SUMMARY Background Current guidelines do not recommend screening for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or advanced fibrosis. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are known to be at increased risk for NAFLD and advanced fibrosis. Aim We aimed to assess the feasibility in diabetics in a primary care setting of screening for NAFLD and advanced fibrosis by using non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to estimate the hepatic proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to estimate hepatic stiffness. Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis of a prospective study that included 100 (53% men) consecutively enrolled diabetics who did not have any other etiology of liver disease. All patients underwent a standardized research visit, laboratory tests, MRI-PDFF, and MRE. Results Mean (± SD) age and BMI was 59.7 (±11.2) years and 30.8 (±6.5) kg/m2, respectively. The prevalence of NAFLD (defined as MRI-PDFF ≥ 5%) and advanced fibrosis (defined as MRE ≥ 3.6 kPa) was 65% and 7.1%, respectively. One patient with advanced fibrosis had definite hepatocellular carcinoma. When compared to those without NAFLD, patients with NAFLD were younger (p=0.028) and had higher mean BMI (p=0.0008), waist circumference (p<0.0001) and prevalence of metabolic syndrome (84.6% vs. 40.0%, p<0.0001). Only 26% of those with NAFLD had elevated ALT. Conclusions This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that T2DM has significant rates of both NAFLD and advanced fibrosis. Concomitant screening for NAFLD and advanced fibrosis by using MRI-PDFF and MRE in T2DM is feasible and may be considered after validation in a larger cohort.

Summary Our understanding of the spatial variation in the chemical and microbial make-up of an entire human organ remains limited, in part due to the size and heterogeneity of human organs and the complexity of the associated metabolome and microbiome. To address this challenge we developed a workflow to enable the cartography of metabolomic and microbiome data onto a three dimensional (3D) organ reconstruction built off radiological images. This enabled the direct visualization of the microbial and chemical makeup of a human lung from a cystic fibrosis patient. We detected host-derived molecules, microbial metabolites, medications, and region specific metabolism of medications and placed it in the context of microbial distributions in the lung. Our tool further created browsable maps of a 3D microbiome/metabolome reconstruction map on a radiological image of a human lung and forms an interactive resource for the scientific community.

IMPORTANCEAndrogen deprivation therapy (ADT) has been theorized to decrease the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with prostate cancer owing to a potential decrease in the tissuebased expression of the SARS-CoV-2 coreceptor transmembrane protease, serine 2 (TMPRSS2). OBJECTIVE To examine whether ADT is associated with a decreased rate of 30-day mortality from SARS-CoV-2 infection among patients with prostate cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cohort study analyzed patient data recorded in the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium registry between March 17, 2020, and February 11, 2021. The consortium maintains a centralized multi-institution registry of patients with a current or past diagnosis of cancer who developed COVID-19. Data were collected and managed using REDCap software hosted at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Initially, 1228patients aged 18 years or older with prostate cancer listed as their primary malignant neoplasm were included; 122 patients with a second malignant neoplasm, insufficient follow-up, or low-quality data were excluded. Propensity matching was performed using the nearest-neighbor method with a 1:3 ratio of treated units to control units, adjusted for age, body mass index, race and ethnicity, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score, smoking status, comorbidities (cardiovascular, pulmonary, kidney disease, and diabetes), cancer status, baseline steroid use, COVID-19 treatment, and presence of metastatic disease. EXPOSURES Androgen deprivation therapy use was defined as prior bilateral orchiectomy or pharmacologic ADT administered within the prior 3 months of presentation with COVID-19. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESThe primary outcome was the rate of all-cause 30-day mortality after COVID-19 diagnosis for patients receiving ADT compared with patients not receiving ADT after propensity matching. RESULTSAfter exclusions, 1106 patients with prostate cancer (before propensity score matching: median age, 73 years [IQR, 65-79 years]; 561 (51%) self-identified as non-Hispanic White) were included for analysis. Of these patients, 477 were included for propensity score matching (169 who received ADT and 308 who did not receive ADT). After propensity matching, there was no significant difference in the primary end point of the rate of all-cause 30-day mortality (OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.42-1.42).

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