{"title":"The Interplay of Aging and the Immune System.","authors":"Rajeev Aurora, Brittani Lubeck, Aarushi Choudhari","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Aging is a genetically regulated biological process. We review recent studies that highlight the role of the immune system, specifically chronic inflammation, in contributing to age-related decline and frailty. Of clinical importance, aging is a risk factor for multiple conditions. During childbearing years, women are largely protected from diseases associated with aging. However, menopause, which marks the loss of ovarian function, introduces a significant shift. An unexpected and remarkable discovery is that the decline in estrogen levels triggers chronic inflammation, which in turn promotes atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, and cognitive decline. Gaining a deeper understanding of the crosstalk between aging and the immune system is essential for advancing strategies that support healthy aging.</p>","PeriodicalId":74203,"journal":{"name":"Missouri medicine","volume":"123 2","pages":"116-123"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13160466/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147936124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wenzheng Guo, Tyson Lobb, Smrithi Beeram, Stephen T Ferris
{"title":"From the NOD Mouse to Patients: Type 1 Conventional Dendritic Cells as a Therapeutic Target in Type 1 Diabetes.","authors":"Wenzheng Guo, Tyson Lobb, Smrithi Beeram, Stephen T Ferris","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease characterized by CD8<sup>+</sup> T cell mediated destruction of pancreatic β cells, leading to insulin deficiency. The non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse is widely used as an experimental model for T1D because it closely mirrors the genetic and immune characteristics of the human disease. One key similarity between human T1D and the NOD mouse model is the associated HLA/MHC class II variant that alters the repertoire of CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells potentially leading to the initiation of disease. In addition, type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s) play an essential role in disease development through cross-presentation of β-cell antigens to CD8<sup>+</sup> and CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells. Notably, inhibiting this cross-presentation has been shown to prevent T1D in NOD mice. Therefore, as we strive to find strategies to inhibit T1D onset and progression, insights from NOD mice provide important guidance for understanding human T1D and for developing targeted immunotherapies.</p>","PeriodicalId":74203,"journal":{"name":"Missouri medicine","volume":"123 2","pages":"124-129"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13160472/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147936157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Allogenic Memory-Like Natural Killer Cell Therapy.","authors":"Alaa M Khalifa, Melissa M Berrien-Elliott","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Adoptive cell therapy has witnessed significant progress with the success of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells for treating cancer. However, their autologous nature limits scalability, and increases production time and manufacturing costs. Additionally, CAR-T cell administration can result in severe toxicities, including cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity. To address these issues, allogeneic, natural killer (NK) cells are being explored as an alternative. NK cells are cytotoxic lymphocytes that play a pivotal role in tumor surveillance and eradication. Unlike T cells, NK cells can identify and eliminate targets without MHC restriction or prior sensitization. Furthermore, NK cells exhibit enhanced responses after exposure to virus infections or cytokine activation (cytokine induced memory-like). Allogeneic NK cell therapies offer a promising alternative to autologous cell therapies, with reduced risk of graft-versus-host disease and rapid availability. This review summarizes the current landscape of allogeneic memory-like NK cell therapies, including clinical applications and challenges.</p>","PeriodicalId":74203,"journal":{"name":"Missouri medicine","volume":"123 2","pages":"136-141"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13160484/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147935991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From Personal Tragedy to Community Health Activist.","authors":"Jim Blaine","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":74203,"journal":{"name":"Missouri medicine","volume":"123 2","pages":"112-114"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13160471/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147936032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Areeba Moiz, Evan L O'Keefe, Michael L Main, James H O'Keefe
{"title":"How Ambient AI Could Bring the Human Touch Back to Medicine.","authors":"Areeba Moiz, Evan L O'Keefe, Michael L Main, James H O'Keefe","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The United States healthcare system is facing historic levels of clinician burnout and workforce shortage fueled in large part by the onerous demands inherent in electronic health records (EHR). Ambient artificial intelligence (AI) scribe technology, such as Nuance's Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX), has emerged as a tool to automate clinical documentation via transcribing and summarizing patient-clinician interactions. Studies demonstrate reductions in documentation time, after-hours work, and clinician-reported burnout, alongside improvements in efficiency, patient engagement, and patient and clinician satisfaction. Challenges remain, however, regarding data privacy, algorithmic bias, regulatory oversight, and clinical validation. In the future, ambient AI scribes will evolve beyond transcription, integrating prior patient records, and expand into allied health fields, including nursing. Ambient AI offers a transformative opportunity to strengthen healthcare delivery while preserving humanity in medicine by allowing clinicians to spend more time in face-to-face interactions and less time performing word processing tasks in the EHR.</p>","PeriodicalId":74203,"journal":{"name":"Missouri medicine","volume":"123 2","pages":"93-98"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13160460/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147936074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Steven Geiss, William Jacobus, Janette McVey, Shady Adib Keleh, Julie M Marshall
{"title":"Guided by Mentorship: Connections That Shape Medical Careers.","authors":"Steven Geiss, William Jacobus, Janette McVey, Shady Adib Keleh, Julie M Marshall","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":74203,"journal":{"name":"Missouri medicine","volume":"123 2","pages":"104-109"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13160464/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147936143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"<i>In Silico</i> Studies of the Hepatitis B Virus Polymerase: Efforts to Identify Novel Drug Binding Sites to Inhibit HBV Replication.","authors":"Razia Tajwar, Qilan Li, John E Tavis","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hepatitis B virus (HBV) replicates via reverse transcription, a reaction catalyzed by the HBV polymerase (P) protein. P is a multidomain protein consists of terminal protein, spacer, reverse transcriptase, and ribonuclease H domains. We used a predicted structural model of HBV P and computationally identified potential non-nucleos(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) sites. Out of the three potential NNRTI sites, we selected Site 3 for virtual high throughput screening of 837,000 virtual compounds. We selected 53 compounds considering their docking scores, ligand uniqueness, stability and rigidity for screening in HBV replication inhibition assay, but all of them failed to suppress the HBV reverse transcription. Molecular dynamic simulations showed that Site 3 binding pocket is not conformationally stable even after binding of the ligand. This study indicates that additional potential NNRTI sites should be explored, and that rigorous molecular dynamic simulations studies should be performed before virtual compound screening.</p>","PeriodicalId":74203,"journal":{"name":"Missouri medicine","volume":"123 2","pages":"149-155"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13160468/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147936057","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sleep Disturbances in PTSD: Insight from Clinical Studies.","authors":"Meet S Parikh, Rishi Sharma, Mahesh M Thakkar","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The review article on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and sleep provides a comprehensive overview of circadian genes in PTSD-related sleep disturbances, drawing insights from patient studies. PTSD is often accompanied by significant sleep-related disturbances, which can manifest as nightmares, disrupted sleep continuity, and alterations in sleep architecture, particularly changes in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep-regulation. Despite the well-documented symptomatic complaints of poor sleep among PTSD patients, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. This review underscores the need for a deeper understanding of how PTSD affects sleep patterns, including the potential role of specific sleep stages like REM sleep. By synthesizing findings from various studies, the review aims to clarify these relationships and explore potential mechanisms, ultimately informing better diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for managing sleep disturbances in PTSD patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":74203,"journal":{"name":"Missouri medicine","volume":"123 2","pages":"166-173"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13160470/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147936136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sexual Dream Frequency and Self-Reported Cardiovascular Morbidity: Findings From the SLEEP Study.","authors":"Emmanuel Eroume A Egom","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Dreams often evoke autonomic arousal, yet the relationship between dream patterns and cardiovascular health has rarely been examined.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this cross-sectional SLEEP Study, 301 adults recruited via the Prolific research platform completed an online questionnaire assessing sexual-dream frequency, post-dream symptoms, and self-reported cardiovascular history. Associations between sexual-dream frequency and self-reported cardiovascular outcomes were examined using chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression. The primary multivariable model evaluated self-reported heart issues after adjustment for age, smoking, depression, anxiety, and medication use.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The most commonly reported post-dream symptoms were increased heart rate (57%), sweating (35%), and anxiety (34%). Compared with rare sexual dreams (≤ once per year), sexual dreams occurring a few times per month were associated with higher odds of self-reported heart issues (OR 3.03, 95% CI 1.38-6.67; p = 0.005), and dreams occurring a few times per week were associated with still higher odds (OR 6.62, 95% CI 1.64-26.7; p = 0.004).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In this sample, sexual-dream frequency was associated with self-reported heart issues. Prospective studies using objective cardiovascular outcomes are needed before clinical application.</p>","PeriodicalId":74203,"journal":{"name":"Missouri medicine","volume":"123 2","pages":"174-180"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13160473/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147936097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}