Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Gene Dosage Of Independent Dynein Arm Motor Preassembly Factors Influences Cilia Assembly In Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Gervette M. Penny, Susan K. Dutcher

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Motile cilia assembly utilizes over 800 structural and cytoplasmic proteins. Variants in approximately 58 genes cause primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) in humans, including the dynein arm (pre)assembly factor (DNAAF) gene DNAAF4. In humans, outer dynein arms (ODAs) and inner dynein arms (IDAs) fail to assemble motile cilia when DNAAF4 function is disrupted. In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a ciliated unicellular alga, the DNAAF4 ortholog is called PF23. The pf23-1 mutant assembles short cilia and lacks IDAs, but partially retains ODAs. The cilia of a new null allele (pf23-4) completely lack ODAs and IDAs and are even shorter than cilia from pf23-1. In …

Long-Term Outcomes Of Patients With Large B-Cell Lymphoma Treated With Axicabtagene Ciloleucel And Prophylactic Corticosteroids, Olalekan O Oluwole, Nancy L Bartlett, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

ZUMA-1 safety management cohort 6 investigated the impact of prophylactic corticosteroids and earlier corticosteroids and/or tocilizumab on the incidence and severity of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurologic events (NEs) following axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) in patients with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma (R/R LBCL). Prior analyses of cohort 6 with limited follow-up demonstrated no Grade ≥3 CRS, a low rate of NEs, and high response rates, without negatively impacting axi-cel pharmacokinetics. Herein, long-term outcomes of cohort 6 (N = 40) are reported (median follow-up, 26.9 months). Since the 1-year analysis (Oluwole, et al. Blood. 2022;138[suppl 1]:2832), no new CRS was reported. …

Biomarker-Directed Targeted Therapy Plus Durvalumab In Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Phase 2 Umbrella Trial, Benjamin Besse, Daniel Morgensztern, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

For patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors without currently targetable molecular alterations, standard-of-care treatment is immunotherapy with anti-PD-(L)1 checkpoint inhibitors, alone or with platinum-doublet therapy. However, not all patients derive durable benefit and resistance to immune checkpoint blockade is common. Understanding mechanisms of resistance-which can include defects in DNA damage response and repair pathways, alterations or functional mutations in STK11/LKB1, alterations in antigen-presentation pathways, and immunosuppressive cellular subsets within the tumor microenvironment-and developing effective therapies to overcome them, remains an unmet need. Here the phase 2 umbrella HUDSON study evaluated rational combination regimens for advanced NSCLC following failure of …

A Phase 1 Trial Utilizing A Pharmacokinetic Endpoint To Determine The Optimal Dose Of Ramucirumab In Children And Adolescents With Relapsed Or Refractory Solid Tumors, Including Central Nervous System Tumors, Kristy L Pilbeam, Kamnesh Pradhan, James Croop, Charles G Minard, Xiaowei Liu, Stephan D Voss, Emasenyie Isikwei, Stacey L Berg, Joel M Reid, Elizabeth Fox, Brenda J Weigel

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Background: Ramucirumab is a monoclonal antibody that binds the extracellular domain of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR-2) and prevents binding of VEGF ligands. Based on population pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis and correlation with efficacy in adults, a target steady state trough concentration (Css,min ) ≥ 50 µg/mL was established.

Procedures: This phase 1 trial (ADVL1416) used a rolling six design and a PK primary endpoint to define the recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) of ramucirumab in children with recurrent/refractory solid tumors. Two dose levels (DL) were planned (DL1: 8 mg/kg, DL2: 12 mg/kg administered intravenously [IV] every 2 weeks). Toxicity …

Hepsin Promotes Breast Tumor Growth Signaling Via The Tgfβ-Egfr Axis, Denis Belitškin, Pauliina Munne, Shishir M Pant, Johanna M Anttila, Ilida Suleymanova, Kati Belitškina, Daniel Kirchhofer, James Janetka, Taivo Käsper, Sami Jalil, Jeroen Pouwels, Topi A Tervonen, Juha Klefström

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Hepsin, a type II transmembrane serine protease, is commonly overexpressed in prostate and breast cancer. The hepsin protein is stabilized by the Ras-MAPK pathway, and, downstream, this protease regulates the degradation of extracellular matrix components and activates growth factor pathways, such as the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) pathway. However, how exactly active hepsin promotes cell proliferation machinery to sustain tumor growth is not fully understood. Here, we show that genetic deletion of the gene encoding hepsin (Hpn) in a WAP-Myc model of aggressive MYC-driven breast cancer inhibits tumor growth in the primary syngrafted sites …

Lung Cancer In Ever- And Never-Smokers: Findings From Multi-Population Gwas Studies, Yafang Li, Xiangjun Xiao, Jianrong Li, Younghun Han, Chao Cheng, Gail F Fernandes, Shannon E Slewitzke, Susan M Rosenberg, Meng Zhu, Jinyoung Byun, Yohan Bossé, James D Mckay, Demetrios Albanes, Stephen Lam, Adonina Tardon, Chu Chen, Stig E Bojesen, Maria T Landi, Mattias Johansson, Angela Risch, Heike Bickeböller, H-Erich Wichmann, David C Christiani, Gad Rennert, Susanne M Arnold, Gary E Goodman, John K Field, Michael P A Davies, Sanjay Shete, Loïc Le Marchand, Geoffrey Liu, Rayjean J Hung, Angeline S Andrew, Lambertus A Kiemeney, Ryan Sun, Shanbeh Zienolddiny, Kjell Grankvist, Mikael Johansson, Neil E Caporaso, Angela Cox, Yun-Chul Hong, Philip Lazarus, Matthew B Schabath, Melinda C Aldrich, Ann G Schwartz, Ivan Gorlov, Kristen S Purrington, Ping Yang, Yanhong Liu, Joan E Bailey-Wilson, Susan M Pinney, Diptasri Mandal, James C Willey, Colette Gaba, Paul Brennan, Jun Xia, Hongbing Shen, Christopher I Amos

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Clinical, molecular, and genetic epidemiology studies displayed remarkable differences between ever- and never-smoking lung cancer.

METHODS: We conducted a stratified multi-population (European, East Asian, and African descent) association study on 44,823 ever-smokers and 20,074 never-smokers to identify novel variants that were missed in the non-stratified analysis. Functional analysis including expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) colocalization and DNA damage assays, and annotation studies were conducted to evaluate the functional roles of the variants. We further evaluated the impact of smoking quantity on lung cancer risk for the variants associated with ever-smoking lung cancer.

RESULTS: Five novel independent loci, GABRA4, intergenic …

Familial Hypercholesterolemia Variant And Cardiovascular Risk In Individuals With Elevated Cholesterol, Yiyi Zhang, Jacqueline S Dron, Brandon K Bellows, Amit V Khera, Junxiu Liu, Pallavi P Balte, Elizabeth C Oelsner, Sami Samir Amr, Matthew S Lebo, Anna Nagy, Gina M Peloso, Pradeep Natarajan, Jerome I Rotter, Cristen Willer, Eric Boerwinkle, Christie M Ballantyne, Pamela L Lutsey, Myriam Fornage, Donald M Lloyd-Jones, Lifang Hou, Bruce M Psaty, Joshua C Bis, James S Floyd, Ramachandran S Vasan, Nancy L Heard-Costa, April P Carson, Michael E Hall, Stephen S Rich, Xiuqing Guo, Dhruv S Kazi, Sarah D De Ferranti, Andrew E Moran

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disorder that often results in severely high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high risk of premature coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the impact of FH variants on CHD risk among individuals with moderately elevated LDL-C is not well quantified.

OBJECTIVE: To assess CHD risk associated with FH variants among individuals with moderately (130-189 mg/dL) and severely (≥190 mg/dL) elevated LDL-C and to quantify excess CHD deaths attributable to FH variants in US adults.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 21 426 individuals without preexisting CHD from 6 US cohort studies (Atherosclerosis Risk …

Clonal Hematopoiesis Of Indeterminate Potential Is Associated With Acute Kidney Injury, Caitlyn Vlasschaert, Cassianne Robinson-Cohen, Jianchun Chen, Elvis Akwo, Alyssa C Parker, Samuel A Silver, Pavan K Bhatraju, Hannah Poisner, Shirong Cao, Ming Jiang, Yinqiu Wang, Aolei Niu, Edward Siew, Joseph C Van Amburg, Holly J Kramer, Anna Kottgen, Nora Franceschini, Bruce M Psaty, Russell P Tracy, Alvaro Alonso, Dan E Arking, Josef Coresh, Christie M Ballantyne, Eric Boerwinkle, Morgan Grams, Ming-Zhi Zhang, Bryan Kestenbaum, Matthew B Lanktree, Michael J Rauh, Raymond C Harris, Alexander G Bick

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Age is a predominant risk factor for acute kidney injury (AKI), yet the biological mechanisms underlying this risk are largely unknown. Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) confers increased risk for several chronic diseases associated with aging. Here we sought to test whether CHIP increases the risk of AKI. In three population-based epidemiology cohorts, we found that CHIP was associated with a greater risk of incident AKI, which was more pronounced in patients with AKI requiring dialysis and in individuals with somatic mutations in genes other than DNMT3A, including mutations in TET2 and JAK2. Mendelian randomization analyses supported a causal …

Building Effective Mentoring Relationships During Clinical Ethics Fellowships: Pedagogy, Programs, And People, Trevor M Bibler, Ryan H Nelson, Bryanna Moore, Janet Malek, Mary A Majumder

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

How should clinical ethicists be trained? Scholars have stated that clinical ethics fellowships create well-trained, competent ethicists. While this appears intuitive, few features of fellowship programs have been publicly discussed, let alone debated. In this paper, we examine how fellowships can foster effective mentoring relationships. These relationships provide the foundation for the fellow's transition from novice to competent professional. In this essay, we begin by discussing our pedagogical commitments. Next, we describe the structures our program has created to assist our fellows in becoming competent ethicists. We then outline the kinds of knowledge, skills, and professional attributes mentors should possess. …

Virtual Reality For Pain Management During High-Resolution Manometry: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Ilan Palte, Sarah Stewart, Hal Rives, James A Curtis, Necati Enver, Andrew Tritter, Katerina Andreadis, Valentina Mocchetti, Felice Schnoll-Sussman, Amir Soumekh, Rasa Zarnegar, Philip Katz, Anaïs Rameau

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: High-resolution esophageal manometry (HRM) is the gold standard for the diagnosis of esophageal motility disorders. HRM is typically performed in the office with local anesthesia only, and many patients find it unpleasant and painful. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the use of a virtual reality (VR) headset on pain and anxiety outcomes in patients with dysphagia undergoing HRM.

Methods: Patients with dysphagia were prospectively recruited and randomized to undergo HRM with and without VR distraction. Data collected included the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-6 (STAI-6), the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire, heart rate, and galvanic skin …

Endosteal Stem Cells At The Bone-Blood Interface: A Double-Edged Sword For Rapid Bone Formation: Bone Marrow Endosteal Stem Cells Provide A Robust Source Of Bone-Making Osteoblasts Both In Normal And Abnormal Bone Formation, Yuki Matsushita, Jialin Liu, Angel Ka Yan Chu, Wanida Ono, Joshua D Welch, Noriaki Ono

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Endosteal stem cells are a subclass of bone marrow skeletal stem cell populations that are particularly important for rapid bone formation occurring in growth and regeneration. These stem cells are strategically located near the bone surface in a specialized microenvironment of the endosteal niche. These stem cells are abundant in young stages but eventually depleted and replaced by other stem cell types residing in a non-endosteal perisinusoidal niche. Single-cell molecular profiling and in vivo cell lineage analyses play key roles in discovering endosteal stem cells. Importantly, endosteal stem cells can transform into bone tumor-making cells when deleterious mutations occur in …

Safety Of Ambulatory Surgery For Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Retrospective Review, Dylan Gregory Bertoni, Emily Garvey, Neha Garg, Dev Amin, Sruti Tekumalla, Derek Mann, Bita Naimi, Tingting Zhan, Patrick Hunt, Maurits Boon, Colin Huntley

Jefferson Hospital Staff Papers and Presentations

OBJECTIVE: Assess the safety of ambulatory surgery performed for obstructive sleep apnea.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective chart review.

SETTING: Tertiary care hospital.

METHODS: Demographic data including age, gender, race, body mass index, insurance status, socioeconomic status, and distance traveled for surgery was collected, as well as comorbidities, and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). Outcome variables included continuous positive airway pressure reinitiation, planned/unplanned postoperative admission, emergency department (ED) presentation, or readmission within 7 and 14 days of surgery.

RESULTS: A total of 601 patients were included, who underwent sleep surgery between 2017 and 2022. The median age was 55 years [interquartile range: 19]. A …

Estimating The Treatment And Prophylactic Economic Value Of New Antimicrobials In Managing Antibiotic Resistance And Serious Infections For Common Pathogens In The Usa: A Population Modelling Study, Jason Gordon, Maria Gheorghe, Cale Harrison, Ryan Miller, James Dennis, Lotte Steuten, Simon Goldenberg, Sumanth Gandra, Amer Al-Taie

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health concern. There is a global need to estimate the population-level value of developing new antimicrobials and to ensure the effective use of existing antimicrobials as strategies to counteract antimicrobial resistance. To this aim, population-level value criteria need to be considered alongside conventional value measures.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to develop a novel modelling approach to estimate the value of new antimicrobials, considering the transmission, diversity and enablement elements of STEDI value.

METHODS: We developed a population-based mathematical model for the assessment of antimicrobial value considering both prophylactic use of …

Does Vibrotactile Stimulation Of The Auricular Vagus Nerve Enhance Working Memory? A Behavioral And Physiological Investigation, Gansheng Tan, Josh Adams, Kara Donovan, Phillip Demarest, Jon T Willie, Peter Brunner, Jenna L Gorlewicz, Eric C Leuthardt

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Working memory is essential to a wide range of cognitive functions and activities. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is a promising method to improve working memory performance. However, the feasibility and scalability of electrical stimulation are constrained by several limitations, such as auricular discomfort and inconsistent electrical contact.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to develop a novel and practical method, vibrotactile taVNS, to improve working memory. Further, we investigated its effects on arousal, measured by skin conductance and pupil diameter.

METHOD: This study included 20 healthy participants. Behavioral response, skin conductance, and eye tracking data were concurrently recorded while the …

On The Psychometric Evaluation Of Cognitive Control Tasks: An Investigation With The Dual Mechanisms Of Cognitive Control (Dmcc) Battery, Jean-Paul Snijder, Rongxiang Tang, Julie M Bugg, Andrew R A Conway, Todd S Braver

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The domain of cognitive control has been a major focus of experimental, neuroscience, and individual differences research. Currently, however, no theory of cognitive control successfully unifies both experimental and individual differences findings. Some perspectives deny that there even exists a unified psychometric cognitive control construct to be measured at all. These shortcomings of the current literature may reflect the fact that current cognitive control paradigms are optimized for the detection of within-subject experimental effects rather than individual differences. In the current study, we examine the psychometric properties of the Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control (DMCC) task battery, which was designed …

Clinical Characteristics And Treatment Exposure Of Patients With Marked Treatment-Resistant Unipolar Major Depressive Disorder: A Recover Trial Report, Charles R Conway, Christopher L Kriedt, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: RECOVER is a randomized sham-controlled trial of vagus nerve stimulation and the largest such trial conducted with a psychiatric neuromodulation intervention.

OBJECTIVE: To describe pre-implantation baseline clinical characteristics and treatment history of patients with unipolar, major depressive disorder (MDD), overall and as a function of exposure to interventional psychiatric treatments (INTs), including electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and esketamine.

METHODS: Medical, psychiatric, and treatment records were reviewed by study investigators and an independent Study Eligibility Committee prior to study qualification. Clinical characteristics and treatment history (using Antidepressant Treatment History [Short] Form) were compared in those qualified (N = 493) …

Gene-Based Association Study Of Rare Variants In Children Of Diverse Ancestries Implicates Tnfrsf21 In The Development Of Allergic Asthma, Selene Clay, Katherine Rivera-Spoljaric, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Most genetic studies of asthma and allergy have focused on common variation in individuals primarily of European ancestry. Studying the role of rare variation in quantitative phenotypes and in asthma phenotypes in populations of diverse ancestries can provide additional, important insights into the development of these traits.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine the contribution of rare variants to different asthma- or allergy-associated quantitative traits in children with diverse ancestries and explore their role in asthma phenotypes.

METHODS: We examined whole-genome sequencing data from children participants in longitudinal studies of asthma (n = 1035; parent-identified as 67% Black and 25% …

Extramedullary Hematopoiesis In Cancer, Derek A G Barisas, Kyunghee Choi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Hematopoiesis can occur outside of the bone marrow during inflammatory stress to increase the production of primarily myeloid cells at extramedullary sites; this process is known as extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH). As observed in a broad range of hematologic and nonhematologic diseases, EMH is now recognized for its important contributions to solid tumor pathology and prognosis. To initiate EMH, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are mobilized from the bone marrow into the circulation and to extramedullary sites such as the spleen and liver. At these sites, HSCs primarily produce a pathological subset of myeloid cells that contributes to tumor pathology. The EMH …

Self-Sampling For Human Papillomavirus Testing: Acceptability In A Us Safety Net Health System, Susan L Parker, Trisha L Amboree, Shaun Bulsara, Maria Daheri, Matthew L Anderson, Susan G Hilsenbeck, Maria L Jibaja-Weiss, Mohammed Zare, Kathleen M Schmeler, Ashish A Deshmukh, Elizabeth Y Chiao, Michael E Scheurer, Jane R Montealegre

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Introduction: Self-sampling for human papillomavirus testing is increasingly recognized as a strategy to expand cervical cancer screening access and utilization. Acceptability is a key determinant of uptake. This study assesses the acceptability of and experiences with mailed self-sampling kits for human papillomavirus testing among underscreened patients in a safety net health system.

Methods: A nested telephone survey was administered between 2021 and 2023 to a sample (n=272) of the 2,268 participants enrolled in the Prospective Evaluation of Self-Testing to Increase Screening trial. Trial participants include patients of a safety net health system aged 30-65 years who were not up to …

A Study Of Dietary Patterns Derived By Cluster Analysis And Their Association With Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Severity Among Hispanic Patients, Xiaotao Zhang, Carrie R Daniel, Valeria Soltero, Ximena Vargas, Shilpa Jain, Fasiha Kanwal, Aaron P Thrift, Maya Balakrishnan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Diet is a modifiable metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) risk factor, but few studies have been conducted among Hispanic patients, despite the fact that MASLD prevalence and severity are highest among this ethnic subgroup. We aimed to identify prevalent dietary patterns among Hispanic patients using cluster analysis and to investigate associations with MASLD severity.

Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included 421 Harris County MASLD Cohort participants who self-reported Hispanic ethnicity and completed baseline food frequency questionnaires. All included patients had MASLD, diagnosed per standard clinical criteria. K-means analysis was used to identify clusters of patients sharing similar dietary habits. …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Early Initiation Of Substance Use: A Survival Analysis., Amy L. Meadows, Justin C Strickland, S Maela Hyder, Rita C Basconi, Margaret E Stull, Frances P Wagner, Mai N Nguyen, Abner O. Rayapati, Craig R Rush

Psychiatry Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: Early adversity, such as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), is a risk factor for the development of substance use disorder (SUD). ACEs are associated with earlier initiation of substance use. This study examined the relationship between ACEs and age of initiation of substance use using survival analysis. It is hypothesized that individuals with higher ACEs will have an earlier age of initiation.

METHOD: Participants were recruited from the University of Kentucky's Laboratory for Human Behavioral Pharmacology. Participants were 18 years or older, English speaking, and actively engaged in substance use. Participants were not in substance abuse treatment nor were they …

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In The Co-Occurrence Of Intellectual Disability And Autism: Impact Of Incorporating Measures Of Adaptive Functioning., Sarah M. Furnier, Ronald Gangnon, Julie L. Daniels, Susan Ellis Weismer, Cy Nadler, Karen Pazol, Nuri M. Reyes, Steven Rosenberg, Eric Rubenstein, Lisa D. Wiggins, Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, Maureen S. Durkin

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Intellectual disability (ID) commonly co-occurs in children with autism. Although diagnostic criteria for ID require impairments in both cognitive and adaptive functioning, most population-based estimates of the frequency of co-occurring ID in children with autism-including studies of racial and ethnic disparities in co-occurring autism and ID-base the definition of ID solely on cognitive scores. The goal of this analysis was to examine the effect of including both cognitive and adaptive behavior criteria on estimates of co-occurring ID in a well-characterized sample of 2- to 5-year-old children with autism. Participants included 3264 children with research or community diagnoses of autism enrolled …

Altered Larval Activation Response Associated With Multidrug Resistance In The Canine Hookworm Ancylostoma Caninum, Elise L Mckean, Emilia Grill, Young-Jun Choi, Makedonka Mitreva, Damien M O'Halloran, John M Hawdon

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Parasitic gastrointestinal nematodes pose significant health risks to humans, livestock, and companion animals, and their control relies heavily on the use of anthelmintic drugs. Overuse of these drugs has led to the emergence of resistant nematode populations. Herein, a naturally occurring isolate (referred to as BCR) of the dog hookworm,

Severe Stiff-Person Syndrome After Covid: The First Video-Documented Covid Exacerbation And Viral Implications, Marinos C. Dalakas

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVES: To describe a patient with mild GAD-positive stiff-leg syndrome (SLS) who developed severely disabling stiff-person syndrome (SPS) 1 week after mild COVID-19 and discuss the impact of viral implications.

METHODS: Video-documented serial clinical observations at baseline, after acute COVID-19, and after IVIG treatments.

RESULTS: A 39-year-old man with left-SLS was stable during a 2-year follow-up with low-dose antispasmodics, working fully and functioning normally, even able to run. One week after mild COVID-19, he started to experience generalized SPS symptomatology that steadily worsened the following 2-3 weeks, becoming unable to walk, requiring a walker, with significant thoracolumbar and bilateral leg …

Increased Experiences Of Loneliness During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Emotional Distress And Changes In Perceived Physical And Mental Health: A Structural Equation Model, Joann Jabbari, Stephen Roll, Amy Mcqueen, Nancy Ridenour

2020-Current year OA Pubs

AIM: To explore how experiences of increased loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic affected emotional distress and changes in perceptions of physical and mental health.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.

METHODS: Data from the Socio-Economic Impacts of Covid-19 Survey, a national survey administered to 5033 adults in August and September 2020 in the United States, was utilized in this study. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the associations between increased experiences of loneliness during the pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceptions of physical and mental health.

RESULTS: Among the 47% of participants who reported increased experiences of loneliness during the pandemic, …

Il-33 Potentiates Histaminergic Itch, Anna M Trier, Aaron M Ver Heul, Avery Fredman, Victoria Le, Zhen Wang, Kelsey Auyeung, James Meixiong, Paola Lovato, Michael J Holtzman, Fang Wang, Xinzhong Dong, Andrew L Ji, Brian S Kim

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Itch is a common symptom that can greatly diminish quality of life. Histamine is a potent endogenous pruritogen, and while antihistamines are often the first-line treatment for itch, in conditions like chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), many patients remain symptomatic while receiving maximal doses. Mechanisms that drive resistance to antihistamines are poorly defined.

OBJECTIVES: Signaling of the alarmin cytokine IL-33 in sensory neurons is postulated to drive chronic itch by inducing neuronal sensitization to pruritogens. Thus, we sought to determine if IL-33 can augment histamine-induced (histaminergic) itch.

METHODS: Itch behavior was assessed in response to histamine after IL-33 or saline …

Metabolomic Association And Risk Prediction With Heart Failure In Older Adults, Guning Liu, Ngoc Quynh H Nguyen, Kari E Wong, Sunil K Agarwal, Eric Boerwinkle, Patricia P Chang, Brian L Claggett, Laura R Loehr, Jianzhong Ma, Kunihiro Matsushita, Carlos J Rodriguez, Joseph S Rossi, Stuart D Russell, R Brandon Stacey, Amil M Shah, Bing Yu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Older adults have markedly increased risks of heart failure (HF), specifically HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Identifying novel biomarkers can help in understanding HF pathogenesis and improve at-risk population identification. This study aimed to identify metabolites associated with incident HF, HFpEF, and HF with reduced ejection fraction and examine risk prediction in older adults.

Methods: Untargeted metabolomic profiling was performed in Black and White adults from the ARIC study (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) visit 5 (n=3719; mean age, 75 years). We applied Cox regressions to identify metabolites associated with incident HF and its subtypes. The metabolite risk score …

Efficacy Of A Primary Care Ehealth Obesity Treatment Pilot Intervention Developed For Vulnerable Pediatric Patients, Joshua S Yudkin, Marlyn A Allicock, Folefac D Atem, Carol A Galeener, Sarah E Messiah, Sarah E Barlow

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background:

Challenges to treat excess weight in primary care settings include time constraints during encounters and barriers to multiple visits for patient families, especially those from vulnerable backgrounds. Dynamo Kids! (DK), a bilingual (English/Spanish) e-health intervention, was created to address these system-level challenges. This pilot study assessed the effect of DK use on parent-reported healthy habits and child BMI.

Methods:

In this 3-month, quasi-experimental cohort design, DK was offered to parents with children aged 6–12 years with BMI ≥85th percentile in three public primary care sites in Dallas, Texas. DK included three educational modules, one tracking tool, recipes, and links …

Plasma Protein Signatures Of Adult Asthma, Gordon J Smilnak, Yura Lee, Abhijnan Chattopadhyay, Annah B Wyss, Julie D White, Sinjini Sikdar, Jianping Jin, Andrew J Grant, Alison A Motsinger-Reif, Jian-Liang Li, Mikyeong Lee, Bing Yu, Stephanie J London

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Adult asthma is complex and incompletely understood. Plasma proteomics is an evolving technique that can both generate biomarkers and provide insights into disease mechanisms. We aimed to identify plasma proteomic signatures of adult asthma.

Methods: Protein abundance in plasma was measured in individuals from the Agricultural Lung Health Study (ALHS) (761 asthma, 1095 non-case) and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study (470 asthma, 10,669 non-case) using the SOMAScan 5K array. Associations with asthma were estimated using covariate adjusted logistic regression and meta-analyzed using inverse-variance weighting. Additionally, in ALHS, we examined phenotypes based on both asthma and seroatopy (asthma with …

The Use Of Optical Coherence Tomography (Oct) And Oct Angiography In Borderline Personality Disorder Compared To Health Control Subjects, Bei Xu, Fangling Li, Zhejia Zhang, Qian Xiao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) or OCT angiography (OCTA) has been investigated in few research studies of psychiatric disorders. No research has been done using OCT or OCTA in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD).

METHODS: OCTA measured foveal avascular zone (FAZ), macular vessel density (MVD), and peripapillary vessel density (PVD). OCT measured the peripapillary retinal fiber layer (RNFL) and central retinal thickness (CRT). The study utilized the Ottawa Self-Injury Inventory, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) to assess the symptom characteristics of individuals with BPD.

RESULTS: Fifty-nine eyes of BPD patients and 58 eyes …