Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer In Mice, Qi Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) is the second most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer mortality in people under 50 years old in the United States. Our hypothesis is that a high-fat diet (HFD), Allura Red AC, and/or psychological stress causes distal and rectal colon inflammation, which are associated with dysbiosis. Furthermore, chronic exposure to one or more of these elements increases the risk of EOCRC. A/J inbred mice were utilized in this study. The results are consistent with our hypothesis.

Overall findings are the following: (1) An HFD increased inflammatory scores and polyps’ burden in the distal …

Function Of Gpr68 In Normal Hematopoiesis And Malignant Hematopoietic Diseases, Xiaofei He

Theses and Dissertations

G protein-coupled receptor 68 (GPR68), as a proton-sensing receptor, is involved in numerous physiological processes. However, its specific functions in normal hematopoiesis and malignant hematopoietic diseases were unknown. Using a genetic loss of function approach (i.e. whole-body Gpr68^-/- mouse model), B lymphocytes were reduced under stressed conditions, such as aging and hematopoietic regeneration. However, hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) from Gpr68^-/- mice exhibited comparable function as HSC from wild type mice either under steady-state or upon stress. To determine whether the unaltered HSC function of Gpr68^-/- mice was due to compensatory effects of Gpr68 in nonhematopoietic cells, a …

Treatment With Protease Inhibitor And Development Of Diabetes Among Medicare Beneficiaries With Human Immune Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Hiv/Aids), Eric Ejike Chinaeke

Theses and Dissertations

Background: The possibility of an association between the use of protease inhibitors (PI) by HIV/AIDS patients and the occurrence of T2DM mellitus (T2DM) is largely debated. Medicare recipients are disproportionally affected by T2DM. Unfortunately, evidence is unavailable from that particular segment of the population. Clinical management of HIV/AIDS is progressively expanding to include chronic/metabolic complications, which may pose a significant economic burden to both the patients and the Medicare system, which are disproportionally impacted. Objectives: The aims of this project were to (1) examine the association between the use of PIs and the odds of developing T2DM among Medicare beneficiaries …