April 2024 Member Publications

  1. Keith RJ, Hart JL, Bhatnagar A. Greenspaces And Cardiovascular Health. Circ Res. 2024 Apr 26;134(9):1179-1196. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.124.323583. Epub 2024 Apr 25. PMID: 38662868.
    Impact Statement: Living in areas with high surrounding greenness is associated with improved cardiovascular health and lower risk of mortality, thanks to the environmental, social, psychological, and physiological benefits of greenspaces. This narrative review synthesizes evidence on the positive effects of greenspaces on cardiovascular disease risk factors and highlights the need for further research to fully harness their potential for public health and climate change mitigation.
  2. Dunlap NE, Friedland RP, Cai L. Alzheimer's disease and low-dose radiation therapy: A new hope. Radiat Med Prot. 2024 Mar;5(1):1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.radmp.2024.01.002. Epub 2024 Feb 7. PMID: 38585336; PMCID: PMC10997373.
    Impact Statement: Potential therapeutic application of low-dose radiation (LDR) for Alzheimer’s diseases (AD) has been explored since 2017, for which, a new Systematic Review based on available preclinical and clinical studies was published as milestone recently. Therefore, this mini-review provides a concise historical introduction for this research field and narrative discussion of AD radiotherapy as the new hope for the patients with AD.     
  3. Horowitz M, Cai L, Islam MS. Glucagon-like-peptide-1 receptor agonists and the management of type 2 diabetes-backwards and forwards. World J Diabetes. 2024 Mar 15;15(3):326-330. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v15.i3.326. PMID: 38591090; PMCID: PMC10999054.
    Impact Statement: As Editors-in-Chief of the journal, World Journal of Diabetes (WJD), the authors have highlighted the work by Alqifari et al published in the journal of WJD (2024), focusing on practical advice for the clinical use of glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) in the management of type 2 diabetes by providing complementary information. This includes a brief historical perspective of the development of GLP-1RAs stimulated by recognition of the 'incretin effect', the substantially greater insulin increase to enteral when compared to euglycaemic intravenous glucose, the identification of the incretin hormones, GIP and GLP-1, and a final reminder for more information relating to the effects of GLP-1RAs to induce gastrointestinal symptoms and slow gastric emptying likely to allow their use to become more effective and personalized. 
  4. Cai L. Perspective of Dose-Response: New Chapter With New "Exposome" and "-omics". Dose Response. 2024 Apr 25;22(2):15593258241248775. doi: 10.1177/15593258241248775. PMID: 38680850; PMCID: PMC11047227.
    Impact Statement: This is an editorial from me as the new editor-in-chief (EIC) of the journal, Dose-Response, starting in March 2024. This editorial addressed the introduction of the concepts of "Exposome" and associated "Exposomics" into the toxicology research, therefore, the mission of "DR" will incorporate with these new concepts as the next chapter's principle and strategies, even though it remains adhered to the original goals. The EIC wish this journal can open a door for various discipline scientists and researchers to share their state-of-the-art discoveries to shed new insight to understand the impact of environmental and toxicological medicine and develop more specific and effective intervention strategies.     
  5. Yang JY, Mondéjar-Parreño G, Jahng JWS, Lu Y, Hamburg N, Nadeau KC, Conklin DJ, Liao R, Chandy M, Wu JC. Elucidating effects of the environmental pollutant benzo[a]pyrene [BaP] on cardiac arrhythmogenicity. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2024 Apr 20;191:23-26. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2024.04.013. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38648962.
    Impact Statement: The ability to reprogram adult human somatic cells into human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has transformed cardiovascular research by providing a novel model system with a limitless supply of cardiovascular cell types for toxicity testing. Herein, we used iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) to illuminate the potential mechanism(s) of polyaromatic hydrocarbon benzo[a]pyrene-induced cardiotoxicity.     
  6. Riggs DW, DuPre NC, James P, Rai SN, Yeager R, Sears CG, Laden F, Bhatnagar A. Association of Ecoregion Distribution of Greenness With Cardiovascular Mortality: A Longitudinal Ecological Study in the United States. Circ Res. 2024 Apr 26;134(9):1221-1223. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.124.324427. Epub 2024 Apr 25. PMID: 38662855; PMCID: PMC11047167.
    Impact Statement: This study reveals that the health benefits of living in greener areas, particularly reduced cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, vary significantly across different U.S. ecoregions. Understanding these variations is crucial for optimizing the health impacts of greenness, especially in the context of changing climates and diverse ecological characteristics. 
  7. Monreal G, Koenig SC, Huang J, Slaughter MS. Anatomical and Hemodynamic Characterization of Totally Artificial Hearts. ASAIO J. 2024 May 1;70(5):338-347. doi: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000002209. Epub 2024 Apr 1. PMID: 38557701.
    Impact Statement: This fun article studied spooky Halloween beating hearts to a cute colorful plush heart. They were imaged, instrumented (mock flow loops) to measure their pressure, volume, and flow, and qualitatively evaluated by 3rd party cardiac surgeons for anatomical accuracy and surgical considerations. #ArtificialHeart #ScienceisFun     
  8. Bradley J, Xu Q, Touloumes N, Lusciks E, Ali T, Huang EC, Chen J, Ghafghazi S, Arnold FW, Kong M, Huang J, Cavallazzi R; Center of Excellence for Research in Infectious Diseases (CERID) Post-COVID-19 Research Clinic Study Group. Association of pulmonary function test abnormalities and quality-of-life measures after COVID-19 infection. Am J Med Sci. 2024 Apr 16:S0002-9629(24)01170-4. doi: 10.1016/j.amjms.2024.04.010. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38636655.
    Impact Statement: This study reveals that post-COVID-19 patients with normal pulmonary function tests (PFTs) experience significant impairments in mobility and anxiety-related health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores, suggesting that the presence of normal PFTs does not preclude long-term impacts on HRQoL. Conversely, no significant temporal association was found between abnormal PFTs and HRQoL scores, indicating that HRQoL impairments following COVID-19 infection may arise independently of PFT abnormalities. 
  9. Taiwo MT, Huang E, Pathak V, Bellar A, Welch N, Dasarathy J, Streem D, McClain CJ, Mitchell MC, Barton BA, Szabo G, Dasarathy S, Schaefer EA, Luther J, Day LZ, Ouyang X, Arumugam S, Mehal WZ, Jacobs JM, Goodman RP, Rotroff DM, Nagy LE. Complement protein signatures in patients with alcohol-associated hepatitis. JCI Insight. 2024 Apr 4:e174127. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.174127. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38573776.
    Impact Statement: This study identifies distinct complement protein signatures in severe alcohol-associated hepatitis (sAH) through a comprehensive proteomic analysis of human liver and serum samples. The findings highlight potential noninvasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, such as serum collectin 11 and C1q binding protein, that can differentiate sAH from other alcohol-related liver conditions and predict patient outcomes.     
  10. Asplund H, Dreyer HH, Singhal R, Rouchka EC, O'Toole TE, Haberzettl P, Conklin DJ, Sansbury BE. Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter Air Pollution Disrupts Erythrocyte Turnover. Circ Res. 2024 Apr 26;134(9):1224-1227. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.124.324411. Epub 2024 Apr 25. PMID: 38662858; PMCID: PMC11059477.
    Impact Statement: : Our study demonstrates that exposure to concentrated ambient PM2.5 significantly disrupts erythrocyte homeostasis, resulting in increased oxidative stress and impaired clearance by splenic macrophages. These findings suggest that PM2.5-induced alterations in erythrocyte dynamics may play a critical role in the exacerbation of cardiovascular disease, highlighting the need for further investigation into erythrocytes as key targets in air pollution-related pathology.     
  11. Holm RH, Rempala GA, Choi B, Brick JM, Amraotkar AR, Keith RJ, Rouchka EC, Chariker JH, Palmer KE, Smith T, Bhatnagar A. Dynamic SARS-CoV-2 surveillance model combining seroprevalence and wastewater concentrations for post-vaccine disease burden estimates. Commun Med (Lond). 2024 Apr 9;4(1):70. doi: 10.1038/s43856-024-00494-y. PMID: 38594350; PMCID: PMC11004132.
    Impact Statement: Despite wide scale assessments, it remains unclear how large-scale severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination affected the wastewater concentration of the virus or the overall disease burden as measured by hospitalization rates. Our study underscores the importance of continuing environmental surveillance post-vaccine and provides a proof-of-concept for environmental epidemiology monitoring of infectious disease for future pandemic preparedness.
  12. Gripshover TC, Wahlang B, Head KZ, Luo J, Bolatimi OE, Smith ML, Rouchka EC, Chariker JH, Xu J, Cai L, Cummins TD, Merchant ML, Zheng H, Kong M, Cave MC. Multiomics Analysis of PCB126's Effect on a Mouse Chronic-Binge Alcohol Feeding Model. Environ Health Perspect. 2024 Apr;132(4):47007. doi: 10.1289/EHP14132. Epub 2024 Apr 15. PMID: 38619879; PMCID: PMC11018247.
    Impact Statement: This study reveals that PCB126 exposure exacerbates alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) by significantly altering the transcriptome and essential metal levels in the liver. These findings suggest that PCB126 not only promotes steatosis and hepatomegaly but also contributes to the malnutrition aspect of ALD, highlighting the complex interplay between environmental pollutants and liver disease pathogenesis.     
  13. Zhao J, Gomes D, Yuan F, Feng J, Zhang X, O'Toole TE. Oral Polystyrene Consumption Potentiates Atherosclerotic Lesion Formation in ApoE-/- Mice. Circ Res. 2024 Apr 26;134(9):1228-1230. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.124.324419. Epub 2024 Apr 25. PMID: 38662862; PMCID: PMC11047141
    Impact Statement: Plastic particles of the micro- and nano-sized are ubiquitous contaminants in the environment and have found their way into water supplies, the food chain, and ambient air. While human exposure to these particles through ingestion, inhalation, and absorption is inevitable, the health consequences of these exposures is uncertain. Using a model of oral polystyrene consumption, these studies have determined that such exposures can exacerbate atherosclerotic lesion formation in disease-prone mice.