting in organ damage and unfavorable clinical outcomes. Antithrombotic treatment options, such as anticoagulants, antiplatelet medications, or a combination of these, have the potential to improve sepsis patients' prognosis. Objective In this study, septic patients with peripheral vascular disease (PVD) who were admitted to Shebin Elkom Teaching Hospital are examined for the effects of antithrombotic therapy on ICU mortality and clinical outcomes. Methods 112 septic ICU patients …

Reduced Venetoclax Exposure To 7 Days Vs Standard Exposure With Hypomethylating Agents In Newly Diagnosed Aml Patients, Christophe Willekens, Alexandre Bazinet, Samy Chraibi, Alex Bataller, Justine Decroocq, Naszrin Arani, Benjamin Carpentier, Caitlin Rausch, Delphine Lebon, Abhishek Maiti, Nicolas Gauthier, Nicholas Short, Sarah Bonnet, Koji Sasaki, Sabine Khalife-Hachem, Mahesh Swaminathan, Jean-Baptiste Micol, Florence Pasquier, Christophe Marzac, Damien Roos-Weil, Laurent Pascal, Naval Daver, Tapan Kadia, Didier Bouscary, Farhad Ravandi, Arnaud Pages, Hagop Kantarjian, Stéphane De Botton, Courtney Dinardo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Hypomethylating agent (HMA) plus venetoclax (VEN) regimens are standard of care in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. While the VEN label recommends continuous 28-day cycles, shortened VEN durations may induce similar response rates and improve tolerability. It is unknown how a VEN exposure reduced to 7 days during cycles compares to standard HMA + VEN. We retrospectively compared newly diagnosed AML patients treated with azacitidine (AZA) x 7 days plus VEN x 7 days ("7 + 7" regimen) from the first cycle (n = 82) vs patients treated with standard dose HMA + VEN (std-HMA/VEN) …

Humanized Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Provides A Facile And Effective Tool To Identify Damaging Human Variants That Cause Exosomopathies, Khondakar Sayef Ahammed, Milo B Fasken, Anita H Corbett, Ambro Van Hoof

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The RNA exosome is an evolutionarily conserved, multiprotein complex that is the major RNase in 3' processing and degradation of a wide range of RNAs in eukaryotes. Single amino acid changes in RNA exosome subunits cause rare genetic diseases collectively called exosomopathies. However, distinguishing disease-causing variants from nonpathogenic ones remains challenging, and the mechanism by which these variants cause disease is largely unknown. Previous studies have employed a budding yeast model of RNA exosome-linked diseases that relies on mutating the orthologous yeast genes. Here, we develop a humanized yeast model of exosomopathies that allows us to unambiguously assess damaging effects …

Kras Mutation Detection By Liquid Biopsy For Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Mahmoud Yousef, Abdelrahman Yousef, Mark W Hurd, Ashwathy Pillai, Saikat Chowdhury, Rebecca Snyder, Mark Knafl, Ryan L Lewis, Paul M Roy, Mohammad Fanaeian, Sali Albarouki, Luca F Castelnovo, Jennifer Peterson, Brandon G Smaglo, Robert A Wolff, Shubham Pant, Jason Willis, Ryan Huey, Michael Overman, Ching-Wei Tzeng, Michael P Kim, Naruhiko Ikoma, Jess E Maxwell, Matthew H G Katz, Huamin Wang, Anirban Maitra, Eugene Koay, Ethan B Ludmir, Anthony Chen, Camila Lopez, Haoqiang Ying, John Paul Shen, Dan Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The clinical utility of liquid biopsy (LB) for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remain understudied. Our single-institution cohort of 311 PDAC patients with non-tumor tissues informed LB found 81.2% positivity (N = 186) in metastatic cases and in 52.4% (N = 43) of localized disease. KRAS mutations were detected in 64.6% (N = 148) of metastatic cases and 16% (N = 13) for localized disease. Positive LB, especially KRAS mutation detection, is associated with worse overall survival (OS) in metastatic PDAC (median 14.5 vs. 31.3 months, HR = 2.7, 95%CI = 1.7-4.3, P <  0.0001). The positive concordance rates of KRAS and TP53 mutations were 63% and 68% in metastatic disease but only 7% (KRAS) and 33% (TP53) in localized disease, respectively. Among the 41 patients who underwent serial liquid biopsy testing, 25% tested positive after an initial negative result. LB detects therapeutically targetable mutations in 58.5% of PDAC patients and is associated with OS.

Multimeric Transcription Factor Bcl11a Utilizes Two Zinc-Finger Tandem Arrays To Bind Clustered Short Sequence Motifs, John R Horton, Meigen Yu, Jujun Zhou, Melody Tran, Rithvi R Anakal, Yue Lu, Robert M Blumenthal, Xiaotian Zhang, Yun Huang, Xing Zhang, Xiaodong Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BCL11A, a transcription factor, is vital for hematopoiesis, including B and T cell maturation and the fetal-to-adult hemoglobin switch. Mutations in BCL11A are linked to neurodevelopmental disorders. BCL11A contains two DNA-binding zinc-finger arrays, low-affinity ZF2-3 and high-affinity ZF4-6, separated by a 300-amino-acid linker. ZF2-3 and ZF4-5 share 73% identity, including five out of six DNA base-interacting residues. These arrays bind similar short sequence motifs in clusters, with the linker enabling a broader binding span. Crystallographic structures of ZF4-6, in complex with oligonucleotides from the β-globin locus region, reveal DNA sequence recognition by residues Asn756 (ZF4), Lys784 and Arg787 (ZF5). A …

The Geographic Identification Of Elevated Suicide Risk Model: Evaluating A Method For Examining Suicide-Related Behaviors At The Neighborhood Level In Harris County, Texas, Ryan M Hill, Sam C Cacace, Austin Starkey, Tyler Hendley, Jackson Bolner, Angela Cummings, Angie Hayes, Robert J Cramer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: The 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention has called for the development of community-based suicide prevention resources, and improved existing prevention efforts. In line with such efforts, Hill and colleagues developed the Geospatial Identification of Elevated Suicide Risk model that estimates the relative prevalence of adolescent suicide risk within specific geographical areas. The current study seeks to further evaluate and refine the model for use as a tool to evaluate risk and protective factors at the neighborhood level.

Method: Drawing from multiple sources, data was collected detailing adolescent suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, suicide fatalities, and census tract characteristics. Utilizing …

Intravascular Imaging-Guided Versus Angiography-Guided Percutaneous Coronary Intervention In Patients With Non-St-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction In The United States: Results From Big Data Analysis, Chayakrit Krittanawong, Song Peng Ang, Neil Sagar Maitra, Zhen Wang, Mahboob Alam, Hani Jneid, Samin Sharma

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) can be managed by ischemia guide strategies or early invasive strategies. Here, we present the findings of an updated contemporary analysis regarding the use of intracoronary imaging (ICI)-guided PCI versus angiography-guided PCI and in-hospital mortality in patients with NSTEMI in the United States using the NIS database from 2016 to 2021. ICI use increased by nearly threefold between 2016 and 2021, without a significant difference in in-hospital mortality, though interestingly, mortality rates compared with angiography guidance were similar and relatively low. In this study, the use of ICI was associated with lower adjusted odds of …

Vaginismus: Causes, Diagnosis, And Treatment Options, Heather Thomas

Best Integrated Writing

This paper provides a current review of the diagnosis, causes, and treatment outcomes for vaginismus. Of particular interest are predisposing factors, like a lack of sex education and a sexually restrictive upbringing, for the development of this disorder. Controversies surrounding US-based diagnostic criteria for female sexual dysfunction are also reviewed, and up-to-date and novel treatment options, like vaginal Botox injections, are described.

Comparative Analysis Of The Rosa Robot Accuracy For The Placement Of Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy Probes, Zunaira Imran, Anneliese Rademacher, Hassan Fadel

Medical Student Research Symposium

Laser thermal therapy (LITT) is a minimally invasive treatment for intracranial lesions with success dependent on precise placement of the laser probe. The Robotic Surgical Assistant (ROSA) ONE Brain robotic platform is one stereotactic method that is used to aid this process.

This study examined the accuracy of LITT probe placement utilizing the ROSA robot, comparing entry distance, target distance, and entry angle errors across two major LITT platforms: Neuroblate (Monteris Medical) and Visualase Systems.

A prospective review of patients who underwent LITT from 2013 to 2023 with the ROSA was performed. Statistical analyses were performed with the sign test, …

Breaking The Cycle: Reducing Maternal Mortality Disparities In Minnesota, Grace Hambike

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2025

A comparative analysis of Minnesota's maternal mortality rates with states implementing successful maternal health initiatives and a review of policies supporting doulas, midwives, and culturally competent care models. Conclusions show that addressing maternal mortality disparities requires systemic healthcare reforms and culturally competent interventions. Expanding access to doulas, midwives, and community-based care can significantly improve maternal outcomes. Future research should focus on long-term effects of policy changes and continued surveillance of maternal health disparities.

The Effect Of Female Athlete Menstrual Cycles On Their Athletic Performance, Millie Allgood

Honors Theses

Previous research studying the effects of the menstrual cycle on athletic performance has focused on women who do not participate in any athletic activity or participate at a recreational or professional level (Dupuit et al., 2023; Ekenros et al., 2022). Few studies have tested collegiate athletes and those which have examined theoretical effects or psychological impacts rather than direct performance outcomes (Carmichael et al., 2021). It is widely agreed upon that reproductive hormones have broad influences throughout the body including body composition, response to stress, appetite, energy expenditure, and blood-glucose regulation. These factors directly contribute to physiological abilities such as …

Fourth Annual Research Symposium Program With Abstracts, Office Of Research Affairs, Boonshoft School Of Medicine

Boonshoft School of Medicine Research Symposium

The program booklet is a compilation of abstracts from oral and poster presentations at Wright State University's Fourth Annual Boonshoft School of Medicine Medical Research Symposium held on April 16, 2025.

Fundamentals Of Vascular Surgery: A Plan For The Uniform Instruction And Assessment Of Basic Skills In Vascular Surgery, Priscilla Tanamal, Claudie Sheahan, Malachi Sheahan

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Training surgeons poses many unique challenges. In addition to the clinical acumen that must be learned, a minimum threshold of technical competency is a requisite for independent practice. The trends of endovascular interventions and open surgical procedures add another layer of complexity to vascular surgery training. Simulation can provide a solution for both technical skills training and evaluating proficiency. The Education Committee of the Association of Program Directors of Vascular Surgery (APDVS) developed the Fundamentals of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery platform to provide an opportunity for more uniform basic technical skill teaching and assessment across all vascular training programs. Evaluation …

Prenatal Exercise: The Importance Of Patient-Provider Communication, Stephanie Patton

Doctorate in Kinesiology

There is a low adherence to prenatal exercise guidelines which may be affected by several barriers including a lack of knowledge regarding the benefits to, safety of, and general guidelines for prenatal exercise. This study sought to investigate the communication that occurs in prenatal appointments and the barriers associated with low exercise rates. Data was collected from 54 pregnant and postpartum women between the ages of 18-40 through an anonymous survey and analyzed through SPSS software. Twenty-four (44.4%) respondents indicated discussion regarding exercise recommendations occurred and five (9.3%) shared that resources for exercise recommendations were provided. Twenty-three (42.6%) participants were …

Developing An Online Community Advisory Board (Cab) Of Parents From Social Media To Co-Design An Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Intervention: Participatory Research Study, Regan M. Murray, Shawn C. Chiang, Ann C. Klassen, Jennifer A. Manganello, Amy E. Leader, Wen-Juo Lo, Philip M. Massey

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Social media health interventions have grown significantly in recent years. However, researchers are still developing innovative methods to meaningfully engage online communities to inform research activities. Little has been documented describing this approach of using online community advisory boards (CABs) to co-create health communication interventions on social media.

OBJECTIVE: This study describes the formation, engagement, and maintenance of an online CAB focused on co-creating a health education intervention for parents regarding the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The study provides guiding principles for public health researchers implementing such CABs in future digital health interventions.

METHODS: In May 2020, Twitter was …

Short- And Long-Term Effects Of Early Versus Delayed Treatment With Ocrelizumab On Cerebellar Volume Loss In Patients With Rms And Ppms, Douglas L Arnold, Shannon Kolind, Haz-Edine Assemlal, Amit Bar-Or, Matilde Inglese, Ludwig Kappos, Katrin Parmar, Till Sprenger, Anthony Traboulsee, Irene M Vavasour, Jerry S Wolinsky, Corrado Bernasconi, Ulrike Bonati, Stefano Magon, Björn Tackenberg, Laura Gaetano

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The cerebellum is a functionally and anatomically complex structure, which, in multiple sclerosis (MS), is affected by focal white/gray matter lesions and by secondary neurodegeneration of afferent/efferent connections to the supratentorial brain and the spinal cord.

Objectives: To assess the efficacy of ocrelizumab compared with interferon β-1a (IFN β-1a)/placebo on cerebellar volume loss and the effect of switching to ocrelizumab on volume change in the Phase III trials in relapsing MS (RMS, OPERA I/II) and in primary progressive MS (PPMS, ORATORIO).

Methods: Cerebellar volume change was computed using paired Jacobian integration and analyzed using a mixed-effect repeated measurement model. …

Deep Learning-Based Automatic Segmentation Of Cerebral Infarcts On Diffusion Mri, Wi-Sun Ryu, Dawid Schellingerhout, Jonghyeok Park, Jinyong Chung, Sang-Wuk Jeong, Dong-Seok Gwak, Beom Joon Kim, Joon-Tae Kim, Keun-Sik Hong, Kyung Bok Lee, Tai Hwan Park, Sang-Soon Park, Jong-Moo Park, Kyusik Kang, Yong-Jin Cho, Hong-Kyun Park, Byung-Chul Lee, Kyung-Ho Yu, Mi Sun Oh, Soo Joo Lee, Jae Guk Kim, Jae-Kwan Cha, Dae-Hyun Kim, Jun Lee, Man Seok Park, Dongmin Kim, Oh Young Bang, Eung Yeop Kim, Chul-Ho Sohn, Hosung Kim, Hee-Joon Bae, Dong-Eog Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We explored effects of (1) training with various sample sizes of multi-site vs. single-site training data, (2) cross-site domain adaptation, and (3) data sources and features on the performance of algorithms segmenting cerebral infarcts on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). We used 10,820 annotated diffusion-weighted images (DWIs) from 10 university hospitals. Algorithms based on 3D U-net were trained using progressively larger subsamples (ranging from 217 to 8661), while internal testing employed a distinct set of 2159 DWIs. External validation was conducted using three unrelated datasets (n = 2777, 50, and 250). For domain adaptation, we utilized 50 to 1000 subsamples from …

Exploring The Acute Effects Of Sedentary Behaviors On Cardiometabolic Risk In Hispanic Adolescents With Obesity: A Randomized Crossover Study, Erica G Soltero, Osamah Salim, Yiming Mirabile, Salma M Musaad

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background/Objectives: Time spent in sedentary pursuits is associated with adverse metabolic profiles. Adolescents spend 65-75% of their day in sedentary pursuits; however, evidence among youth is less conclusive. This study examined the effects of an acute 4 h bout of sedentary behaviors on cardiometabolic outcomes and energy expenditure in Hispanic adolescents (12-16 years old) with obesity (BMI% ≥ 95th).

Methods: This study used a randomized cross-over design to engage participants (N = 12) in two sedentary conditions, an active condition where youth were engaged in two hours of 'active' sitting activities (e.g., reading and puzzles) and two hours …

All Roads That Lead To The Myocardium: Assessment Of Anomalies Of Coronary Artery Course, Ibrahim Khayyat, Silvana Molossi, Ada C Stefanescu Schmidt

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Tetralogy Of Fallot And Its Many Effects, Kolby White

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Self Perception Of Leadership Styles And Behavior In Secondary School Athletic Trainers, Kelly A. Coleman, Stephanie M. Singe

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Leadership has been considered an important part of advancing the profession, but investigations into leadership styles of clinically practicing athletic trainers (ATs) are scant, with none in the secondary school setting. The purpose of this study was to explore the leadership styles of secondary school ATs and to determine if differences in leadership style practices exist across demographic characteristics. Methods: We used a cross-sectional web-based survey (Qualtrics, Provo, UT). Leadership style was assessed via the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ)-5x where transformational, transactional, and passive/avoidant leadership behaviors were measured on a five-point Likert scale (0=not at all; 1=once in a …

Simulation-Based Assessment Of Blood Pressure By Certified Athletic Trainers, Michael W. Verde, Lindsey E. Eberman, Dawn M. Emerson, Zoë J. Foster, Zachary K. Winkelmann

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Blood pressure (BP) assessment is a key component of pre-participation examinations and can aid athletic trainers (ATs) in diagnosing hypertension. However, the current pedagogical technique, which involves practicing BP assessment on healthy individuals, may not adequately prepare healthcare providers to recognize Korotkoff sounds at abnormal pressures during clinical practice. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine AT's ability to and confidence in assessing and interpreting BP using a high-fidelity simulator.

Methods: We recruited ATs through conferences, in-services, and postprofessional athletic training programs. In total, 100 ATs from various job settings (age=31±11 years; men=37, women=63, clinical experience=8±10 years; …

Dysphagia And Covid-19 In Adults: A Prospective Clinical Trial With Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation Of Swallowing, Gökhan Can Törpü, Müberra Tanrıverdi, Nahide Öztoprak, Ömer Faruk Çalım, Orhan Özturan

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is distinguished by its impact on various tissues and organs across the body. It is known that COVID-19-related conditions are associated with swallowing function. This prospective study aimed to investigate the correlation between COVID-19 and dysphagia in adults. Methods: Adults who applied to the swallowing disorders outpatient clinic participated in this study. According to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, participants were divided into two groups: COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 group. Swallowing disorders were evaluated using fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing and scored with the Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS). PAS score > 1 was considered as dysphagia. Oral …

Impact Of Shift Length On Burnout And Job Or Life Satisfaction Among Allied Healthcare Professionals, Tareq F. Alotaibi, Abdulmohsen Altayyar, Muteb Al Muflih, Nawaf Alqahtani, Naif Alhawiti, Badi A. Alotaibi, Sami Al Ossaimi, Hassan Y. Aljohani, Mobarak Alqahtani, Taha Ismaeil, Mohammed Al Qahtani, Saleh Al Garni

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Abstract: Background/Objectives: Healthcare professionals are critical to community well-being, but the 12-versus 8-hour shifts on their stress and burnout are unclear. This study examines the effects of work patterns on the quality of life, job satisfaction, and burnout among allied healthcare professionals. Method: a validated questionnaire was used. A descriptive analysis, independent samples t-test and Mann–Whitney U test were used, and the significance level was p < 0.05. Results: Among the 340 participants, the mean age was 28 years, and most were women (63.5%), single (58%), and worked 8-hour shifts (54.4%). Most (78%) of the participants reported their job satisfaction …

A Review Of Recent Studies On The Pathogenesis Of Systemic Sclerosis: Focus On Fibrosis Pathways, Sergio A. Jimenez, Fabian A. Mendoza, Sonsoles Piera-Velazquez

Scleroderma Center Faculty Papers

Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic autoimmune disease of unknown etiology characterized by the development of frequently progressive cutaneous and internal organ fibrosis accompanied by severe vascular alterations. The pathogenesis of SSc is highly complex and, despite extensive investigation, has not been fully elucidated. Numerous studies have suggested that unknown etiologic factors cause multiple alterations in genetically receptive hosts, leading to SSc development and progression. These events may be functionally and pathologically interconnected and include: 1) Structural and functional microvascular and endothelial cell abnormalities; 2) Severe oxidative stress and high reactive oxygen species (3); Frequently progressive cutaneous and visceral fibrosis; …

Plasma Proteomic Biomarkers Of Physical Frailty In Heart Failure: A Propensity Score Matched Discovery-Based Pilot Study, Quin Denfeld, Noelle Pavlovic, Christopher Lee, Jon Jacobs, Mary Roberts Davis, Samantha Powell, Marina Gritsenko, Susan Joseph, Beth Habecker

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Physical frailty is highly prevalent in heart failure (HF), but we lack an understanding of the underlying pathophysiology. Proteomic evaluation of plasma samples may elucidate potential mechanisms and biomarkers of physical frailty in HF.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to identify plasma proteomic biomarkers that are differentially expressed between physically frail and non-physically frail adults with HF.

METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of a subset of data and plasma samples from a study of frailty among patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Classification I-IV HF. Physical frailty was measured using the Frailty Phenotype Criteria. Propensity score matching was …