Recent Publications
Gassan Moady, Dabbah Saleem: Outcomes among patients admitted for non-ST segment myocardial infarction in the pre pandemic and pandemic COVID-19 era - Israel Nationwide study (Int J Qual Health Care .)
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, several countries have reported a substantial drop in the number of patients admitted with non-ST segment myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). We aimed to evaluate the changes in admissions, in-hospital management and outcomes of patients with NSTEMI in the COVID-19 era in a nationwide survey.
The value of clinical symptoms, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and ultrasonographic features in predicting adnexal torsion: A case-control study (J Obstet Gynaecol Res . )
Adnexal torsion remains a diagnostic challenge due to the nonspecific symptoms, sonographic features, and laboratory findings. The value of combining clinical, sonographic, and laboratory features is not well established, and controversy continues regarding their value in diagnosis. This study aimed to review sonographic, clinical, and laboratory features and to analyze their value separately and in combination, in managing and diagnosing adnexal torsions.
(Ala Aiob, Lior Lowenstein, Inna Borik, Karina Naskovica, Susana Mustafa Mikhail, Marwan Odeh)
Trishna Saha Detroja, Rajesh Detroja, Sumit Mukherjee, Abraham O Samson: Identifying Hub Genes Associated with Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Resistance in Breast Cancer and Potential Drug Repurposing for the Development of Precision Medicine (Int J Mol Sci . )
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women worldwide. Despite advancements in the clinical application of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), drug resistance remains a major concern hindering treatment efficacy. Thus, identifying the key genes involved in driving NAC resistance and targeting them with known potential FDA-approved drugs could be applied to advance the precision medicine strategy. With this aim, we performed an integrative bioinformatics study to identify the key genes associated with NAC resistance in breast cancer and then performed the drug repurposing to identify the potential drugs which could use in combination with NAC to overcome drug resistance.
Familial Early-Onset Alzheimer's Caused by Novel Genetic Variant and APP Duplication: A Cross-Sectional Study (Curr Alzheimer Res .)
The clinical characteristics of symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers of early-onset autosomal dominant Alzheimer's (EOADAD) due to a yet-undescribed chromosomal rearrangement may add to the available body of knowledge about Alzheimer's disease and may enlighten novel and modifier genes. We report the clinical and genetic characteristics of asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals carrying a novel APP duplication rearrangement.
(Limor Kalfon, Hadas Raveh-Barak, Nadra Samra, Natalia Chasnyk, Nehama Cohen Kfir, Nissreen Kinaani Mousa, Efrat Shuster Biton, Mary Tanus, Tzipora C Falik Zaccai)
Khalaf Kridin: Isotretinoin and the risk of psychiatric disturbances - A global study shedding new light on a debatable story (J Am Acad Dermatol .)
Isotretinoin-related risk of depression and suicidal behavior is a topic of inconclusiveness. A crucial knowledge gap exists in defining the association of isotretinoin with other psychiatric comorbidities. Objective: To evaluate the risk of psychiatric outcomes among patients with acne treated with isotretinoin versus oral antibiotics.
Ranin Saad, Hagar Tadmor, Offir Ertracht, Nakhoul Nakhoul, Farid Nakhoul, Farber Evgeny, Shaul Atar: The Molecular Effects of SGLT2i Empagliflozin on the Autophagy Pathway in Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 and Its Complications (J Diabetes Res .)
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), especially hyperglycemia, is associated with increased glucose cell toxicity and oxidative stress that can lead to irreversible damage in the kidney such as diabetic nephropathy (DN). Autophagy plays a key role in the degradation of damaged intracellular proteins in order to maintain intracellular homeostasis and cell integrity. The disturbance of autophagy is involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. We aim to investigate the molecular effect of sodium-glucose transporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) on the expression of ATG5 and its downstream collaborator LC3-II in diabetic mice model.
Avi Matityahu, Itay Onn: It's all in the numbers: Cohesin stoichiometry (Front Mol Biosci . )
Cohesin, a structural maintenance of chromosome (SMC) complex, organizes chromatin into three-dimensional structures by threading chromatin into loops and stabilizing long-range chromatin interactions.... An ongoing debate about cohesin's mechanism of action regards its stoichiometry....We briefly review the history of the argument about cohesin stoichiometry and the central evidence for cohesin activity as a monomer vs. an oligomer. Finally, we discuss the possible biological significance of cohesin oligomerization and present open questions that remain to be answered.
Shemy Carasso, Offer Amir: Sex difference and outcome trends following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (Front Cardiovasc Med . )
Based on worldwide registries, approximately 50% of patients who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) are female patients. Although TAVR procedures have improved tremendously in recent years, differences in outcome including mortality between sexes remain. We aimed to investigate the trends in TAVR in the early and new eras of utilization and to assess TAVR outcomes in female patients vs. male patients.
Shams Twafra, Tal Sneh, Kolluru D Srikanth, Tomer Meirson, Alessandro Genna, Hava Gil-Henn: A novel Pyk2-derived peptide inhibits invadopodia-mediated breast cancer metastasis (Oncogene .)
Dissemination of cancer cells from the primary tumor into distant body tissues and organs is the leading cause of death in cancer patients. While most clinical strategies aim to reduce or impede the growth of the primary tumor, no treatment to eradicate metastatic cancer exists at present. Metastasis is mediated by feet-like cytoskeletal structures called invadopodia which allow cells to penetrate through the basement membrane and intravasate into blood vessels during their spread to distant tissues and organs. The non-receptor tyrosine kinase Pyk2 is highly expressed in breast cancer, where it mediates invadopodia formation and function via interaction with the actin-nucleation-promoting factor cortactin. Here, we designed a cell-permeable peptide inhibitor that contains the second proline-rich region (PRR2) sequence of Pyk2, which binds to the SH3 domain of cortactin and inhibits the interaction between Pyk2 and cortactin in invadopodia.
Erratum here https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36494432/
Nasser Sakran: Surgical Management of Gastro-oesophageal Reflux Disease After One Anastomosis Gastric Bypass - a Systematic Review (Obes Surg . )
Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) after one anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB) remains a concern. We reviewed the current literature on revisional surgery after OAGB for GORD.
Katreena Yamin, Bijoy Mukut Buragohain, Michal Werbner, Meital Gal-Tanamy, Avi Matityahu, Itay Onn: Fold-change of chromatin condensation in yeast is a conserved property (Sci Rep .)
During mitosis, chromatin is condensed and organized into mitotic chromosomes. Condensation is critical for genome stability and dynamics, yet the degree of condensation is significantly different between multicellular and single-cell eukaryotes. What is less clear is whether there is a minimum degree of chromosome condensation in unicellular eukaryotes. Here, we exploited two-photon microscopy to analyze chromatin condensation in live and fixed cells, enabling studies of some organisms that are not readily amenable to genetic modification.
Yosefa Birati, Enav Yefet, Yuri Perlitz, Naim Shehadeh, Sivan Spitzer: Cultural and Digital Health Literacy Appropriateness of App- and Web-Based Systems Designed for Pregnant Women With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: Scoping Review (J Med Internet Res .)
The prevalence of women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing dramatically. Mobile technologies to enhance patient self-management offer many advantages for women diagnosed with GDM. However, to our knowledge, although mobile health (mHealth) and telemedicine systems for GDM management exist, evidence on their cultural and digital health literacy appropriateness levels is limited. Objective: This review aimed to search and assess the literature on mHealth and telemedicine systems designed for women diagnosed with GDM. Our assessment of these technologies focused on their cultural and digital health literacy appropriateness as well as the systems' effectiveness in improving glycemic control and maternal and infant outcomes.
Khalaf Kridin: Therapeutic effects of Fc gamma RIV inhibition are mediated by selectively blocking immune complex-induced neutrophil activation in epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (Front Immunol . )
Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) is a subepidermal autoimmune bullous disease caused by autoantibodies targeting type VII collagen (COL7). It is characterized by inflammation and subepidermal blistering mainly through immune complex (IC)-mediated activation of neutrophils. In experimental EBA, binding of neutrophils to ICs in the skin and induction of clinical disease depends on the expression of the Fc gamma receptor (FcγR) IV. As activating FcγR mediate both neutrophil extravasation and activation, we used multiphoton imaging to obtain further insights into the mechanistic contribution of FcγRIV in the pathogenesis of EBA.
Khalaf Kridin, Daniel Goral, Erez Onn: Vitiligo and Crohn's disease form an autoimmune cluster: insights from a population-based study (Scand J Gastroenterol . )
While the coexistence of vitiligo and Crohn's disease (CD) has been reported in individual patients, the epidemiological association between these autoimmune conditions remains inconclusive. Objective: To assess the bidirectional association between vitiligo and CD.
Khalaf Kridin: Evaluation of clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with cutaneous sarcoidosis: A single-center retrospective cohort study (Front Med (Lausanne) . )
Cutaneous sarcoidosis is a relatively rare disease whose clinical manifestations include red-brown macules, plaques, papules and subcutaneous nodules. The skin changes may also be restricted to pre-existing scars. Cutaneous sarcoidosis can be associated with systemic organ involvement. Objectives: Aim of this retrospective study was to longitudinally investigate clinical and laboratory findings in patients with cutaneous sarcoidosis.