November 2023 Member Publications

  1. Erhabor J, Boakye E, Obisesan O, Osei AD, Tasdighi E, Mirbolouk H, DeFilippis AP, Stokes AC, Hirsch GA, Benjamin EJ, Rodriguez CJ, El Shahawy O, Robertson RM, Bhatnagar A, Blaha MJ. E-Cigarette Use Among US Adults in the 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Nov 1;6(11):e2340859. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.40859. PMID: 37921768; PMCID: PMC10625038.
    Impact Statement: These findings suggest that e-cigarette use remained common during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among young adults aged 18 to 24 years (18.3% prevalence). Notably, 71.5% of individuals aged 18 to 20 years who reported current e-cigarette use had never used combustible cigarettes. These results underscore the rationale for the implementation and enforcement of public health policies tailored to young adults.
  2. Hopkins CD, Wessel C, Chen O, El-Kersh K, Cathey D, Cave MC, Cai L, Huang J. A hypothesis: Potential contributions of metals to the pathogenesis of pulmonary artery hypertension. Life Sci. 2023 Nov 24;336:122289. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2023.122289. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38007143.
    Impact Statement: Metals may initiate or exacerbate the pathogenesis of PAH pulmonary arterial hypertension, by providing potential mechanism by which metals interact with hypoxia-inducible factor and tumor suppressor p53 to modulate their downstream cellular proliferation pathways.
  3. Hopkins CD, Wessel C, Chen O, El-Kersh K, Cave MC, Cai L, Huang J. Potential Roles of Metals in the Pathogenesis of Pulmonary and Systemic Hypertension. Int J Biol Sci. 2023 Sep 25;19(16):5036-5054. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.85590. PMID: 37928257; PMCID: PMC10620830.
    Impact Statement: This review explores non-essential and essential metals and potential roles of their dyshomeostasis in pulmonaryhypertension and RightVentricle dysfunction.
  4. Warner JB, Hardesty JE, Song YL, Floyd AT, Deng Z, Jebet A, He L, Zhang X, McClain CJ, Hammock BD, Warner DR, Kirpich IA. Hepatic Transcriptome and Its Regulation Following Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Inhibition in Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease. Am J Pathol. 2023 Nov 3:S0002-9440(23)00410-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2023.09.016. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37925018.
    Impact Statement: Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a serious public health problem with limited pharmacologic options. The goal of the current study was to investigate the efficacy of pharmacologic inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), an enzyme involved in lipid metabolism, in experimental ALD, and to examine the underlying mechanisms.
  5. Dong Z, Chen X, Ritter J, Bai L, Huang J. American society of anesthesiologists physical status classification significantly affects the performances of machine learning models in intraoperative hypotension inference. J Clin Anesth. 2024 Feb;92:111309. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinane.2023.111309. Epub 2023 Nov 2. PMID: 37922642.
    Impact Statement: Different ASA physical status classes present different data distributions, and thus calls for distinct machine learning models to improve prediction accuracy and reduce predictive uncertainty. Uncertainty quantification enabled by Bayesian inference provides valuable information for clinicians as an additional metric to evaluate performance of machine learning models for medical decision making.
  6. Stanifer S, Delidow B, Rademacher K, Huntington-Moskos L, Kennoy K, Thaxton-Wiggins A, Wilmhoff C, Hahn EJ. Evaluation of a Faculty Fellows Program in Science Communication. J Appalach Health. 2023 Aug 1;5(2):85-99. doi: 10.13023/jah.0502.07. PMID: 38022491; PMCID: PMC10629883.
    Impact Statement: This study demonstrates the significant positive impact of the Faculty Fellows in Science Communication (FFSC) program on enhancing self-efficacy in science communication across diverse audiences among faculty in environmental health science and education in Appalachia Kentucky. The findings underscore the program's effectiveness in empowering participants to engage with peers within and outside their departments, as well as lay audiences, offering valuable insights into tailored communication strategies and innovative methods to bridge the science communication gap.
  7. Condon S, Jophlin LL. Past, Present, and Future Therapies for Alcohol-Associated Hepatitis. Clin Ther. 2023 Nov 16:S0149-2918(23)00405-8. doi: 10.1016/j.clinthera.2023.10.013. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37980219.
    Impact Statement: This manuscript examines the evolution of therapies for acute alcohol-associated hepatitis from the early 1900’s to present, with consideration of the limitations of historical clinical trials and the caveats of landmark studies. Emerging therapies, only made possible by decades of prior work, are highlighted.
  8. Beare JE, Fleissig Y, Kelm NQ, Reed RM, LeBlanc AJ, Hoying JB, Kaufman CL. Mimicking Clinical Rejection Patterns in a Rat Osteomyocutaneous Flap Model of Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation. J Surg Res. 2023 Nov 16;295:28-40. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2023.08.057. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37979234.
    Impact Statement: This research presents a novel rat osteomyocutaneous flap model employing varying tacrolimus doses, closely mirroring rejection patterns observed in clinical hand transplant programs. The findings highlight the crucial role of ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) and microvascular changes in chronic rejection (CR) and vasculopathy, offering an adaptable experimental platform to investigate rejection mechanisms and potential interventions in vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA).
  9. Tornai D, Mitchell M, McClain CJ, Dasarathy S, McCullough A, Radaeva S, Kroll-Desrosiers A, Lee J, Barton B, Szabo G. A novel score of IL-13 and age predicts 90-day mortality in severe alcohol-associated hepatitis: A multicenter plasma biomarker analysis. Hepatol Commun. 2023 Nov 22;7(12):e0296. doi: 10.1097/HC9.0000000000000296. PMID: 37994498; PMCID: PMC10666984.
    Impact Statement: This study reveals crucial predictors of short-term mortality specifically in severe alcoholic hepatitis (AH) patients, uncovering eight biomarkers associated with 28- and 90-day mortality. Furthermore, the development of a composite score integrating IL-13 and age demonstrates superior prognostic accuracy for 90-day mortality compared to the widely used MELD score, offering a promising tool for better prognostication in this high-risk patient population irrespective of treatment type.
  10. Berrueta L, Muñoz-Vergara D, Martin D, Thompson R, Sansbury BE, Spite M, Badger GJ, Langevin HM. Effect of stretching on inflammation in a subcutaneous carrageenan mouse model analyzed at single-cell resolution. J Cell Physiol. 2023 Nov 1. doi: 10.1002/jcp.31133. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37909412.
    Impact Statement: This study investigates the impact of stretching on inflammation resolution at a cellular level in a mouse model. Findings indicate that 10-minute stretching sessions twice daily reduce inflammation, alter the production of specific lipid mediators, and influence gene expression in macrophages, offering insights into potential mechanisms for managing inflammatory responses.
  11. Torre D, Fstkchyan YS, Ho JSY, Cheon Y, Patel RS, Degrace EJ, Mzoughi S, Schwarz M, Mohammed K, Seo JS, Romero-Bueno R, Demircioglu D, Hasson D, Tang W, Mahajani SU, Campisi L, Zheng S, Song WS, Wang YC, Shah H, Francoeur N, Soto J, Salfati Z, Weirauch MT, Warburton P, Beaumont K, Smith ML, Mulder L, Villalta SA, Kessenbrock K, Jang C, Lee D, De Rubeis S, Cobos I, Tam O, Hammell MG, Seldin M, Shi Y, Basu U, Sebastiano V, Byun M, Sebra R, Rosenberg BR, Benner C, Guccione E, Marazzi I. Nuclear RNA catabolism controls endogenous retroviruses, gene expression asymmetry, and dedifferentiation. Mol Cell. 2023 Nov 14:S1097-2765(23)00903-6. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.10.036. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37995687.
    Impact Statement: Our genome includes thousands of fragments of viral genes leftover from prehistoric infections of our ancestors. This paper details how these viral remnants have been co-opted by our cells to help regulate gene expression during embryonic development. Furthering our understanding of this developmental regulation may be important for the development of future stem cell therapies.