stills disease

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and is a global health challenge. Radical surgical resection is the most effective method to achieve long-term survival for HCC. Regrettably, the vast majority of HCC patients lose the opportunity for radical resection at the time of diagnosis due to advanced tumors or poor liver reserve capacity. HCC is resistant to conventional chemotherapy, and in the past, there have been no definite and effective systemic therapeutic drugs...

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MASLD) is a major public health problem that seriously affects human health. At present, some good progress has been made in the research and development of new drugs for MASLD, but there is still great space for exploration. This paper summarizes and analyzes the reasons in the current clinical status and challenges for the research and development of new drugs for MASLD.

Liver disease is a serious public health problem worldwide, affecting human health. However, there are still many unmet needs for the treatment of liver disease, especially with new therapeutic drugs. At present, there is no treatment method to eradicate the hepatitis B virus, nor are there therapeutic drugs for liver fibrosis, liver failure, and others. Chemotherapy and targeted immunotherapy are still unsatisfactory for liver cancer. This article provides an overview of the current status and challenges that arise in new drug research and development for liver diseases...

Recent advancements in polymer-assisted layer-by-layer (LbL) fabrication have revolutionized the development of wearable sensors for health monitoring. LbL self-assembly has emerged as a powerful and versatile technique for creating conformal, flexible, and multi-functional films on various substrates, making it particularly suitable for fabricating wearable sensors. The incorporation of polymers, both natural and synthetic, has played a crucial role in enhancing the performance, stability, and biocompatibility of these sensors...

Cardiovascular diseases are a broadly understood concept focusing on vascular and heart dysfunction. Lack of physical exercise, type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, thromboembolism, and kidney and lung diseases all contribute to the development of heart and blood vessel dysfunction. Although effective and important, traditional treatment with diuretics, statins, beta blockers, calcium inhibitors, ACE inhibitors, and anti-platelet drugs remains a second-line treatment after dietary interventions and lifestyle changes...

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic intestinal ailment which cannot be completely cured. The occurrence of UC has been on the rise in recent years, which is highly detrimental to patients. The effectiveness of conventional drug treatment is limited. The long-term usage of these agents can lead to substantial adverse effects. Therefore, the development of a safe and efficient dietary supplement is important for the prevention of UC. Echinacea purpurea polysaccharide (EPP) is one of the main bioactive substances in Echinacea purpurea ...

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has higher rates among the general population, so early identification and prevention is the goal. The mechanisms of COPD development have not been completely established, although it has been demonstrated that endothelial dysfunction plays an important role. However, to date, the measurement of endothelial dysfunction is still invasive or not fully established. Nailfold video capillaroscopy (NVC) is a safe, non-invasive diagnostic tool that can be used to easily evaluate the microcirculation and can show any possible endothelial dysfunctions early on...

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease, and hence, sufficient herd immunity is obligatory to prevent infection transmission. Measles is still a cause of considerable disease burden globally, mainly in children. During a national measles outbreak in Israel in 2018-2019, the peak incidence rates occurred in the Jerusalem district. Most measles cases in the Jerusalem district (75.5%, 1702) were observed in children younger than 15 years of age, 49.2% (1109) were in children under 5 years of age, and 18.9% (425) were in infants under 1 year of age...

Lung branching morphogenesis relies on intricate epithelial-mesenchymal interactions and signaling networks. Still, the interplay between signaling and energy metabolism in shaping embryonic lung development remains unexplored. Retinoic acid (RA) signaling influences lung proximal-distal patterning and branching morphogenesis, but its role as a metabolic modulator is unknown. Hence, this study investigates how RA signaling affects the metabolic profile of lung branching. We performed ex vivo lung explant culture of embryonic chicken lungs treated with DMSO, 1 µM RA, or 10 µM BMS493...

Some of the most common conditions affecting people are kidney diseases. Among them, we distinguish chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury. Both entities pose serious health risks, so new drugs are still being sought to treat and prevent them. In recent years, such a role has begun to be assigned to sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. They increase the amount of glucose excreted in the urine. For this reason, they are currently used as a first-line drug in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Due to their demonstrated cardioprotective effect, they are also used in heart failure treatment...

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an early onset neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and repetitive patterns of behavior. Family studies show that ASD is highly heritable, and hundreds of genes have previously been implicated in the disorder; however, the etiology is still not fully clear. Brain imaging and electroencephalography (EEG) are key techniques that study alterations in brain structure and function. Combined with genetic analysis, these techniques have the potential to help in the clarification of the neurobiological mechanisms contributing to ASD and help in defining novel therapeutic targets...

The diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still limited. Therefore, this study demonstrates the presence of human ether-a-go-go-related gene 1 (hERG1) and heat shock protein 47 (Hsp47) on the surface of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) in human peripheral blood and their association with CVD. In this research, 20 individuals with heart failure and 26 participants subjected to cardiac stress tests were enrolled. The associations between hERG1 and/or Hsp47 in sEVs and CVD were established using Western blot, flow cytometry, electron microscopy, ELISA, and nanoparticle tracking analysis...

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a condition in which the pathological cumulation of fat with coexisting inflammation and damage of hepatic cells leads to progressive dysfunctions of the liver. Except for the commonly well-known major causes of NAFLD such as obesity, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, or diabetes, an unbalanced diet and imbalanced nutritional status should also be taken into consideration. In this narrative review, we summarized the current knowledge regarding the micro- and macronutrient status of patients suffering from NAFLD considering various diets and supplementation of chosen supplements...

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), including preeclampsia (PE) and gestational hypertension (GH), are major causes of maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality. This review elucidates the role of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the immunological aspects of HDP and explores their therapeutic potential. Tregs, which play a critical role in maintaining immune homeostasis, are crucial in pregnancy to prevent immune-mediated rejection of the foetus. The review highlights that Tregs contribute to immunological adaptation in normal pregnancy, ensuring foetal acceptance...

Fatty acid synthesis has been extensively investigated as a therapeutic target in cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Fatty acid synthase (FASN), a key enzyme of de novo lipid synthesis, is significantly upregulated in CRC, and therapeutic approaches of targeting this enzyme are currently being tested in multiple clinical trials. However, the mechanisms behind the pro-oncogenic action of FASN are still not completely understood. Here, for the first time, we show that overexpression of FASN increases the expression of glutamine-fructose-6-phosphate transaminase 1 (GFPT1) and O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase (OGT), enzymes involved in hexosamine metabolism, and the level of O-GlcNAcylation in vitro and in vivo...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease. Despite new methods of diagnostics and treatment as well as extensive biological and immunosuppressive treatment, the etiology of RA is not fully understood. Moreover, the problem of diagnosis and treatment of RA patients is still current and affects a large group of patients. It is suggested that endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-related features may impair adaptation to chronic stress, inferring the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. The main goal in this study was evaluation of changes in mRNA translation to determine chronic ER stress conditions in rheumatoid arthritis patients...

Cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44), a multi-functional cell surface receptor, has several variants and is ubiquitously expressed in various cells and tissues. CD44 is well known for its function in cell adhesion and is also involved in diverse cellular responses, such as proliferation, migration, differentiation, and activation. To date, CD44 has been extensively studied in the field of cancer biology and has been proposed as a marker for cancer stem cells. Recently, growing evidence suggests that CD44 is also relevant in non-cancer diseases...

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, the early detection of which is crucial for timely intervention and enrollment in clinical trials. However, the preclinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's encounters difficulties with gold-standard methods. The current definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer's still relies on expensive instrumentation and post-mortem histological examinations. Here, we explore label-free Raman spectroscopy with machine learning as an alternative to preclinical Alzheimer's diagnosis...

Amyloid fibroproliferation leads to organ damage and is associated with a number of neurodegenerative diseases affecting populations worldwide. There are several ways to protect against fibril formation, including inhibition. A variety of organic compounds based on molecular recognition of amino acids within the protein have been proposed for the design of such inhibitors. However, the role of macrocyclic compounds, i.e., thiacalix[4]arenes, in inhibiting fibrillation is still almost unknown. In the present work, the use of water-soluble thiacalix[4]arene derivatives for the inhibition of hen egg-white lysozyme (HEWL) amyloid fibrillation is proposed for the first time...

Autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) is the most common organic specific illness of the thyroid gland. It may manifest as the overproduction or the decline of thyroxine and triiodothyronine. Hyperthyroidism develops due to the overproduction of hormones as an answer to the presence of stimulatory antibodies against the TSH receptor. Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is generally characterized by the presence of thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin antibodies, with a concomitant infiltration of lymphocytes in the thyroid...