Diseases Commons^™

Utilizing The System Engineering Trade Study Analysis Method To Analyze Patient Aeromedical Evacuation, Sara Shaghaghi, Jeremy M. Slagley, Michael E. Miller, Gaiven Varshney

Faculty Publications

The US Air Force has gone through many aeromedical patient isolation transport system designs. The first designs were developed in response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. The trade study analysis part of the system engineering design method was used to analyze the historic and current aeromedical patient contamination control transport systems. A trade study is a process that evaluates alternatives based upon various “-ilities”, such as reconfigurability, flexibility, durability, cost, and more, and performs a systematic analysis to aid designers in producing a ‘good’ design alternative given the large set of possible solutions. …

Incidence Rates Of Medically Attended Covid-19 In Infants Less Than 6 Months Of Age, Isabel Griffin, Stephanie A Irving, Carmen Sofia Arriola, Angela P Campbell, De-Kun Li, Fatimah S Dawood, Caroline Doughty-Skierski, Jeannette R Ferber, Nickolas Ferguson, Louise Hadden, Jillian T Henderson, Mary Juergens, Venkatesh Kancharla, Allison L Naleway, Gabriella Newes-Adeyi, Erin Nicholson, Roxana Odouli, Lawrence Reichle, Mo Sanyang, Kate Woodworth, Flor M Munoz

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest infants may be at increased risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) relative to older children, but few data exist regarding the incidence of COVID-19 episodes and associated risk factors. We estimate incidence rates and describe characteristics associated with medically attended COVID-19 episodes among infants younger than 6 months of age.

METHODS: We analyzed electronic medical record data from a cohort of infants born March 1, 2020-February 28, 2021. Data from 3 health care delivery systems included demographic characteristics, maternal and infant outpatient visit and hospitalization diagnoses and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) test …

Colonization Of Patients Hospitalized At Orthopedic Department Of Tertiary Hospital In Uganda With Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacterales, Jules Bizimana, Jerome Ndayisenga, Henry Kajumbura, Phillip Mulepo, Najjuka Florence Christine

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Beta-lactamase production remains the most contributing factor to beta-lactam resistance. Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-PE) are associated with risk factors both in hospital and community settings.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the incidence and risk factors for intestinal carriage of ESBL-PE among patients admitted to orthopedic ward of Mulago National Referral Hospital, and to analyze the acquisition of ESBL-PE during hospital stay and associated factors.

METHODS: We screened 172 patients aged 18 years old and above who got admitted to the orthopedic ward of Mulago National Referral Hospital between May to July 2017. Stool samples or rectal swabs were collected at admission, …

Contribution Of Adaptive Immunity To Human Copd And Experimental Models Of Emphysema, Farrah Kheradmand, Yun Zhang, David B Corry

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The pathophysiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the undisputed role of innate immune cells in this condition have dominated the field in the basic research arena for many years. Recently, however, compelling data suggesting that adaptive immune cells may also contribute to the progressive nature of lung destruction associated with COPD in smokers have gained considerable attention. The histopathological changes in the lungs of smokers can be limited to the large or small airways, but alveolar loss leading to emphysema, which occurs in some individuals, remains its most significant and irreversible outcome. Critically, however, the question of why …

In-Hospital Mortality Risk Stratification In Children Aged Under 5 Years With Pneumonia With Or Without Pulse Oximetry: A Secondary Analysis Of The Pneumonia Research Partnership To Assess Who Recommendations (Prepare) Dataset, Shubhada Hooli, Carina King, Eric D Mccollum, Tim Colbourn, Norman Lufesi, Charles Mwansambo, Christopher J Gregory, Somsak Thamthitiwat, Clare Cutland, Shabir Ahmed Madhi, Marta C Nunes, Bradford D Gessner, Tabish Hazir, Joseph L Mathew, Emmanuel Addo-Yobo, Noel Chisaka, Mumtaz Hassan, Patricia L Hibberd, Prakash Jeena, Juan M Lozano, William B Macleod, Archana Patel, Donald M Thea, Ngoc Tuong Vy Nguyen, Syed Ma Zaman, Raul O Ruvinsky, Marilla Lucero, Cissy B Kartasasmita, Claudia Turner, Rai Asghar, Salem Banajeh, Imran Iqbal, Irene Maulen-Radovan, Greta Mino-Leon, Samir K Saha, Mathuram Santosham, Sunit Singhi, Shally Awasthi, Ashish Bavdekar, Monidarin Chou, Pagbajabyn Nymadawa, Jean-William Pape, Glaucia Paranhos-Baccala, Valentina Sanchez Picot, Mala Rakoto-Andrianarivelo, Vanessa Rouzier, Graciela Russomando, Mariam Sylla, Philippe Vanhems, Jianwei Wang, Sudha Basnet, Tor A Strand, Mark I Neuman, Luis Martinez Arroyo, Marcela Echavarria, Shinjini Bhatnagar, Nitya Wadhwa, Rakesh Lodha, Satinder Aneja, Angela Gentile, Mandeep Chadha, Siddhivinayak Hirve, Kerry-Ann F O'Grady, Alexey W Clara, Chris A Rees, Harry Campbell, Harish Nair, Jennifer Falconer, Linda J Williams, Margaret Horne, Shamim A Qazi, Yasir Bin Nisar, Pneumonia Research Partnership To Assess Who Recommendations (Prepare) Study Group

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVES: We determined the pulse oximetry benefit in pediatric pneumonia mortality risk stratification and chest-indrawing pneumonia in-hospital mortality risk factors.

METHODS: We report the characteristics and in-hospital pneumonia-related mortality of children aged 2-59 months who were included in the Pneumonia Research Partnership to Assess WHO Recommendations dataset. We developed multivariable logistic regression models of chest-indrawing pneumonia to identify mortality risk factors.

RESULTS: Among 285,839 children, 164,244 (57.5%) from hospital-based studies were included. Pneumonia case fatality risk (CFR) without pulse oximetry measurement was higher than with measurement (5.8%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.6-5.9% vs 2.1%, 95% CI 1.9-2.4%). One in five …

Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Supplementation Promotes Brain Maturation In Preterm Pigs, Line I Christiansen, Bo Holmqvist, Xiaoyu Pan, Kristine Holgersen, Sandy E H Lindholm, Nicole L Henriksen, Douglas G Burrin, David Ley, Thomas Thymann, Per Torp Sangild, Stanislava Pankratova

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Very preterm infants show low levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which is associated with postnatal growth restriction and poor neurologic outcomes. It remains unknown whether supplemental IGF-1 may stimulate neurodevelopment in preterm neonates. Using cesarean-delivered preterm pigs as a model of preterm infants, we investigated the effects of supplemental IGF-1 on motor function and on regional and cellular brain development. Pigs were treated with 2.25 mg/kg/d recombinant human IGF-1/IGF binding protein-3 complex from birth until day 5 or 9 before the collection of brain samples for quantitative immunohistochemistry (IHC), RNA sequencing, and quantitative PCR analyses. Brain protein synthesis was …

Heart Failure-Type Symptom Score Trajectories In Ckd: Findings From The Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (Cric) Study, Carl P Walther, Julia S Benoit, Nisha Bansal, Vijay Nambi, Sankar D Navaneethan, Cric Study Investigators

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: Quality of life in chronic kidney disease (CKD) is impaired by a large burden of symptoms including some that overlap with the symptoms of heart failure (HF). We studied a group of individuals with CKD to understand the patterns and trajectories of HF-type symptoms in this setting.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study.

SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: 3,044 participants in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) without prior diagnosis of HF.

PREDICTORS: Sociodemographics, medical history, medications, vital signs, laboratory values, echocardiographic and electrocardiographic parameters.

OUTCOME: Trajectory over 5.5 years of a HF-type symptom score (modified Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire …

Reclassification Of Pre-Heart Failure Stages Using Cardiac Biomarkers: The Aric Study, Xiaoming Jia, Mahmoud Al Rifai, Chiadi E Ndumele, Salim S Virani, James A De Lemos, Emmanuel Lee, Amil M Shah, Justin B Echouffo-Tcheugui, Biykem Bozkurt, Ron Hoogeveen, Elizabeth Selvin, Christie M Ballantyne, Vijay Nambi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The recent heart failure (HF) guideline recommends the inclusion of cardiac biomarkers in defining Stage B HF.

OBJECTIVES: The authors evaluated the impact of incorporating cardiac biomarkers to reclassify HF in 5,324 participants (mean age: 75.8 years) without prevalent HF enrolled in the ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities) study and assessed prognosis of Stage B using cardiac biomarkers.

METHODS: Using N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (/mL or ≥125 pg/mL), high-sensitivity troponin T (/L or ≥14 ng/L), and abnormal cardiac structure/function by echocardiography, individuals were classified as Stage A

RESULTS: Overall, 4,326 (81.3%) individuals were classified as Stage B

CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating …

Accuracy Of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring In Vancomycin And The Pharmacist Role: A Retrospective Case-Series, Kateryna Parkhomenko

Senior Theses

Vancomycin is a mainstay of therapy for treating virulent and resistant infections, especially methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). However, vancomycin requires therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) for optimal dosing and treatment. This requires pharmacists to calculate a dosing regimen that correlates to appropriate goal vancomycin concentrations in the blood. Dosing vancomycin can be difficult, as it varies on a patient’s weight, renal function, age, etc. Doses may have to be adjusted in response to out-of-range concentrations, which requires further pharmacy calculations. Inaccurate dosing poses a risk to patient safety and places a resource and time burden on pharmacists. If vancomycin dosing methods …

Admixture Mapping In African Americans Identifies New Risk Loci For Hcv-Related Cirrhosis, Hyun-Seok Kim, Priya B Shetty, Spiridon Tsavachidis, Jing Dong, Christopher I Amos, Hashem B El-Serag, Aaron P Thrift

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Cirrhosis is the main predisposing condition for hepatocellular carcinoma. Host genetic risk factors have been reported for cirrhosis; however, whether there is a genetic contribution to racial disparities in cirrhosis requires further investigation.

METHODS: We used an affected-only mapping by admixture linkage disequilibrium analysis to characterize the genetic risk of cirrhosis in 227 African American patients with cirrhosis genotyped at 19,804 ancestry-informative marker single nucleotide polymorphisms. We additionally performed analyses stratified by hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection status. To replicate our findings, we conducted a case-control analysis in an external study population (452 cases and 196 controls). …

Clinical Implications Of Molecular Drug Resistance Testing For Mycobacterium Tuberculosis: A 2023 Tbnet/Resist-Tb Consensus Statement, José Domínguez, Martin J Boeree, Emmanuelle Cambau, Dumitru Chesov, Francesca Conradie, Vivian Cox, Keertan Dheda, Andrii Dudnyk, Maha R Farhat, Sebastien Gagneux, Martin P Grobusch, Matthias I Gröschel, Lorenzo Guglielmetti, Irina Kontsevaya, Berit Lange, Frank Van Leth, Christian Lienhardt, Anna M Mandalakas, Florian P Maurer, Matthias Merker, Paolo Miotto, Barbara Molina-Moya, Florence Morel, Stefan Niemann, Nicolas Veziris, Andrew Whitelaw, Charles R Horsburgh, Christoph Lange

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Drug-resistant tuberculosis is a substantial health-care concern worldwide. Despite culture-based methods being considered the gold standard for drug susceptibility testing, molecular methods provide rapid information about the Mycobacterium tuberculosis mutations associated with resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs. This consensus document was developed on the basis of a comprehensive literature search, by the TBnet and RESIST-TB networks, about reporting standards for the clinical use of molecular drug susceptibility testing. Review and the search for evidence included hand-searching journals and searching electronic databases. The panel identified studies that linked mutations in genomic regions of M tuberculosis with treatment outcome data. Implementation of molecular …

Efficacy And Safety Of Lumasiran For Infants And Young Children With Primary Hyperoxaluria Type 1: 12-Month Analysis Of The Phase 3 Illuminate-B Trial, Wesley Hayes, David J Sas, Daniella Magen, Hadas Shasha-Lavsky, Mini Michael, Anne-Laure Sellier-Leclerc, Julien Hogan, Taylor Ngo, Marianne T Sweetser, John M Gansner, Tracy L Mcgregor, Yaacov Frishberg

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) is a rare genetic disease that causes progressive kidney damage and systemic oxalosis due to hepatic overproduction of oxalate. Lumasiran demonstrated efficacy and safety in the 6-month primary analysis period of the phase 3, multinational, open-label, single-arm ILLUMINATE-B study of infants and children < 6 years old with PH1 (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03905694 (4/1/2019); EudraCT: 2018-004,014-17 (10/12/2018)). Outcomes in the ILLUMINATE-B extension period (EP) for patients who completed ≥ 12 months on study are reported here.

METHODS: Of the 18 patients enrolled in the 6-month primary analysis period, all entered the EP and completed ≥ 6 additional months of lumasiran treatment (median (range) duration of total exposure, 17.8 (12.7-20.5) months).

RESULTS: Lumasiran treatment was previously reported to reduce spot urinary oxalate:creatinine ratio by 72% at month 6, …

Monogenic Early-Onset Lymphoproliferation And Autoimmunity: Natural History Of Stat3 Gain-Of-Function Syndrome, Jennifer W Leiding, Tiphanie P Vogel, Valentine G J Santarlas, Rahul Mhaskar, Madison R Smith, Alexandre Carisey, Alexander Vargas-Hernández, Manuel Silva-Carmona, Maximilian Heeg, Anne Rensing-Ehl, Bénédicte Neven, Jérôme Hadjadj, Sophie Hambleton, Timothy Ronan Leahy, Kornvalee Meesilpavikai, Charlotte Cunningham-Rundles, Cullen M Dutmer, Svetlana O Sharapova, Mervi Taskinen, Ignatius Chua, Rosie Hague, Christian Klemann, Larysa Kostyuchenko, Tomohiro Morio, Akaluck Thatayatikom, Ahmet Ozen, Anna Scherbina, Cindy S Bauer, Sarah E Flanagan, Eleonora Gambineri, Lisa Giovannini-Chami, Jennifer Heimall, Kathleen E Sullivan, Eric Allenspach, Neil Romberg, Sean G Deane, Benjamin T Prince, Melissa J Rose, John Bohnsack, Talal Mousallem, Rohith Jesudas, Maria Marluce Dos Santos Vilela, Michael O'Sullivan, Jana Pachlopnik Schmid, Štěpánka Průhová, Adam Klocperk, Matthew Rees, Helen Su, Sami Bahna, Safa Baris, Lisa M Bartnikas, Amy Chang Berger, Tracy A Briggs, Shannon Brothers, Vanessa Bundy, Alice Y Chan, Shanmuganathan Chandrakasan, Mette Christiansen, Theresa Cole, Matthew C Cook, Mukesh M Desai, Ute Fischer, David A Fulcher, Silvanna Gallo, Amelie Gauthier, Andrew R Gennery, José Gonçalo Marques, Frédéric Gottrand, Bodo Grimbacher, Eyal Grunebaum, Emma Haapaniemi, Sari Hämäläinen, Kaarina Heiskanen, Tarja Heiskanen-Kosma, Hal M Hoffman, Luis Ignacio Gonzalez-Granado, Anthony L Guerrerio, Leena Kainulainen, Ashish Kumar, Monica G Lawrence, Carina Levin, Timi Martelius, Olaf Neth, Peter Olbrich, Alejandro Palma, Niraj C Patel, Tamara Pozos, Kahn Preece, Saúl Oswaldo Lugo Reyes, Mark A Russell, Yael Schejter, Christine Seroogy, Jan Sinclair, Effie Skevofilax, Daniel Suan, Daniel Suez, Paul Szabolcs, Helena Velasco, Klaus Warnatz, Kelly Walkovich, Austen Worth, Stat3 Gof Working Group Members, Mikko R J Seppänen, Troy R Torgerson, Georgios Sogkas, Stephan Ehl, Stuart G Tangye, Megan A Cooper, Joshua D Milner, Lisa R Forbes Satter

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: In 2014, germline signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 gain-of-function (GOF) mutations were first described to cause a novel multisystem disease of early-onset lymphoproliferation and autoimmunity.

OBJECTIVE: This pivotal cohort study defines the scope, natural history, treatment, and overall survival of a large global cohort of patients with pathogenic STAT3 GOF variants.

METHODS: We identified 191 patients from 33 countries with 72 unique mutations. Inclusion criteria included symptoms of immune dysregulation and a biochemically confirmed germline heterozygous GOF variant in STAT3.

RESULTS: Overall survival was 88%, median age at onset of symptoms was 2.3 years, and median …

Pilot Clinical Trial Of Macimorelin To Assess Safety And Efficacy In Patients With Cancer Cachexia, Megan Herodes, Lindsey J Anderson, Samuel Shober, Ellen A Schur, Solomon A Graf, Nicola Ammer, Ramiro Salas, Marco Marcelli, Jose M Garcia

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Cancer cachexia is associated with reduced body weight, appetite and quality of life (QOL) with no approved treatments. Growth hormone secretagogues like macimorelin have potential to mitigate these effects.

METHODS: This pilot study assessed the safety and efficacy of macimorelin for 1 week. Efficacy was defined a priori as 1-week change in body weight (≥0.8 kg), plasma insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 (≥50 ng/mL) or QOL (≥15%). Secondary outcomes included food intake, appetite, functional performance, energy expenditure and safety laboratory parameters. Patients with cancer cachexia were randomized to 0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg macimorelin or placebo; outcomes were assessed non-parametrically.

RESULTS: …

Selecting Dcd Recipients Using Predictive Indices, Saif Ganni, Greta Handing, Adrish Anand, Spencer Barrett, Nhu Thao Nguyen Galvan, Christine O'Mahony, John A Goss, Ronald T Cotton, Abbas Rana

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

UNLABELLED: Donation after circulatory death (DCD) allografts might represent one of the largest untapped sources of liver allografts. Our aim was to identify independent recipient risk factors that predict mortality in DCD allograft recipients to preselect optimal candidates for successful transplantation. Furthermore, we compared the application of our newly constructed DCD Recipient Selector Index (RSI) score to previously developed models to determine superiority in predicting recipient survival.

METHODS: Using the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network database, we performed univariate and multivariate retrospective analyses on 4228 DCD liver allograft recipients.

RESULTS: We identified 8 significant factors and incorporated them into the …

The Risk Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Entecavir Versus Tenofovir Treated Us Cohort With Chronic Hepatitis B Virus, Jennifer R Kramer, Peter A Richardson, Hyunseok Kim, Yao-Chun Hsu, Fasiha Kanwal, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The comparative effectiveness of tenofovir (TDF) versus entecavir (ETV) in reducing the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (HBV) remains unclear. Data from a retrospective Korean cohort study published by Choi et al. initially suggested lower than expected incidence of HCC in patients on long-term TDF. However, additional studies from Korea did not show a statistically significant difference in HCC incidence rate between TDF and ETV groups, and subsequent studies reported mixed results ranging from no association or a slight advantage for TDF⁴. Most of these studies examined Asian patients from Korea, Taiwan, …

Effect Of Thromboprophylaxis On Clinical Outcomes After Covid-19 Hospitalization, Tracy Y Wang, Abdus S Wahed, Alison Morris, Lisa Baumann Kreuziger, John G Quigley, Gervasio A Lamas, Alexandra J Weissman, Jose Lopez-Sendon, M Margaret Knudson, Deborah M Siegal, Raj S Kasthuri, Andrew J Alexander, Lana Wahid, Bassel Atassi, Peter J Miller, Janice W Lawson, Bela Patel, Jerry A Krishnan, Nancy L Shapiro, Deborah E Martin, Andrei L Kindzelski, Eric S Leifer, Jungnam Joo, Lingyun Lyu, Annie Pennella, Brendan M Everett, Mark W Geraci, Kevin J Anstrom, Thomas L Ortel, Activ-4c Study Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have an increased incidence of thromboembolism. The role of extended thromboprophylaxis after hospital discharge is unclear.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether anticoagulation is superior to placebo in reducing death and thromboembolic complications among patients discharged after COVID-19 hospitalization.

DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04650087).

SETTING: Done during 2021 to 2022 among 127 U.S. hospitals.

PARTICIPANTS: Adults aged 18 years or older hospitalized with COVID-19 for 48 hours or more and ready for discharge, excluding those with a requirement for, or contraindication to, anticoagulation.

INTERVENTION: 2.5 mg of apixaban versus placebo twice daily for …

Modeling Immune System Dynamics During Hiv Infection And Treatment With Differential Equations, Nicole Rychagov

CODEE Journal

An inquiry-based project that discusses immune system dynamics during HIV infection using differential equations is presented. The complex interactions between healthy T-cells, latently infected T-cells, actively infected T-cells, and the HIV virus are modeled using four nonlinear differential equations. The model is adapted to simulate long term HIV dynamics, including the AIDS state, and is used to simulate the long term effects of the traditional antiretroviral therapy (ART). The model is also used to test viral rebound over time of combined application of ART and a new drug that blocks the reactivation of the viral genome in the infected cells …

Triazole Compounds – Potentials In The Treatment Of Cystic Fibrosis, Maggie Taylor

Undergraduate Research Conference

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease that affects the respiratory and digestive system and is most common among Caucasians of Northern European origin. CF is caused by mutations in a membrane protein CFTR (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane-conductance Regulator). This mutation impairs the membrane protein’s chloride ion channel function. One of the most common CFTR mutations is the DF508 mutation that affects over 70% of CF cases. Our research has shown that the DF508-CFTR mutation can be partially reversed by physical and chemical means [Heda & Marino, BBRC, 271:659-664, 2000]. In cell lines expressing DF508-CFTR, synthetic anion carriers have shown to …

Uh-02 A Case Report Of The Potential Link Between Pulmonary Fibrosis And Diabetes Mellitus, Bryson T. Rose, Isabella Nielson, Nnenna Igwe

SC Upstate Research Symposium

Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic lung disease that is characterized by the progressive and irreversible scarring of the lung tissue. This scarring greatly diminishes the efficiency of pulmonary function. After being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, patients live, on average, only three to five years. Diabetes mellitus is known to damage the tissue and blood vessels in organs such as the heart and kidneys due to increased intravascular pressure.

According to recent research, diabetes mellitus has also been linked to similar damage in the lungs. Additionally, a 2021 meta-analysis and systematic review of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis suggests an association between diabetes …

Decellularized Heart Extracellular Matrix As A Biomimetic Substrate For Alleviating Hipsc-Cardiac Fibroblast Activation And Enhancing Isogenic Cardiac Organoids, Charles Kerr

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease is the constant leading cause of death worldwide. While substantial efforts have been undertaken to improve disease outcomes, the lack of adequate human cardiac tissue models exacerbates research and development costs and clinical trial failures, hampering novel therapeutic discovery. To address this, human engineered cardiac microtissues composed of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CM) show potential in recapitulating hallmark qualities of natural human myocardium for novel therapeutic testing, disease modeling and cardiotoxicity screening. However, as these models are engineered in vitro, they are limited in their capacity to fully recapitulate myocardium and are vulnerable to influences …

Diagnostic Performance Of Afirma And Interpace Diagnostics Genetic Testing In Indeterminate Thyroid Nodules: A Single Center Study †, Emad Kandil, Tyler A. Metz, Peter P. Issa, Mohamed Aboueisha, Mahmoud Omar, Abdallah S. Attia, Bert Chabot, Mohammad Hussein, Krzysztof Moroz, Mohamed Shama, Eman Toraih

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Indeterminate thyroid nodules (ITN) represent 20–30% of biopsied nodules, with a 10–60% risk of malignancy. Molecular testing can stratify the risk of malignancy among ITNs, and subsequently reduce the need for unnecessary diagnostic surgery. We aimed to assess the performance of these molecular tests at a single institution. Patients with Bethesda III, IV, and V nodules with Afirma and Interpace Diagnostics genetic testing data from November 2013 to November 2021 were included. Three cohorts were formed, including GSC + XA, ThyGeNEXT + ThyraMIR, and GSC + GEC. Statistical analysis determined the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value …

Debunking Old Evolution Theories, Proposing New One (Near Neutral Balanced Selection Theory/Nnbst) Using Sars Cov 2 Genomic Data, Chun Wu

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

The COVID 19 pandemic has caused 672 million infections and 6 million deaths understanding the molecular evolution of this virus is critical to ending this pandemic • The SARS CoV 2 genome exhibits a time independent, constant genomic substitution rate ( despite increasing vaccinations and infected human cases (Figure 1 A) • Out of the three main evolutionary theories S electionist Theory/ST, Kimura’s Neutral Theory/KNT, Ohta’s Nearly Neutral Theory/ONNT), the SARS CoV 2 GSR seemingly follows KNT but this does not explain the critical intervention by vaccines and therapeutic drugs on the evolution of this virus I n this study …

Potential Of Dietary Flavonoids In The Prevention And Therapy Of Covid-19 : Focusing In Mast Cell - Calcium Ion Channel Axis, Aryo Tedjo

Indonesian Journal of Medical Chemistry and Bioinformatics

Syndrome Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS COV2) is the virus that causes the COVID19 disease and has caused more than 4 million deaths worldwide. This virus infects the host cell through the interaction between the virus’s glycoprotein S molecule with the ACE2 which is the virus receptor, binding, undergoes membrane fusion and enters the cell and replicates in it. Currently, several strategies used in developing anti-viral compounds are targeting compounds that play a role in the process of entering the virus into host cells such as ACE2, S glycoprotein, and TMPRSS2, while some target main proteases such as RNA …

Virtual And In Vitro Screening Of Natural Products Identifies Indole And Benzene Derivatives As Inhibitors Of Sars-Cov-2 Main Protease (MPro), Dony Ang, Riley Kendall, Hagop S. Atamian

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The rapid spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) resulted in serious health, social, and economic consequences. While the development of effective vaccines substantially reduced the severity of symptoms and the associated deaths, we still urgently need effective drugs to further reduce the number of casualties associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections. Machine learning methods both improved and sped up all the different stages of the drug discovery processes by performing complex analyses with enormous datasets. Natural products (NPs) have been used for treating diseases and infections for thousands of years and represent a valuable resource for drug discovery when combined with …

Hpv-Related Anal Cancer Is Associated With Changes In The Anorectal Microbiome During Cancer Development, Jacob H. Elnaggar, Victoria O. Huynh, Daniel Lin, R. Tyler Hillman, Chike O. Abana, Molly B. El Alam, Katarina C. Tomasic, Tatiana V. Karpinets, Ramez Kouzy, Jae L. Phan, Jennifer Wargo, Emma B. Holliday, Prajnan Das, Melissa P. Mezzari, Nadim J. Ajami, Erica J. Lynn, Bruce D. Minsky, Van K. Morris, Andrea Milbourne, Craig A. Messick, Ann H. Klopp, P. Andrew Futreal, Cullen M. Taniguchi, Kathleen M. Schmeler, Lauren E. Colbert

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA) is a rare gastrointestinal cancer. Factors associated with progression of HPV infection to anal dysplasia and cancer are unclear and screening guidelines and approaches for anal dysplasia are less clear than for cervical dysplasia. One potential contributing factor is the anorectal microbiome. In this study, we aimed to identify differences in anal microbiome composition in the settings of HPV infection, anal dysplasia, and anal cancer in this rare disease. Methods: Patients were enrolled in two prospective studies. Patients with anal dysplasia were part of a cross-sectional cohort that enrolled women with high-grade …

Clinical Outcomes Associated With Npm1 Mutations In Patients With Relapsed Or Refractory Aml, Ghayas C Issa, Aram Bidikian, Sangeetha Venugopal, Marina Konopleva, Courtney D Dinardo, Tapan M Kadia, Gautam Borthakur, Elias Jabbour, Naveen Pemmaraju, Musa Yilmaz, Nicholas J Short, Abhishek Maiti, Koji Sasaki, Lucia Masarova, Sherry Pierce, Koichi Takahashi, Guilin Tang, Sanam Loghavi, Keyur Patel, Michael Andreeff, Kapil Bhalla, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Farhad Ravandi, Hagop Kantarjian, Naval Daver

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mutations in Nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1) are associated with a favorable prognosis in newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML), however, their prognostic impact in relapsed/refractory (R/R) settings are unknown. In a retrospective analysis, we identified 206 patients (12%) with mutated NPM1 (NPM1c) and compared their outcomes to 1516 patients (88%) with NPM1 wild-type (NPM1wt). NPM1c was associated with higher rates of complete remission or complete remission with incomplete count recovery compared with NPM1wt following each line of salvage therapy (first salvage, 56% vs 37%; P < .0001; second salvage, 33% vs 22%; P = .02; third salvage, 24% vs 14%; P = .02). However, NPM1 mutations had no impact on relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) with each salvage therapy with a median OS following salvage 1, 2 or 3 therapies in NPM1c vs NPM1wt of 7.8 vs 6.0; 5.3 vs 4.1; and 3.5 vs 3.6 months, respectively. Notably, the addition of venetoclax to salvage regimens in patients with NPM1c improved RFS and OS (median RFS, 15.8 vs 4.6 months; P = .05; median OS, 14.7 vs 5.9 months; P = .02). In conclusion, NPM1 mutational status has a minimal impact on prognosis in relapsed or refractory AML; therefore, novel treatment strategies are required to improve outcomes in this entity.

Relationships Among Biochemical Measures In Children With Diabetic Ketoacidosis, Nicole S Glaser, Michael J Stoner, Maria Y Kwok, Kimberly S Quayle, Kathleen M Brown, Jeff E Schunk, Jennifer L Trainor, Julie K Mcmanemy, Leah Tzimenatos, Arleta Rewers, Lise E Nigrovic, Jonathan E Bennett, Sage R Myers, Mckenna Smith, T Charles Casper, Nathan Kuppermann

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVES: Investigating empirical relationships among laboratory measures in children with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) can provide insights into physiological alterations occurring during DKA. We determined whether alterations in laboratory measures during DKA conform to theoretical predictions.

METHODS: We used Pearson correlation statistics and linear regression to investigate correlations between blood glucose, electrolytes, pH and PCO2 at emergency department presentation in 1,681 pediatric DKA episodes. Among children with repeat DKA episodes, we also assessed correlations between laboratory measures at the first vs. second episode.

RESULTS: pH and bicarbonate levels were strongly correlated (r=0.64), however, pH and PCO2 were only loosely correlated (r=0.17). …

Adult Asthma Associated With Roadway Density And Housing In Rural Appalachia: The Mountain Air Project (Map)., W Jay Christian, John Flunker, Beverly May, Susan Westneat, Wayne T Sanderson, Nancy Schoenberg, Steven R Browning

UK CARES Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Appalachian Kentucky is a rural area with a high prevalence of asthma among adults. The relative contribution of environmental exposures in the etiology of adult asthma in these populations has been understudied.

OBJECTIVE: This manuscript describes the aims, study design, methods, and characteristics of participants for the Mountain Air Project (MAP), and focuses on associations between small area environmental exposures, including roadways and mining operations, and lifetime and current asthma in adults.

METHODS: A cohort of residents, aged 21 and older, in two Kentucky counties, was enrolled in a community-based, cross-sectional study. Stratified cluster sampling was used to select …

Enhanced Ca2+-Channeling Complex Formation At The Er-Mitochondria Interface Underlies The Pathogenesis Of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease, Themis Thoudam, Dipanjan Chanda, Jung Yi Lee, Min Kyo Jung, Ibotombi Singh Sinam, Byung Gyu Kim, Bo Yoon Park, Woong Hee Kwon, Hyo Jeong Kim, Myeongjin Kim, Chae Won Lim, Hoyul Lee, Yang Hoon Huh, Caroline A. Miller, Romil Saxena, Nicholas J. Skill, Nazmul Huda, Praveen Kusumanchi, Jing Ma, Zhihong Yang, Min Ji Kim, Ji Young Mun, Robert A. Harris, Jae Han Jeon, Suthat Liangpunsakul, In Kyu Lee

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Ca2+ overload-induced mitochondrial dysfunction is considered as a major contributing factor in the pathogenesis of alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). However, the initiating factors that drive mitochondrial Ca2+ accumulation in ALD remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that an aberrant increase in hepatic GRP75-mediated mitochondria-associated ER membrane (MAM) Ca2+-channeling (MCC) complex formation promotes mitochondrial dysfunction in vitro and in male mouse model of ALD. Unbiased transcriptomic analysis reveals PDK4 as a prominently inducible MAM kinase in ALD. Analysis of human ALD cohorts further corroborate these findings. Additional mass spectrometry analysis unveils GRP75 as a downstream phosphorylation target of PDK4. Conversely, non-phosphorylatable GRP75 …