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While many studies of day case laparoscopic cholecystectomy focus on improving day case rates, the outcomes of those patients who fail day case discharge and have a prolonged length of stay (>48 hours) are less well documented. This case-controlled study investigates the factors responsible for prolonged admission following planned day-case laparoscopic cholecystectomy in a District Hospital performing approximately 250 laparoscopic cholecystectomies per year with a background day-case rate of 35%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inherited, age-related, and acute retinal diseases are often exacerbated by an aberrant or excessive activity of the complement system. Consequently, cells not directly affected by an acute event or genetic variants may degenerate, resulting in enhanced visual impairment. The therapeutic potential of supplementation of complement factor H (FH), a key regulator of the complement cascade, is therefore particularly promising in the context of retinal diseases caused by complement activation. In this study, we engineered adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) containing sequences of two truncated human FH variants. The expression of these variants was regulated by the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) promoter, which is selectively active in gliotic Müller cells. Both FH variants consisted of FH domains 19-20, which were connected to domains 1-4 and 1-7, respectively, by a polyglycine linker. These AAVs were intravitreally injected following ischemic injury of C57BL/6J mouse retinas. We observed transgene expression in gliotic Müller cells and to some extent in astrocytes. The expression correlated directly with damage severity. Interventions resulted in decreased complement activation, accelerated normalization of microglia activity and morphological improvements. Reduced levels of C3 transcripts and C3d protein in conjunction with higher transcript levels of inhibitory regulators like Cfi and Cfh, hinted at attenuated complement activity. This study demonstrates the great potential of complement regulatory gene addition therapy. With further in vivo testing it could be applied to treat a wide range of retinal diseases where no causative therapies are available., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The cellular events that dictate the initiation of the complement pathway in ocular degeneration, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is poorly understood. Using gene expression analysis (single cell and bulk), mass spectrometry, and immunohistochemistry, we dissected the role of multiple retinal and choroidal cell types in determining the complement homeostasis. Our scRNA-seq data show that the cellular response to early AMD is more robust in the choroid, particularly in fibroblasts, pericytes and endothelial cells. In late AMD, complement changes were more prominent in the retina especially with the expression of the classical pathway initiators. Notably, we found a spatial preference for these differences. Overall, this study provides insights into the heterogeneity of cellular responses for complement expression and the cooperation of neighboring cells to complete the pathway in healthy and AMD eyes. Further, our findings provide new cellular targets for therapies directed at complement., Competing Interests: CC is a consultant for Apellis. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be constructed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zauhar, Biber, Jabri, Kim, Hu, Kaplan, Pfaller, Schäfer, Enzmann, Schlötzer-Schrehardt, Straub, Hauck, Gamlin, McFerrin, Messinger, Strang, Curcio, Dana, Pauly, Grosche, Li and Stambolian.)

Stargardt macular degeneration is an inherited retinal disease caused by mutations in the ATP-binding cassette subfamily A member 4 (ABCA4) gene. Here, we characterized the complement expression profile in ABCA4 -/- retinae and aligned these findings with morphological markers of retinal degeneration. We found an enhanced retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) autofluorescence, cell loss in the inner retina of ABCA4 -/- mice and demonstrated age-related differences in complement expression in various retinal cell types irrespective of the genotype. However, 24-week-old ABCA4 -/- mice expressed more c3 in the RPE and fewer cfi transcripts in the microglia compared to controls. At the protein level, the decrease of complement inhibitors (complement factor I, CFI) in retinae, as well as an increased C3b/C3 ratio in the RPE/choroid and retinae of ABCA4 -/- , mice was confirmed. We showed a corresponding increase of the C3d/C3 ratio in the serum of ABCA4 -/- mice, while no changes were observed for CFI. Our findings suggest an overactive complement cascade in the ABCA4 -/- retinae that possibly contributes to pathological alterations, including microglial activation and neurodegeneration. Overall, this underpins the importance of well-balanced complement homeostasis to maintain retinal integrity.

Complement dysregulation is a feature of many retinal diseases, yet mechanistic understanding at the cellular level is limited. Given this knowledge gap about which retinal cells express complement, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing on ∼92,000 mouse retinal cells and validated our results in five major purified retinal cell types. We found evidence for a distributed cell-type-specific complement expression across 11 cell types. Notably, Müller cells are the major contributor of complement activators c1s, c3, c4, and cfb. Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) mainly expresses cfh and the terminal complement components, whereas cfi and cfp transcripts are most abundant in neurons. Aging enhances c1s, cfb, cfp, and cfi expression, while cfh expression decreases. Transient retinal ischemia increases complement expression in microglia, Müller cells, and RPE. In summary, we report a unique complement expression signature for murine retinal cell types suggesting a well-orchestrated regulation of local complement expression in the retinal microenvironment., (Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Liver transplantation (LT) is a successful treatment for patients with liver failure. However, organ shortage results in over 11% of patients losing their chance of a transplant attributed to liver decompensation (LD) and death. Ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) following conventional cold storage (CS) is a major cause of injury leading to graft loss after LT. Normothermic machine perfusion (NMP), a method of organ preservation, provides oxygen and nutrition during preservation and allows aerobic metabolism. NMP has recently been shown to enable improved organ utilization and posttransplant outcomes following a phase I and a phase III randomized trial. The aim of the present study is to assess the impact of NMP on reducing IRI and to define the underlying mechanisms. We transplanted and compared 12 NMP with 27 CS-preserved livers by performing gene microarray, immunoprofiling of hepatic lymphocytes, and immunochemistry staining of liver tissues for assessing necrosis, platelet deposition, and neutrophil infiltration, and the status of steatosis after NMP or CS prereperfusion and postreperfusion. Recipients receiving NMP grafts showed significantly lower peak aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels than those receiving CS grafts. NMP altered gene-expression profiles of liver tissue from proinflammation to prohealing and regeneration. NMP also reduced the number of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and interleukin (IL)-17-producing T cells and enlarged the CD4 pos CD25 high CD127 neg FOXP3 pos regulatory T cell (Treg) pool. NMP liver tissues showed less necrosis and apoptosis in the parenchyma and fewer neutrophil infiltration compared to CS liver tissues. Conclusion: Reduced IRI in NMP recipients was the consequence of the combination of inhibiting inflammation and promoting graft regeneration., (© 2018 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.)

Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the bladder (LELCB) is a rare variant of urothelial carcinoma first described by Zukerberg in 1991 and confirmed as a variant of urothelial carcinoma by the WHO classification of tumors of the urinary system. LELCB is characterized by a marked infiltration of lymphocytes in the area involved by the tumor which may coexist with the conventional urothelial carcinoma. LELCB are classified according to the percentage of lymphoepithelioma component within the tumor with the prognosis depending on the percentage. We report a new case of pure LELCB occurring in 63-year-old woman presenting with hematuria. Ultrasonography and cystoscopy revealed a large tumor on the left lateral wall of the bladder. Transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT) was performed. Pathological and immunohistochemical analysis revealed a high-grade muscle-invasive LELCB (G3pT2). The patient underwent an adjuvant systemic chemotherapy with no recurrence after a ten-month follow-up. To our knowledge, this is the second Moroccan case of LELCB reported in the English literature. Although its rare occurrence prognosis and ideal therapeutic management of LELCB have not been clearly established yet, literature findings encourage the adoption of a conservative approach in treatment of LELCB.