Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Fibroblast Growth Factor 19 Secretion And Function In Perinatal Development, Caitlin Vonderohe, Gregory Guthrie, Douglas G Burrin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Limited work has focused on fibroblast growth factor-19 (FGF19) secretion and function in the perinatal period. FGF19 is a potent growth factor that coordinates development of the brain, eye, inner ear, and skeletal system in the embryo, but after birth, FGF19 transitions to be an endocrine regulator of the classic pathway of hepatic bile acid synthesis. FGF19 has emerged as a mediator of metabolism and bile acid synthesis in aged animals and adults in the context of liver disease and metabolic dysfunction. FGF19 has also been shown to have systemic insulin-sensitizing and skeletal muscle hypertrophic effects when induced or supplemented …

Risk Factors For Hcc In Contemporary Cohorts Of Patients With Cirrhosis, Fasiha Kanwal, Saira Khaderi, Amit G Singal, Jorge A Marrero, Nicole Loo, Sumeet K Asrani, Christopher I Amos, Aaron P Thrift, Xiangjun Gu, Michelle Luster, Abeer Al-Sarraj, Jing Ning, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Etiological risk factors for cirrhosis have changed in the last decade. It remains unclear to what extent these trends in cirrhosis risk factors have changed HCC risk.

APPROACH AND RESULTS: We used data from two contemporary, prospective multiethnic cohorts of patients with cirrhosis: the Texas Hepatocellular Carcinoma Consortium Cohort and the Houston Veterans Administration Cirrhosis Surveillance Cohort. Patients with cirrhosis were enrolled from seven US centers and followed until HCC diagnosis, transplant, death, or June 30, 2021. We calculated the annual incidence rates for HCC and examined the effects of etiology, demographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors on …

Clinical Course And Outcomes Of Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease-Related Hepatocellular Cancer (Nafld-Hcc), Jinna Chu, George Cholankeril, Xian Yu, Abbas Rana, Yamini Natarajan, Hashem B El-Serag, Jennifer Kramer, Fasiha Kanwal

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Among etiologies for hepatocellular (HCC), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) carries a high risk of competing non-cancer mortality. The effect of cancer and non-cancer factors on risk of death after NAFLD-HCC diagnosis remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the role of non-cancer mortality with NAFLD-HCC.

METHODS: Using a retrospective cohort of patients with NAFLD diagnosed at 130 facilities in the Veterans Administration, we identified patients with incident HCC diagnosed between January 1, 2005 and June 30, 2018. We determined cause of death as HCC-related, non-HCC liver-related, and non-liver-related after HCC diagnosis. We used Cox proportional hazards regression …

Risk Factors And Prognostic Significance Of Platelet Count Abnormalities In Children With Hiv Infection On Antiretroviral Therapy, Joseph Lubega, Taylor O Kim, Gladstone Airewele, Amanda Grimes, Shaun Bulsara, Erin Peckham, Sebastian R Wanless, Heather Haq, Peter Elyanu, Philippa Musoke, Mwita Lumumba, Adeodata Kekitiinwa, Mogomotsi Matshaba, Michael Scheurer, Jenny Despotovic

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVES: To establish the incidence, risk factors and correlation with survival of thrombocytopenia and thrombocytosis (T/T) among children with HIV infection (CWH).

DESIGN: A retrospective nested case control study of patients 0-18 years in five Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) centers in sub-Sahara Africa, 2004-2014.

METHODS: Clinical and laboratory variables including complete blood counts (CBC) were extracted from the BIPAI electronic medical record system. Incident cases of T/T were identified and frequency-matched on follow-up time with controls with normal platelets. We calculated the prevalence and incidence density of T/T and used conditional logistic regression to evaluate their association with …

The Quality And Management Of Penicillin Allergy Labels In Pediatric Primary Care, Margaret G Taylor, Torsten Joerger, Sara Anvari, Yun Li, Jeffrey S Gerber, Debra L Palazzi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Penicillin allergy labels are the most common drug allergy label. The objective of this study was to describe the quality and management of penicillin allergy labels in the pediatric primary care setting.

METHODS: Retrospective chart review of 500 of 18 015 children with penicillin allergy labels born from January 1, 2010 to June 30, 2020 randomly selected from an outpatient birth cohort from Texas Children's Pediatrics and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia networks. Penicillin allergy risk classification ("not allergy," "low risk," "moderate or high risk," "severe risk," "unable to classify") was determined based on documentation within (1) the …

Covid-19 Induced Environments, Health-Related Quality Of Life Outcomes And Problematic Behaviors: Evidence From Children With Syndromic Autism Spectrum Disorders, Corneliu Bolbocean, Kayla B Rhidenour, Maria Mccormack, Bernhard Suter, J Lloyd Holder

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Between July 2020 and January 2021, 230 principal caregivers completed a questionnaire to measure proxy-assessed health-related quality of life outcomes (HRQoL), behavioral outcomes in children with syndromic autism spectrum disorders and COVID-19 induced changes to lifestyle and environments. HRQoL and behavioral outcomes reported earlier during the pandemic were generally worse compared to those reported later. COVID-19 induced reduction to a caregiver's mental health appointments, and hours spent watching TV were associated with decreases in HRQoL and increased the likelihood of problematic behaviors. Increasing time outdoors and time away from digital devices were positively associated with HRQoL and behaviors and might …

Volume Of Subcortical Brain Regions In Social Anxiety Disorder: Mega-Analytic Results From 37 Samples In The Enigma-Anxiety Working Group, Nynke A Groenewold, Janna Marie Bas-Hoogendam, Alyssa R Amod, Max A Laansma, Laura S Van Velzen, Moji Aghajani, Kevin Hilbert, Hyuntaek Oh, Ramiro Salas, Andrea P Jackowski, Pedro M Pan, Giovanni A Salum, James R Blair, Karina S Blair, Joy Hirsch, Spiro P Pantazatos, Franklin R Schneier, Ardesheer Talati, Karin Roelofs, Inge Volman, Laura Blanco-Hinojo, Narcís Cardoner, Jesus Pujol, Katja Beesdo-Baum, Christopher R K Ching, Sophia I Thomopoulos, Andreas Jansen, Tilo Kircher, Axel Krug, Igor Nenadić, Frederike Stein, Udo Dannlowski, Dominik Grotegerd, Hannah Lemke, Susanne Meinert, Alexandra Winter, Michael Erb, Benjamin Kreifelts, Qiyong Gong, Su Lui, Fei Zhu, Benson Mwangi, Jair C Soares, Mon-Ju Wu, Ali Bayram, Mesut Canli, Raşit Tükel, P Michiel Westenberg, Alexandre Heeren, Henk R Cremers, David Hofmann, Thomas Straube, Alexander G G Doruyter, Christine Lochner, Jutta Peterburs, Marie-José Van Tol, Raquel E Gur, Antonia N Kaczkurkin, Bart Larsen, Theodore D Satterthwaite, Courtney A Filippi, Andrea L Gold, Anita Harrewijn, André Zugman, Robin Bülow, Hans J Grabe, Henry Völzke, Katharina Wittfeld, Joscha Böhnlein, Katharina Dohm, Harald Kugel, Elisabeth Schrammen, Peter Zwanzger, Elisabeth J Leehr, Lisa Sindermann, Tali M Ball, Gregory A Fonzo, Martin P Paulus, Alan Simmons, Murray B Stein, Heide Klumpp, K Luan Phan, Tomas Furmark, Kristoffer N T Månsson, Amirhossein Manzouri, Suzanne N Avery, Jennifer Urbano Blackford, Jacqueline A Clauss, Brandee Feola, Jennifer C Harper, Chad M Sylvester, Ulrike Lueken, Dick J Veltman, Anderson M Winkler, Neda Jahanshad, Daniel S Pine, Paul M Thompson, Dan J Stein, Nic J A Van Der Wee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

There is limited convergence in neuroimaging investigations into volumes of subcortical brain regions in social anxiety disorder (SAD). The inconsistent findings may arise from variations in methodological approaches across studies, including sample selection based on age and clinical characteristics. The ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group initiated a global mega-analysis to determine whether differences in subcortical volumes can be detected in adults and adolescents with SAD relative to healthy controls. Volumetric data from 37 international samples with 1115 SAD patients and 2775 controls were obtained from ENIGMA-standardized protocols for image segmentation and quality assurance. Linear mixed-effects analyses were adjusted for comparisons across seven …

Can Breaking Heroin Addiction Lead To A Broken Heart? A Case Of Reverse Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy In A Patient With Heroin Withdrawal, Hunter Launer, Daniel Nelson, Alarica Dietzen, Atul Singla

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Reverse takotsubo cardiomyopathy is triggered by emotional or physical stress and has a presentation similar to that of acute coronary syndrome. A 39-year-old woman with a history of heroin use disorder presented with intractable nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. She was diagnosed with heroin withdrawal and started on buprenorphine-naloxone. On day 2 of her hospitalization, she developed chest heaviness and had an elevated troponin I level of 3.2 ng/mL (reference range, 0.015-0.045 ng/mL); electrocardiography showed new T-wave inversions in the anterior and inferior leads. Emergent coronary angiography showed patent coronary arteries, and left ventriculography showed basal hypokinesis and apical hyperkinesis, consistent …

Cardiac Surgery For Treatment Of Covid-19-Associated Infectious Endocarditis, Ali Taghizadeh-Waghefi, Asen Petrov, Manuel Wilbring, Konstantin Alexiou, Utz Kappert, Klaus Matschke, Sems-Malte Tugtekin

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

BACKGROUND: Significant uncertainty exists about the optimal timing of surgery for infectious endocarditis (IE) surgery in patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection. This case series and a systematic review of the literature were carried out to evaluate the timing of surgery and postsurgical outcomes for patients with COVID-19-associated IE.

METHODS: The PubMed database was searched for reports published from June 20, 2020, to June 24, 2021, that contained the terms infective endocarditis and COVID-19. A case series of 8 patients from the authors' facility was also added.

RESULTS: A total of 12 cases were included, including 4 case reports that met …

Coronary Stent Off-Wire Dislodgement: Case Report Of A Rare Complication, Meng-Ying Lu, Kuang-Te Wang

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Although several techniques have been reported for managing an on-wire dislodged stent in the coronary artery, very few reports have focused on the much rarer complication of an off-wire dislodged stent. In a 73-year-old man who experienced an off-wire dislodged coronary stent, the proximal elongated segment was lodged in the left main coronary artery, and the distal segment was floating in the aorta like a wind sock. After a failed attempt at retrieval using a gooseneck microsnare, the dislodged stent was successfully removed using a 3-loop vascular snare via the left radial artery. There was no obvious vascular injury. This …

Electronic Health Records' Support For Primary Care Physicians' Situation Awareness: A Metanarrative Review, April Savoy, Himalaya Patel, Daniel R Murphy, Ashley N D Meyer, Jennifer Herout, Hardeep Singh

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: Situation awareness (SA) refers to people's perception and understanding of their dynamic environment. In primary care, reduced SA among physicians increases errors in clinical decision-making and, correspondingly, patients' risk of experiencing adverse outcomes. Our objective was to understand the extent to which electronic health records (EHRs) support primary care physicians (PCPs)' SA during clinical decision-making.

METHOD: We conducted a metanarrative review of papers in selected academic databases, including CINAHL and MEDLINE. Eligible studies included original peer-reviewed research published between January 2012 and August 2020 on PCP-EHR interactions. We iteratively queried, screened, and summarized literature focused on EHRs supporting PCPs' …

Tubular-Specific Expression Of Hiv Protein Vpr Leads To Severe Tubulointerstitial Damage Accompanied By Progressive Fibrosis And Cystic Development, Yuqiang Chen, Ya Chen, Jia Fu, Zeguo Sun, Huilin Li, Wenzhen Xiao, Jing E, Benjamin Y Lo, Niansong Wang, Weijia Zhang, Mary E Klotman, Paul E Klotman, Jeffrey B Kopp, Vivette D D'Agati, John Cijiang He, Kyung Lee

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common cause of morbidity in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals. HIV infection leads to a wide spectrum of kidney cell damage, including tubular epithelial cell (TEC) injury. Among the HIV-1 proteins, the pathologic effects of viral protein R (Vpr) are well established and include DNA damage response, cell cycle arrest, and cell death. Several in vitro studies have unraveled the molecular pathways driving the cytopathic effects of Vpr in tubular epithelial cells. However, the in vivo effects of Vpr on tubular injury and CKD pathogenesis have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we use a …

Electrical Stimulation To Regain Lower Extremity Muscle Perfusion And Endurance In Patients With Post-Acute Sequelae Of Sars Cov-2: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Alejandro Zulbaran-Rojas, Myeounggon Lee, Rasha O Bara, Areli Flores-Camargo, Gil Spitz, M G Finco, Amir Behzad Bagheri, Dipaben Modi, Fidaa Shaib, Bijan Najafi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Muscle deconditioning and impaired vascular function in the lower extremities (LE) are among the long‐term symptoms experienced by COVID‐19 patients with a history of severe illness. These symptoms are part of the post‐acute sequelae of Sars‐CoV‐2 (PASC) and currently lack evidence‐based treatment. To investigate the efficacy of lower extremity electrical stimulation (E‐Stim) in addressing PASC‐related muscle deconditioning, we conducted a double‐blinded randomized controlled trial. Eighteen (n = 18) patients with LE muscle deconditioning were randomly assigned to either the intervention (IG) or the control (CG) group, resulting in 36 LE being assessed. Both groups received daily 1 h E‐Stim …

Replication Competent Retrovirus Testing (Rcr) In The National Gene Vector Biorepository: No Evidence Of Rcr In 1,595 Post-Treatment Peripheral Blood Samples Obtained From 60 Clinical Trials, Kenneth Cornetta, Jing Yao, Kimberley House, Lisa Duffy, Prasad S Adusumilli, Rachel Beyer, Claire Booth, Malcolm Brenner, Kevin Curran, Bambi Grilley, Helen Heslop, Christian S Hinrichs, Rosandra N Kaplan, Hans-Peter Kiem, James Kochenderfer, Donald B Kohn, Sham Mailankody, Scott M Norberg, Roisin E O'Cearbhaill, Jennifer Pappas, Jae Park, Carlos Ramos, Antonio Ribas, Isabelle Rivière, Steven A Rosenberg, Craig Sauter, Nirali N Shah, Susan F Slovin, Adrian Thrasher, David A Williams, Tsai-Yu Lin

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

The clinical impact of any therapy requires the product be safe and effective. Gammaretroviral vectors pose several unique risks, including inadvertent exposure to replication competent retrovirus (RCR) that can arise during vector manufacture. The US FDA has required patient monitoring for RCR, and the National Gene Vector Biorepository is an NIH resource that has assisted eligible investigators in meeting this requirement. To date, we have found no evidence of RCR in 338 pre-treatment and 1,595 post-treatment blood samples from 737 patients associated with 60 clinical trials. Most samples (75%) were obtained within 1 year of treatment, and samples as far …

Bayesian Non-Homogeneous Hidden Markov Model With Variable Selection For Investigating Drivers Of Seizure Risk Cycling, Emily T Wang, Sharon Chiang, Zulfi Haneef, Vikram R Rao, Robert Moss, Marina Vannucci

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

A major issue in the clinical management of epilepsy is the unpredictability of seizures. Yet, traditional approaches to seizure forecasting and risk assessment in epilepsy rely heavily on raw seizure frequencies, which are a stochastic measurement of seizure risk. We consider a Bayesian non-homogeneous hidden Markov model for unsupervised clustering of zero-inflated seizure count data. The proposed model allows for a probabilistic estimate of the sequence of seizure risk states at the individual level. It also offers significant improvement over prior approaches by incorporating a variable selection prior for the identification of clinical covariates that drive seizure risk changes and …

Corrigendum To 'The Hemophilia Joint Health Score Version 21 Validation In Adult Patients Study: A Multicenter International Study' [Research And Practice In Thrombosis And Haemostasis, 6/2, (2022) E12690], Adrian Minford, Leonardo R Brand Ao, Maha Othman, Christoph Male, Rezan Abdul-Kadir, Paul Monagle, Andrew D Mumford, Dorothy Adcock, Björn Dahlbäck, Predrag Miljic, Maria T Desancho, Jun Teruya

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

This corrects the article "The Hemophilia Joint Health Score version 2.1 Validation in Adult Patients Study: A multicenter international study" in volume 6, e12690.

Fine Needle Aspiration Of Pancreatic Lesions Focusing On Secondary Tumors With Emphasis Of Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Clinicopathological Study With Follow-Up, Maria Yanqing Chen, Neda Zarrin-Khameh, Ya Xu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The data on metastatic tumors to the pancreas diagnosed by fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy is limited. We report our experience of FNA of primary and secondary pancreatic tumors emphasizing metastatic breast cancer in the pancreas.

METHOD: Total 274 cases of pancreatic FNA in 10 years were retrospectively reviewed. Literature review of metastatic breast cancers to the pancreas was performed.

RESULTS: Out of the 274 cases, 7 (7/274, 2.6%) cases were non-diagnostic, 46 (46/274, 16.8%) cases were negative for malignancy, and 40 (40/274, 14.6%) cases were under the category of atypical cells. There were 133 (133/274, 48.5%) cases diagnosed …

Systemic Inflammatory Markers And Eeg Features Of Children With Fires Receiving Anakinra, Yi-Chen Lai, Gabriella Abou-El-Kheir, Thao Nguyen, Margo Hanerhoff, James J Riviello, Eyal Muscal

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

In a retrospective case series of 10 children with cryptogenic FIRES, we sought to describe the early clinical course and potential biomarkers following anakinra initiation. Six children achieved anesthetic withdrawal within 3 weeks of therapy and one in week four. Of the available cEEG (six children), CRP (10 children), and serum cytokine (six children) studies, there were temporal changes in highly epileptiform bursts (observed in three children), CRP, IL-6, and IL-10 levels that might parallel clinical progression. These observations may represent candidate biomarkers for monitoring clinical progression and therapeutic interventions including anakinra, which merits further investigation in future studies.

Community-Onset Bacterial Coinfection In Children Critically Ill With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection, Kristin L Moffitt, Mari M Nakamura, Cameron C Young, Margaret M Newhams, Natasha B Halasa, J Nelson Reed, Julie C Fitzgerald, Philip C Spinella, Vijaya L Soma, Tracie C Walker, Laura L Loftis, Aline B Maddux, Michele Kong, Courtney M Rowan, Charlotte V Hobbs, Jennifer E Schuster, Becky J Riggs, Gwenn E Mclaughlin, Kelly N Michelson, Mark W Hall, Christopher J Babbitt, Natalie Z Cvijanovich, Matt S Zinter, Mia Maamari, Adam J Schwarz, Aalok R Singh, Heidi R Flori, Shira J Gertz, Mary A Staat, John S Giuliano, Saul R Hymes, Katharine N Clouser, John Mcguire, Christopher L Carroll, Neal J Thomas, Emily R Levy, Adrienne G Randolph

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Community-onset bacterial coinfection in adults hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is reportedly uncommon, though empiric antibiotic use has been high. However, data regarding empiric antibiotic use and bacterial coinfection in children with critical illness from COVID-19 are scarce.

METHODS: We evaluated children and adolescents agedadmission, we adjudicated whether patients had community-onset bacterial coinfection. We compared demographic and clinical characteristics of those who did and did not (1) receive antibiotics and (2) have bacterial coinfection early in admission. Using Poisson regression models, we assessed factors associated with these outcomes.

RESULTS: Of the 532 patients, 63.3% received empiric antibiotics, but …

Pediatric Consultation-Liaison Psychology: Insights And Lessons Learned During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nicole M Schneider, Dara M Steinberg, Andrea M Garcia, Jessy Guler, Emily Mudd, A Monica Agoston, Katherine N Schwartzkopf, Kristin A Kullgren, Laura Judd-Glossy

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

COVID-19 has presented a variety of challenges to the provision of psychology services. In the first month of the pandemic, pediatric consultation-liaison (CL) psychologists reported significant changes in methodology of service delivery (Steinberg et al. in Clin Pract Pediatr Psychol 9:1, 2020). To better understand how and if these changes persisted, as well as other emerging trends, a follow-up study examined changes and challenges six months into the pandemic. An anonymous questionnaire assessed topics related to pediatric CL psychology including practice changes, perception of changes, and institutional support. The questionnaire was sent to the APA Society of Pediatric Society's special …

Content Analysis Of American Network News Coverage Of Prevention Strategies During The Initial Wave Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Cary M Cain, Nipa Kamdar, Rachael Veldman, Shahereez Budhwani, Patrick O'Mahen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Broadcast media is a method to communicate health information to the general public and has previously been used in prior public health emergencies. Despite the current ubiquity of social media, traditional news programming retains relatively large audiences, which increased during the COVID-19 pandemic's early days. Viewership of broadcast media networks' evening news skews toward older groups (age 65 and up) which were vulnerable to health complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: The current study explored the trends in American broadcast network news media coverage of prevention during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

DESIGN: Quantitative content analysis …

Sars-Cov-2 Variants Offer A Second Chance To Fix Vaccine Inequities, Peter J Hotez

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Global COVID-19 vaccine equity remains aspirational for much of the world. But the emergence of rapidly evolving SARS-CoV-2 variants provides new opportunities to correct past public policies, support local vaccine production and combat rising anti-vaccine aggression.

Case Report: Exposure To Relapsing Fever Group Borreliae In Patients With Undifferentiated Febrile Illness In Mexico, Edwin Vázquez-Guerrero, Guadalupe Gordillo-Pérez, Nora Ríos-Sarabia, Job E Lopez, J Antonio Ibarra

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Relapsing fever (RF) borreliosis is a neglected disease in Mexico. A retrospective serological survey using diagnostic antigens GlpQ and BipA from Borrelia turicatae was performed to evaluate human exposure to RF borreliae. Seventy serum samples were used from a cohort of patients with undifferentiated febrile illness in Mexico. Four samples were positive to GlpQ and three to BipA. Results indicate that RF borreliae continue to circulate in regions of Mexico and pose a risk to human health.

Initial Evidence For Reliable And Valid Use Of Scores On The 8-Item Econ-Qol Short Form To Measure Economic Quality Of Life In Caregivers Of Persons With Traumatic Brain Injury, Noelle E Carlozzi, Christopher Graves, Jonathan P Troost, Michael A Kallen, David S Tulsky, Robin A Hanks, Phillip A Ianni, Jennifer A Miner, Angelle M Sander

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: To provide reliability and validity data to support the clinical utility of Economic Quality of Life Measure (Econ-QOL) scores in caregivers of civilians and service members/veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey study.

SETTING: Three academic medical centers and a Veterans Affairs treatment facility.

PARTICIPANTS: 376 caregivers of civilians (n=213) and service members/veterans (n=163) with TBI (N=376).

INTERVENTIONS: N/A.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Econ-QOL and several patient-reported outcome measures (Traumatic Brain Injury Caregiver Quality of Life Caregiver-Specific Anxiety and Caregiver Strain, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System sleep-related impairment, Neurological Quality of Life Measurement System positive affect and well-being) …

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy For Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Samuel D Spencer, Jordan T Stiede, Andrew D Wiese, Wayne K Goodman, Andrew G Guzick, Eric A Storch

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by the presence of debilitating obsessions and compulsions. Cognitive and behavioral models of OCD provide a strong theoretic and empirical foundation for informing effective psychotherapeutic treatment. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for OCD, which includes a deliberate emphasis on exposure and response/ritual prevention, has consistently demonstrated robust efficacy for the treatment of pediatric and adult OCD and is the front-line psychotherapeutic treatment for OCD. Two case vignettes describing CBT for OCD in practice as well as recommendations for clinicians are provided.

Commentary: Is The Glass Half Full Or Half Empty?, Monika Halas, Joseph S Coselli

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Immune Checkpoint Gene Vsir Predicts Patient Prognosis In Acute Myeloid Leukemia And Myelodysplastic Syndromes, Kevin Yao, Emily Zhou, Evelien Schaafsma, Baoyi Zhang, Chao Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Immune checkpoint proteins play critical functions during the immune response to cancer and have been targeted by immune checkpoint blockade therapy. V-domain Ig suppressor of T cell activation (VSIR) is one of these immune checkpoint genes and has been investigated extensively in recent years due to its conflicting roles in cancer immunity. Specifically, in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the prognostic value of VSIR is debated.

Results: In both patient tumor samples and cancer cell lines we find that VSIR has the highest expression in AML out of all cancer types and, in AML, has the highest expression out of …

Longitudinal Evaluation Of Serum Micrornas As Biomarkers For Neuroblastoma Burden And Therapeutic P53 Reactivation, Alan Van Goethem, Jill Deleu, Nurten Yigit, Celine Everaert, Myrthala Moreno-Smith, Sanjeev A Vasudevan, Fjoralba Zeka, Fleur Demuynck, Eveline Barbieri, Frank Speleman, Pieter Mestdagh, Jason Shohet, Jo Vandesompele, Tom Van Maerken

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Accurate assessment of treatment response and residual disease is indispensable for the evaluation of cancer treatment efficacy. However, performing tissue biopsies for longitudinal follow-up poses a major challenge in the management of solid tumours like neuroblastoma. In the present study, we evaluated whether circulating miRNAs are suitable to monitor neuroblastoma tumour burden and whether treatment-induced changes of miRNA abundance in the tumour are detectable in serum. We performed small RNA sequencing on longitudinally collected serum samples from mice carrying orthotopic neuroblastoma xenografts that were exposed to treatment with idasanutlin or temsirolimus. We identified 57 serum miRNAs to be differentially expressed …

Interaction Between Tumor Cell Tnfr2 And Monocyte Membrane-Bound Tnf-Α Triggers Tumorigenic Inflammation In Neuroblastoma, Julie A Tomolonis, Xin Xu, Kshiti H Dholakia, Chunchao Zhang, Linjie Guo, Amy N Courtney, Siyue Wang, Julien Balzeau, Gabriel A Barragán, Gengwen Tian, Erica J Di Pierro, Leonid S Metelitsa

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Tumor progression and resistance to therapy in children with neuroblastoma (NB), a common childhood cancer, are often associated with infiltration of monocytes and macrophages that produce inflammatory cytokines. However, the mechanism by which tumor-supportive inflammation is initiated and propagated remains unknown. Here, we describe a novel protumorigenic circuit between NB cells and monocytes that is triggered and sustained by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α).

METHODS: We used NB knockouts (KOs) of TNF-α and

RESULTS: We found that NB expression of TNFR2 and monocyte membrane-bound tumor necrosis factor alpha is required for monocyte activation and interleukin (IL)-6 production, while NB …

Affinity Purification Of Serum-Derived Anti-Ia-2 Autoantibodies In Type 1 Diabetes Using A Novel Mbp-Ia-2 Fusion Protein, Thilini Mendis, Barbora Filipova, Jing Jing Wang, Massimo Pietropaolo, Michael W Jackson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Autoantibodies targeting epitopes contained within the intracellular domain (IC) of the protein phosphatase-like islet antigen 2 (IA-2) are a common marker of autoimmune type 1 diabetes (T1D), however the isolation of genuine, serum derived anti-IA-2 autoantibodies has proven challenging due to a lack of suitable bioassays. In the current study, an ELISA format was developed for affinity purification of human anti-IA-2ic autoantibodies utilizing a fusion protein (FP) incorporating maltose binding protein and the full-length IA-2IC domain. Using a T1D patient cohort validated for anti-IA-2ic autoantibodies by commercial ELISA, we demonstrate the MBP-IA-2ic FP ELISA detects serum anti-IA-2IC autoantibodies from 3 …