Citations

Abstract Background While biologic and small molecule therapies have expanded treatment options for moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC), prior research revealed that only 26% of patients in routine practice would have qualified for pivotal randomized controlled trials (RCTs) due to stringent eligibility criteria. This study aimed to evaluate contemporary clinical trial eligibility for UC patients in a tertiary care setting based on more recently approved therapies. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of adult patients with moderate to severe UC (total Mayo score ≥6) seen between January 2022 and February 2023. Inclusion and exclusion criteria from seven phase III RCTs conducted between 2012 and 2022 (eg, VARSITY, UNIFI, OCTAVE, LUCENT) were applied to determine patient eligibility and identify reasons for ineligibility. Results Of 150 patients (mean age 44.9 years; 55.7% male), only 42.7% were eligible for at least one RCT. The most common exclusion factor was current or prior medication use, followed by anemia, dysplasia, and disease extent. Trial eligibility did not significantly differ by age, gender, or disease duration. Conclusions Despite modest improvements since 2012, over half of real-world UC patients remain ineligible for current RCTs. Expanding inclusion criteria, especially regarding prior medication exposure, and adopting more inclusive trial designs may enhance external validity. Addressing disparities in trial access and participation remains essential to ensuring equitable representation and improving clinical applicability of RCT findings.

Abstract Introduction The mitochondrial transporter ABCB7 is essential for exporting iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters, a function known to be critical in B cells. This study was conducted to investigate the broader, previously unknown roles of ABCB7 in regulating the overall lymphocyte development and homeostasis. Methods The study utilized conditional knockout (cKO) mouse models (CD2-iCre and Mb1-Cre) to create a specific deficiency of ABCB7 in certain immune populations. To determine if the observed effects were due to ABCB7 deletion in myeloid cells, two further models (CD2i-Cre ABCB7 cKO/C/EBPα and CD2-iCre LSL TMT ABCB7 cKO) were developed. The effects of blocking the cytokine G-CSF were also examined to understand its role in the observed myelopoiesis. Results ABCB7 deficiency was found to dramatically impair erythropoiesis while simultaneously driving emergency myelopoiesis. We confirmed that the myeloid expansion was not a direct result of ABCB7 loss in myeloid cells. A significant autoimmune phenotype also developed, characterized by hyperactivated T cells and a sharp decrease in peripheral regulatory T cells (Tregs). This Treg instability was linked to decreased thymic expression of key stability genes (like CD28 and PD-1) and reduced O-GlcNAc modification in T cells, a process crucial for maintaining Treg lineage. Conclusion The findings establish ABCB7 as a pivotal regulator of hematopoietic balance, linking mitochondrial function to both myeloid expansion and Treg stability. Funding Source T32AI170478 Topic Categories Hematopoiesis and Immune System Development (HEM)

Background: Ketamine and esketamine are increasingly used for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), yet their hepatic safety profile with repeated or long-term use remains poorly characterized. Chronic recreational ketamine abuse has been linked to cholestasis and cholangiopathy, raising concern that therapeutic use may carry similar risks. No systematic data exist on liver enzyme trajectories or biliary injury at subanesthetic doses used for depression. Methods: This historical cohort study included adults with TRD receiving IV ketamine or intranasal (IN) esketamine at the Mayo Clinic Ketamine Clinic (2017 to 2024). Patients were eligible if they had at least one liver enzyme value (AST, ALT, ALP, or bilirubin) within 12 months before through 3 months after treatment. Longitudinal enzyme trajectories were modeled using generalized linear-mixed models with a Gamma distribution. Clinically significant elevation was defined as ≥2× the upper limit of normal (ULN). Wilcoxon signed-rank tests compared pretreatment and post-treatment paired values. Results: Of 104 enrolled patients, 74 had liver enzyme data available; 51 had post-initiation data. Median age was 51.5 years; 72% were female. Most (78.4%) received IV ketamine. No clinically meaningful changes in enzyme trajectories were observed. Three patients (5.9%) had elevations ≥2× ULN, all attributable to alcohol use, myalgias, or pre-existing hepatic steatosis rather than (es)ketamine. Conclusions: Subanesthetic IV ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) and FDA-approved IN esketamine doses were not associated with clinically significant liver enzyme elevations in this real-world TRD cohort. Current evidence does not support routine hepatic monitoring for asymptomatic patients, although prospective, larger-scale studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Abstract In response to a Cochrane review (published in April 2026) on the clinical trials of monoclonal antibodies targeting beta amyloid, this perspective outlines a number of critiques. The scientists, methodologists, subject‐matter experts, and clinicians on this perspective strongly recommend that the Cochrane editorial board consider a call for editorial response, correction of press materials, or commissioned reply to this review for four overarching reasons: (1) decision to pool antibodies that do and do not clear beta amyloid, (2) decision to include studies from a time when biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease were not available, (3) analytical and methodological limitations of the approach used, (4) conflating the distinct roles and methodological processes of systematic review and guideline methodologies, (5) contextualizing the present critique within the existing evidence‐synthesis literature, and (6) mechanistic inference beyond the scope of the presented analyses. Conclusions that may not accurately reflect treatment‐specific effects could cause significant downstream clinical and psychosocial harm to those currently undergoing treatment and their family members as well as individuals considering participation in Alzheimer's clinical trials.

PURPOSE Bone metastases (BM) occur in approximately 30% of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) and are associated with poor survival and symptomatic skeletal events (SSEs). Radium-223, an alpha-emitting bone-seeking radioisotope, and cabozantinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, have demonstrated activity in BM. RADICAL (Alliance A031801; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04071223 ) evaluated cabozantinib ± radium-223 in mRCC with BM. METHODS This phase II trial enrolled patients with mRCC of any histology with ≥1 BM. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to cabozantinib ± radium-223, stratified by osteoclast-targeted therapy (OTT), prior therapy, opioid use, and International mRCC Database Consortium (IMDC) risk. The primary end point was SSE-free survival (SSE-FS). Secondary end points included safety, objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival, and overall survival (OS). A target of 124 evaluable patients was planned, with a prespecified interim futility analysis at 50% of expected SSE-FS events; the trial would stop if the stratified hazard ratio (sHR) > 1.0. RESULTS The prespecified interim futility analysis was conducted after 90 patients were enrolled and crossed the futility boundary, leading to closure at 98 patients. The final analysis included all 98 patients. Median age was 63 years, 82.7% had clear cell histology, and 79.6% were using an OTT. IMDC risk was favorable (18.4%), intermediate (67.3%), and poor (14.3%). Median follow-up was 13.1 months. Median SSE-FS for cabozantinib with radium-223 versus cabozantinib was 16.7 versus 17.6 months (sHR, 1.46 [90% CI, 0.86 to 2.51]). Median OS was 28.3 versus 19.7 months (sHR, 1.40 [95% CI, 0.70 to 2.79]). ORR was 19.4% versus 25.0% ( P = .78). Grade ≥3 adverse events were similar across arms (69.6% v 75.5%). CONCLUSION Radium-223 did not improve SSE-FS when added to cabozantinib. The combination demonstrated a manageable safety profile.

Background Randomized trials have shown equivocal outcomes between a direct aspiration as first-pass technique (ADAPT) and stent retriever (SR) stroke thrombectomy, yet whether specific patient subgroups benefit differentially from one technique over the other remains unknown. Methods In this retrospective multicenter cohort study, patients with large vessel occlusion were included, and those who underwent ADAPT versus SR first-pass thrombectomy (either as standalone or combined with aspiration) were compared. The primary outcome was a composite of first-pass effect (FPE, modified Thrombolysis In Cerebral Infarction (mTICI) 2c or better with one attempt) with no symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH). A causal forest model was used to estimate the conditional average treatment effect (CATE) for each patient, with larger CATEs indicating that ADAPT is expected to be more advantageous. Patients were stratified by CATEs, and outcomes were compared between treatment groups. Results Among 6700 included patients, ADAPT (n=3695, 55%) was associated with a higher rate of FPE with no sICH (39.9% vs 26.9%; adjusted OR (aOR) 2.07, 95% CI 1.77 to 2.41, P<0.001). The causal forest identified significant treatment effect heterogeneity (interaction P<0.001), where ADAPT was more advantageous in more recent years and among patients with M1 occlusions presenting in earlier time windows. Low-CATE patients showed no statistically significant difference between techniques (aOR 0.91, 95% CI 0.57 to 1.45, P=0.70), while medium- and high-CATE patients demonstrated progressively larger ADAPT advantages (aOR 2.06, 95% CI 1.67 to 2.55, and aOR 2.99, 95% CI 2.24 to 3.98, respectively, both P<0.001). Conclusions ADAPT may be superior to SR for a majority of patients, particularly in recent years, and among patients with M1 occlusions presenting in earlier time windows.

BACKGROUND: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is a common and treatable cause of hypertension, yet data on the durability of medical treatment response beyond the first year are limited. Using the PA medical treatment outcomes framework, we evaluated long-term biochemical and clinical outcomes and factors associated with treatment response. METHODS: We conducted an international, multicenter, observational cohort study across 27 centers on 4 continents. Adults with PA treated with mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists and/or epithelial sodium channel blockers between 2016 and 2021 were included if follow-up data were available at ≥12 months. Biochemical and clinical responses were classified as complete, partial, or absent using PA medical treatment outcomes criteria. Ordinal logistic regression identified determinants of a favorable treatment response. RESULTS: The cohort included 1292 patients (47.5% women, mean age 52 years) with a median follow-up of 34 months (interquartile range, 21–51). At ≥12 months, 58.3% achieved a complete biochemical response, and 20.8% achieved a complete clinical response, with only 5% showing no response. Determinants of a favorable biochemical response included lower aldosterone and lateralization index, and higher renin and potassium levels at baseline. In those taking spironolactone, a higher daily dose was also associated with a favorable biochemical response. Determinants of a favorable clinical response included female sex, lower body mass index, shorter duration of hypertension, and absence of hypertension-mediated organ damage. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted medical therapy for PA can deliver sustained biochemical and clinical benefits. Early disease detection and adequate dose titration are highly actionable determinants of long-term treatment success.

BACKGROUND: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are widely used to assess cerebral small vessel disease but reflect late-stage injury. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) biomarkers have been proposed to capture earlier small vessel disease-related microstructural damage but their temporal progression relative to WMH and risk factors associated with progression remain unexplored. METHODS: We identified 2077 participants from the population-based cohort study of the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging in Olmsted County, Minnesota (aged 50–101 years) collected between 05/2005 and 09/2024 with longitudinal neuroimaging. Using multioutput nonlinear mixed-effects models in those with at least 2 fluid-attenuated inversion recovery-MRI and diffusion MRI scans, we characterized the temporal progression of WMH and 4 diffusion MRI biomarkers: fractional anisotropy of the genu of the corpus callosum, peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity, free water, and Arteriolosclerosis-score, which were automatically estimated. Models incorporated participant-specific time shifts, correlations between biomarkers, and effects of risk factors (sex, education, APOE ε4 status, cardiometabolic conditions). RESULTS: The study population had a mean age of 78 years, 47% were women, 28% were APOE ε4 allele carriers, and 80% were cognitively unimpaired, with an average follow-up of 5.2 years (SD, 4.3 years) for fluid-attenuated inversion recovery-MRI and 4.3 years (SD, 3.9 years) for diffusion MRI. Arteriolosclerosis-score, fractional anisotropy of the genu of the corpus callosum, free water, and peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity became abnormal in 50% of the study population 16, 12, 10, and 7 years before WMH become abnormal (half-width of CI <1 year), respectively. Global markers (Arteriolosclerosis-score, free water, peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity, and WMH) were correlated, indicating shared substrates of widespread white matter injury. Fractional anisotropy of the genu of the corpus callosum, a vascular risk microstructural injury biomarker, was weakly coupled with WMH and had an earlier but more linear worsening across adulthood. Cardiometabolic conditions predicted earlier worsening of all biomarkers. Female participants showed earlier WMH, fractional anisotropy of the genu of the corpus callosum, and Arteriolosclerosis-score abnormalities, whereas male participants exhibited earlier peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity and free water abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Diffusion MRI biomarkers were abnormal at least a decade before WMH become abnormal in the population, revealing a prolonged phase of early small vessel disease and highlighting their potential for small vessel disease prevention.

Abstract Background Breast cancer is etiologically heterogeneous, but which risk factors differ in their associations across tumor subtypes remains unclear. We conducted a large, pooled analysis to evaluate independent, dose-response associations between breast cancer risk factors and quantitative tumor features. Methods Analyses of 15,731 invasive breast cancers from 24 studies evaluated associations (p-trend) between reproductive and hormonal factors, body mass index (BMI), alcohol, smoking, and family history in relation to quantitative immunohistochemistry measures on tissue microarrays (ER, PR, HER2, KI67, TP53) and tumor grade. Analyses in a subset of 10 population-based studies estimated subtype-specific odds ratios (ORs) comparing cases to controls. A Bayesian False Discovery Probability (BFDP) &lt;0.2 was used to identify associations with strong statistical evidence. Results Nulliparity and later age at menopause were associated with higher ER-positivity (p-trend=0.021 and 0.001, respectively), with corresponding OR[ER+] (95% CI) = 1.49 (1.16-1.90) for nulliparous vs. parous and 1.07 (1.03-1.11) per 5 years. Current combined menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) use was associated with lower grade (p-trend&lt;0.001), with OR [grade1] = 3.37 (2.69-4.21) for current vs. never users. Higher BMI was associated with lower ER-positivity and higher grade in premenopausal women (p-trend&lt;0.001 and &lt;0.001), with OR[ER+] = 0.80 (0.74-0.87) and OR[grade1] = 0.75 (0.63-0.88) per 5 units, and with higher PR-positivity and higher grade in postmenopausal women (p-trend&lt;0.001 and &lt;0.001), with OR[PR+] = 1.08 (1.03-1.14) and OR[grade 3] = 1.10 (1.04-1.17) per 5 units. Conclusion This pooled analysis of 15,731 cases showed that nulliparity, age at menopause, MHT, and BMI have independent, dose-response associations with ER, PR, and grade, clarifying patterns of etiologic heterogeneity. Associations with HER2, KI67 and TP53, or other risk factors did not meet our threshold for strong evidence.

Objective Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)‐visible enlarged perivascular spaces (PVS) are markers of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) and aging, processes implicated in both neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular pathologies. However, longitudinal positron emission tomography (PET) studies examining PVS as a mechanism underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathophysiological progression are lacking. Our overall objective was to investigate the associations of baseline PVS burden with white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume, amyloid‐PET, and tau‐PET, both cross‐sectionally and longitudinally. Methods We examined 2,229 participants across the aging‐AD spectrum from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging (MCSA) and the Mayo Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) (mean age = 68.59 ± 12.70 and 48.94% women). PVS and WMH were quantified using a novel in‐house algorithm. Amyloid on [ 11 C]Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB)‐PET and tau on AV1451‐PET were measured. Cross‐sectional regional and global associations were examined using canonical correlation analysis (CCA). Longitudinal associations were examined using age‐ and sex‐adjusted linear mixed effect (LME) models with natural splines and subject‐wise 10‐fold cross‐validation. Result Three distinct associations were observed: (1) PVS in the basal ganglia (PVS‐BG) was associated with greater WMH volume both cross‐sectionally and longitudinally; (2) PVS‐BG covaried with higher PiB standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) cross‐sectionally, with longitudinal trajectory associations limited to amyloid‐negative individuals; (3) PVS in the centrum semiovale (PVS‐CSO) was not associated with amyloid or tau, but was associated with occipital WMH, a pattern characteristic of CAA. Interpretation Findings lend support for PVS‐BG as an early indicator of small vessel dysfunction and WMH pathogenesis. Individuals with higher PVS‐BG burden exhibited higher WMH burden and faster WMH progression, suggesting that PVS‐BG may identify individuals at increased risk of progressive SVD. Evidence linking PVS to downstream AD biomarker progression was weaker. Findings support the relevance of PVS‐CSO to CAA, suggesting that they may reflect changes occurring early in the disease process. ANN NEUROL 2026