Mar 8th, 2023 - Preventing relapse for adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first remission is the most common indication for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant. The presence of AML measurable residual disease (MRD) has been associated with higher relapse rates, but testing is not standardized. To determine whether DNA sequencing to identify residual variants in the blood of adults with AML in fir...

Feb 24th, 2023 - Brown tumor (BT), an uncommon focal lytic bone tumor, is a non-neoplastic and reactive process caused by increased osteoclastic activity and fibroblastic proliferation in primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism. Vertebral tumor causing neural compression is relatively rare, especially in the cervical spine. A 29-year-old man developed neck pain and arm radicular pain 4 months ago, with the lev...

Feb 17th, 2023 - Recent studies suggest measles-induced immune amnesia could have long-term immunosuppressive effects via preferential depletion of memory CD150+ lymphocytes, and associations with a 2-3 year period of increased mortality and morbidity from infectious diseases other than measles has been shown in children from wealthy and low-income countries. To further examine the associations previous measles...

Jan 27th, 2023 - Carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) is elevated as a tumor marker in many carcinomas, but its association with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) has received less attention. This study intends to evaluate whether CA125 level can predict tumor progression and overall survival (OS) of GIST patients. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data and follow-up records of GIST patients who underwen...

Jan 21st, 2023 - Monkeypox virus has recently emerged from endemic foci in Africa and, since October 20, 2022, more than 73,000 human infections have been reported by the CDC from over 100 countries that historically have not reported monkeypox cases. The detection of virus in skin lesions, blood, semen, and saliva of infected patients with monkeypox infections raises the potential for disease transmission via ...

Jan 17th, 2023 - Evidence for antioxidants, minerals and vitamins in relation to the risk of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) is limited and inconsistent. This mendelian randomization (MR) study aimed to examine the causal associations of circulating levels of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins with CD and UC. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with antioxidants (beta-carotene, lycopene...

Jan 14th, 2023 - B cell activating factor (BAFF), a crucial factor for B cell survival and differentiation, has been linked to several autoimmune conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of BAFF gene's polymorphisms with its serum levels and to assess their effect on Graves' disease (GD) susceptibility and presentation. Sixty-two GD patients and 152 healthy controls have been enrolled t...

Jan 13th, 2023 - To investigate the pathogenesis of primary angle-closure disease (PACG) by measuring the anatomical structures of the anterior and posterior segments of the eye and inflammatory markers in the peripheral blood. This case-control study enrolled patients diagnosed with acute PACG (APACG) and chronic PACG (CPACG). It also enrolled control subjects without PACG. The anterior and posterior anatomica...

Jan 12th, 2023 - Impaired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) homeostasis is central to the pathogenesis of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), although the precise mechanisms involved are still not completely understood. The aim of the current study was to assess the CSF/serum ratio of neurofilament light chain levels (QNfL) as a potential indicator of functional CSF outflow obstruction in IIH patients. NfL leve...

Jan 10th, 2023 - Total alkaline phosphatase (tALP) levels rise physiologically in maternal serum during pregnancy, and excessively so in certain conditions. However, current reference values are dated, nonlinear, and based on small samples. Factors related to variation in tALP remain unexplained. Thus, our goals in this study were to establish a physiological development curve for tALP within low-risk pregnanci...

Dec 30th, 2022 - Fatty acids are important dietary factors that have been extensively studied for their implication in health and disease. Evidence from epidemiological studies and randomised controlled trials on their role in cardiovascular, inflammatory, and other diseases remains inconsistent. The objective of this study was to assess whether genetically predicted fatty acid concentrations affect the risk of...

Dec 23rd, 2022 - Background : COVID-19 disease severity markers include mostly molecules related to not only tissue perfusion, inflammation, and thrombosis, but also biomarkers of neural injury. Clinical and basic research has demonstrated that SARS-COV-2 affects the central nervous system. The aims of the present study were to investigate the role of neural injury biomarkers and to compare them with inflammato...

Dec 20th, 2022 - The majority of children with coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) are asymptomatic or develop mild symptoms, and a small number of patients require hospitalization. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is one of the most severe clinical courses of COVID-19 and is suggested to be a hyperinflammatory condition. This study aimed to compare quantitative antibody levels against SAR...

Dec 16th, 2022 - Esophageal cancer (EC) originates in the setting of chronic inflammation. Although previous studies have sought to understand the role of inflammatory signaling in EC, the effect of these immunologic changes on patient outcomes remains understudied. This study's objective was to identify relationships between cytokine levels and prognosis in a mixed cohort of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and...

Dec 15th, 2022 - Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an inflammatory mediator in several diseases, including tuberculosis (TB). However, the role of MIF in each stage of TB remains to be further elucidated. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the differences in plasma MIF protein levels in patients with active pulmonary TB, positive and negative interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) household contacts...

Dec 14th, 2022 - This transcript has been edited for clarity. Uterine leiomyomas or fibroids represent the most common indication for hysterectomy in US women, with the burden of this disease disproportionately born by Black women. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonists comprise a new class of orally active medications which bind to GnRH receptors, thereby rapidly and reversibly suppressing ovarian s...

Dec 13th, 2022 - Louis Pasteur December 27 marks the 200th birthday of Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), the scientist who advanced microbiology and vaccinology and was a main figure bringing germ theory to the forefront of medicine. Earlier in the year, July 20, we also celebrated the 200th birthday of Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), whose contribution — genetics — went unnoticed in his time but is central to modern medic...

Dec 13th, 2022 - A fitness tracker is like Santa Claus: It knows when you’re sleeping, when you’re awake, and whether you’ve been bad or good – about meeting your daily step goal, that is. It may not bring you presents, but it could provide important insights to help manage chronic disease.  According to Johns Hopkins researchers, fitness tracker metrics, including heart rate and step count, may be closely link...

Dec 11th, 2022 - NEW ORLEANS — A study with the worthwhile goal of attempting to further improve outcomes and reduce toxicity of treatment for children and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or lymphoblastic lymphoma found that, contrary to long-held assumptions, high-dose methotrexate does not reduce the risk for central nervous system (CNS) relapse. The same study also addressed two other qu...

Dec 10th, 2022 - NEW ORLEANS — Although acute myeloid leukemia is on the rise worldwide, and the use of hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) as a treatment has increased overall, in some countries fewer than 5% of patients are offered this option. The use of HSCT, the main curative option for AML, "remains unacceptably low," commented Molly Tokaz, MD, a hematology/oncology fellow at the Fred Hutchinson Ca...