Does Male Skin Care Content on Instagram Neglect Skin Cancer Prevention?

This research letter assesses male skin care content on social media in order to bring to light the lack of content regarding skin cancer prevention posted on Instagram for male audiences.

Natural Weight Loss or "Ozempic Face": Demystifying A Social Media Phenomenon.

New patients turning to semaglutide (Ozempic® and Wegovy®), a glucagon-like-peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonist, for weight loss, have captivated social media platforms.  Wegovy® carries a United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for chronic weight management in patients who have a body mass index (BMI) 27 kg/m2 or greater and at least one weight-related condition (eg, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cholesterol) or in patients with a 30 kg/m2 or greater BMI. Although other semaglutide formulations are not FDA approved for weight loss, the term "Ozempic face" has consumed the media with the medication's rising popularity. This term is a new purported side effect, used to describe the rapid facial weight loss leaving a distorted facial appearance. This challenges the healthcare team to discern whether a new adverse effect is a novel or a natural consequence of rapid weight loss. Dermatologists are well positioned to counsel patients receiving or discontinuing GLP-1 agonists and recommend appropriate countermeasures, as appropriate.  J Drugs Dermatol. 2024;23(1):1367-1368.      doi:10.36849/JDD.7613.

Structure and immune recognition of the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus spike protein.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is an alphacoronavirus responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in pigs. A key determinant of viral tropism and entry, the PEDV spike protein is a key target for the host antibody response and a good candidate for a protein-based vaccine immunogen. We used electron microscopy to evaluate the PEDV spike structure, as well as pig polyclonal antibody responses to viral infection. The structure of the PEDV spike reveals a configuration similar to that of HuCoV-NL63. Several PEDV protein-protein interfaces are mediated by non-protein components, including a glycan at Asn264 and two bound palmitoleic acid molecules. The polyclonal antibody response to PEDV infection shows a dominance of epitopes in the S1 region. This structural and immune characterization provides insights into coronavirus spike stability determinants and explores the immune landscape of viral spike proteins.