Medical Specialties Commons^™

Insights Into Protection Against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection: Time To Officially Confirm Another Phenotype?, Todia P Setiabudiawan, Philip C Hill, Andrew R Dinardo, Reinout Van Crevel

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Immune correlates of protection against infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) remain elusive. In this issue of the JCI, Dallmann-Sauer and authors demonstrate that lack of tuberculin skin test (TST) and interferon γ release assay (IGRA) conversion among people with HIV despite years-long Mtb exposure is associated with alveolar lymphocytosis, including specific poly-cytotoxic T cells, and M1-type alveolar macrophages with a stronger ex vivo response to the pathogen. Studies in these rare individuals, termed "TB resisters" and in tuberculosis household contacts who are repeatedly IGRA negative in the months after a specific exposure event (known as "early clearers") help elucidate manipulatable …

Rapid Diagnostic Sequencing Of Stool Dna Using Targeted Nanopore Sequencing In Patients With A Pulmonary Tuberculosis Diagnosis, Tara Ness, Nontobeko Maphalala, Wethusonkhe Khumalo, Doctor Sibandze, Abigail Seeger, Maia Madison, Anca Vasiliu, Durbin Mulengwa, Clement Gascua, Mangaliso Ziyane, Sindisiwe Dlamini, Gugu Maphalala, Eric Bortz, Alexander Kay, Christoph Lange, Viola Dreyer, Tanja Niemann, Stefan Niemann, Andrew Dinardo, Anna Mandalakas, Stool4tb Global Partnership

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Approximately 1.25 million individuals died of tuberculosis in 2023, in part due to ineffective treatment. In patients with paucibacillary tuberculosis, microbiologic confirmation and drug resistance testing via respiratory specimens is challenging; hence, stool samples are increasingly used for microbiologic confirmation. Targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) of stool DNA may improve detection of drug-resistant (DR) tuberculosis, helping patients receive appropriate treatments.

Methods: We assessed the ability of a nanopore tNGS approach using stool to detect drug resistance in a prospective, nested cohort of consecutive participants in Eswatini with pulmonary tuberculosis confirmed via sputum culture or sputum GeneXpert Ultra from 2020 to …

Il-12-Producing Cytokine Factories Induce Precursor Exhausted T Cells And Elimination Of Primary And Metastatic Tumors, Amanda Nash, Jonathon Debonis, Danna Murungi, Bertha Castillo, Boram Kim, Fangheng Hu, Courtney Chambers, Annie Nguyen, Andrea Hernandez, Zeshi Wang, Peter D Rios, Sofia Ghani, Ira Joshi, Douglas Isa, Ningbo Zheng, Weiyi Peng, Oleg A Igoshin, Jose Oberholzer, H Courtney Hodges, Nathan Reticker-Flynn, Omid Veiseh

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Curative responses to immunotherapy require the generation of robust systemic immunity with limited toxicity. Recruitment of T cell populations such as precursor exhausted T cells (Tpex) from lymphoid tissues to tumors is a hallmark of effective treatment. However, the ability to efficiently induce this recruitment is lacking in current immunotherapy approaches. Furthermore, systemic administration of immunotherapies frequently results in dose-limiting toxicities, yielding an inadequate therapeutic window for eliciting durable responses.

Methods: In this investigation, we evaluated the safety and antitumor efficacy of locally administered interleukin 12 (IL-12) using a clinically translatable cytokine delivery platform (NCT05538624) to identify …

Single-Nucleus Transcriptional Profiling Of The Placenta Reveals The Syncytiotrophoblast Stress Response To Covid-19, Rachel A Keuls, Scott A Ochsner, Mary B O'Neill, Diana R O'Day, Akihiko Miyauchi, Kadeshia M Campbell, Natalie Lanners, Jeffery A Goldstein, Connor Yee, Neil J Mckenna, Ronald J Parchem, Jacqueline G Parchem

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: COVID-19 in pregnancy is associated with placental immune activation, inflammation, and vascular malperfusion, but its impact on syncytiotrophoblast biology and function is unclear.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effects of maternal COVID-19 on placental syncytiotrophoblasts using single-nucleus transcriptional profiling and to compare placental stress responses in COVID-19 and preeclampsia.

Study design: For transcriptional characterization of syncytiotrophoblasts, we used the single-nucleus RNA sequencing platform, single-cell combinatorial indexing RNA sequencing (sci-RNA-seq3), to profile placental villi and fetal membranes from unvaccinated patients with symptomatic COVID-19 at birth (n = 4), gestational age-matched controls (n = 4), and a case of …

Unveiling Racial Disparities In Prostate Cancer Using An Integrative Genomic And Transcriptomic Analysis, Abdalla Elbialy, Akshay Sood, Shang-Jui Wang, Peng Wang, Ahmed Fadiel, Anil V Parwani, Steven Huang, Gennady Shvets, Nagireddy Putluri, Jenny Li, Xuefeng Liu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Prostate cancer exhibits significant racial disparities, with African American (AA) individuals showing ∼64% higher incidence and 2.3 times greater mortality rates compared to their Caucasian (CA) counterparts. Understanding the complex interplay of genetic, environmental, lifestyle, socioeconomic, and healthcare access factors is crucial for developing effective interventions to reduce this disproportionate burden.

This study aims to uncover the genetic and transcriptomic differences driving these disparities through a comprehensive analysis using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and exome sequencing of prostate cancer tissues from both Black and White patients.

Our transcriptomics analysis revealed enhanced activity in pathways linked to immune response and cellular interactions …

Playbook Workflow Builder: Interactive Construction Of Bioinformatics Workflows, Daniel J B Clarke, John Erol Evangelista, Zhuorui Xie, Giacomo B Marino, Anna I Byrd, Mano R Maurya, Sumana Srinivasan, Keyang Yu, Varduhi Petrosyan, Matthew E Roth, Miroslav Milinkov, Charles Hadley King, Jeet Kiran Vora, Jonathon Keeney, Christopher Nemarich, William Khan, Alexander Lachmann, Nasheath Ahmed, Alexandra Agris, Juncheng Pan, Srinivasan Ramachandran, Eoin Fahy, Emmanuel Esquivel, Aleksandar Mihajlovic, Bosko Jevtic, Vuk Milinovic, Sean Kim, Patrick Mcneely, Tianyi Wang, Eric Wenger, Miguel A Brown, Alexander Sickler, Yuankun Zhu, Sherry L Jenkins, Philip D Blood, Deanne M Taylor, Adam C Resnick, Raja Mazumder, Aleksandar Milosavljevic, Shankar Subramaniam, Avi Ma'ayan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The Playbook Workflow Builder (PWB) is a web-based platform to dynamically construct and execute bioinformatics workflows by utilizing a growing network of input datasets, semantically annotated API endpoints, and data visualization tools contributed by an ecosystem of collaborators. Via a user-friendly user interface, workflows can be constructed from contributed building-blocks without technical expertise. The output of each step of the workflow is added into reports containing textual descriptions, figures, tables, and references. To construct workflows, users can click on cards that represent each step in a workflow, or construct workflows via a chat interface that is assisted by a large …

Time Tracking And Comparison Of Genetic Counseling Tasks In Inpatient And Outpatient Settings, Alexandra Osborne, Emily Magness Bland, Callie Diamonstein, Kristen Fishler

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Genetic counselors (GCs) practice in critical care settings. Some GCs have full-time inpatient roles, while most GCs who see inpatients do so as needed or on a rotating schedule in addition to seeing patients in an outpatient setting. Few studies have tracked and compared the amount of time it takes GCs to perform tasks in the inpatient and outpatient settings. Genetic counselors were invited to participate in this study via the National Society of Genetic Counselors research listserv. Participants completed an online survey asking how their role is structured and what types of support are available to them while seeing …

Tardive Dyskinesia Versus Tardive Syndrome What Is In A Name?, Karen Frei, Alicia Scott, Stanley N Caroff, Joseph Jankovic, William Ondo, Leslie Citrome, Robert Hauser, Joseph H Friedman, Roongroj Bhidayasiri, Martha Sajatovic, Dennis Alters, Jonathan Meyer, Stuart Factor, E K Tan, G Remington, Ira Glick, Hubert Fernandez, Cynthia Comella, John Kane, Joseph Mcevoy, Delwyn Miller, Clement C Zai, J P Lindenmayer, Richard Trosch, Daniel D Truong

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Low-Grade Glial/Glioneuronal Tumor With Yap1::Fam118b Fusion: A Novel Molecular Finding, Fouad El-Dana, Kenneth Aldape, Zied Abdullaev, Sameer Anil Sheth, Jacob Mandel, Hsiang-Chih Lu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

A Multipronged Effort To Incorporate Professionalism Into Campuswide Programming Through A Center For Professionalism, Kyler M Godwin, Asma Ali, Larry Laufman, Ellen M Friedman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background Professionalism, a core competency for graduate medical education accreditation, has a clear educational mandate. However, the pathway to successful incorporation of professionalism within organizational culture has not been established. Integration of professionalism within the learning environment requires intentional design and formal education. Objective To describe the integration of professionalism in the learning environment through formal education and programming and report feasibility and acceptability data.

Methods The Center for Professionalism (Center) was developed in 2013 to align with the learning and clinical environments of our academic medical center. Primary drivers of a culture of professionalism were identified through input from …

Citation Issues In The American Academy Of Pediatrics Policy Statement On Transgender And Gender-Diverse Children And Adolescents (Rafferty, 2018), Kathleen Mcdeavitt

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Endogenous Dna Damage At Sites Of Terminated Transcripts, Jingjing Liu, Jullian O Perren, Cody M Rogers, Sadeieh Nimer, Alice X Wen, Jennifer A Halliday, Devon M Fitzgerald, Qian Mei, Ralf B Nehring, Mary Crum, Stanislav G Kozmin, Jun Xia, Matthew B Cooke, Yin Zhai, David Bates, Lei Li, P J Hastings, Irina Artsimovitch, Christophe Herman, Patrick M Sung, Kyle M Miller, Susan M Rosenberg

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

DNA damage promotes mutations that fuel cancer, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases1–3, but surprisingly, the causes and types of damage remain largely unknown. There are three identified mechanisms that damage DNA during transcription: RNA polymerase (RNAP) colliding with DNA-replication machinery head-on and co-directionally4–6, and R-loop-induced DNA breakage7–10. Here, we identify DNA-damage reaction intermediates11,12 uncharacterized previously in living cells, and uncover a surprising fourth transcription-related source: endogenous DNA damage at sites of terminated transcripts. We engineered proteins to capture single-stranded (ss)DNA ends with 3'-polarity, in both bacterial …

Fruits Of The Professional Educator Appreciation And Recognition (Pear) Awards: Learning What Students Value In Their Medical Educators, Madeline Tomlinson, Kristiana Nasto, Kevin Gosselin, Ellen M Friedman, Anne Gill, Stacey Rose

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Purpose: The Professional Educator Appreciation and Recognition (PEAR) awards program was created by students at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in 2020 to recognize exemplary educators. We reviewed our 3-year experience of this initiative to identify characteristics of award-winning educators, and to assess the award's impact.

Materials and methods: We reviewed the title, department, and clinical affiliation of award winners. Using ChatGPT, we qualitatively analyzed de-identified nomination narratives to identify themes of educator characteristics most valued by students. Following refinement by the study team, each award was then assigned one or more themes. Unsolicited thank-you emails were reviewed to consider …

Postvaccination Immunogenicity Among Pediatric Solid Organ Transplant Recipients, Amy G Feldman, Brenda L Beaty, Jose A Ferrolino, Gabriela Maron, Saira A Ali, Leandra Bitterfeld, Adam Blatt, Mary Alice Boulware, Kathleen M Campbell, Emily Carr, Benhur Cetin, Shelley Chapman, Yeh-Chung Chang, Ryan Cunningham, Ronald H Dallas, Keerti L Dantuluri, Bryanna N Domenick, Noelle H Ebel, Scott Elisofon, Rima Fawaz, Marc Foca, Hayley A Gans, Vani V Gopalareddy, Nitika A Gupta, Katherine Harmann, Jessica Hollenbeck, Anna R Huppler, Catalina Jaramillo, Nagraj Kasi, Nanda Kerkar, Stacee Lerret, Steven J Lobritto, M James Lopez, Alisha Mavis, Sonia Mehra, Sindhu Mohandas, Flor M Munoz, Krupa R Mysore, Nadia Ovchinsky, Kerrigan Perkins, Stacy Postma, Lauren Pratscher, Elizabeth B Rand, Regina K Rowe, Daniel Ruderfer, Danielle Schultz, Katherine Sear, Megan L Sell, Tanvi S Sharma, Janis Stoll, Jerry Turner, Kristen G Valencia Deray, Dominique Villarin, Carly Weaver, Phoebe Wood, Olivia Woodford-Berry, George Yanni, Lara A Danziger-Isakov

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

This cohort study assesses the protection provided by live attenuated viral vaccines among a pediatric population of solid organ transplant recipients 1 year after vaccination.

Status Gizi Sebagai Faktor Risiko Mortalitas Di Rumah Sakit Pada Pasien Lanjut Usia Pasca Reseksi Tumor Kolorektal, Ayu Fitri Sekar Wulandari, Parish Budiono, Yudo Murti Mupangati

Jurnal Penyakit Dalam Indonesia

Introduction. Malnutrition in elderly patients, particularly those with colorectal cancer, increases morbidity, mortality, and length of hospital stay due to metabolic dysregulation and hypermetabolic perioperative response, affecting wound healing, infection risk, postoperative complications, and nutritional deficits. This study aimed to analyze whether nutritional status is a risk factor for in-hospital mortality in elderly patients after colorectal tumor resection.

Methods. A case-control matching study was conducted on elderly patients who underwent colorectal tumor resection, using secondary data from elderly inpatients at Dr. Kariadi General Hospital from January 2020 to April 2024. The collected data were analyzed using bivariate analysis …

Oral Decitabine Cedazuridine With And Without Venetoclax In Higher-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes Or Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia: A Propensity Score-Matched Study, Alex Bataller, Koji Sasaki, Samuel Urrutia, Guillermo Montalban-Bravo, Alexandre Bazinet, Kelly Chien, Danielle Hammond, Ian M Bouligny, Mahesh Swaminathan, Ghayas Issa, Nicholas Short, Naval Daver, Courtney D Dinardo, Tapan Kadia, Elias Jabbour, Farhad Ravandi, Gail J Roboz, Michael Savona, Elizabeth A Griffiths, James Mccloskey, Olatoyosi Odenike, Aram Oganesian, Harold N Keer, Mohammad Azab, Hagop Kantarjian, Guillermo Garcia-Manero

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Hypomethylating agents (HMA) are indicated in the treatment of higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). The combination of hypomethylating agents with venetoclax (Ven) has demonstrated promising results in these diseases, although randomized clinical trials are needed for validation. In this retrospective study, we compared two matched cohorts of patients with MDS or CMML: one receiving oral decitabine-cedazuridine (DEC-C, n = 73) and one receiving DEC-C and Ven (DEC-C-Ven, n = 51), in three contemporary clinical trials. The aim is to determine the impact of the addition of Ven to HMA in MDS and CMML. Individuals were matched …

Galectin-1 Inhibition As A Strategy For Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor Treatment, Hsiao-Chi Wang, Keila E Torres, Roger Xia, Marcio H Malogolowkin, Ssu-Wei Hsu, Ching-Hsien Chen, Tsung-Chieh Shih

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an inherited disorder that predisposes individuals to malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs), a highly aggressive sarcoma with limited treatment options and poor prognosis. This study explores the potential of targeting the interaction between Galectin-1 and Ras as a novel therapeutic strategy for MPNSTs. Through molecular docking, we identified critical residues involved in the Galectin-1 and H-Ras interaction. We developed LLS30, a compound designed to target this Ras-binding pocket on Galectin-1, and tested its efficacy. LLS30 effectively disrupted the Galectin-1/Ras interaction, causing Ras delocalization from the plasma membrane and inhibiting Ras signaling. In vitro experiments …

Spetzler-Martin Grade Iv Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations In Adult Patients: A Propensity-Score Matched Analysis Of Resection And Stereotactic Radiosurgery, Salem M Tos, Mahmoud Osama, Georgios Mantziaris, Bardia Hajikarimloo, Nimer Adeeb, Sandeep Kandregula, Hamza Adel Salim, Basel Musmar, Christopher S Ogilvy, Douglas Kondziolka, Adam A Dmytriw, Kareem El Naamani, Ahmed Abdelsalam, Deepak Kumbhare, Sanjeev Gummadi, Cagdas Ataoglu, Muhammed Amir Essibayi, Ufuk Erginoglu, Abdullah Keles, Sandeep Muram, Daniel Sconzo, Howard Riina, Arwin Rezai, Johannes Pöppe, Rajeev D Sen, Louis J Kim, Omar Alwakaa, Christoph J Griessenauer, Pascal Jabbour, Stavropoula I Tjoumakaris, Jan-Karl Burkhardt, Robert M Starke, Mustafa K Baskaya, Laligam N Sekhar, Michael R Levitt, David J Altschul, Neil Haranhalli, Malia Mcavoy, Abdallah Abushehab, Assala Aslan, Christian Swaid, Adib Abla, Christopher Stapleton, Matthew Koch, Visish M Srinivasan, Peng R Chen, Spiros Blackburn, Omar Choudhri, Bryan Pukenas, Darren Orbach, Edward Smith, Markus Möhlenbruch, Ali Alaraj, Ali Aziz-Sultan, Aman B Patel, Amey Savardekar, Hugo H Cuellar, Kathleen Dlouhy, Tarek El Ahmadieh, Michael Lawton, Adnan Siddiqui, Jacques Morcos, Bharat Guthikonda, Jason Sheehan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Spetzler-Martin Grade IV arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are challenging due to high risks associated with both treatment and natural progression. This study compares the outcomes of microsurgical resection and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in high-grade AVMs, analyzing obliteration rates, complications, and functional outcomes. A retrospective cohort of 96 patients treated with either microsurgical resection (33 patients) or SRS (63 patients) was analyzed. Propensity-score matching was employed to account for baseline variables such as AVM size (cm), preoperative embolization and rupture status. Primary endpoints included AVM obliteration, complication rates, and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores. After matching, 31 patients per group were analyzed. …

Walking Interventions And Cognitive Health In Older Adults: A Systematic Review Of Randomized Controlled Trials, Jongwon Lee, Delia West, Christine Pellegrini, Jingkai Wei, Sara Wilcox, Jean Neils-Strunjas, A Caroline Rudisill, Daniela B Friedman, David X Marquez, Jenna Dzwierzynski, Joyce Balls-Berry, Rachelle Gajadhar, Chih-Hsiang Yang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

ObjectiveThis systematic review summarizes the effectiveness and the dose of walking interventions on specific cognition domains in older adults, including executive function, memory, attention, processing speed, and global cognition.Data sourcePublished randomized controlled trials in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science until 10 May 2023.Study Inclusion and Exclusion CriteriaStudies include older adults without Alzheimer's or related dementias, involving a walking intervention and performance-based neuropsychological assessments for executive function, memory, processing speed, attention, or global cognition.Data ExtractionTwo independent research assistants reviewed 8424 studies and included 17 studies.Data SynthesisParticipant demographics, intervention features (type, intensity, time, frequency, duration, format, and context), cognitive assessment tools, …

Oral Decitabine Cedazuridine With And Without Venetoclax In Higher-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes Or Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia: A Propensity Score-Matched Study, Alex Bataller, Koji Sasaki, Samuel Urrutia, Guillermo Montalban-Bravo, Alexandre Bazinet, Kelly Chien, Danielle Hammond, Ian M Bouligny, Mahesh Swaminathan, Ghayas Issa, Nicholas Short, Naval Daver, Courtney D Dinardo, Tapan Kadia, Elias Jabbour, Farhad Ravandi, Gail J Roboz, Michael Savona, Elizabeth A Griffiths, James Mccloskey, Olatoyosi Odenike, Aram Oganesian, Harold N Keer, Mohammad Azab, Hagop Kantarjian, Guillermo Garcia-Manero

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Hypomethylating agents (HMA) are indicated in the treatment of higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). The combination of hypomethylating agents with venetoclax (Ven) has demonstrated promising results in these diseases, although randomized clinical trials are needed for validation. In this retrospective study, we compared two matched cohorts of patients with MDS or CMML: one receiving oral decitabine-cedazuridine (DEC-C, n = 73) and one receiving DEC-C and Ven (DEC-C-Ven, n = 51), in three contemporary clinical trials. The aim is to determine the impact of the addition of Ven to HMA in MDS and CMML. Individuals were matched …

Liver Tet1 Promotes Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease, Hongze Chen, Muhammad Azhar Nisar, Joud Mulla, Xinjian Li, Kevin Cao, Shaolei Lu, Katsuya Nagaoka, Shang Wu, Peng Sheng Ting, Tung Sung Tseng, Hui Yi Lin, Xiao Ming Yin, Wenke Feng, Zhijin Wu, Zhixiang Cheng, William Mueller, Amalia Bay, Layla Schechner, Xuewei Bai, Chiung Kuei Huang

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Global hepatic DNA methylation change has been linked to human patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). DNA demethylation is regulated by the TET family proteins, whose enzymatic activities require 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG) and iron that both are elevated in human MASLD patients. We aimed to investigate liver TET1 in MASLD progression. Depleting TET1 using two different strategies substantially alleviated MASLD progression. Knockout (KO) of TET1 slightly improved diet induced obesity and glucose homeostasis. Intriguingly, hepatic cholesterols, triglycerides, and CD36 were significantly decreased upon TET1 depletion. Consistently, liver specific TET1 KO led to improvement of MASLD progression. Mechanistically, TET1 promoted …

Limosilactobacillus Reuteri Promotes The Expression And Secretion Of Enteroendocrine- And Enterocyte-Derived Hormones, Sara C Di Rienzi, Heather A Danhof, Micah D Forshee, Ari Roberts, Robert A Britton

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Intestinal microbes can beneficially impact host physiology, prompting investigations into the therapeutic usage of such microbes in a range of diseases. For example, human intestinal microbe Limosilactobacillus reuteri strains ATCC PTA 6475 and DSM 17938 are being considered for use for intestinal ailments, including colic, infection, and inflammation, as well as for non-intestinal ailments, including osteoporosis, wound healing, and autism spectrum disorder. While many of their beneficial properties are attributed to suppressing inflammatory responses, we postulated that L. reuteri may also regulate intestinal hormones to affect physiology within and outside of the gut. To determine if L. reuteri secreted factors …

The Current State Of Redo Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (Tavr) And Limitations: Why Tavr Explant Is Important As The Valve Reintervention Strategy, Grace S Lee, Gilbert Tang, Syed Zaid, Derrick Y Tam

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The rise of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) over the past two decades has substantially changed the lifetime management of patients with aortic valve disease. As the indications for TAVR expand to include younger and lower-risk patients, the proportion of patients who subsequently require reintervention for failed transcatheter heart valves (THVs) will increase. The two primary options for reintervention are redo TAVR and TAVR explant followed by surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). The indications for redo TAVR in the short term include emergency “bailout” procedures due to malpositioning, embolization, or long-term device failure due to paravalvular leak (PVL) or valvular …

Histone Acetylation Modulators In Breast Cancer, Xueying Yuan, Jeffrey M Rosen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in women worldwide. Aberrant epigenetic reprogramming such as dysregulation of histone acetylation has been associated with the development of breast cancer. Histone acetylation modulators have been targeted as potential treatments for breast cancer. This review comprehensively discusses the roles of these modulators and the effects of their inhibitors on breast cancer. In addition, epigenetic reprogramming not only affects breast cancer cells but also the immunosuppressive myeloid cells, which can facilitate breast cancer progression. Therefore, the review also highlights the roles of these immunosuppressive myeloid cells and summarizes how histone acetylation modulators affect their …

Uterine Pgrmc2 Deficiency Attenuates Endometrial Hyperplasia And Cancer And Prolongs Lifespan In A Pten Loss-Of-Function-Induced Cancer Model, Nicole C Kelp, Cindy A Pru, Sandeep Paudel, John P Lydon, J Julie Kim, John J Peluso, James K Pru

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The expression of members of the progesterone receptor membrane component (PGRMC) family, particularly PGRMC1, is elevated in diverse types of cancers, particularly those of the female reproductive system. While xenograft tumor studies using human transformed cell lines in immunocompromised mice have suggested that PGRMC1 enhances tumor growth and chemoresistance, the exact role of members of the PGRMC family in cancer development in vivo remains unclear. In this study, we examined the effect of deleting Pgrmc2 on the development of endometrial hyperplasia and cancer using a murine phosphatase and tensin homologue (Pten) conditional loss-of-function model. We previously established that …

Video Discharge Instructions Increase Patient Understanding For Office-Based Procedures: A Randomized Controlled Study, Jenna Bates Maffei, Jeffrey J Song, Gal Saffati, Mohit Khera

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Health literacy significantly influences healthcare outcomes, with poor literacy leading to worse quality of life, increased mortality, and higher readmission rates. Recent efforts to improve post-encounter education include structured teach-back methods, patient preference assessments, and standardized discharge instructions. Studies in emergency departments have shown that incorporating video discharge instructions enhances patient understanding and retention of care information. To address the gap in urology, this study aims to evaluate patient comprehension and satisfaction with video discharge instructions following clinic-based vasectomy procedures.

Methods: We performed an Institutional Review Board approved (#H-51614) unblinded randomized controlled study with written consent from each participant. …

Impact Of Using The Multi-Ethnic Global Lung Initiative As A Spirometry Reference Equation: Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study In Egyptians, Mohamed Gs. El-Shiekh

Journal of Medicine in Scientific Research

Context: Spirometry interpretation is largely affected by the reference equation. European Coal and Steel Community/European Respiratory Society reference equation 93 (ECSC-ERS93) is widely used in Egypt, despite the endorsement of multiethnic global lung initiative equation (GLI-2012) by many international societies as a reference. Aim: We aimed to investigate the interpretive impact of shifting from ECSC-ERS93 to GLI-2012 among Egyptians. Methods: Acceptable pre-bronchodilator spirometry tests for Egyptian subjects, obtained between January 2022 and July 2024 were included, excluding those with age and anthropometric limits of ECSC-ERS 93 equation. Interpretation of spirometric results (normal, preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm), spirometric obstruction, spirometric …

Systemic Antitumor Immune Response Of Doped Yttria Nanoscintillators Under Low-Dose X-Ray Irradiation, Onur Sahin, Yuri Mackeyev, Geraldine V Vijay, Soumyabrata Roy, Ashokkumar Meiyazhagan, Yasmin Zahra, Okan Tezcan, Valeria Gonzalez, Belal Abousaida, Holden R Wagner, Pearl Fernandes, Riaz Mowzoon-Mogharrabi, Bhanu P Venkatesulu, Cheng-En Hsieh, Joseph B K Kim, Subhiksha Raghuram, Xiang Zhang, Kristen A Miller, Guanhui Gao, Pankaj K Singh, Sang Hyun Cho, Rao V L Papineni, Pulickel M Ajayan, Sunil Krishnan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Inadequate light penetration in tissues restricts photodynamic therapy to treating only superficial tumors. To enable x-ray-excited photodynamic therapy (XPDT) that targets deep-seated tumors, we synthesized a nanoscintillator-photosensitizer complex containing 5% Eu-doped Y2O3 fluorescing at 611 nanometers and decorated with SiO2 containing the scintillation-coupled photosensitizer methylene blue and a polyethylene glycol coating [PEGylated Y2O3:Eu@SiO2-methylene blue (pYSM)]. When irradiated, pYSMs generate singlet oxygen species in vitro, causing cytotoxicity with hallmarks of immunogenic cell death (calreticulin translocation to the cell membrane). Intravenously administered pYSMs home passively to pancreatic tumor xenografts and, upon 10 gray irradiation, cause significant tumor regression (P < 0.01). On combining XPDT with anti-PD1 immunotherapy, a distant nonirradiated tumor also regresses via an increase in intratumoral activated CD8+ cytotoxic T cells. Collectively, we advance a systemically delivered XPDT strategy that mediates an antitumor effect in both irradiated and nonirradiated (abscopal) tumors when coupled with immunotherapy, converting an immunologically "cold" tumor to an immunologically "hot" tumor.

Sitc Strategic Vision: Prevention, Premalignant Immunity, Host And Environmental Factors, Sasha E Stanton, Kristin G Anderson, Tullia C Bruno, Christian M Capitini, Mary L Disis, Jennifer Mcquade, Laszlo Radvanyi, Claire Vanpouille-Box, Jennifer Wargo, Kelly J Baines, Megan M Y Hong, Adnan Rajeh, Raymond H Kim, Phillip Awadalla, Lauren K Hughes, Saman Maleki Vareki

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cancer immunotherapy has improved the survival of a subset of patients by harnessing the power of the immune system to find and destroy malignant cells. The immune system also protects the host by destroying developing premalignant and malignant tumors. Advancing our knowledge of premalignant immunity and immune changes seen in lesions that develop into invasive cancer versus those that regress offers an exciting opportunity to leverage the immune system for immune prevention and immune interception of premalignancy. Understanding the immune environment of premalignant lesions and how chronic inflammation plays a central role in the evolution of premalignancy is essential for …

Cigarette Smoke Induces Angiogenic Activation In The Cancer Field Through Dysregulation Of An Endothelial Microrna, Asawari Korde, Anuradha Ramaswamy, Seth Anderson, Lei Jin, Jian-Ge Zhang, Buqu Hu, Walter V Velasco, Lixia Diao, Jing Wang, Margaret A Pisani, Maor Sauler, Daniel J Boffa, Jonathan T Puchalski, Xiting Yan, Seyed Javad Moghaddam, Shervin S Takyar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cigarette smoke (CS) creates a "cancer field" in the lung that promotes malignant transformation. The molecular changes within this field are not fully characterized. We examined the significance of microRNA-1 (miR-1) downregulation as one of these changes. We found that tumor miR-1 levels in three non-small cell lung cancer cohorts show inverse correlations with the smoking burden. Lung MiR-1 levels follow a spatial gradient, have prognostic significance, and correlate inversely with the molecular markers of injury. In CS-exposed lungs, miR-1 is specifically downregulated in the endothelium. Exposure to CS induces angiogenesis by selectively degrading mature miR-1 via a vascular endothelial …