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Access status: Open Access ,
Factors associated with long-term deterioration in back pain after surgical treatment for low-grade lumbar spondylolisthesis at 2 and 5 years: an evaluation from the Quality Outcomes Database spondylolisthesis data.
(Journal of neurosurgery. Spine, 2025-10) Croft, Andrew J; Glassman, Steven D; Adams, Shawn W; Djurasovic, Mladen; Chan, Andrew K; Bisson, Erica F; Bydon, Mohamad; Foley, Kevin T; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Potts, Eric A; Coric, Domagoj; Knightly, John J; Park, Paul; Wang, Michael Y; Fu, Kai-Ming; Slotkin, Jonathan R; Asher, Anthony L; Virk, Michael S; Chou, Dean; Haid, Regis W; Mummaneni, Praveen V; Carreon, Leah Y
Symptomatic, low-grade spondylolisthesis is usually well treated by surgical intervention. While some patients obtain less than optimal improvement, low-grade spondylolisthesis deteriorates in a few patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate what factors predict deterioration in back pain scores after surgical treatment of low-grade spondylolisthesis. The Quality Outcomes Database (QOD) was queried for patients who underwent single-level surgery for management of grade 1 spondylolisthesis, including decompression with fusion and decompression alone. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were collected at baseline and then 3 months, 1 year, 2 years, and 5 years postoperatively, including numeric rating scale (NRS) back and leg pain, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and EuroQol-5D scores. Patients were categorized based on NRS back pain scores compared to baseline as ≥ 0 (improved or no worse) versus < 0 (worsened). These two groups were compared with respect to factors that predicted postoperative deterioration in NRS back pain scores. Of 608 cases enrolled, 369 met inclusion criteria for the 24-month cohort. Three hundred twenty-four patients had improved or stable back pain scores (of whom 79% underwent fusion), while 45 reported worse back pain at 24 months (of whom 49% underwent fusion). In the 60-month cohort (n = 429), 376 had improved or stable back pain scores (of whom 81% underwent fusion), while 53 reported worse back pain (of whom 49% underwent fusion). On multivariate analysis, lower baseline NRS back pain scores were associated with back pain deterioration at both time points. Less ODI improvement at 3 months postoperatively and persistent leg pain at 12 months postoperatively were also associated with ultimate deterioration in back pain scores. Most patients (88%) improved after surgery while deterioration was only reported in a few patients (12%). Patients with better back pain scores at baseline were more likely to report deterioration in back pain scores at 2 and 5 years postoperatively. There also appeared to be a trend toward deterioration in those who underwent decompression alone without fusion. These findings highlight the risks of operating on patients with less severe symptoms, as well as the need to improve the understanding of which patients would benefit from fusion. Persistent leg pain and less ODI improvement were also associated with deterioration in back pain scores.
Access status: Open Access ,
Capitalizing on transcriptome profiling to optimize and identify targets for promoting early murine folliculogenesis in vitro
(Scientific Reports) Jones, Andrea; Bernabé, Beatriz Peñalver; Padmanabhan, Vasantha; Li, Jun; Shikanov, Ariella
AbstractIn vitro ovarian follicle culture is an active area of research towards providing fertility options for survivors of childhood cancer. Late-stage murine follicles (multilayer secondary and onwards) can be cultured successfully to maturity to obtain a meiotically competent oocyte for fertilization, but primordial and primary follicles usually die in culture because many key components of early follicle development are still unknown and difficult to mimic in vitro. To engineer a biomimetic three-dimensional culture system with high efficacy and reproducibility for the clinic, detailed mechanisms of early folliculogenesis must be uncovered. Previous studies have shown that primary murine follicles co-cultured in groups, in contrast to single follicles cultured in isolation, can reach preovulatory size and produce competent oocytes, but the factors accounting for the synergy of follicle co-culture are still unknown. To probe the underlying mechanisms of successful follicle co-culture, we conducted a time-course experiment for murine follicles encapsulated in 0.3% alginate hydrogels and compared between two conditions: groups of 5 (5X) versus groups of 10 (10X). For every 2 days during the course of 12 days, follicles were dissociated and somatic cells were isolated for microarray-based gene expression analysis (n = 380 follicles for 5X and n = 430 follicles for 10X). Gene activities in follicles co-cultured in larger groups (10X) had a distinct transcriptomic profile of key genes and pathways such as prolactin signaling and angiogenesis-related genes when compared to cells from follicles co-cultured in the smaller cohort (5X). To benchmark the results for follicles grown in culture, we compared our microarray data to data from murine follicles freshly isolated from the ovary at comparable stages of development previously published by Bernabé et al. Comparison of these datasets identified similarities and differences between folliculogenesis in the native microenvironment and the engineered in vitro system. A more detailed understanding of follicle growth in vitro will not only allow for better culture methods but also advance the field towards providing improved fertility options for survivors of childhood cancer.
Access status: Open Access ,
Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation and Novel Bioengineering Approaches for Fertility Preservation
(Current Breast Cancer Reports, 2020-12) Jones, Andrea SK; Shikanov, Ariella
Access status: Open Access ,
Follicle development as an orchestrated signaling network in a 3D organoid
(Journal of Biological Engineering, 2019-12) Jones, Andrea SK; Shikanov, Ariella
Access status: Open Access ,
Cellular atlas of the human ovary using morphologically guided spatial transcriptomics and single-cell sequencing
(Science Advances, 2024-04-05) Jones, Andrea SK; Hannum, D Ford; Machlin, Jordan H; Tan, Ansen; Ma, Qianyi; Ulrich, Nicole D; Shen, Yu-chi; Ciarelli, Maria; Padmanabhan, Vasantha; Marsh, Erica E; Hammoud, Sue; Li, Jun Z; Shikanov, Ariella
The reproductive and endocrine functions of the ovary involve spatially defined interactions among specialized cell populations. Despite the ovary’s importance in fertility and endocrine health, functional attributes of ovarian cells are largely uncharacterized. Here, we profiled >18,000 genes in 257 regions from the ovaries of two premenopausal donors to examine the functional units in the ovary. We also generated single-cell RNA sequencing data for 21,198 cells from three additional donors and identified four major cell types and four immune cell subtypes. Custom selection of sampling areas revealed distinct gene activities for oocytes, theca, and granulosa cells. These data contributed panels of oocyte-, theca-, and granulosa-specific genes, thus expanding the knowledge of molecular programs driving follicle development. Serial samples around oocytes and across the cortex and medulla uncovered previously unappreciated variation of hormone and extracellular matrix remodeling activities. This combined spatial and single-cell atlas serves as a resource for future studies of rare cells and pathological states in the ovary.