Sara Freeman

Jan 23, 2025 | nature.com | John D. Morrey |Venkatraman Siddharthan |Hong Wang |Alexandre Oliveira |Rakesh Kaundal |Sara Freeman | +4 more

Zika virus (ZIKV) causes a variety of peripheral and central nervous system complications leading to neurological symptoms such as limb weakness. We used a mouse model to identify candidate genes potentially involved in causation or recovery from ZIKV-induced acute flaccid paralysis. Using Zikv and Chat chromogenic and fluorescence in situ RNA hybridization, electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and ZIKV RT-qPCR, we determined that some paralyzed mice had infected motor neurons, but motor neurons are not reduced in number and the infection was not present in all paralyzed mice; hence infection of motor neurons were not strongly correlated with paralysis. Consequently, paralysis was probably caused by by-stander effects. To address this, we performed bioinformatics analysis on spinal cord RNA to identify 2058 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that were altered during paralysis and then normalized after paralysis. Of these “biphasic” DEGs, 951 were up-regulated and 1107 were down-regulated during paralysis, followed by recovery. To refine the search for candidate DEGs we used gene ontology analysis and RT-qPCR to select 3 DEGs that could be involved with the node of Ranvier function and 5 DEGs that could be involved with synaptic function. Among these, SparcL1:Sparc DEG ratios were identified to be inversely correlated with ZIKV-induced paralysis, which is consistent with the known function of SPARC protein to antagonize the synaptogenesis of SPARCL1. Ank3, Sptbn1, and Epb41l3 affecting the structures at and near the nodes of Ranvier were significantly downregulated during ZIKV-induced paralysis. The primary contribution is the identification of 8 candidate genes that may be involved in the causation or recovery of ZIKV-induced paralysis.

Nov 20, 2024 | mdedge.com | F. Perry Wilson |Ted Bosworth |Sara Freeman |Shrabasti Bhattacharya

Aliens, Ian McShane, and Heart Disease Risk Article Type Changed Wed, 11/20/2024 - 15:29 This transcript has been edited for clarity. I was really struggling to think of a good analogy to explain the glaring problem of polygenic risk scores (PRS) this week. But I think I have it now. Go with me on this. An alien spaceship parks itself, Independence Day style, above a local office building.

Nov 12, 2024 | mdedge.com | Sara Freeman

FROM EADV 2024Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKis) do not appear to increase the risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) among people with atopic dermatitis (AD) treated in a real-world setting, suggested the results of a large, US-based, retrospective cohort study. This holds true even in individuals aged 50 years or older, whose age puts them at increased cardiovascular (CV) risk, said Amina El Ayadi, PhD, of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Nov 12, 2024 | mdedge.com | Sara Freeman

Publish date: November 12, 2024 The Janus kinase inhibitor delgocitinib may be a better or comparable choice for treating hand eczema than some more established therapies, suggested the results of two separate studies presented during the late-breaking sessions at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) 2024 Congress.

Oct 31, 2024 | mdedge.com | Sara Freeman

FROM THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINEFor people with severe symptomatic hip osteoarthritis, total hip replacement (THR) alleviates hip pain and improves function much more effectively than a resistance training program supervised by a physiotherapist, according to the results of a randomized controlled clinical trial. In the PROHIP study, the mean increases in Oxford Hip Scores from baseline to 6 months were 15.9 points for THR and 4.5 points for resistance training.