The FDA just approved a first-of-its kind medication, meaning there is now a “complete, non-invasive option” for people with this common type of visual impairment.
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Balancing IL-17–mediated protection and IFN-γ–driven pathology at mucocutaneous barriers
Controlling mucocutaneous barriers by cytokines.
Impaired IL-17 leads to mucocutaneous bacterial and fungal infections, whereas enhanced IL-17 promotes psoriasis and periodontitis.
Interferon (IFN)-γ deficiency causes infections by intracellular pathogens, whereas exacerbated mucosal IFN-γ activity promotes oral candidiasis, even when IL-17 responses are intact.
JAK inhibition in autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy remits oral candidiasis and multiorgan autoimmunity.
IFN-γ drives Candida auris skin infection by impairing the epithelial barrier. Excess IFN-γ, tumor necrosis factor, and types I/III IFN activities contribute to pathology during bacterial and protozoan skin infections and pulmonary viral, bacterial, mycobacterial, and fungal infections.
Although immune deficiency causes mucosal infection, epithelial disruption by immunopathology represents a novel and underappreciated mechanism of infection susceptibility at barrier sites. sciencenewshighlights ScienceMission https://sciencemission.com/Balancing-IL-17
Steroid-Refractory Pembrolizumab-Induced Haemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) Successfully Treated With Anakinra: A Case Report
This stage IV lung cancer patient developed: persistent fever thrombocytopenia multiorgan dysfunction steroid-refractory course.
A high H-score led to the diagnosis: ICI-associated HLH. She improved rapidly with anakinra after failing steroids.
Takeaway: In immunotherapy patients, extreme hyperferritinaemia should trigger HLH evaluation early.
Would you have escalated to anakinra…or tried second-line steroids first?
Read more here.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are increasingly used in advanced malignancies but can cause rare, severe immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a life-threatening hyperinflammatory syndrome infrequently reported with ICIs and often challenging to diagnose. We report a case of a woman in her 60s with stage IV lung adenocarcinoma treated with pembrolizumab-based chemoimmunotherapy who developed recurrent, steroid-refractory immune-related hepatitis and pneumonitis. Twenty-four weeks after starting pembrolizumab, she presented with persistent fever, thrombocytopenia, extreme hyperferritinaemia (ferritin >33,500 µg/L), and progressive multiorgan dysfunction. Despite overlap with other irAEs and infection, a high H-score prompted evaluation for HLH, confirmed on bone marrow biopsy with haemophagocytosis.
Mapping Microvascular Flow via Radon Transform Ultrasound: Technical Advances and Pilot Application
Objective: This study aims to develop a contrast-free, high-sensitivity ultrasound method, denoted as Radon transform-based flow measurement (R-Flow), for in vivo mapping of microvascular flow vectors and for establishing R-Flow-derived vector-field metrics to noninvasively quantify microcirculatory patterns in liver cirrhosis. Impact Statement: R-Flow enables robust, contrast-free imaging of microvascular dynamics and demonstrates translational feasibility in the human liver. Its direction-aware indices offer pilot in vivo quantification of flow redistribution and remodeling, providing unique insights into hepatic flow dynamics. Introduction: Microvascular dysfunction is a hallmark of many diseases, yet noninvasive visualization and quantitative assessment of abnormal microcirculation remain limited.
Pharmacists, Medications, and Contingency Management for Smoking in HIV Clinics
RCT: Among people with HIV who smoke, clinical pharmacist-delivered nicotine replacement with contingency management improved tobacco-related outcomes, providing evidence-based strategies for smoking reduction in HIV clinics.
Question What are optimal clinical pharmacist–delivered treatment strategies for promoting cigarette smoking reduction among people with HIV?
Findings In this randomized clinical trial involving 323 participants, those receiving nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) with or without contingency management (CM) had similar reductions in cigarettes per day (CPD) at 12 weeks. Among participants who started with NRT alone and did not achieve week 12 abstinence, adding CM led to lower CPD than switching to oral medications. Participants who started with NRT and then added CM achieved lowest CPD at week 24.
Meaning Study findings, indicating that CM is an effective adjunct to clinical pharmacist–delivered NRT for improving tobacco-related outcomes, provide HIV clinics with guidance on strategies for addressing cigarette smoking reduction among people with HIV.
Study suggests protein made in the liver is a key factor in men’s bone health
New research suggests the liver plays a previously unrecognized role in bone health, but only in males. A McGill University-led study published in Matrix Biology found that a protein made in the liver helps regulate bone growth in male mice, but not in females. The findings may help explain why men with liver disease are more likely to experience bone loss.
The protein, known as plasma fibronectin, is naturally present in blood at higher levels in men than in women, declines when the liver is damaged and builds up in bone to modulate bone formation. This suggests men rely more heavily on the protein to maintain bone strength than do women.
“About 60% of osteoporosis cases in men are secondary to other underlying health conditions,” said senior author Mari Tuulia Kaartinen, Associate Professor in McGill’s Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences. “Our findings suggest this protein may be one of the biological links connecting liver disease to bone loss.”
