👤 Susan Halabi

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a leading cause of vascular disease worldwide. Atherosclerosis is characterized by the accumulation of lipids and oxidized lipids on the blood vessel walls. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common display of atherosclerotic CVD. We investigated the effects of the bioactive lipids as lyso-diacylglyceryltrimethylhomoserine (lyso-DGTS (20,5,0)) and its derivative oleoyl-N-trimethyl homoserine amide (oleoyl amide-MHS) on the properties and functionality of HDL and paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activities in the serum of individuals who exhibited arterial plaque as observed by coronary CT angiography (CCTA). The study included two independent groups comprising 40 patients who had undergone arterial CCTA scans at Ziv Medical Center for various medical indications. The CAD group included 20 patients with coronary artery plaques with luminal stenosis of more than 50 % in a major coronary vessel. The control group consisted of 20 healthy patients (patients without artery plaques). Serum samples from CAD patients exhibited lower serum PON1 and cholesterol efflux activities and higher pro-inflammatory than the control group. HDL isolated from CAD patients contains elevated levels of oxidizing lipids (specifically lyso- phosphatidyl ethanolamines and lyso-phosphocholines(compared to the control. However, incubation of the CAD patients' serum with lyso-DGTS and oleoyl amide-MHS restored the antiatherogenic activities of HDL. The lipids increased serum PON1 activities, enhanced apoB-depleted serum cholesterol-efflux activity, and elevated the serum's anti-inflammatory properties. The results of the present study suggest the potential of the bioactive lipids lyso-DGTS and oleoyl amide-MHS to attenuate atherosclerosis via the improvement of dysfunctional HDL properties and PON1 activities. Further, in-vivo experiments are needed to assess the athero-protective effect of the lipids. Show less

The Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry Study is a phase II basket trial evaluating the antitumor activity of commercially available targeted agents in patients with advanced cancer and genomic alterations known to be drug targets. Results from cohorts of patients with metastatic breast cancer (BC) with Eligible patients had measurable disease, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0-2, adequate organ function, and no standard treatment options. Simon's two-stage design was used with a primary end point of disease control (DC), defined as objective response (OR) or stable disease of at least 16 weeks duration (SD16+) according to RECIST v1.1. Secondary end points included OR, progression-free survival, overall survival, duration of response, duration of stable disease, and safety. Forty patients with BC with Sunitinib did not meet prespecified criteria to declare a signal of antitumor activity in patients with BC with either Show less