Recent Publications

Correspondence

Letter to the editor

Objectives Recommendations for vitamin D (VitD) intake and target serum levels of 25(OH)D in preterm infants are diverse. We hypothesized that preterm infants with low birth weight (BW) have low dietary intake of VitD and therefore should be supplemented with higher amounts of VitD.

Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is an extra-oesophageal variant of gastro-oesophgeal reflux disease. Patients often do not present with the classic reflux symptoms of heartburn or regurgitation. Accurate diagnosis of LPR can be challenging. The reflux finding score (RFS) is system based on the assessment of eight parameters seen on fibre optic laryngoscopy, used to determine the presence and the severity of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). Scoring the RFS is subjective and highly dependent on the examiner's eye and experience. In this study, we investigated the inter-rater reliability between three otolaryngologists scoring a large library of video-recorded laryngoscopies for RFS.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently encountered disease that was declared a pandemic by WHO in 2020. Obesity and other components of the metabolic syndrome may aggravate the severity of COVID-19. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study was to investigate a possible association between MAFLD and COVID-19 severity.

Evaluates whether secundiparas who achieved vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) are at an increased risk for obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI) as compared to primiparas who delivered vaginally, with a stratification by the mode of delivery - spontaneous or operative vaginal delivery.

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of diet-modulated autologous fecal microbiota transplantation (aFMT) for treatment of weight regain after the weight loss phase.

Physicians are often dissatisfied with their own medical care. Self-prescribing is common despite established guidelines that discourage this practice. From a pilot study, we know primary care physicians' (PCP) preferences, but we lack information regarding other specialties and work places. The goal of this study was to examine whether physicians are satisfied with their personal primary care and how this could be improved.

The recent emergence of the novel SARS-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its international spread pose a global health emergency. The spike (S) glycoprotein binds ACE2 and promotes SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells. The trimeric S protein binds the receptor using the receptor-binding domain (RBD) causing conformational changes in S protein that allow priming by host cell proteases. Unraveling the dynamic structural features used by SARS-CoV-2 for entry might provide insights into viral transmission and reveal novel therapeutic targets.

Accumulation of lipid peroxides causes membrane damage and cell death. Glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) acts as a hydroperoxidase which prevents accumulation of toxic oxidized lipids and blocks ferroptosis, an iron-dependent, non-apoptotic mode of cell death. GPX4 deficiency causes Sedaghatian-type spondylo-metaphyseal dysplasia (SSMD), a lethal autosomal recessive disorder, featuring skeletal dysplasia, cardiac arrhythmia and brain anomalies with only three pathogenic GPX4 variants reported in two SSMD patients. Our objective was to identify the underlying genetic cause of neonatal death of two siblings presenting with hypotonia, cardiorespiratory failure and SSMD. (Ayalla Fedida, Shani Ben Harouch, Limor Kalfon, Zahi Abunassar, Hussam Omari, Hanna Mandel, Tzipora C Falik-Zaccai)

STXBP1, also known as Munc-18, is a master regulator of neurotransmitter release and synaptic function in the human brain through its direct interaction with syntaxin 1A. STXBP1 binds syntaxin 1A is an inactive conformational state.  This study provides a direct link between the outcome of a novel variant in STXBP1 and protein structure and dynamics. The structural change upon mutation drives an alteration in synaptic function.

Immunotherapy has drastically changed the outlook for melanoma patients over the past decade. Specifically, the dual blockade of immune checkpoints using ipilimumab and nivolumab has shown unprecedented response rates and survival outcomes. This immense achievement, though, is at the cost of toxicity, with 60% of the patients experiencing high-grade adverse events (AEs). Our study aims to report the efficacy and toxicity outcomes of an out-of-trial, real-life population.

Letter to the editor

Partial or an entire deletion of SHANK3 are considered as major drivers in the Phelan-McDermid syndrome, in which 75% of patients are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). During the recent years, there was an increasing interest in stem cell therapy in ASD, and specifically, mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). Moreover, it has been suggested that the therapeutic effect of the MSC is mediated mainly via the secretion of small extracellular vesicle that contains important molecular information of the cell and are used for cell-to-cell communication. Within the fraction of the extracellular vesicles, exosomes were highlighted as the most effective ones to convey the therapeutic effect.

Up to 10% of non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) patients require coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery during their hospitalization. Contemporary, real-world, data regarding CABG utilization and safety in NSTEMI patients are lacking. Our objectives were to investigate the contemporary trends in utilization and outcomes of CABG in patients admitted for NSTEMI.