Recent Publications
Noam Yehudai, Dalya Tedgi, Ziv Gil: Shackling incarcerated people in Israeli hospitals-a multicentre study followed by a national intervention programme (Lancet . )
Thousands of incarcerated people (individuals who have been imprisoned or detained) are treated in Israeli medical centres each year. The custodial authority during their hospital stay is the local police, the Israel Prison Service (IPS), or the Israeli Army. Positioned at the crossroads of security and human rights, the treatment of these patients almost invariably raises major ethical issues. Shackling during hospital stay is associated with physical, mental, and social effects, which inevitably impair treatment. International guidelines, such as the Mandela Rules, determine that health-care standards should not differ for incarcerated people and, given that most incarcerated patients do not pose a direct threat, unselective shackling is considered a disproportional measure. In this regard, Israeli law states that incarcerated patients should not be shackled, except in selected circumstances for which individual assessment is required (mainly if there is a direct threat of violence or escape). Numerous manuscripts have conceptually addressed the ethical, legal, and medical considerations of shackling of incarcerated patients, but, to our knowledge, quantitative data on the extent and nature of shackling during hospital stays have never been published.
Khalaf Kridin, , Noor Mruwat: Evaluating the risk of infections under interleukin 23 and interleukin 17 inhibitors relative to tumour necrosis factor inhibitors - A population-based study (J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol . )
The risk of infections among patients with psoriasis undergoing interleukin (IL)-23 inhibitors (IL-23i) and IL-17 inhibitors (IL-17i) is yet to be exhaustively determined. Objective: To assess the risk of infectious complications in patients with psoriasis managed by IL-23i and IL-17i with tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) as a comparator.
Mohammed Aboraya, Ronit Ilouz: A conserved arginine within the αC-helix of Erk1/2 is a latch of autoactivation and of oncogenic capabilities (J Biol Chem)
Eukaryotic protein kinases (EPKs) adopt an active conformation following phosphorylation of a particular activation loop residue. Most EPKs spontaneously autophosphorylate this residue. While structure-function relationships of the active conformation are essentially understood, those of the 'prone-to-autophosphorylate' conformation are unclear. Here, we propose that a specific site within the αC-helix of EPKs, occupied by Arg in the MAPK Erk1/2 (Arg84/65), impacts spontaneous autophosphorylation capability. MAPKs lack spontaneous autoactivation, but we found that converting Erk1/2's Arg84/65 to various residues is sufficient to enable spontaneous autophosphorylation.
Exome sequencing links the SUMO protease SENP7 with fatal arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, early respiratory failure and neutropenia (J Med Genet)
SUMOylation involves the attachment of small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) proteins to specific lysine residues on thousands of substrates with target-specific effects on protein function. Sentrin-specific proteases (SENPs) are proteins involved in the maturation and deconjugation of SUMO. Specifically, SENP7 is responsible for processing polySUMO chains on targeted substrates including the heterochromatin protein 1α (HP1α). We performed exome sequencing and segregation studies in a family with several infants presenting with an unidentified syndrome. RNA and protein expression studies were performed in fibroblasts available from one subject.
(Nadra Samra, Ilham Morani, Yuri Viner, Hilel Frankenthal, Eric S Shinwell, Igor Portnov, Doua Bakry , Hanna Mandel)
Gassan Moady, Shaul Atar: The safety of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors in patients with left ventricular assist device - a single center experience (J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown) .)
Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are used increasingly for patients with heart failure or chronic kidney disease to improve cardiac and renal outcomes. The use of these medications in patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) is still limited and lacks evidence regarding the safety profile. In this study, we aimed to report our experience in treating 20 patients, supported by LVAD, with SGLT2 inhibitors.
Matti Mizrachi, Eli Layous, Amiel A Dror, Orly Yakir, Ahmad Bader, Eyal Sela: Periorbital Ecchymosis Post Closed Rhinoplasty: Natural History, Risk Factors, and Validation of a New Scoring System (Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open .)
Postrhinoplasty periorbital ecchymosis is an inevitable side effect contributing to patients' psychological aspect and early postoperative morbidity. Efforts are constantly being made to reduce ecchymosis using different methods with varying success. To evaluate treatment response, it is mandatory to have a reliable score. Several studies suggest other scoring systems, but none has been postrhinoplasty-specific, validated, and accepted. This study aimed to demonstrate the natural history of postrhinoplasty ecchymosis, find potential risk factors for worsening patterns, and suggest a useful and reliable periorbital ecchymosis scoring system for postrhinoplasty follow-up.
Maria Naama, Shai Bel: Autophagy-ER stress crosstalk controls mucus secretion and susceptibility to gut inflammation (Autophagy . )
Mucus secretion from colonic goblet cells is an important host defense mechanism against the harsh lumenal environment. Yet how mucus secretion is regulated is not well understood. We discovered that constitutive activation of macroautophagy/autophagy via BECN1 (beclin 1) relieves endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in goblet cells, which in turn produce a thicker and less penetrable mucus barrier.
Neta Yoeli, Tali Bretler: The association between deficiencies in paternal and maternal reflective functioning and anorexia nervosa symptomatology (J Eat Disord . )
A large theoretical body of knowledge exists emphasizing the importance of parental mentalizing in the context of anorexia-nervosa (AN). However, the empirical support to these assumptions is still scarce. The aim of the present study was to examine whether parents of patients with AN are characterized by a lower mentalizing ability, and whether it is associated with impaired mentalizing, AN symptomatology and eating disorder (ED) related psychological traits in the daughters.
Naaem Simaan, Fadi Shbat, Tarek Mansor, Waleed Abu-Shaheen: Factors influencing real-life use of direct oral anticoagulants in patients with cerebral sinus and venous thrombosis (J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis . )
Direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) are advocated as equally effective to vitamin K antagonists (VKA) for the treatment of patients with cerebral sinus and venous thrombosis (CSVT). However, data concerning the real-life management practices in CSVT patients are is lacking.
Enav Yefet, Thana Khamaisi: Intermittent- versus Continuous Catheterization for Postpartum Urinary Retention: A Multi-Center Randomized Controlled Trial (Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM . )
Postpartum urinary retention (PUR) is a common complication in the immediate postpartum period. Yet, there is no consensus regarding optimal management. Objective: To compare between two catheterization strategies for the treatment of PUR.
Chen Shochat-Carvalho, David Karasik: Bone mineral density loci specific to the skull portray potential pleiotropic effects on craniosynostosis (Commun Biol . )
Skull bone mineral density (SK-BMD) provides a suitable trait for the discovery of key genes in bone biology, particularly to intramembranous ossification, not captured at other skeletal sites. We perform a genome-wide association meta-analysis (n ~ 43,800) of SK-BMD, identifying 59 loci, collectively explaining 12.5% of the trait variance.
Wisam Sbeit, Zakhar Bramnik, Reem Khoury, Tawfik Khoury: The diagnostic accuracy of endoscopic ultrasound vs. contrast-enhanced computed tomography in local staging of pancreatic adenocarcinoma: a bi-national multicenter study (Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol
Identification of pancreatic cancer (PC) local invasion is crucial to optimize patients' selection for surgery. Aims: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in local staging of PC.
Fatty pancreas was associated with a higher acute pancreatitis Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome score at hospital admission (Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol .)
Pancreatic fat infiltration was shown to be linked with acute pancreatitis and probably its severity. These interesting findings merit more investigation to elucidate the effect of fatty pancreas on acute pancreatitis severity.
(Wisam Sbeit, Fares Abu Elheja, Botros Msheiil, Amir Shahin, Sharbel Khoury, Moeen Sbeit, Tawfik Khoury)
Majdi Halabi: Clinical Use of CathPCI Registry Risk Score and Its Validation to Predict Long-Term Mortality (Am J Cardiol .)
Risk models to estimate percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) mortality have limited value in complex high-risk patients. However, it was improved by a recently developed bedside model to predict in-hospital mortality using data from the American College of Cardiology CathPCI Registry that included 706,263 patients. The median risk-standardized in-hospital mortality rate was 1.9%. In an attempt to validate this model in patients admitted because of acute coronary ischemia to predict in-hospital, 30-day, and 1-year mortality, we applied the proposed risk score to the study population of the Acute Coronary Syndrome Israeli Survey (ACSIS).
Jacob Bornstein: HPV E6 inhibits E6AP to regulate epithelial homeostasis by modulating keratinocyte differentiation commitment and YAP1 activation (PLoS Pathog . )
Human papillomaviruses (HPV) cause persistent infections by modulating epithelial homeostasis in cells of the infected basal layer. Using FUCCI and cell-cell competition assays, we have identifed regulatory roles for E6AP and NHERF1, which are the primary HPV11 E6 cellular targets, as well as being targets of the high-risk E6 proteins, in processes governing epithelial homeostasis....Our study suggests a model in which the preserved functions of the low and high-risk Alpha E6 proteins modulate epithelial homeostasis via E6AP activity, and lead to alteration of multiple downstream pathways, including those involving NHERF1 and YAP.