Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Leptin Reduction As A Required Component For Weight Loss, Shangang Zhao, Na Li, Wei Xiong, Guannan Li, Sijia He, Zhuzhen Zhang, Qingzhang Zhu, Nisi Jiang, Christian Ikejiofor, Yi Zhu, May-Yun Wang, Xianlin Han, Ningyang Zhang, Carolina Solis-Herrera, Christine Kusminski, Zhiqiang An, Joel K Elmquist, Philipp E Scherer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Partial leptin reduction can induce significant weight loss, while weight loss contributes to partial leptin reduction. The cause-and-effect relationship between leptin reduction and weight loss remains to be further elucidated. Here, we show that FGF21 and the glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonist liraglutide rapidly induced a reduction in leptin. This leptin reduction contributed to the beneficial effects of GLP-1R agonism in metabolic health, as transgenically maintaining leptin levels during treatment partially curtailed the beneficial effects seen with these agonists. Moreover, a higher degree of leptin reduction during treatment, induced by including a leptin neutralizing antibody with either FGF21 or …

Improving Veteran Engagement With Virtual Care Technologies: A Veterans Health Administration State Of The Art Conference Research Agenda, Taona P Haderlein, Jenice Guzman-Clark, Navid S Dardashti, Nicholas Mcmahon, Elizabeth L Duran, Jolie N Haun, Stephanie A Robinson, Amanda C Blok, Sarah L Cutrona, Jan A Lindsay, Christina M Armstrong, Kim M Nazi, Stephanie L Shimada, Nancy R Wilck, Erin Reilly, Eric Kuhn, Timothy P Hogan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Although the availability of virtual care technologies in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) continues to expand, ensuring engagement with these technologies among Veterans remains a challenge. VHA Health Services Research & Development convened a Virtual Care State of The Art (SOTA) conference in May 2022 to create a research agenda for improving virtual care access, engagement, and outcomes. This article reports findings from the Virtual Care SOTA engagement workgroup, which comprised fourteen VHA subject matter experts representing VHA clinical care, research, administration, and operations. Workgroup members reviewed current evidence on factors and strategies that may affect Veteran engagement with virtual …

Correlates Of Risk For Disinhibited Behaviors In The Million Veteran Program Cohort, Peter B Barr, Tim B Bigdeli, Jacquelyn L Meyers, Roseann E Peterson, Sandra Sanchez-Roige, Travis T Mallard, Danielle M Dick, K Paige Harden, Anna Wilkinson, David P Graham, David A Nielsen, Alan C Swann, Rachele K Lipsky, Thomas R Kosten, Mihaela Aslan, Philip D Harvey, Nathan A Kimbrel, Jean C Beckham

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Importance: Many psychiatric outcomes share a common etiologic pathway reflecting behavioral disinhibition, generally referred to as externalizing (EXT) disorders. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have demonstrated the overlap between EXT disorders and important aspects of veterans' health, such as suicide-related behaviors and substance use disorders (SUDs).

Objective: To explore correlates of risk for EXT disorders within the Veterans Health Administration (VA) Million Veteran Program (MVP).

Design, setting, and participants: A series of phenome-wide association studies (PheWASs) of polygenic risk scores (PGSs) for EXT disorders was conducted using electronic health records. First, ancestry-specific PheWASs of EXT PGSs were conducted in the …

Nonchromosomal Birth Defects And Risk Of Childhood Acute Leukemia: An Assessment In 15 000 Leukemia Cases And 46 000 Controls From The Childhood Cancer And Leukemia International Consortium, Philip J Lupo, Tiffany M Chambers, Beth A Mueller, Jacqueline Clavel, John D Dockerty, David R Doody, Friederike Erdmann, Sameera Ezzat, Tommaso Filippini, Johnni Hansen, Julia E Heck, Claire Infante-Rivard, Alice Y Kang, Corrado Magnani, Carlotta Malagoli, Erin L Marcotte, Catherine Metayer, Helen D Bailey, Ana M Mora, Evangelia Ntzani, Eleni Th Petridou, Maria S Pombo-De-Oliveira, Wafaa M Rashed, Eve Roman, Joachim Schüz, Catharina Wesseling, Logan G Spector, Michael E Scheurer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Although recent studies have demonstrated associations between nonchromosomal birth defects and several pediatric cancers, less is known about their role on childhood leukemia susceptibility. Using data from the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium, we evaluated associations between nonchromosomal birth defects and childhood leukemia. Pooling consortium data from 18 questionnaire-based and three registry-based case-control studies across 13 countries, we used multivariable logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between a spectrum of birth defects and leukemia. Our analyses included acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL, n = 13 115) and acute myeloid leukemia …

Effectiveness Of Antibiotic Stewardship For Healthcare Providers At Urgent Care Clinics, Helen T. Adewole

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Antibiotics have revolutionized modern medicine; however, the overuse in urgent care and primary care significantly contributes to the global burden of infections resistant to available antimicrobial medicines. Approximately 30% of the antimicrobials prescribed in acute care settings are unnecessary. Patient demand for antibiotics has seemingly skyrocketed following the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Practitioners must be knowledgeable about antibiotic stewardship initiatives, such as the wait-and-see approach, to reduce antibiotic overuse and improve the trajectory of antibiotic resistance and patient health outcomes. The gap in practice was the limited awareness of scientific evidence-based tools to partner with patients and improve antibiotic prescription patterns. …

The Pridx Framework To Engage Payers In Reducing Diagnostic Errors In Healthcare, Kisha J Ali, Christine A Goeschel, Derek M Delia, Leah M Blackall, Hardeep Singh

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objectives: No framework currently exists to guide how payers and providers can collaboratively develop and implement incentives to improve diagnostic safety. We conducted a literature review and interviews with subject matter experts to develop a multi-component 'Payer Relationships for Improving Diagnoses (PRIDx)' framework, that could be used to engage payers in diagnostic safety efforts.

Content: The PRIDx framework, 1) conceptualizes diagnostic safety links to care provision, 2) illustrates ways to promote payer and provider engagement in the design and adoption of accountability mechanisms, and 3) explicates the use of data analytics. Certain approaches suggested by PRIDx were refined by subject …

Development And Validation Of A Risk Model For Hospital-Acquired Venous Thrombosis: The Medical Inpatients Thrombosis And Hemostasis Study, Neil A Zakai, Katherine Wilkinson, Andrew D Sparks, Ryan T Packer, Insu Koh, Nicholas S Roetker, Allen B Repp, Ryan Thomas, Chris E Holmes, Mary Cushman, Timothy B Plante, Hanny Al-Samkari, Allyson M Pishko, William A Wood, Camila Masias, Radhika Gangaraju, Ang Li, David Garcia, Kerri L Wiggins, Jordan K Schaefer, Craig Hooper, Nicholas L Smith, Leslie A Mcclure

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Regulatory organizations recommend assessing hospital-acquired (HA) venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk for medical inpatients.

Objectives: To develop and validate a risk assessment model (RAM) for HA-VTE in medical inpatients using objective and assessable risk factors knowable at admission.

Methods: The development cohort included people admitted to medical services at the University of Vermont Medical Center (Burlington, Vermont) between 2010 and 2019, and the validation cohorts included people admitted to Hennepin County Medical Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota), University of Michigan Medical Center (Ann Arbor, Michigan), and Harris Health Systems (Houston, Texas). Individuals with VTE at admission, aged < 18 years, and admitted for < 1 midnight were excluded. We used a Bayesian penalized regression technique to select candidate HA-VTE risk factors for final inclusion in the RAM.

Results: The development cohort included …

Fibroblast Heterogeneity In Pulmonary Fibrosis: A New Target For Therapeutics Development?, Konstantin Tsoyi, Ivan O Rosas

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

The Human Vaginal Microbiota: From Clinical Medicine To Models To Mechanisms, Samantha Ottinger, Clare M Robertson, Holly Branthoover, Kathryn A Patras

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The composition of the vaginal microbiota is linked to numerous reproductive health problems, including increased susceptibility to infection, pregnancy complications, and impaired vaginal tissue repair; however, the mechanisms contributing to these adverse outcomes are not yet fully defined. In this review, we highlight recent clinical advancements associating vaginal microbiome composition and function with health outcomes. Subsequently, we provide a summary of emerging models employed to identify microbe-microbe interactions contributing to vaginal health, including metagenomic sequencing, multi-omics approaches, and advances in vaginal microbiota cultivation. Last, we review new in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models, such as organoids and humanized …

The Potential Epidemiologic, Clinical, And Economic Value Of A Universal Coronavirus Vaccine: A Modelling Study, Sarah M Bartsch, Kelly J O'Shea, Danielle C John, Ulrich Strych, Maria Elena Bottazzi, Marie F Martinez, Allan Ciciriello, Kevin L Chin, Colleen Weatherwax, Kavya Velmurugan, Jessie Heneghan, Sheryl A Scannell, Peter J Hotez, Bruce Y Lee

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: With efforts underway to develop a universal coronavirus vaccine, otherwise known as a pan-coronavirus vaccine, this is the time to offer potential funders, researchers, and manufacturers guidance on the potential value of such a vaccine and how this value may change with differing vaccine and vaccination characteristics.

METHODS: Using a computational model representing the United States (U.S.) population, the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the various clinical and economic outcomes of COVID-19 such as hospitalisations, deaths, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) lost, productivity losses, direct medical costs, and total societal costs, we explored the impact of a universal vaccine under different …

Proteome Analysis For Inflammation Related To Acute And Convalescent Infection, Tara K Sigdel, Swastika Sur, Patrick Boada, Suzanne M Mcdermott, Cecilia S Lindestam Arlehamn, Kristy O Murray, Linda K Bockenstedt, Maggie Kerwin, Elaine F Reed, Eva Harris, Ken Stuart, Bjoern Peters, Ana Sesma, Ruth R Montgomery, Minnie M Sarwal

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Infectious diseases are a significant burden in global healthcare. Pathogens engage with different host defense mechanisms. However, it is currently unknown if there are disease-specific immune signatures and/or if different pathogens elicit common immune-associated molecular entities to common therapeutic interventions. We studied patients enrolled through the Human Immunology Project Consortium (HIPC), which focuses on immune responses to various infections. Blood samples were collected and analyzed from patients during infection and follow-up time points at the convalescent stage. The study included samples from patients with Lyme disease (LD), tuberculosis (TB), malaria (MLA), dengue virus (DENV), and West Nile virus (WNV), as …

Sex-Specific Disparities In Covid-19 Outcomes, Zubaid Rafique, Valerie Durkalski-Mauldin, William F Peacock, Kabir Yadav, Joshua C Reynolds, Clifton W Callaway

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVES: Sex-specific disparities in morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 illness are not well understood. Neutralizing antibodies (Ab) may protect against severe COVID-19 illness. We investigated the association of sex with disease progression and SARS-CoV-2 Ab response.

METHODS: In this exploratory analysis of the phase 3, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled Convalescent Plasma in Outpatients (C3PO) trial, we examined whether sex was associated with progression to severe illness, defined as a composite of all-cause hospitalization, emergency/urgent care visit, or death within 15 days from study enrollment. Patients had a positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) test, symptom onset within 7 days, …

Using Mobile Technology For Family-Based Prevention In Families With Low Incomes: Lessons From A Randomized Controlled Trial Of A Childhood Obesity Prevention Program, Thomas G Power, Susan S Baker, Karen V Barale, M Catalina Aragón, Jane D Lanigan, Louise Parker, Karina Silva Garcia, Garry Auld, Nilda Micheli, Sheryl O Hughes

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Researchers are increasingly using web-based technologies to deliver family-based, prevention programming. Few studies have examined the success of such approaches for families with low incomes. The purpose of this study was to describe the level of in-class and online engagement in a childhood obesity prevention program for parents with low incomes, to examine the demographic correlates of parent engagement, and to examine dosage effects on parental feeding outcomes as a function of online exposure. All participants attended in-class nutrition education classes (Eating Smart · Being Active) as part of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) in Colorado and …

Implementation And Evaluation Of A Mhealth-Based Community Health Worker Feedback Loop For Hispanics With And At Risk For Diabetes, Elizabeth M Vaughan, Victor J Cardenas, Wenyaw Chan, Amber B Amspoker, Craig A Johnston, Salim S Virani, Christie M Ballantyne, Aanand D Naik

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Gaps in accessibility and communication hinder diabetes care in poor communities. Combining mobile health (mHealth) and community health workers (CHWs) into models to bridge these gaps has great potential but needs evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a mHealth-based, Participant-CHW-Clinician feedback loop in a real-world setting.

DESIGN: Quasi-experimental feasibility study with intervention and usual care (UC) groups.

PARTICIPANTS: A total of 134 participants (n = 67/group) who were all low-income, uninsured Hispanics with or at-risk for type 2 diabetes.

INTERVENTION: A 15-month study with a weekly to semimonthly mHealth Participant-CHW-Clinician feedback loop to identify participant issues and provide participants monthly diabetes …

Human Zoo Healthcare At The 1904 World’S Fair, Angel Blake

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Human Zoo Healthcare at the 1904 World’s Fair

Were precautions taken or put into place for the Human Zoo performers at the 1904 World’s Fair? This topic has been overlooked and understudied by historians, there are few articles written and we do not know the true death toll which shows the racism towards these indigenous peoples. The research for this project was conducted at the State Historical Society of Missouri, the St. Louis Mercantile Library, Newspapers.com, Archives.com, St. Louis Public Library, and the Missouri Historical Society, including research on primary sources such as official World’s Fair committee meeting minutes, hospital …

Prognosis Of Covid-19 On Workers With History Of Asthma: An Evidence-Based Case Report, Parmitasari Parmitasari, Dewi Yunia Fitriani, Indah S. Widyahening

Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal of Indonesia

Background. As the COVID-19 pandemic occurs, those with asthma were thought to have an increased risk of infection. Question arisen whether special preparation for severe clinical outcomes might be needed for remote site workers. Method. A literature search was conducted through PubMed, Scopus and ProQuest databases, as well as hand searched. The inclusion criteria were systematic review, cohort study, retrospective study, cross sectional study, COVID-19, asthma, and ICU. Then, they were critically appraised based on Center of Evidence-Based Medicine, Oxford University, Critical Appraisal for Prognostic Studies and Systematic Reviews. Result. Three systematic review studies and three retrospective cohort studies were …

Factors Affecting Superoxide Dismutase Activity In Railway Workers In Jakarta, Indonesia, Vera Winata, Muhammad Ilyas, Aria Kekalih, Suryo Wibowo, Muchtaruddin Mansyur

Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal of Indonesia

Introduction. Railway workers are exposed to many occupational health risk factors that may cause oxidative stress. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity is one of the response biomarkers of oxidative stress.

Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted from July-October 2021. Eighty-four participants were included in this study. Data about participants’ characteristics, physical activity intensity as measured by the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) version 2, and stress levels as measured by Holmes-Rahe Stress Inventory were collected using Google Forms. The physical examination yielded data on blood pressure, ear condition, and waist circumference. Blood Superoxide dismutase activity and HbA1c levels were determined using …

Validity And Reliability Of The Indonesian Version Of Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (Enss) As A Job-Stress Assessment Tool For Nurses, Hasto Harsono, Herqutanto Herqutanto, Suryo Wibowo, Aria Kekalih, Astrid Sulistomo

Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal of Indonesia

ABSTRACT

Background: Job stress is a serious health problem in the 21st century because of its high incidence and impact. Nurses are known as a profession that has high risks of stress, has distinctive characteristics, and hence requires a work stress assessment instrument that suits its peculiarities. The Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (ENSS) is a nurse-specific stress assessment instrument that has high validity and reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.96) and is widely used in many countries but is not yet available in Indonesian. This study aims to obtain the Indonesian version of ENSS and evaluate its reliability and validity.

Method: …

The Association Between Mental Workload And Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain Among Operators Of An On Shore Oil And Gas Company In South Sumatera, Ardi Artanto, Suryo Wibowo, Nuri Purwito Adi

Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal of Indonesia

Background: Work location influences the proportion of operators with low back pain (LBP) at a South Sumatera onshore oil and gas company. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of nonspecific chronic LBP among the company's operators, as well as the association between quantitative and qualitative mental workload and nonspecific chronic LBP.

Methods: This study was cross-sectional in design, with 96 samples collected through purposive sampling. Questionnaires and physical examinations were used to collect data.

Results: Nonspecific chronic LBP was found in 32.3 percent of people. According to the multivariate analysis, moderate-heavy qualitative mental workload (OR: 5.14; 95 percent CI: …

The Effectiveness Of Education Through Web-Based Seminar In Increasing Knowledge About The Early Detection And Reporting Of Occupational Diseases, Keyne Christa Monintja, Dewi Sumaryani Soemarko, Dewi Yunia Fitriani, Herqutanto Herqutanto, Suryo Wibowo

Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal of Indonesia

Background: In 2022, the Indonesian Occupational Medicine Association (IOMA) collaborated with oil and gas companies and conducted a web-based seminar (webinar) to enable participants to recognize occupational disease earlier and enhance reporting in companies. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the webinar in increasing the intended knowledge.

Method: The webinar was separated into three batches, with different participants per batch. Using a one-group pretest-posttest design, we utilized secondary data from IOMA. The effectiveness of the webinar was determined by participants' satisfaction and knowledge as measured by pre-test and post-test. After performing item analysis, we removed poor discriminating items in …

Analysis Of Knowledge Of Hospital Manager About Occupational Tuberculosis And Associated Factors, Aditya Agung Prasetyo, Suryo Wibowo, Muhammad Ilyas, Ahmad Fuady, Feni Fitriani Taufik

Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal of Indonesia

Introduction.Knowledge of hospital managers about occupational tuberculosis can affect occupational tuberculosis services in the hospital. This study aims was to identify associated factors with knowledge of hospital manager about occupational tuberculosis in order to improve occupational tuberculosis services in hospitals as seen in the four management functions.

Method.Concurrent embedded mixed approaches are used in this cross-sectional study. Focus group discussions (FGD) are used in qualitative research, whereas questionnaires are used in quantitative research. The questionnaire was evaluated using the difficulty level and discriminating index tests. The ten questions were examined both univariate and bivariate. Thematic analysis was used …

Psychosocial Factors In The Workplace, Suryo Wibowo

Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal of Indonesia

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Potential Causal Association Between Gut Microbiome And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Qiang He, Wenjing Wang, Dingkang Xu, Yang Xiong, Chuanyuan Tao, Chao You, Lu Ma, Junpeng Ma, Caroline M. Nievergelt, Adam X. Maihofer, Torsten Klengel, Elizabeth G. Atkinson, Chia Yen Chen, Karmel W. Choi, Jonathan R.I. Coleman, Shareefa Dalvie, Laramie E. Duncan, Mark W. Logue, Allison C. Provost, Andrew Ratanatharathorn, Murray B. Stein, Katy Torres, Allison E. Aiello, Lynn M. Almli, Ananda B. Amstadter, Søren B. Andersen, Ole A. Andreassen, Paul A. Arbisi, Ariane Rung, Et Al

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Background: The causal effects of gut microbiome and the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are still unknown. This study aimed to clarify their potential causal association using mendelian randomization (MR). Methods: The summary-level statistics for gut microbiome were retrieved from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of the MiBioGen consortium. As to PTSD, the Freeze 2 datasets were originated from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Working Group (PGC-PTSD), and the replicated datasets were obtained from FinnGen consortium. Single nucleotide polymorphisms meeting MR assumptions were selected as instrumental variables. The inverse variance weighting (IVW) method was employed as the …

The Brain Drain Of The Egyptian Physicians: A Look From Both Sides, Hebatalla Ahmed Mohamed Ismail

Theses and Dissertations

The brain drain of well-educated and trained workers is a problem that faces many nations. The pandemic revealed the importance of being ready with all resources, especially the healthcare workers. In Egypt, according to records of the Egyptian medical syndicate, half of the registered physicians in the syndicate are working abroad. In this study, we aimed to understand the relationship between individual satisfaction regarding work or family, his capability factors, and his intention to leave the country to work in another one. A quantitative approach was used by a self-administered online questionnaire. The results showed that 66.4% of physicians who …

The Relationship Between Certified Nurse Aides’ Staffing Hours And Resident Medicare Quality Measure Outcomes In Missouri Long-Term Care Facilities, Sharlletta Idella Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

The Differences In Code Status Conversation Approaches Reported By Emergency Medicine And Palliative Care Clinicians: A Mixed-Method Study, Kei Ouchi, Thidathit Prachanukool, Emily L Aaronson, Joshua R Lakin, Masaya Higuchi, Shan W Liu, Maura Kennedy, Anna C Revette, Anita N Chary, Jenson Kaithamattam, Brandon Lee, Thanh H Neville, Mohammad A Hasdianda, Rebecca Sudore, Mara A Schonberg, James A Tulsky, Susan D Block

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: During acute health deterioration, emergency medicine and palliative care clinicians routinely discuss code status (e.g., shared decision making about mechanical ventilation) with seriously ill patients. Little is known about their approaches. We sought to elucidate how code status conversations are conducted by emergency medicine and palliative care clinicians and why their approaches are different.

METHODS: We conducted a sequential-explanatory, mixed-method study in three large academic medical centers in the Northeastern United States. Attending physicians and advanced practice providers working in emergency medicine and palliative care were eligible. Among the survey respondents, we purposefully sampled the participants for follow-up interviews. …

The Effects Of Loneliness And Suicidal Ideation On U.S. Veterans, Sean Donnelly

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Recommendations From People Who Use Drugs In Philadelphia, Pa About Structuring Point-Of-Care Drug Checking, Megan K. Reed, Elias Borne, Tracy Esteves Camacho, Morgan Kelly, Kristin L. Rising

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

Background

Adulterants, such as fentanyl and xylazine, among others, are present in a high percentage of the illicit drug supply, increasing the risk for overdose and other adverse health events among people who use drugs (PWUD). Point-of-care drug checking identifes components of a drug sample and delivers results consumers. To successfully meet the diverse needs of PWUD, more information is needed about the utility of drug checking, motivations for using services contextualized in broader comments on the drug supply, hypothesized actions to be taken after receiving drug checking results, and the ideal structure of a program.

Methods

In December 2021, …

Development Of A Culinary Medicine Toolkit To Improve Implementation Of Virtual Cooking Classes For Low-Income Adults With Type 2 Diabetes, David Ai, Natalia I Heredia, Vanessa Cruz, Diana C Guevara, Shreela V Sharma, Dolores Woods, Melisa Danho, John Wesley Mcwhorter

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Culinary medicine (CM) addresses diseases through nutrition and culinary education. To promote access to educational material for people with diabetes and engagement in virtual classes, we created a virtual culinary medicine toolkit (VCMT) sensitive to literacy levels and language preferences. The VCMT was developed to accompany existing virtual CM programs and help improve participant interaction and retention, offering educational materials for providers and participants. The provider VCMT offers level-setting education to reduce mixed nutrition messaging, including educational resources discussing inclusive nutrition and mindful eating topics. Each handout has a QR code and link to engaging, animated videos that provide further …

Association Between Regulatory T Cells And Ischemic Heart Disease: A Mendelian Randomization Study, Yucheng Hou, Ke Si, Jingyue Yang, Tan Liu, Basel Abdelazeem, Nonthikorn Theerasuwipakorn, Jingwei Zhao, Zhenya Shen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: An imbalance of innate and acquired immune responses is significantly involved in the pathophysiology of coronary atherosclerosis and the occurrence of ischemic heart disease (IHD). Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play an essential regulatory role in atherosclerotic plaque formation and maintenance; therefore, dysfunction of Tregs triggers the formation of atherosclerotic plaques and accelerates their progression. However, due to the inherent limitations of observational research, clinical evidence is limited concerning the relationship between the variation in peripheral Tregs and the risk of IHD, and the cause-and-effect relationship between these factors is unclear. Mendelian randomization (MR) uses genetic variation as a proxy …