First-principles evaluation of dopant impact on structural deformability and processability of Li7La3Zr2O12

Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) and related ceramic solid electrolytes feature excellent stability and reasonable ionic conductivity, but processing remains challenging. High-temperature co-sintering is required for successful integration with the electrode, which is energetically costly and can lead to unacceptable cathode degradation. The introduction of dopants can promote lower-temperature processing by improving deformability and disrupting lattice integrity; however, an unbiased, systematic study correlating these properties to the dopant chemistry and composition is lacking. Here, we rely on a set of static and dynamic metrics derived from first-principles simulations to estimate the impact of doping on LLZO processability by quantifying LLZO structural deformability. We considered three distinct dopants (Al, Ba, and Ta) as representatives of substitutional incorporation on Li, La, and Zr sites. Our descriptors indicate that doping in general positively impacts lattice deformability, although significant sensitivities to dopant identity and concentration are observed. Amongst the tested dopants, Al doping (on the Li site) appears to have the greatest impact, as signaled across nearly the entire set of computed features. We suggest that these proxy descriptors, once properly calibrated against well-controlled experiments, could enable the use of first-principles simulations to computationally screen new ceramic electrolyte compositions with improved processability.

Nightshift work and irregular menstrual cycle: 8-year follow-up cohort study

BACKGROUND

Irregular menstruation is a major health problem among women, although its association with nightshift work remains controversial.

AIMS

To study the association between nightshift work and irregular menstrual cycle among female workers and investigate any differences according to sleep quality, working hours or obesity.

METHODS

This study included female workers who underwent health examinations from 2012 to 2019. Nightshift work, working hours, sleep quality and menstrual cycles were assessed using self-administered questionnaires. Irregular menstrual cycle was defined as self-reported irregular or ≥36 days. Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by multivariable logistic regression; adjusted hazard ratios (95% CIs) for incident irregular menstrual cycle were calculated by Cox proportional hazard models with time-dependent analysis.

RESULTS

The study participants were 87 147 in the cross-sectional study and 41 516 in the longitudinal study. After adjusting for all covariates in the cross-sectional analyses, the odds ratio for prevalent irregular menstrual cycle among female nightshift workers versus the reference was 1.26 (95% CI 1.2-1.33). In the cohort study, the adjusted hazard ratio for incident irregular menstrual cycle among nightshift workers was 1.95 (95% CI 1.61-2.35) in the period after 6 years. No significant differences were observed among subgroups stratified by sleep quality, working hours or obesity.

CONCLUSIONS

Nightshift work is associated with an increased risk of both prevalent and incident irregular menstrual cycle in female workers without significant interactions by sleep quality, working hours or obesity.

3-carene supresses inflammatory cytokine interleukin-4, interleukin-5 and interleukin-13 in a murine model of asthma

Asthma is a common airway disease associated with allergic inflammation. Environmental factors, such as pollens, pollution, insect-borne antigens, or commercial chemicals, cause this disease. The common symptoms of this airway allergic reaction are increasing mucus, narrowing of the airway wall, coughing, and chest tightness. Medications, such as steroids, alleviate the disease but with severe side effects. Several studies have reported the anti-inflammatory effects of tree-based essential oil components, particularly 3-carene. Therefore, this study used 3-carene to determine if it alleviates asthmatic symptoms in the murine model. First, BALB/c mice were sensitized to an ovalbumin and aluminium hydroxide mixture on day 7th and 14th. From days 21st to 23rd, the mice were challenged with 3-carene and budesonide. The lung trachea, plasma, and bronchiolar lavage fluid (BAL fluid) were collected on day 24. The 3-carene treatment suppressed the cytokine gene expression, such as interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5, and IL-13, reducing the lung epithelial cell thickness in the asthmatic model. These results suggest that essential oil 3-carene has an anti-asthmatic effect.

Metabolomic profiles of ovariectomized mice and their associations with body composition and frailty-related parameters in postmenopausal women

BACKGROUND

Menopause, a dramatical estrogen-deficient condition, is considered the most significant milestone in women's health.

PURPOSE

To investigate the metabolite changes attributed to estrogen deficiency using random forest (RF)-based machine learning (ML) modeling strategy in ovariectomized (OVX) mice as well as determine the clinical relevance of selected metabolites in older women.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Untargeted and targeted metabolomic analyses revealed that metabolites related to TCA cycle, sphingolipids, phospholipids, fatty acids, and amino acids, were significantly changed in the plasma and/or muscle of OVX mice. Subsequent ML classifiers based on RF algorithm selected alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG), arginine, carnosine, ceramide C24, phosphatidylcholine (PC) aa C36:6, and PC ae C42:3 in plasma as well as PC aa 34:1, PC aa C34:3, PC aa C36:5, PC aa C32:1, PC aa C36:2, and sphingosine in muscle as top featured metabolites that differentiate the OVX mice from the sham-operated group. When circulating levels of AKG, arginine, and carnosine, which showed the most significant changes in OVX mice blood, were measured in postmenopausal women, higher plasma AKG levels were associated with lower bone mass, weak grip strength, poor physical performance, and increased frailty risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Metabolomics- and ML-based methods identified the key metabolites of blood and muscle that were significantly changed after ovariectomy in mice, and the clinical implication of several metabolites was investigated by looking at their correlation with body composition and frailty-related parameters in postmenopausal women. These findings provide crucial context for understanding the diverse physiological alterations caused by estrogen deficiency in women.

Feasibility of a Composite Measure of Pulmonary Vascular Impedance and Application to Patients with Chronic RV Failure Post LVAD Implant

Pulmonary vascular impedance (PVZ) describes RV afterload in the frequency domain and has not been studied extensively in LVAD patients. We sought to determine (1) feasibility of calculating a composite (c)PVZ using standard of care (SoC), asynchronous, pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) and flow (PAQ) waveforms; and (2) if chronic right ventricular failure (RVF) post-LVAD implant was associated with changes in perioperative cPVZ.PAP and PAQ were obtained via SoC procedures at three landmarks: T(1), Retrospectively, pre-operative with patient conscious; and T(2) and T(3), prospectively with patient anesthetized, and either pre-sternotomy or chest open with LVAD, respectively. Additional PAP's were taken at T(4), following chest closure; and T(5), 4-24 h post chest closure. Harmonics (z) were calculated by Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) with cPVZ(z) = FFT(PAP)/FFT(PAQ). Total pulmonary resistance Z(0); characteristic impedance Zc, mean of cPVZ(2-4); and vascular stiffness PVS, sum of cPVZ(1,2), were compared at T(1,2,3) between +/-RVF groups.Out of 51 patients, nine experienced RVF. Standard hemodynamics and changes in cPVZ-derived parameters were not significant between groups at any T.In conclusion, cPVZ calculated from SoC measures is possible. Although data that could be obtained were limited it suggests no difference in RV afterload for RVF patients post-implant. If confirmed in larger studies, focus should be placed on cardiac function in these subjects.

Improving Patient Compliance for More Efficient Deep Inspiration Breath Hold Treatment through Innovation and Education

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Visual guidance has been widely proven to improve the reproducibility and stability of Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) treatments. Here, we present a quality improvement project by implementing the use of visual guidance in a multi-campus institution to improve clinical efficiency, including the design of a novel mount for the visual aid and the creation of a patient education video to better prepare lung and GI patients for their DIBH treatments.

MATERIALS/METHODS

Prior to institution-wide implementation, the clinical feasibility of utilizing visual guidance for DIBH treatments was determined by a pilot study with 10 lung/GI patients. A commercial visual guidance device was used, which consisted of a tablet-like device, attached to a mount affixed to the treatment couch. The device is positioned over the patient's head, displaying the real-time vertical motion of a block with infrared markers on the patient's abdomen. The original mount for the device locks onto the superior end of the treatment couch, which occupies space used for immobilization devices and limits the number of patients eligible for visual guidance when the isocenter is inferior, as for GI patients. A novel in-house mount was designed to overcome this limitation. Also, a patient education video was created to introduce the concept of DIBH and the visual aid device. Visual guidance is offered at the first treatment; its use is optional, and patients may start or stop using it at any time. If the device is not used, the patient relies on audio coaching from the radiation therapists (RTTs), which is the standard practice in our clinic.

RESULTS

All 10 patients in the pilot who were offered the visual aid used it, found it helpful and continued to use it throughout their treatment, with no issues reported. The median number of fractions for all 10 patients was 5(3-15). The in-house mount was manufactured from 3D printed and machined components. The treatment couch was 3D scanned, and the mount was designed to clamp laterally on the couch top and align with the indexing indentations. The in-house mount is easy to use and is more versatile than the commercial mount, enabling use for patients with inferior isocenters. Prior to treatment, patients were encouraged to view the <3 min long patient education video that consisted of a combination of animation and real-actor content. Verbal instructions for use were also given by RTTs at the first treatment. Upon successful completion of the pilot study, the use of visual guidance was implemented institution-wide across 5 campuses for all lung and GI DIBH patients, being utilized on an average of 14 patients/week.

CONCLUSION

A quality improvement project was developed and successfully implemented to introduce the use of visual guidance for lung and GI DIBH patients at a large institution, improving the efficiency of DIBH treatment for both the patients and RTTs.

Patterns and Longitudinal Changes in The Practice of Breast Cancer Radiotherapy in Korea: Korean Radiation Oncology Group 22-01

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

To analyze contemporary practice patterns in breast cancer radiotherapy (RT) and to assess longitudinal changes therein over 5 years in Korea.

MATERIALS/METHODS

A nationwide survey was conducted among board-certified radiation oncologists in Korea by the Division for Breast Cancer of the Korean Radiation Oncology Group in March 2022. The survey consisted of 44 questions related to six domains: hypofractionated (HypoFx) whole breast RT, accelerated partial breast RT (APBI), regional nodal irradiation (RNI), RT for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), postmastectomy RT (PMRT), and tumor bed boost.

RESULTS

In total, 70 radiation oncologists from 61 of 101 (60%) institutions participated in the survey. HypoFx RT was used by 62 respondents (89%), which has significantly increased from 36% in 2017. The HypoFx RT was commonly administered at 40-42.5 Gy in 15-16 fractions. APBI was used by 12 respondents (17%), which has increased from 5% in 2017. The use of RNI did not change significantly: ≥ pN2 (6%), ≥ pN1 (33%), and ≥ pN1 with pathological risk factors (61%). However, the indications for use of internal mammary lymph node (IMN) irradiation have expanded. In particular, the rates of routine treatment of IMN (11% from 6% in 2017) and treatment in cases of ≥ pN2 (27% from 14% in 2017) have doubled; however, the rate of treatment for only IMN involvement, identified on imaging, has decreased to 31% from 47% in 2017. With regard to DCIS, the use of hypoFx RT increased to 75% from 25%, and the rate of omission on of RT after breast-conserving surgery decreased to 38% from 48% in 2017. The use of hypoFx RT for PMRT also increased to 36% from 8% in 2017.

CONCLUSION

The adoption of HypoFx RT after breast-conserving surgery in invasive breast cancer and DCIS has increased significantly, whereas that for PMRT has increased moderately, compared to 2017. Further studies are required to determine the optimal use of RNI.

Associations between KIR/KIR-ligand genotypes and clinical outcome for patients with advanced solid tumors receiving BEMPEG plus nivolumab combination therapy in the PIVOT-02 trial

Bempegaldesleukin (BEMPEG), a CD122-preferential IL2 pathway agonist, has been shown to induce proliferation and activation of NK cells. NK activation is dependent on the balance of inhibitory and excitatory signals transmitted by NK receptors, including Fc-gamma receptors (FCγRs) and killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) along with their KIR-ligands. The repertoire of KIRs/KIR-ligands an individual inherits and the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of FCγRs can influence NK function and affect responses to immunotherapies. In this retrospective analysis of the single-arm PIVOT-02 trial, 200 patients with advanced solid tumors were genotyped for KIR/KIR-ligand gene status and FCγR SNP status and evaluated for associations with clinical outcome. Patients with inhibitory KIR2DL2 and its ligand (HLA-C1) observed significantly greater tumor shrinkage (TS, median change -13.0 vs. 0%) and increased PFS (5.5 vs. 3.3 months) and a trend toward improved OR (31.2 vs. 19.5%) compared to patients with the complementary genotype. Furthermore, patients with KIR2DL2 and its ligand together with inhibitory KIR3DL1 and its ligand (HLA-Bw4) had improved OR (36.5 vs. 19.6%), greater TS (median change -16.1 vs. 0%), and a trend toward prolonged PFS (8.4 vs. 3.6 months) as compared to patients with the complementary genotype. FCγR polymorphisms did not influence OR/PFS/TS.These data show that clinical response to BEMPEG plus nivolumab treatment in the PIVOT-02 trial may be associated with the repertoire of KIR/KIR-ligands an individual inherits. Further investigation and validation of these results may enable KIR/KIR-ligand genotyping to be utilized prospectively for identifying patients likely to benefit from certain cancer immunotherapy regimens.

Antibody landscape of C57BL/6 mice cured of B78 melanoma via immunotherapy

Hoefges et al. utilized a whole-proteome peptide array approach to show that C57BL/6 mice develop a large repertoire of antibodies against linear peptide sequences of their melanoma after receiving a curative immunotherapy regimen consisting of radiation and an immunocytokine. Antibodies can play an important role in innate and adaptive immune responses against cancer, and in preventing infectious disease. Flow cytometry analysis of sera of immune mice that were previously cured of their melanoma through a combined immunotherapy regimen with long-term memory showed strong antibody-binding against melanoma tumor cell lines. Using a high-density whole-proteome peptide array, we assessed potential protein-targets for antibodies found in immune sera. Sera from 6 of these cured mice were analyzed with this high-density, whole-proteome peptide array to determine specific antibody-binding sites and their linear peptide sequence. We identified thousands of peptides that were targeted by 2 or more of these 6 mice and exhibited strong antibody binding only by immune, not naive sera. Confirmatory studies were done to validate these results using 2 separate ELISA-based systems. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of the "immunome" of protein-based epitopes that are recognized by immune sera from mice cured of cancer via immunotherapy.

Reopening of ductus arteriosus in idiopathic premature constriction or closure of ductus arteriosus: A case series

BACKGROUND

There is no consensus on managing pregnancy when the fetus is diagnosed with idiopathic premature constriction or closure of the ductus arteriosus (PCDA). Knowing whether the ductus reopens is valuable information for managing idiopathic PCDA. We conducted a case-series study to investigate the natural perinatal course of idiopathic PCDA and examined factors associated with ductal reopening.

METHODS

We retrospectively collected information about the perinatal course and echocardiographic findings at our institution, which, on principle, does not determine delivery timing based on fetal echocardiographic results. We also examined perinatal factors related to the reopening of the ductus arteriosus.

RESULTS

Thirteen cases of idiopathic PCDA were included in the analysis. The ductus reopened in 38% of cases. Among cases diagnosed in <  37 weeks of gestation, 71% reopened, which was confirmed seven days after diagnosis (interquartile range 4-7). Diagnosis earlier in gestation was associated with ductal reopening (p = 0.006). Two cases (15%) developed persistent pulmonary hypertension. No fetal hydrops or death occurred.

CONCLUSIONS

The ductus is likely to reopen when prenatally diagnosed before 37 weeks gestation. There were no complications due to our pregnancy management policy. In idiopathic PCDA, especially if the prenatal diagnosis is made before 37 weeks of gestational age, continuing the pregnancy with careful monitoring of the fetus's well-being is recommended.

Development and evaluation of photon-counting Cd0.875Zn0.125Te0.98Se0.02 detector for measuring bone mineral density

Cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) has been actively researched and developed by researchers in various fields. In medical applications, especially photon-counting, CZT enables improved image quality, multi-material decomposition, and improved dose efficiency. Moreover, band gap engineering and selenium addition on CZT improved electrical, spectroscopic and structural properties, thereby supporting performance of CZT as a photon-counting detector. In this study, it is shown that Cd_0.875Zn_0.125Te_0.98Se_0.02 (CZTS) shows sufficient performance without loss of detection efficiency. We carried out a study involving the application of this CZTS on calculating bone mineral density (BMD) values, because this application has a novelty of new material for BMD sensor which follows the CdTe- or CdZnTe- based BMD detector. Anatomical images from different energy bins contained different information of attenuation although the images were taken in the same region at the same time. Moreover, calculated BMD values had a proper tendency depending on the amount of bone in that region. The final BMD value was 1.1972 g/cm², which is close to the real value of 1.2 g/cm². The introduction with a bone filter and a smaller pixel size will improve the accuracy and precision of photon-counting CZTS detectors for measuring BMD values. However, in this study the CZTS showed the feasibility that a photon-counting CZTS detector can help the measurement of BMD values and the diagnosis of osteoporosis.

Changes of antioxidant enzymes in the kidney after cardiac arrest in the rat model

Globally, cardiac arrest (CA) is a leading cause of death and disability. Asphyxial CA (ACA)-induced kidney damage is a crucial factor in reducing the survival rate. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of antioxidant enzymes in histopathological renal damage in an ACA rat model at different time points. A total of 88 rats were divided into five groups and exposed to ACA except for the sham group. To evaluate glomerular function and oxidative stress, serum levels of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (Crtn) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in renal tissues were measured. To determine histopathological damage, hematoxylin and eosin staining, periodic acid-Schiff staining, and Masson's trichrome staining were performed. Expression levels of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1), superoxide dismutase-2 (SOD-2), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were measured by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Survival rate of the experimental rats was reduced to 80% at 6 h, 55% at 12 h, 42.9% at 1 day, and 33% at 2 days after return of spontaneous circulation. Levels of BUN, Crtn, and MDA started to increase significantly in the early period of CA induction. Renal histopathological damage increased markedly from 6 h until two days post-CA. Additionally, expression levels of antioxidant enzymes were significantly decreased at 6 h, 12 h, 1 day, and 2 days after CA. CA-induced oxidative stress and decreased levels of antioxidant enzymes (SOD-1, SOD-2, CAT, GPx) from 6 h to two days could be possible mediators of severe renal tissue damage and increased mortality rate.

Assessment of aortic valve area on cardiac computed tomography and doppler echocardiography: differences and clinical significance in symptomatic bicuspid aortic stenosis

Backgrounds

This study aimed to investigate the differences and clinical significance of effective orifice area (EOA) on Doppler echocardiography and geometric orifice area (GOA) on cardiac computed tomography (CT) in bicuspid aortic stenosis (AS).

Methods

One-hundred sixty-three consecutive patients (age 64±10 years, 56.4% men) with symptomatic bicuspid AS who were referred for surgery and underwent both cardiac CT and echocardiography within 3 months were studied. For the aortic valve area, GOACT was measured by multiplanar CT planimetry, and EOAEcho was calculated by continuity equation with Doppler echocardiography. The associations of GOACT and EOAEcho with the patients' symptom scale, biomarkers, and left ventricular (LV) functional variables were comprehensively analyzed.

Results

There was a significant but modest correlation between EOAEcho and GOACT (r=0.604, p&lt;0.001). Both EOAEcho and GOACT revealed significant correlations with mean pressure gradient and peak transaortic velocity and the coefficients were higher in EOAEcho than GOACT. EOAEcho of 1.05 cm2 and GOACT of 1.25 cm2 correspond to the hemodynamic cut-off values for diagnosing severe AS. EOAEcho was well correlated with patients' symptom scale and log NT-pro BNP, but GOACT was not. In addition, EOAEcho showed higher correlation coefficient with estimated LV filling pressure and LV global longitudinal strain than GOACT.

Conclusions

Both EOAEcho and GOACT can be used to evaluate the severity of bicuspid AS, however, the threshold for GOACT for diagnosing severe AS should be applied higher than that for EOAEcho. EOAEcho tends to be more correlated with the patients' symptom degree, biomarkers, and LV functional variables than GOACT.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: Public Institution(s). Main funding source(s): The Korean Cardiac Research Foundation

Clinical outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention and rotational atherectomy using second generation drug eluting stents: a Korean multicentre analysis

Background

The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes of different second generation drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients with calcified coronary lesions who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention using rotational atherectomy.

Methods

This study was based on a multicentre registry which enrolled patients with calcified coronary artery disease who received RA during between January 2010 and October 2019 from 9 tertiary centres in Korea. The primary outcome was target-vessel failure (TVF), defined as the compositae of cardiac death, target-vessel myocardial infarction (MI), and target-vessel revascularisation (TVR). The secondary outcomes were all-cause death, cardiac death, target vessel MI, TVR, cardiovascular accident, stent thrombosis, and total bleeding.

Results

540 patients who underwent PCI after RA were enrolled and followed up for a median period of 16.1 months. From this registry, 439 patients who were treated using second generation DES were selected for further analysis. They were divided into four groups based on the characteristics of the stents used during the procedure. [Group I cobalt-chromium sirolimus eluting stent (CoCr-SES): Ultimaster 48 & Orsiro 30, Group II platinum-chromium everolimus eluting stent (PtCr-EES): Synergy 93 & Promus 70, Group III cobalt-chromium everolimus eluting stent (CoCr-EES): Xience 105, Group IV zotarolimus eluting stent (ZES): Resolute 93] There was no inter-group difference in procedural success rates, and the primary outcome of TVF showed no difference across the four groups (I: 10.3%, II: 13.5%, III: 13.3%, IV: 15.1%, log-rank p=0.922). Even after multivariate Cox regression analysis, there was no significant difference in TVF, or the secondary outcomes of all-cause death, cardiac death, target vessel MI, TVR, cardiovascular accident, stent thrombosis, and total bleeding.

Conclusions

There was no difference in procedural success rates and clinical outcomes between four different types of second-generation DES (CoCr-SES, PtCr-EES, CoCr-EES, ZES) in patients who underwent PCI using RA.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

Characteristics and clinical implications of premature summation of early and late diastolic filling in patients without tachycardia

Backgrounds

The summation of early (E) and late diastolic filling (A) on mitral inflow Doppler even in the absence of tachycardia is often found during assessments of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function. We evaluated the echocardiographic characteristics and clinical implications of premature E-A summation.

Methods

We identified 1,014 subjects who showed E-A summation and normal LV ejection fraction between January 2019 and June 2021 in two tertiary hospitals. Among these, 105 (10.4%) subjects showed premature E-A summation at heart rates less than 100 beats per minute (bpm). The conventional echocardiographic parameters and LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) were compared with 1:1 age, sex, and heart rate matched controls without E-A summation.

Results

The premature E-A summation group had a heart rate of 96.4±3.7 bpm. Only 4 (3.8%) subjects were classified as having LV diastolic dysfunction according to the current guidelines. That group showed prolonged isovolumic relaxation time (107.2±25.3 vs. 61.6±15.6 msec, p&lt;0.001), increased Tei index (0.76±0.19 vs. 0.48±0.10, p&lt;0.001), lower LVEF (63.8±7.0 vs. 67.3±5.6%, p&lt;0.001) and lower absolute LV GLS (|LV GLS|) (17.0±4.2 vs. 19.7±3.3%, p&lt;0.001) than controls. As the E-A summation occurred at lower heart rate, the |LV GLS| was also lower (p for trend=0.002).

Conclusions

The premature E-A summation at heart rates less than 100 bpm is associated with subclinical LV dysfunction. Time-based indices and LV GLS are helpful for evaluating this easily overlooked population.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

Dual versus single antiplatelet therapy after transcatheter aortic valve replacement: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is the intervention of choice for patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis who have high or intermediate surgical risk. TAVR valves are at risk of thrombosis and serious sequelae including stroke, peripheral embolism, and valve dysfunction requiring intervention. The optimal method of antithrombotic therapy to reduce risk of thrombosis with an acceptable increase in risk of bleeding is uncertain.

Objectives

This systematic review and meta-analysis assesses the effects of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) versus single antiplatelet therapy (SAPT) on mortality, thrombosis and bleeding in patients undergoing TAVR.

Methods

We systematically searched EMBASE, MEDLINE and CENTRAL from January 1, 2002 until February 9, 2021 for randomized trials comparing DAPT to SAPT after TAVR. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts, and then the full text of potentially relevant articles in duplicate. Data abstraction and risk of bias was also performed in duplicate. Risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals were pooled using the Mantel-Haenzel method and random effects modelling. We assessed the certainty of the evidence for each outcome using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessments, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.

Results

We included 4 randomized controlled trials of 1086 patients. Risk of bias was low or somewhat concerning for all studies. We found no difference in mortality (risk ratio (RR) 1.02, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.63 to 1.63) or stroke (RR 1.03, 95% CI 0.57–1.84), but a significant increase in major bleeding (RR 2.04, 95% CI, 1.31–3.19), with DAPT compared to SAPT. There were too few events to conduct meta-analysis for clinical valve thrombosis, subclinical valve thrombosis, transvalvular gradients on echocardiography, or aortic valve reintervention. The certainty of the evidence was low or very low due to risk of bias, inconsistency, and imprecision.

Conclusions

There is very low certainty evidence that DAPT has little to no effect compared to SAPT on mortality and stroke. There is low certainty evidence that DAPT likely causes more major bleeding than SAPT.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

Prediction of clinical outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 using high-sensitive troponin I and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide

Background

Several comorbidities, including cardiovascular diseases or myocardial injury, are reported to be associated with poor prognosis in patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, detailed prognostic analysis of myocardial injury by various biomarkers in COVID-19 patients is limited.

Purpose

This study aims to explore the prognostic values of high-sensitive Troponin I (hsTnI) and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) for COVID-19 patients using Japanese real-world data.

Methods

The COVID-MI study is a retrospective cohort study that enrolls consecutive laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital from July 2020 to September 2021. We collected clinical data, including cardiac biomarker values, by chart review. If the prespecified biomarkers in concern were not available, we measured them using the institutional serum blood bank, which enrolled patients prospectively from July 2020. Patients with available biomarkers were analyzed according to the values of hsTnI or NT-proBNP, using the clinically relevant thresholds (hsTnI: 5 ng/L and 99th percentile of the upper reference limit [99%ile URL], and NT-proBNP: 125 pg/mL and 900 pg/mL). The primary outcome measure was all-cause death. Secondary outcome measures included acute respiratory distress syndrome, myocardial infarction, myocarditis/pericarditis, venous thromboembolism, cerebral infarction, and bleeding events.

Results

We enrolled 917 patients with COVID-19 confirmed by viral nucleic acid amplification test. The mean age was 61 years, and 591 patients (64%) were men. On admission, the number of patients classified as severe or critical COVID-19 was 515 (56%) and 85 (8.7%), respectively. Among the 544 patients with hsTnI values, 365 (67%) patients had elevated hsTnI of ≥5 ng/L, and 134 patients (25%) had TnI of ≥99%ile URL. Besides, among 546 patients with NT-proBNP values, 295 patients (54%) had elevated NT-pro-BNP of ≥125 pg/mL, and 93 patients (17%) had NT-proBNP of ≥900 pg/mL. The median follow-up period was 31 days (interquartile range: 11–90 days). In cumulative incidence analysis, higher levels of hsTnI and NT-proBNP were associated with significantly higher mortality (hsTnI: &lt;5 ng/L group; 8.8%, 5 ng/L to 99%ile URL group; 19%, and ≥99%ile URL group; 37%, P&lt;0.001, and NT-proBNP: &lt;125 pg/mL group; 7.8%, 125 to 900 pg/mL group; 21%, and ≥900 pg/mL group; 45%, P&lt;0.001). The adjusted risk for all-cause death remained significant for each threshold of cardiac biomarkers (hsTnI ≥99%ile URL: hazard ratio [HR] 1.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11–3.54, P=0.02, and NT-proBNP ≥900 pg/mL: HR 3.60, 95% CI 1.86–6.98, P&lt;0.001).

Conclusion

Elevation of hsTnI or NT-proBNP was associated with poor prognosis in the current relatively severely ill COVID-19 patients. Measuring hsTnI or NT-proBNP can be an attractive option for risk stratification and deciding appropriate management in patients with COVID-19.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: Public hospital(s). Main funding source(s): Institutional Research Fund at Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital

Demography, disorders and mortality of pet hamsters under primary veterinary care in the United Kingdom in 2016

BACKGROUND

Hamsters are popular pets worldwide but there is limited evidence on the overall health issues of pet hamsters. This study aimed to characterise the demography, disorder prevalence and mortality of pet hamsters in the United Kingdom.

METHOD

The VetCompass study included anonymised clinical records of 16,605 hamsters.

RESULTS

The most common hamster species were Syrian (golden) (Mesocricetus auratus) (n=12,197, 73.45%), Djungarian (winter white dwarf) (Phodopus sungorus) (2286, 13.77%) and Roborovski hamsters (Phodopus roborovskii) (1054, 6.35%). The most prevalent precise-level disorders recorded across all hamsters were a presentation categorised as 'wet tail' (n=293, 7.33%), disorder undiagnosed (292, 7.30%), bite injuries from other hamsters (235, 5.88%), overgrown nail(s) (165, 4.13%), overgrown incisor(s) (159, 3.98%) and traumatic injury (152, 3.80%). The most prevalent disorders groups across all species of hamster were traumatic injury (n=616, 15.41%), enteropathy (450, 11.26%), ophthalmological disorder (445, 11.13%), skin disorder (362, 9.05%) and mass (361, 9.03%). The median age at death across all hamsters was 1.75 years (interquartile range: 0.83 to 2.20, range: 0.01 to 3.65). The most common causes of death at a precise level were wet tail (7.88%, 95% confidence interval: 6.35 to 9.66), abdominal mass (6.40%, 95% confidence interval: 5.01 to 8.03), neoplasia (5.38%, 95% confidence interval: 4.11 to 6.90) and dyspnoea (3.99%, 95% confidence interval: 2.9 to 5.34).

CONCLUSION

This study provides veterinary professionals, educators, welfare scientists and owners with an evidence base on pet hamster health. A greater understanding of the common disorders of pet hamsters can support veterinary professionals to communicate more effectively with owners on key issues and outcomes to expect from hamster ownership.

P12.04.A Exosomes from glioma associated sphere forming cells induce a transition of invasive phenotype via transfer of EMP2 and CA9

Background

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) mostly occurs local recurrence at normal parenchyme adjacent tumor despite of conventional treatment. Glioma stem like cells (GSC) forming intratumoral heterogeneity within the GBM acquired the microenvironmental adaptation by inter-exosomal contents exchange between heterogenic cells. In addition, GSC has an invasive potential as like human GBM. Therefore, we investigate whether exosomal proteins of GSC affect the normal tissue invasion in GBM.

Material and Methods

Exosomes were isolated by Size-Exclusion method from conditioned media and validated by Electron microscope and Immunoblot assay. Exosomal proteomics were examined with Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS). To produce the fluorescent exosome, bi-cistron vectors were cloned with shRNA and CD63-GFP. To identify the effect of tranfected exosome, the isolated exosomes were treated to recipient cells and examined the invasion by 3D invasion assay and mouse intracranial model.

Results

Firstly, we dichotomized two groups following tumor invasion at matrigel assay and GSC derived orthotopic mouse model. CSC2 and X01 GSCs revealed highly invasive phenotype whereas 83NS and 528NS GSCs did not. Exosome was isolated in each group and identified by CD63 expression or electron microscopy. In proteomics analysis, hypoxia, extracellular matrix organization, GTPase cycle related proteins were enriched in highly invasive cell’s exosome. Among them, we focused the carbonic anhydrase IX (CA9) and the epithelial membrane protein 2 (EMP2) on its permissive role to glioblastoma invasion respectively. CA9 and EMP2 mRNA and protein levels were verified in GSCs and their exosomes and the high expression levels were detected in CSC2 and X01 compared to the low one in 83NS and 528NS GSCs. To evaluate the effects of CA9 and EMP2 on exosome mediated invasion potential, viral bi-cistron vectors was composed with the target gene knockdown and the CD63 fluorescence was used to detect intracellular exosome transfer. Interestingly, the decreased expression of phosphorylated FAK, a key invasive marker, was observed after Lentiviral mediated CA9- and EMP2-knockdown in highly invasive CSC2. To identify whether CA9 and EMP2 proteins are the intracellular effector protein responsible for exosome mediated glioma invasion, the donor exosomes (Exo-CSC2-sh-CA9 and Exo-CSC2-EMP2, after Lentiviral transfection to CSC2s) were isolated and treated to the non invasive 528NS cells as recipient cells. In 3D invasion assay, Exo-CSC2-shCA9 or Exo-CSC2-shEMP2 mediated tumor invasion was significantly decreased at 528NS GSCs compared to Exo-CSC2-shEV. These features were found at mouse intracranial model as well.

Conclusion

Together with these, we conclude that exosome derived from GSCs induces a transition of invasive phenotype via transfer of EMP2 and CA9 proteins.

P02.01.B The telomere maintenance mechanism spectrum and its dynamics in gliomas

The activation of the telomere maintenance mechanism (TMM) is one of the critical drivers of cancer cell immortality. In gliomas, TERT expression and TERT promoter mutation are considered to reliably indicate telomerase activation, while ATRX mutation indicates alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). However, these relationships have not been extensively validated in tumor tissues. Here, we show through the direct measurement of telomerase activity and ALT in a large set of glioma samples that the TMM in glioma cannot be defined in the dichotomy of telomerase activity and ALT, regardless of TERT expression, TERT promoter mutation and ATRX mutation. Moreover, we observed that a considerable proportion of gliomas lack both telomerase activity and ALT (Neither group). And this Neither group exhibited evidence of slow growth potential. From a set of longitudinal samples from a separate cohort of glioma patients, we discovered that the TMM is not fixed but changes with glioma progression. Collectively, these results suggest that the TMM is a dynamic entity and that reflects the plasticity of the oncogenic biological status of tumor cells and that the TMM should be defined by the direct measurement of telomerase enzyme activity and evidence of ALT.

Search for Subsolar-Mass Binaries in the First Half of Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's Third Observing Run

We report on a search for compact binary coalescences where at least one binary component has a mass between 0.2  M_{⊙} and 1.0  M_{⊙} in Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo data collected between 1 April 2019 1500 UTC and 1 October 2019 1500 UTC. We extend our previous analyses in two main ways: we include data from the Virgo detector and we allow for more unequal mass systems, with mass ratio q≥0.1. We do not report any gravitational-wave candidates. The most significant trigger has a false alarm rate of 0.14  yr^{-1}. This implies an upper limit on the merger rate of subsolar binaries in the range [220-24200]  Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}, depending on the chirp mass of the binary. We use this upper limit to derive astrophysical constraints on two phenomenological models that could produce subsolar-mass compact objects. One is an isotropic distribution of equal-mass primordial black holes. Using this model, we find that the fraction of dark matter in primordial black holes in the mass range 0.2  M_{⊙}<m_{PBH}<1.0  M_{⊙} is f_{PBH}≡Ω_{PBH}/Ω_{DM}≲6%. This improves existing constraints on primordial black hole abundance by a factor of ∼3. The other is a dissipative dark matter model, in which fermionic dark matter can collapse and form black holes. The upper limit on the fraction of dark matter black holes depends on the minimum mass of the black holes that can be formed: the most constraining result is obtained at M_{min}=1  M_{⊙}, where f_{DBH}≡Ω_{DBH}/Ω_{DM}≲0.003%. These are the first constraints placed on dissipative dark models by subsolar-mass analyses.

Antidepressant medication and risk of cardiovascular disease in posttraumatic stress disorder patients: application of marginal structural models in Korean National Health Insurance Database

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): - National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT

Introduction

Previous evidence on antidepressant medication and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients is mixed. We evaluated associations between antidepressant medication and CVD by applying marginal structural model.

Methods

We gathered medical utilization records of 27,170 patients diagnosed with PTSD in years 2004 - 2018 without prior CVD diagnosis from Korean National Health Insurance Database (NHID). PTSD and CVD were characterized in correspondence of ICD-10 diagnostic codes. We acquired information on antidepressant use from medical utilization records and categorized by medication category: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). Discrete-time survival analysis with marginal structural inverse probability weighting was used to test association between antidepressants and CVDs and were compared to results from traditional time-fixed model and simple time-varying model. We calculated cumulative daily defined doses (DDDs) of each antidepressant categories and conducted polynomial splining to test dose response.

Results

SSRI use was associated with acute coronary syndrome (hazard ratio [HR] 1.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.26 - 1.86) and ischemic stroke (HR 1.33, 95% CI 1.08 - 1.63). SNRI use was associated with acute coronary syndrome (HR 1.52, 95% CI 1.09 - 2.12). TCA use was associated with acute coronary syndrome (HR 1.54, 1.21 - 1.96) and ischemic stroke (HR 1.34, 1.06 - 1.70). Polynomial spline showed positive dose-response in association between antidepressant use and CVD.

Conclusion

Antidepressant use is causally associated with CVD in patients with PTSD. Higher cumulative DDD of antidepressant increases the risk of CVD.

Associations between mental illness and cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

OBJECTIVE

Considering the impact of mental illness and cancer on the society, the relationship between the two diseases should be assessed. This study aimed at determining the association between mental illness and cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The Embase and Medline databases were searched on October 21, 2020. Cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies were eligible for study inclusion. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to qualitatively assess the risk of bias. Funnel plots were drawn to evaluate the risks of bias across the included studies.

RESULTS

We included 58 studies from 16 countries, incorporating approximately 30 national databases and 25 million individuals. Patients with psychiatric disorders did not show an increased risk of developing cancer. However, patients with cancer had a significantly increased risk of developing mental illness. The survival rates of patients with mental illness according to cancer occurrence and patients with cancer according to mental illness occurrence were significantly decreased.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinicians should conduct early screening to ensure that appropriate interventions for mental illness are administered in patients with cancer. Due to the high incidence of death in patients with mental illnesses due to unnatural causes, such as suicide, homicide, and accidents, clinicians should be aware of the importance of the treatment and management of these patients.

POS0456 AUTOPHAGY-RELATED RISK LOCI IN SLE AND THEIR ROLE IN NEUTROPHILS

Background

Systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with ~150 established susceptibility risk loci. Genome wide-association (GWA) studies in SLE cases and controls of Korean ancestry identified the SLE risk locus ATG16L2-P2RY2, and rs11235604 as a SLE-associated missense variant (R220W) of Autophagy Related 16 Like 2 (ATG16L2) [1]. PRDM1-ATG5 is also an SLE risk locus in European populations that is implicated in autophagy. Autophagy plays a crucial role in neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation, degranulation, and limiting autoantigens in blood. Dysregulated autophagy has been implicated in SLE pathology and poor disease outcomes. The function of ATG16L2 is unknown, but evidence suggests it may function as a negative regulator of autophagosome formation [2].

Objectives

To identify autophagy-related SLE risk variants shared across different ancestry populations and define the role of ATG16L2 in SLE and autophagy.

Methods

SLE case-control GWA scans from European (7568 cases; 1082 controls), African American (4336 cases; 935 controls), Hispanic (3752 cases; 1840 controls), and Korean (1173 cases; 4213 controls) populations were imputed and SNP associations tested. Meta-analysis was performed, then Bayesian statistics were used to define a credible SNP set. Bioinformatic analyses (RegulomeDB, promoter capture Hi-C, eQTLs, etc.) further prioritized SNPs based on predicted functionality. The functional significance of autophagy SLE risk genes, ATG16L1, ATG16L,2 and ATG5, were tested by CRISPR knockout (KO) in PLB-985 cell line. CRISPR-targeted single cell clones were screened for ATG16L1, ATG16L2 or ATG5 deletion using qPCR, NanoPore sequencing, and Western blotting. Changes in autophagy were assessed by Western blotting and confocal microscopy.

Results

Transracial fine-mapping of PRDM1-ATG5 locus identified two SNP associations shared across the credible sets in all populations: rs56886418 (p=1.38x10-5) located in the intron of PRDM1 and rs77791277 (p=1.38x10-5) that tagged a group of SNPs in strong linkage disequilibrium. Cross comparison of the credible SNP sets and bioinformatic analyses of shared SNPs identified rs533733 and rs9373843 as additional likely functional variants. Bioinformatic analyses prioritized rs56886418, an eQTL for ATG5 (p=0.05) and PRDM1 (p=4.75x10-7) in blood cells positioned in a topologically associated domain (TAD) that may interact with ATG5 and PRDM1 promoters in EBV-transformed B cells. SNP rs533733 is an eQTL for ATG5 in neutrophils (p=0.006) and is in a TAD 6.4kb 3’ of PRDM1 that interacts with the ATG5 promoter region where rs9373843 (eQTL of ATG5 in neutrophils (p=0.04)) is positioned. These data suggest that risk SNPs on the PRDM1-ATG5 locus may modulate ATG5 expression and autophagy in specific cell types by modulating the local chromatin regulatory network.

To assess the roles of ATG5, ATG16L1 and ATG16L2 in autophagy, PMA/I-induced hallmarks of autophagy, LC3-I and LC3-II conversion and p62 protein aggregation, were assessed in homozygous and heterozygous ATG5, ATG16L1, or ATG16L2 CRISPR KO PLB-985 cells by Western blotting and confocal microscopy. Loss of ATG5 or ATG16L1 impaired PMA/I-induced autophagosome formation in myeloid-like and differentiated neutrophil-like PLB-985 cells. In contrast, loss of ATG16L2 elevated the conversion of LC3-I to LC3-II and p62 protein aggregation in both cell types, suggesting that ATG16L2 may inhibit autophagy.

Conclusion

Functional characterization of SNPs on the PRDM1-ATG5 and ATG16L2-P2RY2 loci, and the functional characterization of ATG16L2 in myeloid and neutrophil cell lines, provide new insights into the mechanisms that regulate autophagy in health and disease. Ongoing studies will focus on in vitro validation of predicted functional SNPs and will introduce ATG16L2 rs11235604 risk variant in PLB-985 cells to assess its importance in autophagy.

References

[1]Lessard CJ, et al. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2016; 68(5):1197-1209.

[2]Wible DJ, et al. Cell Discov. 2019; 5:42.

Disclosure of Interests

None declared.

OP0110 CELL-TYPE-SPECIFIC TRANSCRIPTOME ARCHITECTURE UNDERLYING THE ESTABLISHMENT AND EXACERBATION OF SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

Background

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease with unknown etiology involving multiple immune cells and has diverse clinical phenotypes. This heterogeneous nature has hampered a better understanding of SLE pathogenesis and the development of effective therapeutic agents. While recent single-cell RNA sequencing studies of SLE identified several important cell subpopulations, they were limited by sparse expression information at single-cell level and small sample sizes.

Objectives

This study aimed to elucidate the dysregulated gene expression pattern linked to multiple clinical statuses of SLE with a fine cellular resolution and higher sensitivity. We also attempted to resolve a complex interaction between risk variants and the transcriptome dysregulation seen in SLE patients.

Methods

We conducted a large-scale bulk transcriptome study of 6,386 RNA-sequencing data including 27 purified immune cell types in peripheral blood from 136 SLE and 89 healthy donors in the Immune Cell Gene Expression Atlas from the University of Tokyo (ImmuNexUT) cohort1. At enrollment, SLE patients had diverse clinical manifestations (disease activity, organ involvement and treatment profiles) and 22 patients were re-evaluated after belimumab treatment.

Results

We first profiled two distinct cell-type-specific transcriptomic signatures: disease-state and disease-activity signatures, reflecting disease establishment and exacerbation, respectively.

After confirming the high replicability of both signatures in independent cohorts, we identified candidates of biological processes unique to each signature: e.g., upregulated E2F transcriptional activity in Th1, CD8+ memory T-lineage and NK cells, and dynamic increase of IL21 and CXCL13 in Th1 cells in an active phase of SLE. Pathway analysis highlighted the importance of immunometabolic process for SLE (e.g., oxidative phosphorylation) in cell-type-specific resolution.

Moreover, we demonstrated cell-type-specific contributions to diverse organ involvement, e.g., Th1 for mucocutaneous, monocyte-lineage cells for musculoskeletal, neutrophil-lineage cells for renal activity, respectively.

We also observed the strong associations of disease-activity signatures with treatment effect: (i) belimumab suppressed activity signatures from B-lineage cells, especially in good responders and (ii) mycophenolate mofetil substantially suppressed activity signatures from plasmablast, Th1, and central memory CD8 cells.

However, through stratified LD score regression using large-scale SLE-GWASs, we revealed that disease-activity signatures were less enriched around SLE risk variants than disease-state signatures. Consistent with this result, the directions of SLE risk alleles’ expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) effects were significantly concordant with the directions of disease-state signatures, but not with those of activity signatures. These findings suggested that the current genetic case-control studies may not well capture clinically vital biology linked to drug target discovery for SLE. Meanwhile, we also detected some examples of activity signatures that might contribute to the disease risk by modulating risk allele’s eQTL effects.

Figure 1.

Conclusion

We identified comprehensive gene signatures reflecting the establishment and exacerbation of SLE, which provide essential foundations for future genomic, genetic, and clinical studies.

References

[1]Ota, M. et al. Dynamic landscape of immune cell-specific gene regulation in immune-mediated diseases. Cell 2021;184:3006-21.e17.

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan; the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports; and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) (JP21tm0424221 and JP21zf0127004).

Disclosure of Interests

Masahiro Nakano: None declared, Mineto Ota Grant/research support from: Mineto Ota belongs to the Social Cooperation Program, Department of functional genomics and immunological diseases, supported by Chugai Pharmaceutical., Yusuke Takeshima Grant/research support from: Yusuke Takeshima belonged to the Social Cooperation Program, Department of functional genomics and immunological diseases, supported by Chugai Pharmaceutical., Yukiko Iwasaki: None declared, Hiroaki Hatano: None declared, Yasuo Nagafuchi Grant/research support from: Yasuo Nagafuchi belongs to the Social Cooperation Program, Department of functional genomics and immunological diseases, supported by Chugai Pharmaceutical., Kwangwoo Kim: None declared, So-Young Bang: None declared, Hye Soon Lee: None declared, Hirofumi Shoda: None declared, Xuejun Zhang: None declared, Sang-Cheol Bae: None declared, Chikashi Terao: None declared, Kazuhiko Yamamoto: None declared, Tomohisa Okamura Grant/research support from: Tomohisa Okamura belongs to the Social Cooperation Program, Department of functional genomics and immunological diseases, supported by Chugai Pharmaceutical., Kazuyoshi Ishigaki: None declared, Keishi Fujio Speakers bureau: Keishi Fujio receives speaker fees from Chugai Pharmaceutical., Consultant of: Keishi Fujio receives consulting honoraria from Chugai Pharmaceutical., Grant/research support from: Keishi Fujio receives research support from Chugai Pharmaceutical.