Heterogeneity in immune cell composition is associated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis replication at the granuloma level.

The control of bacterial growth is key to the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis (TB). Granulomas represent independent foci of the host immune response that present heterogeneous capacity for control of bacterial growth. At the whole tissue level, B cells and CD4 or CD8 T cells have an established role in immune protection against TB. Immune cells interact within each granuloma response, but the impact of granuloma immune composition on bacterial replication remains unknown. Here we investigate the associations between immune cell composition, including B cell, CD4, and CD8 T cells, and the state of replicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) within the granuloma. A measure of ribosomal RNA synthesis, the RS ratio®, represents a proxy measure of Mtb replication at the whole tissue level. We adapted the RS ratio through use of in situ hybridization, to identify replicating and non-replicating Mtb within each designated granuloma. We applied a regression model to characterize the associations between immune cell populations and the state of Mtb replication within each respective granuloma. In the evaluation of nearly 200 granulomas, we identified heterogeneity in both immune cell composition and proportion of replicating bacteria. We found clear evidence of directional associations between immune cell composition and replicating Mtb. Controlling for vaccination status and endpoint post-infection, granulomas with lower CD4 or higher CD8 cell counts are associated with a higher percent of replicating Mtb. Conversely, changes in B cell proportions were associated with little change in Mtb replication. This study establishes heterogeneity across granulomas, demonstrating that certain immune cell types are differentially associated with control of Mtb replication. These data suggest that evaluation at the granuloma level may be imperative to identifying correlates of immune protection.

Study of seasonality of attacks in MOG antibody-associated disease.

BACKGROUND: Seasonal variation in attacks of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM1) is reported in some studies. Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibodies are found in up to 50 % of ADEM cases. Despite this, there has been no adequately powered study of seasonality in MOG antibody-associated disease (MOGAD). We sought to determine whether there was an effect of season on incidence of total attacks and onset attacks of MOGAD. METHODS: We searched the large national Oxford-based NMO Service database to identify attacks of MOGAD occurring between 2010 and 2021. Month of each attack was extracted and Edwards' test of seasonal variation was applied to determine whether there was a seasonal effect on total attacks and onset attacks. RESULTS: Neither incidence of total attacks nor incidence of onset attacks varied significantly by month. CONCLUSION: There is no evidence of seasonal fluctuations in the incidence of MOGAD attacks in the UK.

Tracing womyn-born-womyn & trans-exclusion: Into the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival archive.

Few events evoke a divisive response amongst lesbians like the mentioning of the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. Autoethnographies, interviews, podcasts, and books - just to name a few - continue to be crafted even after the forty-year festival's end. Unlike previous publications, this article approaches the festival using archival materials housed at Michigan State University donated by producer, Lisa Vogel, to unpack the signaling rhetoric of womyn-born-womyn (WBW). I center the experience Nancy Burkholder, a transsexual woman expelled from the festival, to navigate, as Nancy tried to navigate, the WBW "policy." I then take readers on a journey into the archive and articulate my research through calculated steps of tracing language through years of the festival. This article demonstrates how documents, created by festival producers, incited confusion for Nancy Burkholder during the festival and how these same documents now sustain an archival ambiguity.

Analyzing the functional effects of DNA variants with gene editing.

Continual advancements in genomics have led to an ever-widening disparity between the rate of discovery of genetic variants and our current understanding of their functions and potential roles in disease. Systematic methods for phenotyping DNA variants are required to effectively translate genomics data into improved outcomes for patients with genetic diseases. To make the biggest impact, these approaches must be scalable and accurate, faithfully reflect disease biology, and define complex disease mechanisms. We compare current methods to analyze the function of variants in their endogenous DNA context using genome editing strategies, such as saturation genome editing, base editing and prime editing. We discuss how these technologies can be linked to high-content readouts to gain deep mechanistic insights into variant effects. Finally, we highlight key challenges that need to be addressed to bridge the genotype to phenotype gap, and ultimately improve the diagnosis and treatment of genetic diseases.

Consulting in the dark: Robert Hamilton (1749-1830) and the importance of 'tenderness' towards patients.

Robert Hamilton (1749-1830) was born in Coleraine, Ireland, attended medical school in Edinburgh, Scotland, served in the British army and practised in South-East England. In order to differentiate him from his contemporary and namesake, Hamilton is identified by having worked in Ipswich, Suffolk and Colchester, Essex. This submission considers Hamilton's biography, his 1787 book on the British regimental surgeon and his ideas therein about professionalism. Central to his concept of professionalism is 'tenderness', a notion that broadly equates to empathy. He notes that tenderness brings improvement in clinical outcome and he has the foresight to recognise nurses as key to such care. The authors explore the concept of 'consulting in the dark', i.e. without access to clinical investigations. This is exemplified by doctors of the eighteenth century and earlier. Today general practitioners must still be comfortable 'consulting in the dark', e.g. when attending a patient's home. Hamilton's biography offers a further example of 'consulting in the dark': In later life, he lost his vision but continued to practise successfully. Central to his gift of consulting 'in the dark' was likely to be 'tenderness' for his patients, expressed through language and gentle touch. Hamilton's entreaty for 'tenderness' contrasts with modern medical education where reliance upon clinical tests, technology and pharmacology risksblinding young doctors towards patients and their lives.

A study of referral bias in NMOSD and MOGAD cohorts.

BACKGROUND: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) are rare disorders often seen in highly specialized services or tertiary centres. We aimed to assess if cohort characteristics depend on the origin of the referral catchment areas serviced by our centre (i.e. local, regional or national). METHODS: Retrospective cohort study using a national referral service database including local (Oxfordshire), regional (Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties), and national patients. We included patients with the diagnosis of NMOSD, seronegative NMOSD or MOGAD, followed at the Oxford Neuromyelitis Optica Service. RESULTS: We included 720 patients (331 with MOGAD, 333 with aquaporin-4 antibody (AQP4)-NMOSD, and 56 with seronegative NMOSD. The distribution of diagnoses was similar across referral cohorts. There were no significant differences in the proportion of pediatric onset patients, sex, or onset phenotype; more White AQP4-NMOSD patients were present in the local than in the national cohort (81 % vs 52 %). Despite no differences in follow-up time, more relapsing MOGAD disease was present in the national than in the local cohort (42.9 % vs. 24 %, p = 0.029). CONCLUSION: This is the first study assessing the impact of potential referral bias in cohorts of NMOSD or MOGAD. The racial difference in the AQP4-NMOSD cohorts likely reflects the variation in the population demographics rather than a referral bias. The over representation of relapsing MOGAD patients in the national cohort probably is a true referral bias and highlights the need to analyze incident cohorts when describing disease course and prognosis. It seems reasonable therefore to compare MOGAD and NMOSD patients seen withing specialised centres to general neurology services, provided both use similar antibody assays.

Correction: Validating the Safe and Effective Use of a Neurorehabilitation System (InTandem) to Improve Walking in the Chronic Stroke Population: Usability Study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.2196/50438.].

Lipid-Encapsulated mRNAs Encoding Complex Fusion Proteins Potentiate Antitumor Immune Responses.

Lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-encapsulated mRNA has been used for in vivo production of several secreted protein classes, such as IgG, and has enabled the development of personalized vaccines in oncology. Establishing the feasibility of delivering complex multispecific modalities that require higher-order structures important for their function could help expand the use of mRNA/LNP biologic formulations. Here, we evaluated whether in vivo administration of mRNA/LNP formulations of SIRPα-Fc-CD40L and TIGIT-Fc-LIGHT could achieve oligomerization and extend exposure, on-target activity, and antitumor responses comparable with that of the corresponding recombinant fusion proteins. Intravenous infusion of the formulated LNP-encapsulated mRNAs led to rapid and sustained production of functional hexameric proteins in vivo, which increased the overall exposure relative to the recombinant protein controls by ∼28 to 140 fold over 96 hours. High concentrations of the mRNA-encoded proteins were also observed in secondary lymphoid organs and within implanted tumors, with protein concentrations in tumors up to 134-fold greater than with the recombinant protein controls 24 hours after treatment. In addition, SIRPα-Fc-CD40L and TIGIT-Fc-LIGHT mRNAs induced a greater increase in antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in the tumors. These mRNA/LNP formulations were well tolerated and led to a rapid increase in serum and intratumoral IL2, delayed tumor growth, extended survival, and outperformed the activities of benchmark mAb controls. Furthermore, the mRNA/LNPs demonstrated improved efficacy in combination with anti-PD-L1 relative to the recombinant fusion proteins. These data support the delivery of complex oligomeric biologics as mRNA/LNP formulations, where high therapeutic expression and exposure could translate into improved patient outcomes. SIGNIFICANCE: Lipid nanoparticle-encapsulated mRNA can efficiently encode complex fusion proteins encompassing immune checkpoint blockers and costimulators that functionally oligomerize in vivo with extended pharmacokinetics and durable exposure to induce potent antitumor immunity.

scSNV-seq: high-throughput phenotyping of single nucleotide variants by coupled single-cell genotyping and transcriptomics.

CRISPR screens with single-cell transcriptomic readouts are a valuable tool to understand the effect of genetic perturbations including single nucleotide variants (SNVs) associated with diseases. Interpretation of these data is currently limited as genotypes cannot be accurately inferred from guide RNA identity alone. scSNV-seq overcomes this limitation by coupling single-cell genotyping and transcriptomics of the same cells enabling accurate and high-throughput screening of SNVs. Analysis of variants across the JAK1 gene with scSNV-seq demonstrates the importance of determining the precise genetic perturbation and accurately classifies clinically observed missense variants into three functional categories: benign, loss of function, and separation of function.

Validating the Safe and Effective Use of a Neurorehabilitation System (InTandem) to Improve Walking in the Chronic Stroke Population: Usability Study.

BACKGROUND: Persistent walking impairment following a stroke is common. Although rehabilitative interventions exist, few exist for use at home in the chronic phase of stroke recovery. InTandem (MedRhythms, Inc) is a neurorehabilitation system intended to improve walking and community ambulation in adults with chronic stroke walking impairment. OBJECTIVE: Using design best practices and human factors engineering principles, the research presented here was conducted to validate the safe and effective use of InTandem. METHODS: In total, 15 participants in the chronic phase of stroke recovery (≥6 months after stroke) participated in this validation study. Participants were scored on 8 simulated use tasks, 4 knowledge assessments, and 7 comprehension assessments in a simulated home environment. The number and types of use errors, close calls, and operational difficulties were evaluated. Analyses of task performances, participant behaviors, and follow-up interviews were conducted to determine the root cause of use errors and difficulties. RESULTS: During this validation study, 93% (14/15) of participants were able to successfully complete the critical tasks associated with the simulated use of the InTandem system. Following simulated use task assessments, participants' knowledge and comprehension of the instructions for use and key safety information were evaluated. Overall, participants were able to find and correctly interpret information in the materials in order to answer the knowledge assessment questions. During the comprehension assessment, participants understood warning statements associated with critical tasks presented in the instructions for use. Across the entire study, 3 "use errors" and 1 "success with difficulty" were recorded. No adverse events, including slips, trips, or falls, occurred in this study. CONCLUSIONS: In this validation study, people in the chronic phase of stroke recovery were able to safely and effectively use InTandem in the intended use environment. This validation study contributes to the overall understanding of residual use-related risks of InTandem in consideration of the established benefits.

Conformity to Masculinity Norms and Mental Health Outcomes Among Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Two-Spirit, and Queer Men and Non-Binary Individuals.

Homophobia and biphobia negatively impact the mental health of gay, bisexual, trans, Two-Spirit, and queer men and non-binary individuals (GBT2Q) and sexual and gender minority men, but little is known about the impact of gender-related oppression. The current study examines the impact of pressure to conform to masculine norms in Canada-based GBT2Q individuals. Specifically, the associations between (a) gender expression and pressure to be masculine and (b) pressure to be masculine and depression, anxiety, and self-rated mental health were investigated. Drawing from an online national cross-sectional survey of 8,977 GBT2Q individuals and sexual and gender minority men living in Canada aged 15 years or older, 56.4% (n = 5,067) of respondents reported experiencing pressure to conform to masculine norms. Respondents were more likely to report masculine pressure if they were younger than 30 years, described their gender expression as fluid, identified their sexuality as queer, were an ethnoracial minority, and were trans. Pressure to be masculine was associated with increased odds of depression, anxiety, and reporting poor or fair mental health. The current study provides evidence of the detrimental impact of pressure to conform to masculine norms on the mental health of gay, bisexual, trans, Two-Spirit, and queer men and non-binary peoples.

Vaccination coverage in rural Burkina Faso under the effects of COVID-19: evidence from a panel study in eight districts.

BACKGROUND: Improving infant immunization completion and promoting equitable vaccination coverage are crucial to reducing global under-5 childhood mortality. Although there have been hypotheses that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic would decrease the delivery of health services and immunization campaigns in low- and middle-income countries, the available evidence is still inconclusive. We conducted a study in rural Burkina Faso to assess changes in vaccination coverage during the pandemic. A secondary objective was to examine long-term trends in vaccination coverage throughout 2010-2021. METHODS: Using a quasi-experimental approach, we conducted three rounds of surveys (2019, 2020, 2021) in rural Burkina Faso that we pooled with two previous rounds of demographic and household surveys (2010, 2015) to assess trends in vaccination coverage. The study population comprised infants aged 0-13 months from a sample of 325 households randomly selected in eight districts (n = 736). We assessed vaccination coverage by directly observing the infants' vaccination booklet. Effects of the pandemic on infant vaccination completion were analyzed using multi-level logistic regression models with random intercepts at the household and district levels. RESULTS: A total of 736 child-year observations were included in the analysis. The proportion of children with age-appropriate complete vaccination was 69.76% in 2010, 55.38% in 2015, 50.47% in 2019-2020, and 64.75% in 2021. Analyses assessing changes in age-appropriate full-vaccination coverage before and during the pandemic show a significant increase (OR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.14-2.85). Our models also confirmed the presence of heterogeneity in full vaccination between health administrative districts. The pandemic could have increased inequities in infant vaccination completion between these districts. The analyses suggest no disruption in age-appropriate full vaccination due to COVID-19. Our findings from our sensitivity analyses to examine trends since 2010 did not show any steady trends. CONCLUSION: Our findings in Burkina Faso do not support the predicted detrimental effects of COVID-19 on the immunization schedule for infants in low- and middle-income countries. Analyses comparing 2019 and 2021 show an improvement in age-appropriate full vaccination. Regardless of achieving and sustaining vaccination coverage levels in Burkina Faso, this should remain a priority for health systems and political agendas.

Outcomes of Tofacitinib Use in an Irish Pediatric Cohort.

Background: Pediatric ulcerative colitis (UC) is typically more extensive and severe at diagnosis compared with adult disease. Tofacitinib, a Janus kinase inhibitor, has been used since 2018 to induce and maintain remission in UC. There are limited pediatric data regarding its use, either as a monotherapy or in combination with other treatments. Objectives: To determine the real-world experience and outcomes of tofacitinib therapy in the Irish national cohort with pediatric UC. Methods: A retrospective study of tofacitinib outcomes was undertaken at Ireland's single national center for pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. All patients commenced on tofacitinib since its availability in 2019 were included. Baseline and follow-up clinical characteristics, phenotype, Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI) scores, and treatments before and after tofacitinib commenced were recorded. The primary outcome was remission by 8 weeks, with other clinical outcomes being recorded to maximal available follow-up. Results: Between November 1, 2019 and June 30, 2022, 15 children (M:F 1:2) were prescribed tofacitinib, 5 as monotherapy. Thirteen had baseline pancolitis at diagnosis and all patients had prior infliximab exposure. The mean time from diagnosis to starting tofacitinib was 381 days (±SD 265). Dual therapy included 5 with infliximab, 4 with vedolizumab, and 1 with adalimumab. The average length of treatment on tofacitinib was 232 days (±SD 170) with 2 patients transitioning to adult services while in remission on tofacitinib therapy. The mean PUCAI score was 48.7 (±SD 14.1) pre-tofacitinib, 16.7 (±SD 15.6) at week 8, and 22.5 (±SD 29.6) by week 16, with a significant reduction in PUCAI by week 16 (P = 0.0004). Eight patients (3 monotherapy) achieved clinical remission, with 4 of the 5 dual therapy patients on infliximab. There were no significant outcome differences between those on mono- or dual therapy. Three patients with combined vedolizumab therapy did not achieve remission, 2 of whom required colectomy by week 24. There were no malignancies, 1 patient developed shingles and another developed herpangina post-tofacitinib. Failure to achieve clinical remission by week 16 was seen in all children who progressed to colectomy (n = 4). Conclusion: Combining tofacitinib with other biologics is effective in select children with refractory UC. Early responders were more likely to achieve a sustained response at week 16. Failure to achieve remission by week 16 of tofacitinib therapy was strongly associated with progression to colectomy.

Do Early Relapses Predict the Risk of Long-Term Relapsing Disease in an Adult and Paediatric Cohort with MOGAD?

OBJECTIVE: Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) can be monophasic or relapsing, with early relapse being a feature. However, the relevance of early relapse on longer-term relapse risk is unknown. Here, we investigate whether early relapses increase longer-term relapse risk in patients with MOGAD. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 289 adult- and pediatric-onset patients with MOGAD followed for at least 2 years in 6 specialized referral centers. "Early relapses" were defined as attacks within the first 12 months from onset, with "very early relapses" defined within 30 to 90 days from onset and "delayed early relapses" defined within 90 to 365 days. "Long-term relapses" were defined as relapses beyond 12 months. Cox regression modeling and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were used to estimate the long-term relapse risk and rate. RESULTS: Sixty-seven patients (23.2%) had early relapses with a median number of 1 event. Univariate analysis revealed an elevated risk for long-term relapses if any "early relapses" were present (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.11, p < 0.001), whether occurring during the first 3 months (HR = 2.70, p < 0.001) or the remaining 9 months (HR = 1.88, p = 0.001), with similar results yielded in the multivariate analysis. In children with onset below aged 12 years, only delayed early relapses were associated with an increased risk of long-term relapses (HR = 2.64, p = 0.026). INTERPRETATION: The presence of very early relapses and delayed early relapses within 12 months of onset in patients with MOGAD increases the risk of long-term relapsing disease, whereas a relapse within 90 days appears not to indicate a chronic inflammatory process in young pediatric-onset disease. ANN NEUROL 2023;94:508-517.

Establishment of CD1b-restricted immunity to lipid antigens in the pulmonary response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

CD1 is an antigen presenting glycoprotein homologous to MHC I; however, CD1 proteins present lipid rather than peptide antigen. CD1 proteins are well established to present lipid antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to T cells, but understanding the role of CD1-restricted immunity in vivo in response to Mtb infection has been limited by availability of animal models naturally expressing the CD1 proteins implicated in human response: CD1a, CD1b and CD1c. Guinea pigs, in contrast to other rodent models, express four CD1b orthologs, and here we utilize the guinea pig to establish the kinetics of gene and protein expression of CD1b orthologs, as well as the Mtb lipid-antigen and CD1b-restricted immune response at the tissue level over the course of Mtb infection. Our results indicate transient upregulation of CD1b expression during the effector phase of adaptive immunity that wanes with disease chronicity. Gene expression indicates that upregulation of CD1b is the result of transcriptional induction across all CD1b orthologs. We show high CD1b3 expression on B cells, and identify CD1b3 as the predominant CD1b ortholog in pulmonary granuloma lesions. We identify ex vivo cytotoxic activity directed against CD1b that closely paralleled the kinetic changes in CD1b expression in Mtb infected lung and spleen. This study confirms that CD1b expression is modulated by Mtb infection in lung and spleen, leading to pulmonary and extrapulmonary CD1b-restricted immunity as a component of the antigen-specific response to Mtb infection.

Screening for functional regulatory variants in open chromatin using GenIE-ATAC.

Understanding the effects of genetic variation in gene regulatory elements is crucial to interpreting genome function. This is particularly pertinent for the hundreds of thousands of disease-associated variants identified by GWAS, which frequently sit within gene regulatory elements but whose functional effects are often unknown. Current methods are limited in their scalability and ability to assay regulatory variants in their endogenous context, independently of other tightly linked variants. Here, we present a new medium-throughput screening system: genome engineering based interrogation of enhancers assay for transposase accessible chromatin (GenIE-ATAC), that measures the effect of individual variants on chromatin accessibility in their endogenous genomic and chromatin context. We employ this assay to screen for the effects of regulatory variants in human induced pluripotent stem cells, validating a subset of causal variants, and extend our software package (rgenie) to analyse these new data. We demonstrate that this methodology can be used to understand the impact of defined deletions and point mutations within transcription factor binding sites. We thus establish GenIE-ATAC as a method to screen for the effect of gene regulatory element variation, allowing identification and prioritisation of causal variants from GWAS for functional follow-up and understanding the mechanisms of regulatory element function.

Evaluating key performance indicators of the process of care in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether and how often the information to measure a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is found in data collected routinely in a Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic. METHODS: A retrospective electronic chart review and administrative data analysis was conducted for a cohort of 140 patients with JIA at a tertiary Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic between 2016-2020. The set of KPIs include measuring patient outcomes (joint assessment, physician's global assessment of disease activity, assessment of functional ability, composite disease activity measurement), access to care (waiting time between referral and first visit, visit with the rheumatologist within the first year of diagnosis, annual follow-up visits with the rheumatologist), and safety (tuberculosis screening, and laboratory monitoring). Documentation was assessed as a binary variable indicating whether the required information was ever found. Documentation frequency for each KPI was assessed with counts and percentages of the number of times the required information was documented for each clinic visit. Compliance with the safety KPI definitions was assessed using administrative databases. RESULTS: Data for each KPI were found at least once in the cohort and documentation varied in frequency and consistency. Access to care and safety KPIs were documented more frequently than patient outcome KPIs. A joint assessment was documented at every visit for 95% of patients, 46% for an assessment of pain, and none for a physician's global assessment of disease activity, an assessment of functional ability, or a composite disease activity measurement. CONCLUSION: Although feasible to measure, there is an opportunity for improving the consistency of documentation. Having an active system of monitoring KPIs and tools to simplify measurement is a key step in the process toward improved patient care outcomes. Streamlining the collection of KPI data can increase the likelihood of compliance. Next steps should involve replicating this study in various centres.

William Attree (died 1846): Royal and army surgeon who underwent amputation of the leg at Brighton, England (1807).

William Attree (1780-1846) came from a prominent family in Brighton, England. He studied medicine at St Thomas' Hospital, London, and there was unwell for nearly 6 months with severe 'spasms' of the hand/arm/chest (1801-1802). Attree qualified Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1803 and served as dresser to Sir Astley Paston Cooper (1768-1841). In 1806 Attree is recorded as 'Surgeon and Apothecary' of Prince's street, Westminster. In 1806 Attree's wife died in childbirth and the following year he underwent emergency amputation of the foot in Brighton following a road traffic accident. Attree served as surgeon in the Royal Horse Artillery at Hastings, presumably in a regimental or garrison hospital. He went onto become surgeon to the Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, and Surgeon Extraordinary to two Kings: George IV and William IV. In 1843 Attree was appointed as one of the original 300 Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons. He died in Sudbury, near Harrow. His son William Hooper Attree (1817-1875) was surgeon to Don Miguel de Braganza, the former King of Portugal. The medical literature appears to lack a history of nineteenth century doctors (especially military surgeons) with physical disability. Attree's biography goes a small way towards developing this field of enquiry.