Recent Publications
Yaakov Maman: Image-based pooled whole-genome CRISPRi screening for subcellular phenotypes (J Cell Biol . )
Genome-wide CRISPR screens have transformed our ability to systematically interrogate human gene function, but are currently limited to a subset of cellular phenotypes. We report a novel pooled screening approach for a wider range of cellular and subtle subcellular phenotypes.
Alla Lubovich, Fabio Kusniec, Doron Sudarsky, Liza Grosman-Rimon, Shemy Carasso: Predictors of Mitral Regurgitation Severity Improvement in Patients With Severe Aortic Stenosis Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (Cardiol Res .)
Mitral regurgitation (MR) is frequently associated with severe aortic stenosis (AS). Significant MR is associated with less favorable prognosis after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), including higher early and late mortality rate. The severity of MR is improved in about half of patients undergoing TAVI. However, the predictors of MR improvement after TAVI are unknown. We sought to investigate whether several demographic, clinical, echocardiographic and laboratory parameters and procedure characteristics are predictive of MR severity improvement after TAVI procedure.
Gershon Volpin: Damage control orthopaedics in polytraumatized patients- current concepts (J Clin Orthop Trauma . )
The principles of fracture management in patients with multiple injuries continue to be of crucial importance. Early treatment of unstable polytraumatized patients with head, chest, abdomen or pelvic injuries, with blood loss followed by immediate fracture fixation (Early Total Care -ETC) may be associated with secondary life threatening posttraumatic systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS).... The following paper is going to summarize historical backgrounds and recent concepts in treatment of polytraumatized patients.
Johnny S. Younis: Does large endometrioma per se increase AMH level? (Reprod Biomed Online .)
Women with endometriosis, especially those with endometrioma, present a considerable challenge for ovarian reserve appraisal. This diagnostic difficulty arises from several fundamental questions inherently linked to patient management: the potential influence of endometrioma on ovarian reserve; the adverse effect of ovarian surgery on ovarian reserve; and the adequacy of the established ovarian reserve biomarkers, anti-Müllerian hormone and antral follicle count, to appraise ovarian reserve accurately in these women. Until recently, a key argument was that the development and growth of endometriomas is associated with a progressive damage to normal ovarian tissue, resulting in a concomitant reduction in serum AMH levels. Contrary to this widely accepted position; recent studies have reported that, in women with no previous history of ovarian surgery, AMH levels were increased in women with large endometriomas. These findings are surprising and, if replicated, would have substantial clinical implications. In this commentary, we would, however, urge caution before these reports lead to systematic changes in clinical practice, and recommend urgent replication as the finding linking large endometrioma to high serum AMH levels seems to be biologically implausible, and contradicts the existing extensive body of research.
David Karasik: Genome-wide meta-analysis of muscle weakness identifies 15 susceptibility loci in older men and women (Nat Commun .)
Low muscle strength is an important heritable indicator of poor health linked to morbidity and mortality in older people. In a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of 256,523 Europeans aged 60 years and over from 22 cohorts we identify 15 loci associated with muscle weakness (European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People definition: n = 48,596 cases, 18.9% of total), including 12 loci not implicated in previous analyses of continuous measures of grip strength. Loci include genes reportedly involved in autoimmune disease (HLA-DQA1 p = 4 × 10-17), arthritis (GDF5 p = 4 × 10-13), cell cycle control and cancer protection, regulation of transcription, and others involved in the development and maintenance of the musculoskeletal system. Using Mendelian randomization we report possible overlapping causal pathways, including diabetes susceptibility, haematological parameters, and the immune system. We conclude that muscle weakness in older adults has distinct mechanisms from continuous strength, including several pathways considered to be hallmarks of ageing.
United by Hope, Divided by Access: Country Mapping of COVID-19 Information Accessibility and Its Consequences on Pandemic Eradication (Front Med (Lausanne) .)
Many government websites and mobile content are inaccessible for people with vision, hearing, cognitive, and motor impairments. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted these disparities when health authority website information, critical in providing resources for curbing the spread of the virus, remained inaccessible for numerous disabled populations. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines provide comparatively universally accepted guidelines for website accessibility. We utilized these parameters to examine the number of countries with or without accessible health authority websites. The resulting data indicate a dearth of countries with websites accessible for persons with disabilities. Methods of information dissemination must take into consideration individuals with disabilities, particularly in times of global health crises.
(Amiel A Dror , Eli Layous, Matti Mizrachi, Amani Daoud, Netanel Eisenbach, Doaa Rayan, Edward Kaykov, Masad Barhum, Samer Srouji, Eyal Sela)
Hagit Hauschner: Pediatric immune thrombocytopenia: apoptotic markers may help in predicting the disease course (Pediatr Res . )
In all, 15-30% of pediatric immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) patients will remain chronically thrombocytopenic at 1 year post diagnosis. All attempts to classify patients at diagnosis have proven unsuccessful. We hypothesized that a different pathophysiology is responsible for non-chronic versus chronic pediatric ITP. We aimed to examine differences in the apoptotic markers' presentation at diagnosis between non-chronic and chronic patients.
Atara Uzan-Yulzari, Oren Ziv, Hadar Neuman, Hila Ben-Amram, Omry Koren: Neonatal antibiotic exposure impairs child growth during the first six years of life by perturbing intestinal microbial colonization (Nat Commun .)
Exposure to antibiotics in the first days of life is thought to affect various physiological aspects of neonatal development. Here, we investigate the long-term impact of antibiotic treatment in the neonatal period and early childhood on child growth in an unselected birth cohort of 12,422 children born at full term.
David Karasik: A regulatory variant at 3q21.1 confers an increased pleiotropic risk for hyperglycemia and altered bone mineral density (Cell Metab .)
Skeletal and glycemic traits have shared etiology, but the underlying genetic factors remain largely unknown. To identify genetic loci that may have pleiotropic effects, we studied Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) for bone mineral density and glycemic traits and identified a bivariate risk locus at 3q21.
Avi Benov: Inexperienced but Confident: A Survey of Advanced Life Support Providers and Life-saving Interventions in the Israel Defense Forces (Mil Med . )
The objective of this study was to assess the current experience of Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) advanced life support (ALS) providers in performing life-saving interventions (LSIs), the rate of doctors and paramedics achieving the Trauma and Combat Medicine Branch benchmarks, and the rate of providers feeling confident in performing the interventions although not achieving the benchmarks.
Avi Benov: Medical Challenges in Underground Warfare (Mil Med . )
Throughout history, underground systems have served military purposes in both offensive and defensive tactical settings. With the advance of underground mining, combat tactics, and weapon systems, providing medical support in the subterranean battlefield is a constantly growing challenge. This retrospective cohort study describes the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Medical Corps experience with treating casualties from underground warfare, as recorded in the IDF Trauma Registry.
Orr Yahal, Avi Benov: Previous Military Medical Exposure as a Motivator for a Medical Career (Mil Med . )
A variety of factors influence the motivation to choose a medical career; however, the influence of premedical experiences on health professional trainees' choices is a neglected one. We hypothesize that medical exposure during service in the Israeli Air Force special operations forces (SOFs) has an impact on motivation for medical studies. The Israeli scenario, in which career choice is anteceded by substantial military experience, allows us to examine this hypothesis.
Avi Peretz: Unraveling antimicrobial resistance in Helicobacter pylori: Global resistome meets global phylogeny (Helicobacter . )
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Helicobacter pylori is increasing globally and can result in treatment failure and inappropriate antibiotic usage. This study used whole genome sequencing (WGS) to conduct an analysis of the H. pylori resistome and phylogeny.
Adi Rotkopf, Amir Asher Kuperman: CDR3 and V genes show distinct reconstitution patterns in T cell repertoire post-allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (Immunogenetics .)
Restoration of T cell repertoire diversity after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT) is crucial for immune recovery. T cell diversity is produced by rearrangements of germline gene segments (V (D) and J) of the T cell receptor (TCR) α and β chains, and selection induced by binding of TCRs to MHC-peptide complexes. Multiple measures were proposed for this diversity. We here focus on the V-gene usage and the CDR3 sequences of the beta chain.