Objective: Bariatric surgery effectively treats non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The glutamate-serine-glycine (GSG) index has emerged as a non-invasive diagnostic marker for NAFLD, but its ability to monitor treatment response remains unclear. This study investigates the GSG index's ability to monitor NAFLD's response to bariatric surgery. Methodology: Ten NAFLD participants were studied at baseline and 6 months post-bariatric surgery. Blood samples were collected for serum biomarkers and metabolomic profiling. Hepatic steatosis [proton density fat fraction (PDFF)] and fibroinflammation (cT1) were quantified with multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI), and hepatic stiffness with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). Amino acids and acylcarnitines were measured with mass spectrometry. Statistical analyses included paired Student’s t-test, Wilcoxon-signed rank test, and Pearson’s correlation. Results: Eight participants provided complete data. At baseline, all had hepatic steatosis (BMI 39.3 ± 5.6 kg/m2, PDFF ≥ 5%). Post-surgery reductions in PDFF (from 12.4 ± 6.7% to 6.2 ± 2.8%, p = 0.013) and cT1 (from 823.3 ± 85.4ms to 757.5 ± 41.6ms, p = 0.039) were significant, along with the GSG index (from 0.272 ± 0.03 to 0.157 ± 0.05, p = 0.001). Conclusion The GSG index can potentially be developed as a marker for monitoring the response of patients with NAFLD to bariatric surgery.
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; Amino Acids ; Metabolomics

Lupus is characterized by the autoantibodies against nuclear Ags, underscoring the importance of identifying the B cell subsets driving autoimmunity. Our research focused on the mitochondrial activity and CXCR4 expression in CD11c + B cells from lupus patients after ex vivo stimulation with a TLR9 agonist, CpG-oligodeoxyribonucleotide (ODN). We also evaluated the response of CD11c + B cells in ODN-injected mice. Post-ex vivo ODN stimulation, we observed an increase in the proportion of CD11chi cells, with elevated mitochondrial activity and CXCR4 expression in CD11c + B cells from lupus patients. In vivo experiments showed similar patterns, with TLR9 stimulation enhancing mitochondrial and CXCR4 activities in CD11chi B cells, leading to the generation of anti-dsDNA plasmablasts. The CXCR4 inhibitor AMD3100 and the mitochondrial complex I inhibitor IM156 significantly reduced the proportion of CD11c + B cells and autoreactive plasmablasts. These results underscore the pivotal roles of mitochondria and CXCR4 in the production of autoreactive plasmablasts.

Lupus is characterized by the autoantibodies against nuclear Ags, underscoring the importance of identifying the B cell subsets driving autoimmunity. Our research focused on the mitochondrial activity and CXCR4 expression in CD11c + B cells from lupus patients after ex vivo stimulation with a TLR9 agonist, CpG-oligodeoxyribonucleotide (ODN). We also evaluated the response of CD11c + B cells in ODN-injected mice. Post-ex vivo ODN stimulation, we observed an increase in the proportion of CD11chi cells, with elevated mitochondrial activity and CXCR4 expression in CD11c + B cells from lupus patients. In vivo experiments showed similar patterns, with TLR9 stimulation enhancing mitochondrial and CXCR4 activities in CD11chi B cells, leading to the generation of anti-dsDNA plasmablasts. The CXCR4 inhibitor AMD3100 and the mitochondrial complex I inhibitor IM156 significantly reduced the proportion of CD11c + B cells and autoreactive plasmablasts. These results underscore the pivotal roles of mitochondria and CXCR4 in the production of autoreactive plasmablasts.

Lupus is characterized by the autoantibodies against nuclear Ags, underscoring the importance of identifying the B cell subsets driving autoimmunity. Our research focused on the mitochondrial activity and CXCR4 expression in CD11c + B cells from lupus patients after ex vivo stimulation with a TLR9 agonist, CpG-oligodeoxyribonucleotide (ODN). We also evaluated the response of CD11c + B cells in ODN-injected mice. Post-ex vivo ODN stimulation, we observed an increase in the proportion of CD11chi cells, with elevated mitochondrial activity and CXCR4 expression in CD11c + B cells from lupus patients. In vivo experiments showed similar patterns, with TLR9 stimulation enhancing mitochondrial and CXCR4 activities in CD11chi B cells, leading to the generation of anti-dsDNA plasmablasts. The CXCR4 inhibitor AMD3100 and the mitochondrial complex I inhibitor IM156 significantly reduced the proportion of CD11c + B cells and autoreactive plasmablasts. These results underscore the pivotal roles of mitochondria and CXCR4 in the production of autoreactive plasmablasts.

To address a donor kidney shortage, marginal grafts have been applied in deceased donor kidney transplantation (DDKT). These grafts exhibit comparatively unfavorable outcomes, particularly when cold ischemia time (CIT) is prolonged. Hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) has been investigated to mitigate the effects of prolonged CIT during graft transport. The present case involved successful management of the longest CIT recorded in Korea by employing HMP in DDKT. The donor was a 54-year-old man (Korean Kidney Donor Profile Index, 82%) with diabetes. The recipient, a 51-year-old man on peritoneal dialysis, had end-stage renal disease secondary to diabetic nephropathy.Following procurement, the left kidney was preserved using HMP. Inclement weather delayed graft transportation; consequently, the total CIT was 28 hours and 6 minutes, with the kidney preserved by HMP for 22 hours and 35 minutes. Postoperative graft function gradually recovered, and urine output was satisfactory. Delayed graft function was not observed, and the patient was discharged on postoperative day 13 without significant complications. Five months after surgery, his serum creatinine level was 1.7 mg/dL. Successful DDKT with a marginal donor graft via HMP, despite the longest CIT yet observed in Korea, underscores the usefulness of HMP in enhancing graft quality and preserving function.

Purpose: Preclinical data indicate that response to radiotherapy (RT) depends on DNA damage repair. In this study, we investigated the role of mutations in genes related to DNA damage repair in treatment outcome after RT. Materials and Methods: Patients with solid tumor who participated in next generation sequencing panel screening using biopsied tumor tissue between October 2013 and February 2019 were reviewed and 97 patients that received RT were included in this study. Best response to RT and the cumulative local recurrence rate (LRR) were compared according to absence or presence of missense, nonsense, and frameshift mutations in ATM and/or BRCA1/2. Results: Of the 97 patients, five patients harbored mutation only in ATM, 22 in only BRCA1/2, and six in both ATM and BRCA1/2 (ATMmtBRCAmt). Propensity score matching was performed to select the control group without mutations (ATMwtBRCAwt, n=33). In total, 90 RT-treated target lesions were evaluated in 66 patients. Highest objective response rate of 80% was observed in ATMmtBRCAmt lesions (p=0.007), which was mostly durable. Furthermore, the cumulative 1-year LRR was the lowest in ATMmtBRCAmt lesions and the highest in ATMwtBRCAwt lesions (0% vs. 47.9%, p=0.008). RT-associated toxicities were observed in 10 treatments with no significant difference among the subgroups (p=0.680). Conclusion Tumors with ATM and BRCA1/2 mutations exhibited superior tumor response and local control after RT compared to tumors without these mutations. The results are hypothesis generating and suggest the need for integrating the tumor mutation profile of DNA repair genes during treatment planning.

Purpose: We investigated whether antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) positivity is associated with vascular manifestations at diagnosis of Behçet's disease (BD) and poor outcomes during follow-up. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 1060 patients with BD. Among them, 808 patients could be diagnosed with BD based on the revised version of the International Criteria for Behçet's Disease (ICBD) in 2014 (2014 ICBD criteria) and 588 patients could be diagnosed with BD based on the International Study Group (ISG) criteria proposed in 1990 (1990 ISG criteria). We examined the sites and patterns of vascular involvement in the BD patients at diagnosis and evaluated adverse outcomes during follow up, such as all-cause mortality, acute coronary syndrome, and deep vein thrombosis. Results: Among the 808 patients with BD based on the 2014 ICBD criteria, the rate of ANCA positivity at diagnosis was 2.2%. ANCA-positive BD patients exhibited a higher frequency of overall vascular manifestations (22.2% vs. 6.1%) and higher frequencies of vascular involvement in the upper extremities and visceral arteries than ANCA-negative BD patients (5.6% vs. 0.1% and 5.6% vs. 0.1%). Among the 588 BD patients based on the 1990 ISG criteria, similarly, ANCA-positive BD patients exhibited a higher frequency of vascular manifestations than ANCA-negative BD patients. ANCA positivity, however, did not seem to be associated with poor outcomes in BD patients during follow up. Conclusion ANCA positivity in BD patients was found to be associated with cross-sectional vascular involvement in the upper extremities and visceral arteries at diagnosis but was not predictive of poor outcomes during follow-up.

Purpose: Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels for solid tumors have been useful in clinical framework for accurate tumor diagnosis and identifying essential molecular aberrations. However, most cancer panels have been designed to address a wide spectrum of pan-cancer models, lacking integral prognostic markers that are highly specific to gliomas. Materials and Methods: To address such challenges, we have developed a glioma-specific NGS panel, termed “GliomaSCAN,” that is capable of capturing single nucleotide variations and insertion/deletion, copy number variation, and selected promoter mutations and structural variations that cover a subset of intron regions in 232 essential glioma-associated genes. We confirmed clinical concordance rate using pairwise comparison of the identified variants from whole exome sequencing (WES), immunohistochemical analysis, and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Results: Our panel demonstrated high sensitivity in detecting potential genomic variants that were present in the standard materials. To ensure the accuracy of our targeted sequencing panel, we compared our targeted panel to WES. The comparison results demonstrated a high correlation. Furthermore, we evaluated clinical utility of our panel in 46 glioma patients to assess the detection capacity of potential actionable mutations. Thirty-two patients harbored at least one recurrent somatic mutation in clinically actionable gene. Conclusion We have established a glioma-specific cancer panel. GliomaSCAN highly excelled in capturing somatic variations in terms of both sensitivity and specificity and provided potential clinical implication in facilitating genome-based clinical trials. Our results could provide conceptual advance towards improving the response of genomically guided molecularly targeted therapy in glioma patients.

Purpose: There has been no extensive study to compare the efficacy between rituximab originator (Mabthera®) and its biosimilar (Truxima®) for microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) and granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). Here, we investigated the clinical effects of rituximab on poor outcomes of MPA and GPA in Korean patients, and compared those between Mabthera® and Truxima®. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of a total of 139 patients, including 97 MPA patients and 42 GPA patients. At diagnosis, antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody positivity and comorbidities were assessed. During follow-up, all-cause mortality, relapse, end-stage renal disease, cerebrovascular accident and acute coronary syndrome were evaluated as poor outcomes. In this study, rituximab was used as either Mabthera® or Truxima®. Results: The median age at diagnosis was 60.1 years and 46 patients were men (97 MPA and 42 GPA patients). Among poor outcomes, patients receiving rituximab exhibited a significantly lower cumulative relapse-free survival rate compared to those not receiving rituximab (p=0.002). Nevertheless, rituximab use did not make any difference in other poor outcomes of MPA and GPA except for relapse, which might be a rebuttal to the fact that rituximab use after relapse eventually led to better prognosis. There were no significant differences in variables at diagnosis and during follow-up between patients receiving Mabthera® and those receiving Truxima®. Patients receiving Truxima® exhibited a similar pattern of the cumulative survival rates of each poor outcome to those receiving Mabthera®. Conclusion Truxima® prevents poor outcomes of MPA and GPA as effectively as does Mabthera®.

BACKGROUND: As one of the research councils under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), health research priority setting has been the mandate of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) since its establishment in 1982. The development of the National Unified Health Research Agenda (NUHRA) convenes the major stakeholders for health in the country to establish the priorities for health research. The NUHRA aims to address the most urgent health issues in the country for the generation of solutions to the health concerns of the country.

OBJECTIVES AND METHOD: Through document review, this paper describes the approaches and lessons learned in research priority setting since the establishment of the Philippine National Health Research System.

RESULTS: The Philippines has employed a bottoms-up, top-down, and a combination of both approaches to develop its health research agenda.

CONCLUSION: The health research agenda-setting must consider evolving funding sources, its link to production of researches with high probability of knowledge translation to health technology innovation, and policy formulation. Measuring the impact of the NUHRA to the health systems and health situation of the country is a difficult assessment, but the gradual change in healthcare technology utilization and evidence-informed policies towards health equity can be a subjective measurement of the NUHRA's success.