Biochemical Phenomena, Metabolism, and Nutrition Commons^™

Support Their Sleep: Enhancing Nurses' Knowledge And Implementation Of Non-Pharmacological Sleep Protocols To Improve Patient Rest, Recovery, And Reduce Cognitive Impairment., David C. Barry

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: Sleep and rest play an influential role in promoting recovery and healing in humans. Hospitalized patients are at risk for altered sleep from hospitalization, illness, and stimulation from a hospital environment. Non-pharmacologic interventions preformed by nurses can help to improve sleep and sleep environment for patients.

Local problem: There was no protocol or available information regarding patient sleep promotion for nurses to references when caring for patients.

Methods: Nurses in the microsystem (n=8) were administered a pre/post questionnaire containing Likert scales and a short quiz containing knowledge-based questions. Questionnaires were distributed to nurses prior to and after …

Review Article: New Treatments For Advanced Differentiated Thyroid Cancers And Potential Mechanisms Of Drug Resistance, Sarah Hamidi, Marie-Claude Hofmann, Priyanka C Iyer, Maria E Cabanillas, Mimi I Hu, Naifa L Busaidy, Ramona Dadu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The treatment of advanced, radioiodine refractory, differentiated thyroid cancers (RR-DTCs) has undergone major advancements in the last decade, causing a paradigm shift in the management and prognosis of these patients. Better understanding of the molecular drivers of tumorigenesis and access to next generation sequencing of tumors have led to the development and Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approval of numerous targeted therapies for RR-DTCs, including antiangiogenic multikinase inhibitors, and more recently, fusion-specific kinase inhibitors such as RET inhibitors and NTRK inhibitors. BRAF + MEK inhibitors have also been approved for BRAF-mutated solid tumors and are routinely used in RR-DTCs in …

Knockout Of Endospanin 1 Via Crispr In Zebrafish, Danio Rerio, Jared Kittinger

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

I made endospanin 1 knockout (KO) zebrafish to examine its effects on lipid and bone metabolism. Endospanin 1, or leptin receptor overlapping transcript (leprot), is a cytosolic protein linked to the protein hormone leptin that influences the trafficking of leptin receptors to the plasma membrane of cells. Genes for endospanin and tyrosinase (a pigmentation enzyme) were targeted via a microinjection of guide RNAs and CRISPR Cas9 into zebrafish embryos at 2-4 cell stages. I was able to disrupt the endospanin 1 gene (based upon the disruption of tyrosinase), but very few mutant zebrafish fully developed into adults. Only low KO …

Advancements In Glycogen Detection And Spatial Profiling Reveals A New Therapeutic Path For Ewing Sarcoma: A Non-Traditional Glycogen Storage Disease, Lyndsay E. A. Young

Theses and Dissertations--Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Glycogen is the primary glucose storage carbohydrate in mammals, and it is synthesized in most tissues. As glycogen architecture modulates its role in metabolism, it is essential to accurately evaluate and quantify glycogen, glycogen phosphate, and chain length of glucose monomers. Simultaneous quantitation of glycogen architecture is challenging. This work describes a highly-sensitive method for the detection of both glycogen-derived glucose and glucose-phosphate esters utilizing gas-chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GCMS). We then integrated this glycogen quantitation workflow into a routinely utilized metabolomics-based assay. The work presented describes a workflow for the normalization of polar metabolites utilizing amino acids derived from …

Milder Loss Of Insulin-Containing Islets In Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes And Type 2 Diabetes-Associated Tcf7l2 Genetic Variants, Maria J Redondo, Sarah J Richardson, Daniel Perry, Charles G Minard, Alice L J Carr, Todd Brusko, Irina Kusmartseva, Alberto Pugliese, Mark A Atkinson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: TCF7L2 variants are the strongest genetic risk factor for type 2 diabetes. In individuals with type 1 diabetes, these variants are associated with a higher C-peptide AUC, a lower glucose AUC during an OGTT, single autoantibody positivity near diagnosis, particularly in individuals older than 12 years of age, and a lower frequency of type 1 diabetes-associated HLA genotypes. Based on initial observations from clinical cohorts, we tested the hypothesis that type 2 diabetes-predisposing TCF7L2 genetic variants are associated with a higher percentage of residual insulin-containing cells (ICI%) in pancreases of donors with type 1 diabetes, by examining genomic data …

An Overview: The Diversified Role Of Mitochondria In Cancer Metabolism, Yu'e Liu, Yihong Sun, Yadong Guo, Xiaoyun Shi, Xi Chen, Wenfeng Feng, Lei-Lei Wu, Jin Zhang, Shibo Yu, Yi Wang, Yufeng Shi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Mitochondria are intracellular organelles involved in energy production, cell metabolism and cell signaling. They are essential not only in the process of ATP synthesis, lipid metabolism and nucleic acid metabolism, but also in tumor development and metastasis. Mutations in mtDNA are commonly found in cancer cells to promote the rewiring of bioenergetics and biosynthesis, various metabolites especially oncometabolites in mitochondria regulate tumor metabolism and progression. And mutation of enzymes in the TCA cycle leads to the unusual accumulation of certain metabolites and oncometabolites. Mitochondria have been demonstrated as the target for cancer treatment. Cancer cells rely on two main energy …

Role Of Adrenomedullin2/ Intermedin In Pregnancy Induced Vascular And Metabolic Adaptation In Mice, Chandra Yallampalli, Ancizar Betancourt, Akansha Mishra, Kathleen A Pennington, Simone Hernandez Ruano, Moises Tacam, Madhu Chauhan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: Adrenomedullin2 (AM2) shares its receptor with Calcitonin gene related peptide and adrenomedullin with overlapping but distinct biological functions. Goal of this study was to assess the specific role of Adrenomedullin2 (AM2) in pregnancy induced vascular and metabolic adaptation using AM2 knockout mice (AM2 ^−/−).

Method : The AM2 ^−/− mice were successfully generated using Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/Nuclease Cas nine system. Phenotype of pregnant AM2 ^−/− mice was assessed with respect to its fertility, blood pressure regulation, vascular health and metabolic adaptations and compared to the wild type littermates (AM2 ^+/+).

Results …

I2n: Image To Nutrients, A Sensor Guided Semi-Automated Tool For Annotation Of Images For Nutrition Analysis Of Eating Episodes, Tonmoy Ghosh, Megan A Mccrory, Tyson Marden, Janine Higgins, Alex Kojo Anderson, Christabel Ampong Domfe, Wenyan Jia, Benny Lo, Gary Frost, Matilda Steiner-Asiedu, Tom Baranowski, Mingui Sun, Edward Sazonov

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Introduction: Dietary assessment is important for understanding nutritional status. Traditional methods of monitoring food intake through self-report such as diet diaries, 24-hour dietary recall, and food frequency questionnaires may be subject to errors and can be time-consuming for the user.

Methods: This paper presents a semi-automatic dietary assessment tool we developed - a desktop application called Image to Nutrients (I2N) - to process sensor-detected eating events and images captured during these eating events by a wearable sensor. I2N has the capacity to offer multiple food and nutrient databases (e.g., USDA-SR, FNDDS, USDA Global Branded Food Products Database) for annotating eating …

Relationship Between Reproductive And Bone Biomarkers And Osteoarthritis In Zoo Asian (Elephas Maximus) And African (Loxodonta Africana) Elephants, Daniella E Chusyd, Janine L Brown, Lilian Golzarri-Arroyo, Stephanie L Dickinson, Virginia B Kraus, Jessica Siegal-Willott, Timothy M Griffin, Janet L Huebner, Katie L Edwards, David B Allison, Steven N Austad

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Osteoarthritis (OA) is common in zoo Asian (Elephas maximus) and African (Loxodonta africana) elephants. This study investigated the relationship between confirmed or suspected OA with ovarian cyclicity, gonadotropins, progestagens, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicular stimulating hormone (FSH), and collagen type I (CTX-I) in zoo elephants. In Asian elephants, odds of having confirmed or suspected OA decreased with cycling (OR = 0.22, P = 0.016; OR = 0.29, P = 0.020, respectively), however, not when adjusted for age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.31, P = 0.112; OR = 0.58, P = 0.369, respectively). In African elephants, none of …

Conditioning On Parental Mating Types Can Reduce Necessary Assumptions For Mendelian Randomization, Keisuke Ejima, Nianjun Liu, Luis Miguel Mestre, Gustavo De Los Campos, David B Allison

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Mendelian randomization (MR) has become a common tool used in epidemiological studies. However, when confounding variables are correlated with the instrumental variable (in this case, a genetic/variant/marker), the estimation can remain biased even with MR. We propose conditioning on parental mating types (a function of parental genotypes) in MR to eliminate the need for one set of assumptions, thereby plausibly reducing such bias. We illustrate a situation in which the instrumental variable and confounding variables are correlated using two unlinked diallelic genetic loci: one, an instrumental variable and the other, a confounding variable. Assortative mating or population admixture can create …

Small Bowel Obstruction In Postpartum Vaginal Delivery Due To Prior Abdominal Adhesions Case Report, Liubin Yang, Lydia Kao

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Intestinal obstruction rarely occurs after uncomplicated vaginal deliveries. Here, we present a case of a multiparous woman with a history of prior appendectomy presenting with generalized, nonspecific abdominal pain that was out of proportion to exam findings. Initial abdominal X-ray was nonspecific, and subsequent computed tomography (CT) abdomen showed closed small bowel obstruction requiring surgical repair. We present a case of intestinal obstruction occurring within 24 hours of uncomplicated vaginal delivery with a risk factor of a prior appendectomy surgery and the use of CT abdomen and pelvis to expedite diagnose.

Functional And Technical Outcomes In Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients With Hyperdense Middle Cerebral Artery Sign Treated With Endovascular Thrombectomy, Yimin Chen, Francesco Diana, Mohammad Mofatteh, Sijie Zhou, Juanmei Chen, Zhou Huang, Weijuan Wu, Yajie Yang, Zhiyi Zeng, Weijian Zhang, Ziqi Ouyang, Thanh N Nguyen, Shuiquan Yang, José Fidel Baizabal-Carvallo, Xuxing Liao

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background and objective: The hyperdense middle cerebral artery sign (HMCAS) is observed in a proportion of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). This sign reflects the presence of an intravascular thrombus rich in red blood cells. Several studies have demonstrated that HMCAS increases the risk of poor outcomes in AIS patients treated with IV thrombolysis or no reperfusion therapy; however, whether HMCAS predicts a poor outcome in patients treated with endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is less clear. We aimed to evaluate the functional outcome by the modified Rankin scale (mRS) at 90 days and technical challenges in patients with HMCAS undergoing …

Commentary: Effect Evaluation Of Sahtak Bi Sahnak, A Lebanese Secondary School-Based Nutrition Intervention: A Cluster Randomised Trial, Abu Bakkar Siddique, Andrew W Brown, Lilian Golzarri-Arroyo, David B Allison

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Initial Insights Into The Genetic Variation Associated With Metformin Treatment Failure In Youth With Type 2 Diabetes, Shylaja Srinivasan, Ling Chen, Miriam Udler, Jennifer Todd, Megan M Kelsey, Morey W Haymond, Silva Arslanian, Philip Zeitler, Rose Gubitosi-Klug, Kristen J Nadeau, Katherine Kutney, Neil H White, Josephine H Li, James A Perry, Varinderpal Kaur, Laura Brenner, Josep M Mercader, Adem Dawed, Ewan R Pearson, Sook-Wah Yee, Kathleen M Giacomini, Toni Pollin, Jose C Florez

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Metformin is the first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in youth but with limited sustained glycemic response. To identify common variants associated with metformin response, we used a genome-wide approach in 506 youth from the Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY) study and examined the relationship between T2D partitioned polygenic scores (pPS), glycemic traits, and metformin response in these youth. Several variants met a suggestive threshold (P < 1 × 10−6), though none including published adult variants reached genome-wide significance. We pursued replication of top nine variants in three cohorts, and rs76195229 in ATRNL1 was associated with worse metformin response in the Metformin Genetics Consortium (n = 7,812), though statistically not being significant after Bonferroni correction (P …

Development Of A Chemical Biology Approach To Uncover The Influence Of Sequence Variations On Ces1 Activity In Live Cells, Samuel James Knebel

Masters Theses

Drug metabolism is the biochemical process of modifying drugs to detoxify and remove them through enzymatic transformations. These biotransformation’s occur primarily in the liver and are critical to understanding how pharmaceutical compounds are chemically altered inside the human body. Human carboxylesterases (CESs) catalyze the hydrolysis of esters, amides, thioesters, and carbamates. CES-mediated hydrolysis plays an important role in the metabolism of many drugs including the first FDA approved antiviral treatment for COVID-19, remdesivir (Veklury), the seizure control medication rufinamide (Banzel), and the flu antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu). CES activity is known to be influenced by a variety of factors including …

Attitudes Toward Implicit Bias Among Ncaa Medical Support Staff, B J. Warner, A P. Jacobsen, M Decker, S A. Cage

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

Introduction: Implicit biases are unconscious attitudes, emotions, or stereotypes that have the potential to negatively affect behaviors, actions, and decisions. Recent research has shown that healthcare workers do not provide equitable care to patients from different demographics. When patients are receiving different levels of care, there is a potential for different patient-related outcomes. One of their first steps in many implicit bias interventions for healthcare professionals is identifying one’s implicit bias. The purpose of this study was to describe the attitudes toward implicit bias among non-athletic training healthcare professionals who provide care to collegiate student-athletes. Methods: An electronic survey was …

Low Ferritin Count In Female Collegiate Soccer Player Presents As Concussion, E N. Nelson, T D. Pitcock, M K. Knoblauch, L J. Harrison

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

Background: Women’s soccer leads the National Collegiate Athletic Association for having the highest number of concussions in female sports. Common symptoms of concussion can include light headedness, headaches, and dizziness, but these symptoms are not exclusive to concussions. Female athletes may experience nutritional deficits that can lead to a wide range of symptoms mimicking those commonly experienced with a concussion such as headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. The patient in this case is a 21- year-old female soccer athlete who presented with sensitivity to light, light headedness, nausea, and fatigue after experiencing repeated ‘headers’ as well as a collision during a …

Cerebral Microdialysis And Glucopenia In Traumatic Brain Injury: A Review, Himanshu Sharma, John P Mcginnis, Katherine E Kabotyanski, Shankar P Gopinath, Jerry C Goodman, Claudia Robertson, Jovany Cruz Navarro

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Traditionally, intracranial pressure (ICP) and partial brain tissue oxygenation (PbtO2) have been the primary invasive intracranial measurements used to guide management in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). After injury however, the brain develops an increased metabolic demand which may require an increment in the oxidative metabolism of glucose. Simultaneously, metabolic, and electrical dysfunction can lead to an inability to meet these demands, even in the absence of ischemia or increased intracranial pressure. Cerebral microdialysis provides the ability to accurately measure local concentrations of various solutes including lactate, pyruvate, glycerol and glucose. Experimental and clinical data demonstrate that such …

Editorial: Metabolic Regulation Under Oxidative Stress In Cancer, Elavarasan Subramani, Abishai Dominic, Pratip K Bhattacharya, Daniel E Frigo, Ilya Bederman, Ali Vaziri-Gohar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Oxidative stress has emerged as a key component of cancer metabolism that impacts multiple facets of tumor biology (1). Recent studies have shed light on the complex interplay of cellular redox and its impact on molecular mechanisms that govern metabolic reprogramming under oxidative stress (2, 3). It is well established that altered glucose metabolism exhibited by tumor cells leads to an enormous oxidative burden through various metabolic routes (4, 5). What is less known but remains a great interest to the field is whether elevated oxidative stress has a causal role in …

Sex-Specific Associations Between Urinary Bisphenols Concentrations During Pregnancy And Problematic Child Behaviors At Age 2 Years, Sarah Dee Geiger, Salma Musaad, Jennifer Hill, Andréa Aguiar, Susan Schantz

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Effects of prenatal bisphenol A (BPA) exposure on child behavior are mixed with some reports suggesting increased problematic behaviors in girls (e.g., aggression and emotional reactivity) and in boys (i.e., externalizing behaviors), while other reports suggest decreased problematic behaviors in girls. Little is known about the potential impact of pregnancy bisphenol S (BPS) exposure on child behavior. In a prospective cohort study (n=68), five maternal spot urine samples collected across pregnancy were pooled and analyzed for BPA and BPS. Child behavior at 2 years was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Linear regression models were used to assess associations …