Bmc Med
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Accumulating evidence now indicates that the presence of faecal haemoglobin, in the absence of gastrointestinal bleeding, may be an indicator of systemic inflammation and is linked to the development of human diseases. We evaluated whether a positive faecal immunochemical test (FIT) is associated with the development of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). ⋯ Positive FIT is associated with increased risk of RA in the general population, corroborating that aberrancies of gut mucosa are associated with the development of IMIDs. Vigilant monitoring and early referral to a specialist upon medical suspicion is required in this population.
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Placenta-derived proteins in the systemic maternal circulation are suggested as potential biomarkers for placental function. However, the identity and longitudinal patterns of such proteins are largely unknown due to the inaccessibility of the human placenta and limitations in assay technologies. We aimed to identify proteins derived from and taken up by the placenta in the maternal circulation. Furthermore, we aimed to describe the longitudinal patterns across gestation of placenta-derived proteins as well as identify placenta-derived proteins that can serve as reference curves for placental function. ⋯ Together, these data may serve as a first step towards a reference for the healthy placenta-derived proteome that can be measured in the systemic maternal circulation and potentially serve as biomarkers of placental function. The "placental proteomic clock" represents a novel concept that warrants further investigation. Deviations in the proteomic pattern across gestation of such proteomic clock proteins may serve as an indication of placental dysfunction.
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Observational Study
Blackwater fever and acute kidney injury in children hospitalized with an acute febrile illness: pathophysiology and prognostic significance.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) and blackwater fever (BWF) are related but distinct renal complications of acute febrile illness in East Africa. The pathogenesis and prognostic significance of BWF and AKI are not well understood. ⋯ BWF is associated with severe AKI in children hospitalized with a severe febrile illness. Increased awareness of AKI in the setting of BWF, and improved access to AKI diagnostics, is needed to reduce disease progression and in-hospital mortality in this high-risk group of children through early implementation of kidney-protective measures.
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Cisplatin resistance is one of the main causes of treatment failure and death in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). A more comprehensive understanding of the cisplatin resistance mechanism and the development of effective treatment strategies are urgent. ⋯ Our findings reveal a novel CREB5/TOP1MT axis conferring cisplatin resistance in HNSCC, which provides a new basis to develop effective strategies for overcoming cisplatin resistance.
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In 2013, a few years after the launch of the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative, Cuthbert and Insel published a paper titled "Toward the future of psychiatric diagnosis: the seven pillars of RDoC." The RDoC project is a translational research effort to encourage new ways of studying psychopathology through a focus on disruptions in normal functions (such as reward learning or attention) that are defined jointly by observable behavior and neurobiological measures. The paper outlined the principles of the RDoC research framework, including emphases on research that acquires data from multiple measurement classes to foster integrative analyses, adopts dimensional approaches, and employs novel methods for ascertaining participants and identifying valid subgroups. ⋯ The seven pillars of RDoC have provided a foundation that has helped to guide a surge of new studies that have examined neurobehavioral domains related to mental disorders, in the service of informing future psychiatric nosology. Building on this footing, future areas of emphasis for the RDoC project will include studying central-peripheral interactions, developing novel approaches to phenotyping for genomic studies, and identifying new targets for clinical trial research to facilitate progress in precision psychiatry.