Walkup LL, Tkach JA, Higano NS, Thomen RP, Fain SB, Merhar SL, Fleck RJ, Amin RS, Woods JC. Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Environment. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015 Nov 15;192(10):1215-22.
In this pilot study, the research team demonstrated the feasibility of the use of a small footprint MRI scanner in the neonatal intensive care unit. Pulmonary MRI revealed quantifiable, significant differences between patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, premature patients without BPD, and full-term control subjects. Researchers could implement these methods individually phenotype disease, which may impact clinical care and predict future outcomes.
Clancy JP, Davis SD, Ratjen F, Brumback LC, Johnson RC, Filbrun AG, Kerby GS, Panitch HB, Donaldson SH, Rosenfeld M. Infant lung function tests as endpoints in the ISIS multicenter clinical trial in cystic fibrosis. J Cyst Fibros. 2016 May;15(3):386-91.
In this study, the team demonstrated that infant pulmonary function tests are not appropriate primary endpoints for multicenter clinical trials due to challenges of obtaining acceptable data and near-normal average raised volume measurements. The results indicated that raised volume measures have potential to serve as secondary endpoints in future clinical CF trials in young children with CF.
Shamsuzzaman AS, Somers VK, Knilans TK, Ackerman MJ, Wang Y, Amin RS. Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients with Congenital Long QT Syndrome: Implications for Increased Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death. Sleep. 2015 Jul;138(7):1113-9.
In this report, Amin and colleagues demonstrated that the presence and severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in patients with congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS) associates with increased QT prolongation corrected for heart rate. This is an important biomarker of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Treatment of OSA in LQTS patients may reduce QT prolongation, thus reducing the risk of LQT-triggered SCD.
Shaughnessy EE, White C, Shah SS, Hubbell B, Sucharew H, Sawnani H. Implementation of Postoperative Respiratory Care for Pediatric Orthopedic Patients. Pediatrics. 2015 136(2): e505-12.
Members of the research team implemented an innovative respiratory care algorithm in hip and spine surgery patients by empowering RTs and engaging families to participate in care. In this quality improvement-based algorithm, the investigators found that this approach associates with decreased prolonged oxygen use in patients with chronic underlying pulmonary conditions.
Sinha C, Ren A, Arora K, Moon CS, Yarlagadda S, Woodrooffe K, Lin S, Schuetz JD, Ziady AG, Naren AP. PKA and actin play critical roles as downstream effectors in MRP4-mediated regulation of fibroblast migration. Cell Signal. 2015 Jul;27(7):1345-55.
In this series of studies, the research team found that actin interacts with multidrug resistance protein MRP4 of fibroblasts, predominantly at the plasma membrane, and an intact actin cytoskeleton required to restrict MRP4 to specific microdomains. Increased accumulation of cAMP in Mrp4(-/-) fibroblasts facilitated cortical actin polymerization in a PKA-dependent manner at the fibroblast leading edge, which in turn increased the overall rate of cell migration to accelerate the process of wound healing. Together, the findings from this study suggest a novel cAMP-dependent mechanism for MRP4-mediated regulation of fibroblast migration whereby PKA and actin play critical roles as downstream effectors in wound healing.