An investigation of autoantibodies to the melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 in vitiligo.

Vitiligo is an acquired depigmenting disorder characterised by the loss of functional melanocytes and of melanin from the cutaneous epidermis. A role for autoimmunity in vitiligo pathogenesis is supported by the presence of anti-melanocyte autoantibodies and autoreactive T lymphocytes in patients with the disorder. Recently, the melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 (MCHRI) has been identified as an autoantigen in vitiligo. The aim of this study was to characterise the properties of MCHR1 autoantibodies. The epitopes on MCHR1 that are recognised by autoantibodies in vitiligo patients were identified using recombinant receptor in radio-binding assays. Multiple regions of MCHR1, including regions between amino acids 1-138 and 139-298, were identified as binding sites for MCHR1 autoantibodies. In addition, biopanning of a phage-display MCHRI cDNA fragment library with vitiligo patient immunoglobulin G (IgG), identified more specifically the target sites of MCHRI autoantibodies. A stable Chinese hamster ovary cell line expressing MCHR1 was isolated. The cell line clearly showed expression of the receptor by flow cytometry. Stimulation of the cell line with melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) reduced forskolinstimulated cyclic adenosine monophosphate levels and increased the levels of intracellular calcium, both indicative of MCHRI expression. Functional blocking of MCI-iR1 by receptor autoantibodies was investigated by measuring changes in intracellular calcium levels in response to MCH-stimulation of MCHRI-expressing cells that had been pre-incubated with vitiligo patient IgG. The results revealed that 10/18 (56%) of the vitiligo patient IgGs tested were able to block receptor function. In contrast, IgG from healthy controls and from patients with other autoimmune disease had no effect upon receptor function. This suggested that MCHR1 function blocking autoantibodies are specific to patients with vitiligo and are not present in patients with other autoimmune disease. The cell line expressing MCHR1 was also used to analyse MCHR1 autoantibodies for any immunological activities such as complement-fixation and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). None of the vitiligo patient sera tested appeared to have MCHRI autoantibodies that were able either to fix complement or mediate ADCC. This suggested that there are no such immunological activities against MCHR1. In conclusion, key findings from this study were that the MCHRI is an important autoantigen in vitiligo, with 56% of patients having function-blocking autoantibodies against the receptor, and that amino acids 1-138 and 139-298 are major epitopes for MCHR1 binding autoantibodies

American Society for Enhanced Recovery (ASER) and Perioperative Quality Initiative (POQI) joint consensus statement on measurement to maintain and improve quality of enhanced recovery pathways for elective colorectal surgery.

BACKGROUND: This article sets out a framework for measurement of quality of care relevant to enhanced recovery pathways (ERPs) in elective colorectal surgery. The proposed framework is based on established measurement systems and/or theories, and provides an overview of the different approaches for improving clinical monitoring, and enhancing quality improvement or research in varied settings with different levels of available resources. METHODS: Using a structure-process-outcome framework, we make recommendations for three hierarchical tiers of data collection. DISCUSSION: Core, Quality Improvement, and Best Practice datasets are proposed. The suggested datasets incorporate patient data to describe case-mix, process measures to describe delivery of enhanced recovery and clinical outcomes. The fundamental importance of routine collection of data for the initiation, maintenance, and enhancement of enhanced recovery pathways is emphasized

Ventilation and outcomes following robotic-assisted abdominal surgery: an international, multicentre observational study

Background: International data on the epidemiology, ventilation practice, and outcomes in patients undergoing abdominal robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) are lacking. The aim of the study was to assess the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs), and to describe ventilator management after abdominal RAS. Methods: This was an international, multicentre, prospective study in 34 centres in nine countries. Patients ≥18 yr of age undergoing abdominal RAS were enrolled between April 2017 and March 2019. The Assess Respiratory Risk in Surgical Patients in Catalonia (ARISCAT) score was used to stratify for higher risk of PPCs (≥26). The primary outcome was the incidence of PPCs. Secondary endpoints included the preoperative risk for PPCs and ventilator management. Results: Of 1167 subjects screened, 905 abdominal RAS patients were included. Overall, 590 (65.2%) patients were at increased risk for PPCs. Meanwhile, 172 (19%) patients sustained PPCs, which occurred more frequently in 132 (22.4%) patients at increased risk, compared with 40 (12.7%) patients at lower risk of PPCs (absolute risk difference: 12.2% [95% confidence intervals (CI), 6.8–17.6%]; P<0.001). Plateau and driving pressures were higher in patients at increased risk, compared with patients at low risk of PPCs, but no ventilatory variables were independently associated with increased occurrence of PPCs. Development of PPCs was associated with a longer hospital stay. Conclusions: One in five patients developed one or more PPCs (chiefly unplanned oxygen requirement), which was associated with a longer hospital stay. No ventilatory variables were independently associated with PPCs. Clinical trial registration: NCT02989415

Unveiling the nature of infrared bright, optically dark galaxies with early JWST data

Over the last few years, both Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and Spitzer observations have revealed a population of likely massive galaxies at z > 3 that was too faint to be detected in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) rest-frame ultraviolet imaging. However, due to the very limited photometry for individual galaxies, the true nature of these so-called HSTdark galaxies has remained elusive. Here, we present the first sample of such galaxies observed with very deep, high-resolution NIRCam imaging from the Early Release Science programme CEERS. 30 HST-dark sources are selected based on their red colours across 1.6–4.4 μm. Their physical properties are derived from 12-band multiwavelength photometry, including ancillary HST imaging. We find that these galaxies are generally heavily dust-obscured (AV ∼ 2 mag), massive (log (M/M☉) ∼ 10), star-forming sources at z ∼ 2-8 with an observed surface density of ∼0.8 arcmin-2. This suggests that an important fraction of massive galaxies may have been missing from our cosmic census at z > 3 all the way into the Epoch of Reionization. The HST-dark sources lie on the main sequence of galaxies and add an obscured star formation rate density of 3.2+1.8-1.3 × 10-3 M☉ yr-1 Mpc-3 at z ∼ 7, showing likely presence of dust in the Epoch of Reionization. Our analysis shows the unique power of JWST to reveal this previously missing galaxy population and to provide a more complete census of galaxies at z = 2-8 based on rest-frame optical imaging

Justicia lignans: Part 10† _ Synthesis of tiruneesiin, the first neolignan from Justicia species

357-359(±)-Tiruneesiin, 3-[2-(4–hydroxy–3-methoxyphenyl)-3-aceto¬xy¬methyl-7-methoxy-2, 3-dihydro-1-benzofuran-5-yl]propan-1-yl acetate 1, is synthesized starting from methyl ferulate 2 with an overall yield of 12.6﹪. Ag₂O induced dimerization of 2 is used as a key step in the synthesis