Medicaid Expansion Increases Access for Rural and Impoverished Patients with Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma in Southern States.

INTRODUCTION: Medicaid expansion (ME) impacted patients when assessed at a national level. However, of the 32 states in which Medicaid expansion occurred, only 3 were Southern states. Whether results apply to Southern states that share similar geopolitical perspectives remains elusive. We aimed to assess the impact of ME on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) treatment in eight Southern states in the USA. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified uninsured or Medicaid patients (age 40-64 years) diagnosed with PDAC between 2011 and 2018 in Southern states from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries-Cancer in North America (NAACCR-CiNA) research dataset. Medicaid-expanded states (MES; Louisiana, Kentucky, and Arkansas) were compared with non-MES (NMES; Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Oklahoma) using multivariate logistic regression. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Among 3036 patients, MES significantly increased odds of Medicaid insurance by 36%, and increased proportions of insured Black patients by 3.7%, rural patients by 3.8%, and impoverished patients by 18.4%. After adjusting for age, race, rural-urban status, poverty status, and summary stage, the odds of receiving radiation therapy decreased by 26% for each year of expansion in expanded states (P = 0.01). Last, ME did not result in a significant difference between MES and NMES in diagnosing early stage disease (P = 0.98) nor in receipt of chemotherapy or surgery (P = 0.23 and P = 0.63, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: ME in Southern states increased insurance access to traditionally underserved groups. Interestingly, ME decreased the odds of receiving radiation therapy yearly and had no significant impact on receipt of chemotherapy or surgery.

Identification of protein quality control regulators using a Drosophila model of TPI deficiency.

Triosephosphate isomerase (TPI) deficiency (Df) is a rare recessive metabolic disorder that manifests as hemolytic anemia, locomotor impairment, and progressive neurodegeneration. Research suggests that TPI Df mutations, including the "common" TPIE105Dmutation, result in reduced TPI protein stability that appears to underlie disease pathogenesis. Drosophila with the recessive TPIsugarkill allele (a.k.a. sgk or M81T) exhibit progressive locomotor impairment, neuromuscular impairment and reduced longevity, modeling the human disorder. TPIsugarkill produces a functional protein that is degraded by the proteasome. Molecular chaperones, such as Hsp70 and Hsp90, have been shown to contribute to the regulation of TPIsugarkill degradation. In addition, stabilizing the mutant protein through chaperone modulation results in improved TPI deficiency phenotypes. To identify additional regulators of TPIsugarkill degradation, we performed a genome-wide RNAi screen that targeted known and predicted quality control proteins in the cell to identify novel factors that modulate TPIsugarkill turnover. Of the 430 proteins screened, 25 regulators of TPIsugarkill were identified. Interestingly, 10 proteins identified were novel, previously undescribed Drosophila proteins. Proteins involved in co-translational protein quality control and ribosome function were also isolated in the screen, suggesting that TPIsugarkill may undergo co-translational selection for polyubiquitination and proteasomal degradation as a nascent polypeptide. The proteins identified in this study may reveal novel pathways for the degradation of a functional, cytosolic protein by the ubiquitin proteasome system and define therapeutic pathways for TPI Df and other biomedically important diseases.

Mid-term results of Miller-Galante unicompartmental knee replacement for medial compartment knee osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to analyse and report the mid-term results of 175 unicompartmental knee replacement (UKR) procedures performed for medial compartment knee arthritis from January 2001 to January 2010. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cohort participants were selected after stringent inclusion criteria and the average follow-up was 5.6 years (range 2-10 years). The fixed-bearing UKR procedure was carried out on all patients. RESULTS: The pre-operative mean knee range of movement improved from 100° ± 11.3° to 118.3° ± 12° (p value <0.001). The pre-operative mean Knee Society (KS) knee and functional score improved from 47 ± 5.5 and 55.1 ± 4.6 to 91.8 ± 9.2 and 92 ± 10.1 (p value <0.001), respectively. The revision rate of the cohort was 4 % (seven knees) and implant survival rate was 96 % at the end of 10 years; 87 % of the cohort were satisfied with the procedure and had a normal gait pattern. In this study, there was no statistical difference between groups with a body mass index (BMI) ≤30 kg/m(2) and those with a BMI ≥30 kg/m(2), and between groups aged ≤55 years and those aged ≥55 years, in clinical and functional outcome following UKR. CONCLUSION: This study confirms that fixed-bearing UKR gives excellent results in patients with medial compartment knee arthritis who comply with the inclusion criteria. Age and BMI were not considered to influence the clinical and functional outcomes. Level of evidence-III.

Age and Body Mass Index Has No Adverse Effect on Clinical Outcome of Unicompartmental Knee Replacement - Midterm Followup Study.

INTRODUCTION: Unicompartmental knee replacement (UKR) is well-established procedure for the anteromedial compartment of knee arthritis with intact anterior cruciate ligament. The significance of age and body mass index (BMI) is not clear in the outcomes of UKR. Our hypothesis was that age and BMI does not affect the clinical and functional outcome following fixed bearing UKR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study cohort of 148 was selected after stringent inclusion criteria and average followup was 5.6 years (range 2-10 years). The fixed bearing Miller Galante UKR procedure was carried out on all patients. RESULTS: In the study cohort of 175, the average age of the cohort was 61.7 years. The sample size aged ≤55 years and aged ≥55 years was 38 and 137, respectively. The mean BMI of the cohort was 29.2 kg/m2 (range: 21-38 kg/m2). The sample size of BMI ≤30 kg/m2 and BMI ≥30 kg/m2 was 117 and 58, respectively. In the cohort group, BMI ≤30 kg/m2 and BMI ≥30 kg/m2, there was no statistically significant difference in the Knee Society Score clinical scores, functional scores, and knee range of motion scores, (P > 0.05). This study infers no statistically significant difference in the clinical and functional outcome between age group ≤55 years and age ≥55 years, (P > 0.05). The failure rates of the group of BMI ≤30 kg/m2 and BMI ≥30 kg/m2 were 4.27% (5 knees) 3.44% (2 knees), respectively. The failure rates in the age group ≤55 years and group ≥55 years were 2 knees (3.44%) and 5 knees (4.27%), respectively. CONCLUSION: This study confirms that age and BMI does not influence the functional outcome and clinical outcome following fixed bearing UKR.