Geometric morphometrics of face profile across horse breeds and within Arabian horses

Horse traits under selection are largely quantitative and affected by multiple genes. Horse face shape is an example of a continuous trait, which due to the reliance on observational assessments, is classified into; "dished", "straight", and "roman-nosed". This categorization is often inadequate to convey the full spectrum of the face shape variation especially for genetic studies. The first objective of the current study was to use geometric morphometric methods to quantitatively phenotype face shapes and examine its variation across horse breeds. The second objective was to analyze the face shape variation within Arabian horses since face shape is (1) favored, valued, and genetically selected in certain lineages (e.g. Egyptian), (2) is evaluated by registries and scored in shows, and (3) in its extreme forms pose health concerns. We digitized landmarks on lateral profile photos, particularly on the dorsal curvature of the rostrum, and subjected these landmarks to Generalized Procrustes Analysis to generate independent shape and size variables which were statistically compared across breeds and within Arabians. Horse breeds varied in nasal curvature, ranging from extremely concave to extremely convex, with over 70 % of horse breeds exhibiting intermediate concavity (i.e., straight profile). Interestingly, Arabian horses possessed the highest diversity in face profile and individuals clustered into three distinct shape sub-groups (one dished and two straight profile clusters). Our quantitative phenotyping method can be the basis of future genetic studies of facial profile within Arabian lineages as a favored traits and potentially manage its extreme forms as a likely genetic disease.

Clinical and histologic factors associated with discordance between steatosis grade derived from histology vs. MRI-PDFF in NAFLD

BACKGROUND

Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Proton Density Fat Fraction (MRI-PDFF) is an excellent biomarker for non-invasive quantification of hepatic steatosis. This study examined clinical and histologic factors associated with discordance between steatosis grade determined by histology and MRI-PDFF in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients.

METHODS

Seven twenty eight biopsy-proven NAFLD patients from UC San Diego (n = 414) and Yokohama City University (n = 314) who underwent MRI-PDFF and liver biopsy were included. Patients were stratified by steatosis and matched with MRI-PDFF cut-points for each steatosis grade: 0 (MRI-PDFF < 6.4%), 1 (MRI-PDFF: 6.4%-17.4%), 2 (MRI-PDFF: 17.4%-22.1%), 3 (MRI-PDFF ≥ 22.1%). Primary outcome was major discordance defined as ≥2 steatosis grade difference determined by histology vs. MRI-PDFF.

RESULTS

Mean age (±SD) and BMI were 55.3 (±13.8) years and 29.9 (±4.9) kg/m² , respectively. The distributions of histology and MRI-PDFF determined steatosis are 5.5% grade 0 (n = 40), 44.8% 1 (n = 326, 44.8%), 33.9% 2 (n = 247), and 15.8% 3 (n = 115) vs. 23.5% grade 0 (n = 171), 49.7% 1 (n = 362), 12.9% 2 (n = 94), and 13.9% 3 (n = 101). Major discordance rate was 6.6% (n = 48). Most cases with major discordance had greater histology-determined steatosis grade (n = 40, 88.3%), higher serum AST and liver stiffness, and greater likelihood of fibrosis ≥2, ballooning ≥1 and lobular inflammation ≥2 (all p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Histology overestimates steatosis grade compared to MRI-PDFF. Patients with advanced NASH are likely to be upgraded on steatosis grade by histology. These data have important implications for steatosis estimation and reporting on histology in clinical practice and trials, especially in stage 2 fibrosis patients.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma Incidence in Alcohol-Associated Cirrhosis: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Alcohol is one of the leading causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, pooled estimates of HCC incidence in alcohol-associated cirrhosis have not been evaluated systematically. We performed a pooled analysis of time-to-event data to provide robust estimates for the incidence of HCC in alcohol-associated cirrhosis.

METHODS

Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched from inception to August 2021. Individual patient data were reconstructed from published Kaplan-Meier curves, and a pooled analysis of cumulative HCC incidence was performed using a random-effects model.

RESULTS

We screened 5022 articles and included 18 studies (148,333 patients). In the pooled analysis, the cumulative incidence of HCC in alcohol-associated cirrhosis at 1, 5, and 10 years among studies that accounted for the competing risk of death without HCC was 1%, 3%, and 9%, respectively. A secondary analysis by traditional meta-analysis determined that the HCC incidence rate was higher in cohorts enrolled in a HCC surveillance program (18.6 vs 4.8 per 1000 person-years; P = .001) vs those who were not enrolled in a surveillance program. Meta-regression showed that diabetes, smoking, variceal bleeding, and hepatic decompensation were associated with a higher risk of HCC.

CONCLUSIONS

Our analysis determined that the 5- and 10- year cumulative risk of HCC in alcohol-associated cirrhosis was 3% and 9%, respectively, with a higher incidence in cohorts that were enrolled in a HCC surveillance program. These data should be validated further in large prospective studies, and may have important implications for HCC screening and surveillance among patients with alcohol-associated cirrhosis.

Head-to-head comparison between MEFIB, MAST, and FAST for detecting stage 2 fibrosis or higher among patients with NAFLD

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and significant fibrosis (fibrosis stage ≥2) are candidates for pharmacological trials. The aim of this study was to perform a head-to-head comparison of the diagnostic test characteristics of three non-invasive stiffness-based models including MEFIB (magnetic resonance elastography [MRE] plus FIB-4), MAST (magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]-aspartate aminotransferase [AST]), and FAST (FibroScan-AST) for detecting significant fibrosis.

METHODS

This prospective study included 563 patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD undergoing contemporaneous MRE, MRI proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) and FibroScan from two prospective cohorts derived from Southern California and Japan. Diagnostic performances of models were evaluated by area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC).

RESULTS

The mean age of the cohort was 56.5 years (51% were women). Significant fibrosis was observed in 51.2%. To detect significant fibrosis, MEFIB outperformed both MAST and FAST (both p <0.001); AUCs for MEFIB, MAST, and FAST were 0.901 (95% CI 0.875-0.928), 0.770 (95% CI 0.730-0.810), and 0.725 (95% CI 0.683-0.767), respectively. Using rule-in criteria, the positive predictive value of MEFIB (95.3%) was significantly higher than that of FAST (83.5%, p = 0.001) and numerically but not statistically greater than that of MAST (90.0%, p = 0.056). Notably, MEFIB's rule-in criteria covered more of the study population than MAST (34.1% vs. 26.6%; p = 0.006). Using rule-out criteria, the negative predictive value of MEFIB (90.1%) was significantly higher than that of either MAST (69.6%) or FAST (71.8%) (both p <0.001). Furthermore, to diagnose "at risk" non-alcoholic steatohepatitis defined as NAFLD activity score ≥4 and fibrosis stage ≥2, MEFIB outperformed both MAST and FAST (both p <0.05); AUCs for MEFIB, MAST, and FAST were 0.768 (95% CI 0.728-0.808), 0.719 (95% CI 0.671-0.766), and 0.687 (95% CI 0.640-0.733), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

MEFIB was better than MAST and FAST for detection of significant fibrosis as well as "at risk" NASH. All three models provide utility for the risk stratification of NAFLD.

LAY SUMMARY

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects over 25% of the general population worldwide and is one of the main causes of chronic liver disease. Because so many individuals have NAFLD, it is not practical to perform liver biopsies to identify those with more severe disease who may require pharmacological interventions. Therefore, accurate non-invasive tests are crucial. Herein, we compared three such tests and found that a test called MEFIB was the best at detecting patients who might require treatment.

Diversity and incidence of plant-parasitic nematodes in Belgian turf grass

Abstract

Eleven golf courses and eight football pitches, located in Belgium, were surveyed for plant-parasitic nematodes. This revealed a remarkably high diversity: 52 different species/taxa were identified morphologically, belonging to 23 genera and nine families. Among the most prevalent nematodes on both sports field types were Helicotylenchus pseudorobustus and Meloidogyne naasi (>85% and >45% of the analysed samples, respectively). Golf greens contained a higher density and diversity of cyst nematodes than football fields. Cyst nematode species included Punctodera punctata, Heterodera mani, H. ustinovi, H. bifenestra and H. hordecalis. Multivariate statistics of the first three species showed that they could be separated based on morphometrical characters of juveniles, but not on values based on the vulval pattern. Several detected species, e. g., Meloidogyne minor, are a potential source of infestation of agricultural fields. This study shows the importance of plant-parasitic nematodes in turf grass in temperate Europe. In addition, a comparison between two extraction methods revealed that significantly more nematodes were extracted with the zonal centrifuge than after 2 weeks extraction with the Baermann method, except for juveniles of Meloidogyne spp. and cyst-forming species.