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Immunol Lett 2022 Jun 22. Epub 2022 Jun 22.

Laboratory Microorganisms and Active Biomolecules, Sciences Faculty of Tunis, University Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia. Electronic address:

Background: Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) gene polymorphisms and circulating sHLA-G have often been linked to the risk of breast cancer (BC). However, the results remain controversial. To resolve this issue, we performed a meta-analysis of HLA-G gene polymorphisms and sHLA-G levels in BC. Read More

J Affect Disord 2022 Jun 22. Epub 2022 Jun 22.

Bipolar and Depressive Disorders Unit, Institute of Neuroscience, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Background: The evolution of cognitive performance throughout the lifespan in bipolar disorder (BD) is understudied. This cross-sectional study aims to describe the cognitive performance across age groups.

Methods: A sample of 654 participants was recruited for this study (BD = 432 and healthy controls -HC- =222). Read More

J Affect Disord 2022 Jun 22. Epub 2022 Jun 22.

Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, PR China; Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Critical Care Medicine, Southeast university, Nanjing 210009, PR China. Electronic address:

Purpose: The present research investigates the influence of P11 gene DNA methylation combined with life stress on the response to antidepressants in the first two weeks.

Methods: A total of 291 Han Chinese patients with major depressive disorder and 100 healthy controls were included. The Life Events Scale and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire were used to assess stress. Read More

J Affect Disord 2022 Jun 22. Epub 2022 Jun 22.

Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. Electronic address:

Introduction: Although depression is commonly accompanied by cognitive deficits, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. One possibility is that such deficits are related to abnormal brain network connections. The purpose of this study was thus to investigate changes in brain functional connectivity (FC) in depression and its relationship with cognitive deficits. Read More

J Neurol Sci 2022 Jun 17;439:120324. Epub 2022 Jun 17.

Kirsehir Ahi Evran University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Kirsehir, Turkey.

Objective: Neurological symptoms (NS) were often reported in COVID-19 infection. We examined the plasma levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and S100B together, as brain injury biomarkers, in relation to persistent NS in a cohort of patients with COVID-19 during the acute phase of the disease.

Methods: A total of 20 healthy controls and 58 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled in this prospective study. Read More

Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2022 Jun 16;101:9-14. Epub 2022 Jun 16.

Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. Electronic address:

Introduction: Multiple system atrophy (MSA) typically presents with parkinsonism, ataxia and/or autonomic dysfunction. Occasionally, clinically atypical (ca-MSA) cases masquerade as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). We aimed to investigate whether different neuroimaging modalities could facilitate differentiation and whether histopathologic characteristics could explain the atypical presentation. Read More

Neuroimage Clin 2022 Jun 17;35:103090. Epub 2022 Jun 17.

Psychosomatic Medicine, Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address:

Background: Patients suffering from functional neurological disorder (FND) experience disabling neurological symptoms not caused by an underlying classical neurological disease (such as stroke or multiple sclerosis). The diagnosis is made based on reliable positive clinical signs, but clinicians often require additional time- and cost consuming medical tests and examinations. Resting-state functional connectivity (RS FC) showed its potential as an imaging-based adjunctive biomarker to help distinguish patients from healthy controls and could represent a "rule-in" procedure to assist in the diagnostic process. Read More

Psychiatry Res 2022 Jun 11;314:114675. Epub 2022 Jun 11.

Unit of Epidemiological and Evaluation Psychiatry, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy.

The application of innovative technologies in psychiatry is promising, but the debate about its feasibility is not settled. Our aim was to investigate and compare adherence to and usability of 7-day monitoring with an Experience Sampling Method (ESM) and Actigraphy among a sample of individuals with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD) and paired healthy controls. Twenty-two patients living in residential facilities (RFs), 20 outpatients and 26 controls were enrolled in this study as part of the DiAPAson project. Read More

Eur Eat Disord Rev 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

CIRI - Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie, Team GIMAP, Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Inserm, U1111, CNRS, UMR530, Saint-Etienne, France.

Objective: Previous studies of AN showed low-grade inflammation. Are low-grade inflammation and circulating lymphocytes associated with chronic conditions?

Method: Peripheric blood cytokines were measured using Luminex™ technology in a chronic AN cohort (mean = 67.42 months), compared to Constitutional Thinness (CT), Constitutional Obesity (CO), and Healthy Controls (HC). Read More

Hum Brain Mapp 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK.

Functional connectivity of the human brain, representing statistical dependence of information flow between cortical regions, significantly contributes to the study of the intrinsic brain network and its functional mechanism. To fully explore its potential in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) using electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, this article introduces a novel dynamical spatial-temporal graph convolutional neural network (ST-GCN) for better classification performance. Different from existing studies that are based on either topological brain function characteristics or temporal features of EEG, the proposed ST-GCN considers both the adjacency matrix of functional connectivity from multiple EEG channels and corresponding dynamics of signal EEG channel simultaneously. Read More

J Dermatol 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Department of Dermatology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa, Japan.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by skin and lung fibrosis. Over 90% of patients with SSc are positive for autoantibodies. In addition, the serum levels of B-cell activating factor, a potent B-cell stimulator, are correlated with SSc severity and activity. Read More

Endocrine 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Department of Health Promoting Science, Sophiahemmet University, Stockholm, Sweden.

Purpose: Decreasing levels of serum insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) have been associated with an increased risk for Alzheimer´s disease (AD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Research on serum IDE levels in patients with T2DM is sparse and the aim of this study was to explore serum levels of IDE in patients with T2DM.

Method: Blood serum samples were obtained from a biobank. Read More

Clin Exp Nephrol 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Department of Medical Science and Cardiorenal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-0004, Japan.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination is shown to prevent severe illness and death in hemodialysis (HD) patients, but the immune response to vaccines is reduced in this population. This study compared SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antibody titers between HD patients and healthy controls in Japan for up to 6 months following vaccination.

Methods: A multi-institutional retrospective study at five clinics in Japan was conducted using 412 HD patients and 156 healthy controls who received two doses of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) mRNA vaccine. Read More

Brain Imaging Behav 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Nanjing Brain Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China.

Impaired capability for understanding and interpreting the expressions on other people's faces manifests itself as a core feature of schizophrenia, contributing to social dysfunction. With the purpose of better understanding of the neurobiological basis of facial emotion perception deficits in schizophrenia, we investigated facial emotion perception abilities and regional structural brain abnormalities in drug-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia, and then examined the correlation between them. Fifty-two drug-naive patients with first-episode schizophrenia and 29 group-matched healthy controls were examined for facial emotion perception abilities assessed with the Facial Emotion Categorization and performed magnetic resonance imaging. Read More

Clin Exp Med 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (IPGME&R)/SSKM Hospital, 244, A. J. C. Bose Road, Kolkata, 700020, India.

A comparative analysis of flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD), vasoactive angiogenic, and fibrogenic mediators between treatment-naive and treated systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients is an unmet need. (1)To assess the FMD and different pathogenic mediators in SSc patients about endothelial dysfunction. (2) To assess the proportion of circulating endothelial cells (CECs) in treatment-naïve patients. Read More

Cell Tissue Res 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Major Obstetric Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangdong, Guangzhou, China.

Placental dysplasia increases the risk of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). However, the underlying mechanism regulating placental development remains unclear. In this study, we showed that the expression of CDC42 was decreased in the villous tissue of RSA samples compared to healthy controls. Read More

J Neurol 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, Krembil Discovery Tower, University of Toronto, 60 Leonard Avenue, 6th floor 6KD-407, Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8, Canada.

Background: Considering the wide range of outcomes following sport-related concussions, biomarkers are needed to detect underlying pathological changes. The objective was to analyze the use of plasma phosphorylated tau 181 (pTau181) as a non-invasive measure of underlying brain changes in a cohort of retired contact sports athletes at risk of neurodegeneration.

Methods: Fifty-four retired contact sport athletes and 27 healthy controls whose blood plasma was analyzed for pTau181 were included. Read More

Brain Struct Funct 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Université, Institut du Cerveau-Paris Brain Institute-ICM, Inserm, CNRS, AP-HP, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75013, Paris, France.

We explored the resting state functional connectivity correlates of apathy assessed as a multidimensional construct, using behavioral metrics, in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). We recorded the behavior of 20 bvFTD patients and 16 healthy controls in a close-to-real-life situation including a free phase (FP-in which actions were self-initiated) and a guided phase (GP-in which initiation of actions was facilitated by external guidance). We investigated the activity time and walking episode features as quantifiers of apathy. Read More

Braz J Psychiatry 2022 Jun 24. Epub 2022 Jun 24.

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psiquiatria e Ciências do Comportamento, Departamento de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), RS, Brazil.

Objective: To assess differences in blood inflammatory cytokines between people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and healthy controls (HC).

Methods: Searches were performed from inception through April 14, 2021. Meta-analyses with random-effects models were used to calculate the standardized mean difference ([SMD], 95%CI), and potential sources of heterogeneity were explored trough meta-regressions and subgroup analysis. Read More

Hum Brain Mapp 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.

Studies on functional and structural changes in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) have provided important insights into neural mechanisms underlying several chronic pain conditions. However, the role of S1 plasticity in postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) remains elusive. Combining psychophysics and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we investigated whether pain in PHN patients is linked to S1 reorganization as compared with healthy controls. Read More

Schizophr Bull 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Université Paris Cité, F-75006 Paris, France.

Background And Hypothesis: Motivation deficit is a hallmark of schizophrenia that has a strong impact on their daily life. An alteration of reward processing has been repeatedly highlighted in schizophrenia, but to what extent it involves a deficient amplification of reward representation through conscious processing remains unclear. Indeed, patients with schizophrenia exhibit a disruption of conscious processing, whereas unconscious processing appears to be largely preserved. Read More

J Paediatr Child Health 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Department of Adolescent Medicine, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Aim: Family-based treatment (FBT) has the greatest evidence base for the treatment of adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN). However, little is known about the long-term outcomes for patients who receive FBT. The current study aimed to investigate the long-term psychological health of former patients who received FBT for AN during adolescence. Read More

J Pak Med Assoc 2022 Jun;72(6):1031-1034

Department of Physiology, Army Medical College, National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Objectives: To determine serum levels of lipoprotein(a) in the local population, its relationship with other parameters of lipid profile and statins' response to lipoprotein(a).

Methods: The cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at the Pak-Emirates Military Hospital and Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from March 2018 to March 2019, and comprised of healthy controls in group I, persons with hyperlipidaemia without medications in group II, and diagnosed cases of hyperlipidaemic on statin therapy in group III. The samples were studied using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assasy for lipoprotein(a) estimation, and an automated chemistry analyser for lipid profile estimation. Read More

Comput Biol Med 2022 Jul 21;146:105659. Epub 2022 May 21.

Department of Pharmacy, Universidade Federal Do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil. Electronic address:

Objective: To implement and evaluate machine learning (ML) algorithms for the prediction of COVID-19 diagnosis, severity, and fatality and to assess biomarkers potentially associated with these outcomes.

Material And Methods: Serum (n = 96) and plasma (n = 96) samples from patients with COVID-19 (acute, severe and fatal illness) from two independent hospitals in China were analyzed by LC-MS. Samples from healthy volunteers and from patients with pneumonia caused by other viruses (i. Read More

Schizophr Bull 2022 Jun 25. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

Background And Hypothesis: Multiple lines of clinical, biochemical, and genetic evidence suggest that disturbances of membrane lipids and their metabolism are probably involved in the etiology of schizophrenia (SCZ). Lipids in the membrane are essential to neural development and brain function, however, their role in SCZ remains largely unexplored.

Study Design: Here we investigated the lipidome of the erythrocyte membrane of 80 patients with SCZ and 40 healthy controls using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Read More

BMC Ophthalmol 2022 Jun 24;22(1):279. Epub 2022 Jun 24.

Poostchi Ophthalmology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

Background: Structural ophthalmologic findings have been reported in patients with β-thalassemia due to chronic anemia, iron overload, and iron chelation therapy toxicity in few previous studies. We aimed to investigate structural ocular findings and their relationship with hematological parameters in patients with transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT).

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, from January 2018 to January 2019, 39 patients with TDT over the age of 18 participated. Read More

Biol Trace Elem Res 2022 Jun 24. Epub 2022 Jun 24.

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.

The homeostasis of trace elements is essential to regulate different aspects of the immune system and might play important roles in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, epidemiological evidences that compared the level of essential trace elements in SLE patients and healthy controls (HCs) did not reach a consensus. This was the first meta-analysis to comprehensively assess the level of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and selenium (Se) in SLE and HCs. Read More

Neurol Sci 2022 Jun 24. Epub 2022 Jun 24.

'Luigi Sacco' Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi, 74, 20157, Milan, Italy.

Background And Aims: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a degenerative disease caused by repetitive traumatic brain injury (TBI). Because CTE can be definitely diagnosed only post-mortem, it would be important to explore clinical and radiological correlates of CTE and TBI. The aims of this study were to assess (1) the relationship between the neuropsychological profile of active American football players and the traumatic load; (2) whether traumatic brain injury associated with American football activity has a specific cerebral perfusion pattern; and (3) whether this perfusion pattern correlates with neuropsychological performances. Read More

Neurol Sci 2022 Jun 24. Epub 2022 Jun 24.

Neurology Department, Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa, San Juan Bosco 15, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain.

Introduction: Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states of self and others, such as beliefs (cognitive ToM) and feelings (affective ToM). Based on the role of the hypothalamus in pain and social cognition, our aim is to determine whether ToM is impaired in patients with cluster headache (CH).

Methods: Cross-sectional study in which 31 episodic cluster headache (ECH) patients outside the bout and 20 matched controls carried out social cognition and executive function tasks. Read More

Br J Cancer 2022 Jun 24. Epub 2022 Jun 24.

Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

Background: The spatial distribution of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) is a novel descriptor characterising the tumour immune microenvironment (TIME). The aim of our study was to assess whether a specific TIME of surgically resected thymic carcinoma (TC) can predict tumour invasiveness, recurrence or survival.

Methods: Digital microscopy was performed on 39 TCs immunohistochemically stained to investigate the activation of the immune checkpoint pathway (PD-L1/PD-1), along with density and spatial distribution of TILs phenotypes (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, FOXP3+, CD56+). Read More