Blythe Durbin-Johnson

University of California, Davis | UCD · Department of Public Health Sciences

Introduction: There is controversy surrounding the association between caudal block and complication rates after hypospadias repair. Conflicting results have been reported mostly from single-center, low volume studies and those that did not include relevant variables. Objectives: We hypothesized that caudal block is not associated with increased...

Grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) is a recently identified virus. Previous research indicates primarily a substantial impact on berry ripening in all varieties studied. The current study analyzed grapes’ primary and secondary metabolism across grapevine genotypes and seasons to reveal both conserved and variable impacts to GRBV infection. Vitis vin...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an early onset, developmental disorder whose genetic cause is heterogeneous and complex. In total, 70% of ASD cases are due to an unknown etiology. Among the monogenic causes of ASD, fragile X syndrome (FXS) accounts for 2–4% of ASD cases, and 60% of individuals with FXS present with ASD. Epigenetic changes, specif...

Background Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed mental illnesses worldwide, with a higher prevalence in women than men. Although currently available pharmacological therapeutics help many individuals, they are not effective for most. Animal models have been important for the discovery of molecular alterations in str...

In this study, the rates of reoperation for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in women who underwent a mid-urethral sling (MUS) with or without concurrent colporrhaphy were evaluated. An academic faculty practice consortium database was used to identify a cohort of patients treated surgically for SUI with or without...

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a regressive neurodevelopmental disorder in girls, characterized by multisystem complications including gut dysbiosis and altered metabolism. While RTT is known to be caused by mutations in the X-linked gene MECP2 , the intermediate molecular pathways of progressive disease phenotypes are unknown. Mecp2 deficient rodents used...

Study Design Retrospective Comparative Study, Level III. Objective In patients with scoliosis >90°, cranio-femoral traction (CFT) has been shown to obtain comparable curve correction with decreased operative time and blood loss. Routine intraoperative CFT use in the treatment of AIS <90° has not been established definitively. This study investigat...

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability. FXS is an X-linked, neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a CGG trinucleotide repeat expansion in the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of the Fragile X Mental Retardation gene, FMR1. Greater than 200 CGG repeats results in epigenetic silencing of the gene leading to...

Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) is a late adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder that affects movement and cognition in male and female carriers of a premutation allele (55–200 CGG repeats; PM) in the fragile X mental retardation ( FMR1 ) gene. It is currently unknown how the observed brain changes are associated with metabolic...

BACKGROUND T cells control viral infection and promote vaccine durability and in COVID-19 associate with mild disease. We investigated whether prior Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) or Tetanus-Diptheria-Pertussis (Tdap) vaccination elicit cross-reactive T cells that mitigate COVID-19. METHODS Antigen presenting cells (APC) loaded ex vivo with SARS-CoV-...

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients refractory to induction therapy or relapsed within 1 year have poor outcomes. Autocrine production of hepatocyte growth factor by myeloid blasts drives leukemogenesis in preclinical models. A phase Ib trial evaluated ficlatuzumab, a first-in-class anti-HGF antibody, in combination with cytarabine in this high-r...

Biomolecular sex estimation promises to fill a major gap in the bioarchaeological record by providing estimates of biological sex for skeletal remains with degraded or ambiguous osteological sex-specific markers. Genomic and proteomic sex estimation, like all analytical methods, have limitations and require frameworks to address the problems of low...

T cells are critical for control of viral infection and effective vaccination. We investigated whether prior Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) or Tetanus-Diphtheria-pertussis (Tdap) vaccination elicit cross-reactive T cells that mitigate COVID-19. Using co-cultures of antigen presenting cells (APC) loaded with antigens and autologous T cells, we found a...

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a severe regressive neurodevelopmental disorder in girls, characterized by multisystem complications including gut dysbiosis and altered metabolism. While RTT is known to be caused by mutations in the X-linked gene MECP2 , the intermediate molecular pathways of progressive disease phenotypes are unknown. Mecp2 knockout rodent...

Over the last decade oxylipins have become more recognized for their involvement in several diseases. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen are known to inhibit cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes, but how NSAIDs affect oxylipins, in addition to COX products, in animal tissues is not well understood. Oxylipins in livers from mal...

Background: Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome is a neurodegenerative disease of late onset developed by carriers of the premutation in the fragile x mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene. Pathological features of neurodegeneration in fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome include toxic levels of FMR1 mRNA, ubiquitin-positive intranuclear...

Background: While the true incidence of secondary hypospadias repair is unknown, the current literature cites a 3.3 to 6.7% reoperation rate after distal hypospadias repair and an association with age. We hypothesized that secondary surgery rates are associated with patient factors and have been underreported due to limited follow up. Methods: W...

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) declines are widespread and may be attributed, at least in part, to warming river temperatures. Water temperatures in the Yukon River and tributaries often exceed 18°C, a threshold commonly associated with heat stress and elevated mortality in Pacific salmon. Untangling the complex web of direct and indirec...

Fragile X associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) is a late adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder that affects movement and cognition in male and female carriers of a premutation allele of 55–200 CGG repeats in the Fragile X mental retardation (FMR1) gene. It is currently unknown if and when an individual carrier of a premutation allele will dev...

Recent advances in neurobiology have provided several molecular entrees for targeted treatments for Fragile X syndrome (FXS). However, the efficacy of these treatments has been demonstrated mainly in animal models and has not been consistently predictive of targeted drugs’ response in the preponderance of human clinical trials. Because of the heter...

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Sertraline is one among several selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that exhibited improvement of language development in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); however, the molecular mechanism has not been elucidated. A double blind, randomized, 6-month, placebo-controlled, clinical trial of low-dose sertraline in children ages (3–6 years) wi...

Objectives To evaluate an alternative to clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) for individuals with neurogenic bladder for its effects on independence, privacy and convenience. This prospective cohort study provides an initial assessment of quality of life, safety and efficacy of closed diurnal indwelling catheterization (CDIC). Methods Individ...

Inorganic arsenic oxides have been identified as carcinogens in several human tissues, including epidermis. Due to the chemical similarity between trivalent inorganic arsenic (arsenite) and antimony (antimonite), we hypothesized that common intracellular targets lead to similarities in cellular responses. Indeed, transcriptional and proteomic profi...

Introduction: Diagnostic laparoscopy is recommended for boys with non-palpable testis (NPT) by American and European guidelines with the decision to pursue inguinal exploration based upon testicular vessel appearance. We hypothesized that management decisions are not consistent with the guidelines, and that assessment of vessels is subjective. Ma...

Proteins are an intrinsic part of biological evidence. In the last two decades mass spectrometry has revolutionized the analysis of proteins, allowing for thousands of peptides to be detected in a single analysis, including peptides containing single amino acid polymorphisms. Identification of these genetically variant peptides (GVP) allows for inf...

Numerous genetic conditions give rise to a scaly skin phenotype as a result of impaired barrier function. Present work investigates the degree to which the departure from normal of ichthyosis corneocytes on the skin surface depends upon the basic defect as judged by proteomic profiling. Analyzing autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis arising fr...

Importance Complications that arise after treatment of mandible fractures can result in significant morbidity. Identifying modifiable risk factors associated with these complications is valuable in guiding clinical practice for improved patient outcomes. Objective To describe the risk factors associated with complications in patients undergoing tr...

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance (i.e. vision, comfort and fit) of spherical and front-surface toric scleral lenses in subjects with regular, healthy corneas. Methods: Scleral lenses were fitin the eyes (n = 16) of healthy subjects (n = 9) with regular corneas, absent of pathology, and studied using an observati...

Amelogenin genes are located on both X and Y sex chromosomes in humans and are a major focus of DNA-based sex estimation methods. Amelogenin proteins, AMELX_HUMAN and AMELY_HUMAN, are expressed in the tooth organ and play a major role in mineralization of enamel, the most taphonomically resistant, archaeologically persistent human tissue. We descri...

Objective: There are limited long-term data that has examined postoperative quality-of-life measures following placement of midurethral sling (MUS) for stress urinary incontinence (SUI). The SEAPI incontinence questionnaire includes 5 data points that rate severity of specific urinary symptoms. Our aim was to describe changes in SEAPI questionnair...

Objective: We examined the association of urine complement proteins with progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or death in people with type 2 diabetes and proteinuric diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Research design and methods: Using targeted mass spectrometry, we quantified urinary abundance of 12 complement proteins in a predominantly M...

Approximately 30–40% of male and 8–16% of female carriers of the Fragile X premutation will develop a neurodegenerative movement disorder characterized by intentional tremor, gait ataxia, autonomic dysfunction, cognitive decline, and Parkinsonism during their lifetime. At the molecular level, premutation carriers have increased expression levels of...

We performed a retrospective study to compare clinical outcomes among 51 consecutively presenting patients-38 men and 13 women, aged 46 to 74 years (median: 57)-with locally advanced human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative oropharyngeal cancer who were treated with either primary surgery followed by postoperative radiotherapy (S/RT group; n = 22) or de...

BACKGROUND CONTEXT Effective postoperative pain management has been associated with shorter hospital stays, reduced rates of hospital readmissions due to pain, and decreased cost of care. Preoperative multimodal analgesia regimens have been shown to decrease postoperative subjective pain measurements and narcotic consumption in patients undergoing...

In a scenario involving a nuclear detonation during war or a terrorist attack, acute radiation exposure combined with thermal and blast effects results in severe skin injury. Although the cutaneous injury in such a scenario may not be lethal, it may lead to inflammation, delayed wound healing and loss of the skin barrier, resulting in an increased...

Introduction: Peyronie's disease (PD) and Dupuytren contractures (DC) are often comorbid and are believed to have a similar underlying pathophysiologic mechanism. Aim: To investigate the prevalence of PD-like symptoms (PDLS) in men with DC. Methods: From October 2013 to December 2016, men who were seen and evaluated for DC were offered the opp...

The prevalence of the fragile X premutation (55–200 CGG repeats) among the general population is relatively high, but there remains a lack of clear understanding of the links between molecular biomarkers and clinical outcomes. In this study we investigated the correlations between molecular measures (CGG repeat size, FMR1 mRNA, FMRP expression leve...

Purpose Suprapubic catheterization (SPC) is a fundamental skill for urology residents and trainees. Ultrasound guidance for this procedure is effective for minimizing complications, and the British Association of Urological Surgeons guideline recommends use of ultrasound for SPC whenever possible. We developed a novel, cost-effective, and sonograph...

Objectives: Several neurotransmitters involved in brain development are altered in fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common monogenic cause of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Serotonin plays a vital role in synaptogenesis and postnatal brain development. Deficits in serotonin synthesis and abnormal neurogenesis were shown in young children with a...

Objective: To evaluate the patterns of impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) on renal function across the initial year following treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) with radical cystectomy (RC). Methods: We reviewed the charts of 241 patients who underwent RC for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder between 2003-14 at our institut...

Introduction: Patient age and hospital volume have been shown to affect perioperative outcomes after pediatric pyeloplasty. However, there are few multicenter studies that focus on outcomes at teaching hospitals, where many of the operations are performed. Objective: The goal was to determine if surgical approach, age, case volume, or other fact...

Purpose: Both pediatric urologists and pediatric surgeons perform hernia repairs, hydrocelectomies and orchiopexies. We hypothesized that surgeons perform more incarcerated and female hernia repairs while urologists perform more orchiopexies and hydrocelectomies. Methods: The Vizient-AAMC Faculty Practice Solutions Center® database was queried f...

Introduction We identify the impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy before open radical cystectomy on perioperative outcomes and identify actionable areas for improvement. Methods The impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on perioperative outcomes after radical cystectomy for muscle invasive bladder cancer from 2003 to 2014 was assessed using an institut...

Purpose: To study the prevalence and effect of smoking on cervical cancer recurrence and mortality in patients undergoing definitive treatment with radiation. Materials and methods: Between July 2007 and September 2013, 96 locally advanced cervical cancer patients received definitive radiation or chemoradiation followed by brachytherapy. Smoking...

Aims: There is a lack of data describing the current state of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) procedures in academic centers. Urologists, gynecologists, and urogynecologists perform these operations, but the relative volume each group accounts for is unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the distribution of cases in academic centers...

To examine the clinical outcomes of scleral lenses for visual rehabilitation after penetrating keratoplasty (PK). A retrospective review was conducted for 34 patients (48 eyes) who had a history of prior PK and were fit with scleral lenses between October 2009 and December 2013 at the UC Davis Eye Center. The most common initial indication for PK w...

Controversy exists on the necessity for and timing of genitoplasty in girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Our knowledge of surgical preferences is limited to retrospective series from single institutions and physician surveys, which suggest a high rate of early reconstruction. We evaluated current surgical treatment for congenital adrenal hy...

The impact of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) usage in level III-IV tumor thrombectomy on surgical and oncologic outcomes is unknown. We sought to determine the impact of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) on overall and cancer specific survival, as well as surgical complication rates, and immediate outcomes in patients undergoing nephrectomy and level III-...

To calculate dose delivered to the lumbosacral plexus (LSP) with cervical brachytherapy using 3-dimensional imaging, and to compare this with the position of the tandem in the pelvis using bony landmarks. We also report long-term LSP toxicity outcomes. Treatment planning images from 55 patients treated with tandem and ring brachytherapy from Octobe...

Objectives/HypothesisTo evaluate the prevalence and unmet need for cleft lip-cleft palate reconstructive surgery by using incidence. Our hypotheses were that the age of presentation to screening clinics will decrease between 2006 and 2012, and the geospatial distribution of cases will expand to a more rural catchment area. Study DesignLongitudinal...

The literature on treatment of meatal stenosis is limited to single center series. Controversy exists regarding choice of meatotomy versus meatoplasty and need for general anesthesia. Our objective was to analyze treatment efficacy, current practice patterns and utilization of anesthesia. We hypothesized that meatoplasty would be associated with a...

Background Over 40% of male and ∼16% of female carriers of a premutation FMR1 allele (55–200 CGG repeats) will develop fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome, an adult onset neurodegenerative disorder, while about 20% of female carriers will develop fragile X-associated primary ovarian insufficiency. Marked elevation in FMR1 mRNA transcript le...

Expansions of more than 200 CGG repeats (full mutation) in the FMR1 gene give rise to fragile X syndrome (FXS) through a process that generally involves hypermethylation of the FMR1 promoter region and gene silencing, resulting in absence of expression of the encoded protein, FMRP. However, mosaicism with alleles differing in size and extent of met...

Background: Known factors affecting the management of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) include reflux grade, infection frequency, age and gender. We hypothesized that provider preference is highly associated with management. Methods: Utilizing the national billing database, Faculty Practice Solutions Center, a multivariable logistic regression model,...

Hair from different individuals can be distinguished by physical properties. Although some data exist on other species, examination of the individual molecular differences within the human hair shaft has not been thoroughly investigated. Shotgun proteomic analysis revealed considerable variation in profile among samples from Caucasian, African-Amer...

Objectives/hypothesis: The objective of this study was to determine if there are differences in decannulation rates and duration of cannulation between pediatric patients undergoing tracheotomy for different indications. Study design: Retrospective chart review. Methods: Medical records for pediatric patients (age 0-18 years) undergoing trache...

Deletion of the 1.5-3 Mb region of chromosome 22 at locus 11.2 gives rise to the chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS), also known as DiGeorge and Velocardiofacial Syndromes. It is the most common micro-deletion disorder in humans and one of the most common multiple malformation syndromes. The syndrome is characterized by a broad phenotype...

The presence of AGG interruptions in the CGG repeat locus of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene decreases the instability of the allele during transmission from parent to child, and decreases the risk of expansion of a premutation allele to a full mutation allele (the predominant cause of fragile X syndrome) during maternal transmission...

Purpose The goal of this study was to evaluate the utilization and efficacy of intraoperative urine diversion with ureteral stent or nephrostomy tube (NT) during pediatric pyeloplasty. Materials and Methods The FPSC national billing database was queried to identify all pediatric pyeloplasties performed from 2009 to 2012. Patient variables, surgica...

Unlabelled: Marked elevations of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) are not generally seen in patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). The objective of this study was to examine the clinical and laboratory characteristics of a large cohort of patients with HFpEF and markedly elevated BNP. A retrospective examination of 42...

Greater than 200 CGG repeats in the 5'UTR of the FMR1 gene lead to epigenetic silencing and lack of the FMR1 protein, causing fragile X Syndrome. Individual carriers of a premutation (PM) allele with 55-200 CGG repeats are typically unmethylated and can present with clinical features defined as FMR1-associated conditions. Blood samples from 17 male...

Recent data suggest the use of carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 as a potential marker in the early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) when used in the appropriate clinical setting. Here, we assess the utility of CA19-9 in PDAC detection in a select population of pancreatic endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) referrals. Retrospective review...