Baseline Characteristics from UNITE: An Observational, International, Multicentre Registry to Evaluate Hidradenitis Suppurativa (Acne Inversa) in Clinical Practice

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), also known as acne inversa, is a recurring, painful, chronic, and sometimes disfiguring inflammatory skin disease. Objectives: Our objective was to report the baseline clinical characteristics, natural history, and associated outcomes of patients with HS from the ongoing, prospective, non-interventional UNITE registry that is collecting data regarding the natural history and associated outcomes of HS. Methods: Patients with inflammatory HS lesions were enrolled, including adolescents (aged 12 to < 18 years) and adults (aged ≥ 18 years). None had participated in previous or current originator-adalimumab studies/registries. Patients received treatment consistent with site-specific, routine clinical practice. HS disease status was assessed by HS lesions and disease flare; treatment and outcomes data were collected at e

Interspecific Differences in Egg Production Affect Egg Trace Element Concentrations after a Coal Fly Ash Spill

In oviparous vertebrates, trace elements transfer from mother to offspring during egg production. For animals that produce eggs slowly, like turtles, the trace element concentration of each egg reflects an integration of dietary and stored accumulation over the duration of vitellogenesis. Because turtles also produce eggs synchronously, all eggs within a clutch should exhibit uniform trace element concentrations. In contrast, for animals that produce eggs in sequence and primarily from current dietary resources, like many birds, the trace element concentrations of eggs should be less uniform within a clutch, and likely reflect short-term changes in dietary exposure. We tested the hypothesis that stinkpot turtle (Sternotherus odoratus) clutches exhibit lower variability and higher repeatability in barium, selenium, strontium, and thallium concentrations than those of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) from a site impacted by a recent coal ash spill. All four trace elements exhibited significantly lower variability and significantly higher repeatability in stinkpot clutches than in swallow clutches. Mean trace element concentrations of stinkpot eggs were also significantly higher than those of swallow eggs although both species feed primarily on aquatic invertebrates. Variability in swallow egg trace element concentrations was partially due to significant laying order effects. Our results support the hypothesis that interspecific variation in the source of resources and in the synchronicity and rate of egg production can lead to interspecific differences in the variability of egg trace element concentrations

Susceptibility to disease varies with ontogeny and immunocompetence in a threatened amphibian

Ontogenetic changes in disease susceptibility have been demonstrated in many vertebrate taxa, as immature immune systems and limited prior exposure to pathogens can place less developed juveniles at a greater disease risk. By causing the disease chytridiomycosis, <i>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd)</i> infection has led to the decline of many amphibian species. Despite increasing knowledge on how Bd varies in its effects among species, little is known on the interaction between susceptibility and development within host species. We compared the ontogenetic susceptibility of post-metamorphic green and golden bell frogs <i>Litoria aurea</i> to chytridiomycosis by simultaneously measuring three host-pathogen responses as indicators of the development of the fungus—infection load, survival rate, and host immunocompetence—following <i>Bd</i> exposure in three life stages (recently metamorphosed juveniles, subadults, adults) over 95 days. Frogs exposed to <i>Bd</i> as recently metamorphosed juveniles acquired higher infection loads and experienced lower immune function and lower survivorship than subadults and adults, indicating an ontogenetic decline in chytridiomycosis susceptibility. By corresponding with an intrinsic developmental maturation in immunocompetence seen in uninfected frogs, we suggest these developmental changes in host susceptibility in <i>L. aurea</i> may be immune mediated. Consequently, the physiological relationship between ontogeny and immunity may affect host population structure and demography through variation in life stage survival, and understanding this can shape management targets for effective amphibian conservation