July 2024 Member Publications

  1. Jin L, Richardson A, Lynch J, Lorkiewicz P, Srivastava S, Fryar L, Miller A, Theis W, Shirk G, Bhatnagar A, Srivastava S, Riggs DW, Conklin DJ. Formaldehyde and the Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin-1 Contribute to Electronic Cigarette Aerosol-induced Endothelial Dysfunction in Mice. Toxicol Sci. 2024 Jul 27:kfae096. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfae096. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39067042. 
    Impact Statement: This study concludes that the use of Electronic cigarettes (E-cig) may increase cardiovascular disease risk due, in part, to the presence of formaldehyde – an abundant and reactive irritant in E-cig aerosols. Because the formaldehyde level in E-cig-derived aerosol was sufficient to induce vascular injury in mice, it should be lowered to reduce cardiovascular disease risk in people who use E-cig. 
  2. Guo W, Zhong W, He L, Wei X, Hao L, Dong H, Yue R, Sun X, Yin X, Zhao J, Zhang X, Zhou Z. Reversal of hepatic accumulation of nordeoxycholic acid underlines the beneficial effects of cholestyramine on alcohol-associated liver disease in mice. Hepatol Commun. 2024 Jul 31;8(8):e0507. doi: 10.1097/HC9.0000000000000507. PMID: 39082957.
    Impact Statement: This study demonstrated that sequestrant cholestyramine (CTM) treatment effectively reversed alcohol-induced liver injury in mice. The beneficial effects of bile acid sequestrant involve lowering toxic NorDCA levels. NorDCA not only worsens hepatic endoplasmic reticulum stress and inhibits autophagy but also mediates gut barrier disruption and systemic translocation of pathogen-associated molecular patterns in mice. 
  3. Furmanek S, Salunkhe V, Pahwa S, Samanapally H, Nathala P, Xu Q, Han Y, Huang EC, Ali T, Deepti F, Glynn A, McGuffin T, Huang JJ, Farah I, Jones CM, Ramirez JA, Clifford SP, Arnold FW, Kong M, Roser L, Huang J. Association between echocardiographic features, troponin levels, and survival time in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with cardiovascular events. J Anesth Transl Med. 2024 Jun;3(2):36-44. doi: 10.1016/j.jatmed.2024.05.001. Epub 2024 May 8. PMID: 38993392; PMCID: PMC11238549.
    Impact Statement: Significant associations between various echocardiographic parameters and troponin levels with reduced survival time among COVID-19 patients experiencing cardiovascular events. #Echo These findings highlight the potential utility of echocardiography and troponin assessment in predicting outcomes and guiding management strategies in this patient population. 
  4. Moll V, Zhao M, Minear S, Swaminathan M, Kurz A, Huang J, Parr KG, Stanton K, Khanna AK; PREDICT AKI Group. Continuous Urine Output-Based Alert Identifies Cardiac Surgery-associated Acute Kidney Injury Earlier Than Serum Creatinine: A Prospective and Retrospective Observational Study. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2024 Jun 19:S1053-0770(24)00396-3. doi: 10.1053/j.jvca.2024.06.021. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39019742.
    Impact Statement: Aute Kidney Injury Alert, based on continuous urine output and enabled by active drain line clearance, detected AKI stages 1 and 2 before serum creatine criteria. Early AKI detection allows for early kidney optimization, potentially improving patient outcomes. 
  5. Moll V, Khanna AK, Kurz A, Huang J, Smit M, Swaminathan M, Minear S, Parr KG, Prabhakar A, Zhao M, Malbrain MLNG. Optimization of kidney function in cardiac surgery patients with intra-abdominal hypertension: expert opinion. Perioper Med (Lond). 2024 Jul 12;13(1):72. doi: 10.1186/s13741-024-00416-5. Erratum in: Perioper Med (Lond). 2024 Jul 29;13(1):85. doi: 10.1186/s13741-024-00444-1. PMID: 38997752; PMCID: PMC11245849.
    Impact Statement: Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (#CSA-AKI) affects up to 42% of cardiac surgery patients. Abdominal perfusion pressure is calculated as mean arterial pressure minus #IntraAbdominalPressure (IAP). Current evidence on the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and therapy of IntraAbdominalPressure and abdominal compartment syndrome in the context of AKI.
  6. Majumder S, Pushpakumar SB, Almarshood H, Ouseph R, Gondim DD, Jala VR, Sen U. Toll-like receptor 4 mutation mitigates gut microbiota-mediated hypertensive kidney injury. Pharmacol Res. 2024 Aug;206:107303. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2024.107303. Epub 2024 Jul 11. PMID: 39002869; PMCID: PMC11287947.
    Impact Statement: This study demonstrates that TLR4 plays a significant role in hypertension-induced gut dysbiosis, which contributes to renal inflammation and kidney dysfunction. Ablation of TLR4 attenuates these effects, reducing gut hyperpermeability, bacterial translocation, and preserving renal function in hypertensive conditions.
  7. Piell KM, Poulton CC, Stanley CG, Schultz DJ, Klinge CM. Integrated Metabolomics and Transcriptomics Analysis of Anacardic Acid Inhibition of Breast Cancer Cell Viability. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Jun 27;25(13):7044. doi: 10.3390/ijms25137044. PMID: 39000156; PMCID: PMC11241071.
    Impact Statement: We performed comprehensive, untargeted metabolomics analysis on six human breast cancer (BC) cell lines to identify the impact of the anti-cancer compound anacardic acid on metabolism. We identified key metabolic differences between control and AnAc-treated within each BC cell line and between MCF-7 estrogen receptor positive BC cells and the five triple negative BC (TNBC) cell lines as well as metabolic diversity among the four TNBC cell lines, reflecting TNBC heterogeneity. Integration of the transcriptome and metabolome data for MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 BC cells key pathways involved in anti-cancer activity of anacardic acid. Our data suggest that anacardic acid differentially alters multiple pools of cellular building blocks, nutrients, and transcripts resulting in reduced BC cell viability. 
  8. Patidar KR, Tu W, Cotter TG, Simonetto DA, Asgharpour A, Jan MY, Tang Q, Yu Y, Li Y, Taiwo M, Thevkar Nagesh P, Dasarathy S, Kamath PS, McClain CJ, Chalasani N, Szabo G, Bataller R, Mitchell M, Mehal WZ, Nagy LE, Shah VH, Gawrieh S, Sanyal AJ; AlcHepNet Investigators. Acute kidney injury in severe alcohol-associated hepatitis treated with anakinra plus zinc or prednisone. Hepatology. 2024 Jul 19. doi: 10.1097/HEP.0000000000001019. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39028887.
    Impact Statement: This study reveals that patients with severe alcohol-associated hepatitis (sAH) treated with anakinra-plus-zinc (A+Z) experienced higher rates and severity of acute kidney injury (AKI) compared to those treated with prednisone. Elevated uNGAL levels in A+Z-treated patients with AKI suggest potential nephrotoxicity of A+Z in sAH patients. 
  9. Xu M, Li M, Benz F, Merchant M, McClain CJ, Song M. Ileum Proteomics Identifies Distinct Pathways Associated with Different Dietary Doses of Copper-Fructose Interactions: Implications for the Gut-Liver Axis and MASLD. Nutrients. 2024 Jun 29;16(13):2083. doi: 10.3390/nu16132083. PMID: 38999831; PMCID: PMC11242941.
    Impact Statement: This study identified specific pathways in the ileum that are altered by different dietary doses of copper and fructose, contributing to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) via the gut-liver axis. The proteomics analysis revealed distinct mechanisms, including oxidative phosphorylation, arachidonic acid metabolism, and tight junction regulation, that play a role in gut barrier dysfunction and MASLD development. 
  10. Sayed K, Dolin CE, Wilkey DW, Li J, Sato T, Beier JI, Argemi J, Vatsalya V, McClain CJ, Bataller R, Wahed AS, Merchant ML, Benos PV, Arteel GE. A plasma peptidomic signature reveals extracellular matrix remodeling and predicts prognosis in alcohol-associated hepatitis. Hepatol Commun. 2024 Jul 31;8(8):e0510. doi: 10.1097/HC9.0000000000000510. PMID: 39082970.
    Impact Statement: This study identified a plasma peptidome signature enriched with extracellular matrix fragments that serves as a novel, noninvasive predictor of 90-day mortality in patients with alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH). The findings offer improved accuracy over traditional models and present potential biomarkers for prognosis and new mechanistic insights into AH. 
  11. Xu F, Ren Y, Teng Y, Mu J, Tang J, Sundaram K, Zhang L, Park JW, Hwang JY, Yan J, Dryden G, Zhang HG. Tryptophan As a New Member of RNA-Induced Silencing Complexes Prevents Colon Cancer Liver Metastasis. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2024 Jun 20:e2307937. doi: 10.1002/advs.202307937. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39031551.
    Impact Statement: By uncovering the critical role of tryptophan in regulating microRNA activity, this study offers a new therapeutic approach for targeting and inhibiting cancer metastasis. This could pave the path to improved prognosis for patients with colon cancer and other aggressive malignancies. 
  12. Zaman F, Smith ML, Balagopal A, Durand CM, Redd AD, Tobian AAR. Spatial technologies to evaluate the HIV-1 reservoir and its microenvironment in the lymph node. mBio. 2024 Jul 26:e0190924. doi: 10.1128/mbio.01909-24. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39058091.
    Impact Statement: This study highlights the role of memory T follicular helper cells within the immune-privileged environment of the B cell follicle in harboring the HIV-1 reservoir, which contributes to viral rebound upon ART discontinuation. A spatiotemporal approach integrating genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics to investigate these reservoir cells and their interactions holds promise for advancing HIV-1 cure strategies. 
  13. Wise JP Jr, Wise RM, Hoffert A, Wise JTF, Specht AJ. Elevated Metal Levels in U.S. Honeys: Is There a Concern for Human Health? Biol Trace Elem Res. 2024 Jul 12. doi: 10.1007/s12011-024-04295-1. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38995435.
    Impact Statement: Metal contamination in honey has been reported worldwide but has largely been overlooked in the U.S. - our data addresses this knowledge gap and suggests there is a concern for high levels of lead and mercury, based on regulations set by the European Union. Currently the U.S. does not have any regulations for metal contamination in honey, we hope these data will help inform risk assessors and legislators to finally develop appropriate regulations and regular monitoring of honey. 
  14. Zhang Y, Zhang Z, Mo Y, Zhang Y, Yuan J, Zhang Q. MMP-3 mediates copper oxide nanoparticle-induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis. J Nanobiotechnology. 2024 Jul 19;22(1):428. doi: 10.1186/s12951-024-02707-x. PMID: 39030581; PMCID: PMC11264740.
    Impact Statement: This study demonstrated that short-term Nano-CuO exposure caused acute lung inflammation and injury, while long-term exposure induced chronic pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis. Knocking down MMP-3 significantly ameliorated Nano-CuO-induced pulmonary inflammation, injury, and fibrosis, and also attenuated Nano-CuO-induced cleaved osteopontin (OPN) level. Our study suggests that MMP-3 may play important roles in Nano-CuO-induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis via cleavage of OPN, which may provide a further understanding of the mechanisms underlying Nano-CuO-induced pulmonary toxicity. 
  15. Mo Y, Zhang Y, Zhang Q. The pulmonary effects of nickel-containing nanoparticles: Cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, and their underlying mechanisms. Environ Sci Nano. 2024 May 1;11(5):1817-1846. doi: 10.1039/d3en00929g. Epub 2024 Mar 21. PMID: 38984270; PMCID: PMC11230653.
    Impact Statement: Nickel-containing nanoparticles (NPs) have been increasingly used in industrial and biomedical fields due to their unique nanostructural and physicochemical properties; thus, the risk of occupational and environmental contamination by Ni-containing NPs is increasing. The respiratory system is a major and common point of contact for Ni-containing NPs; therefore, they may cause adverse health effects on the respiratory tract, especially the lungs. This review provides us with a comprehensive view of the pulmonary effects of Ni-containing NPs and their underlying mechanisms, which will shed light on our future studies including the urgency and necessity to produce engineered Ni-containing NPs with controlled and reduced toxicity, and also will provide a scientific basis for developing nanoparticle exposure limits and policies.