Publications by authors named "Anas Bernieh"

Background & Aims: Regulatory T cells (Tregs), a subset of CD4 lymphocytes, protect against inflammatory tissue injury. However, it is currently unknown how retention of bile acids (BA) in fibrosing cholangiopathies like biliary atresia or PSC shape hepatic Treg responses.

Methods: To induce sclerosing cholangitis (SC), mice were fed a diet containing 0.

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Background: Traditional liver fibrosis staging via percutaneous biopsy suffers from sampling bias and variable inter-pathologist agreement, highlighting the need for more objective techniques. Deep learning models for disease staging from medical images have shown potential to decrease diagnostic variability, with recent weakly supervised learning strategies showing promising results even with limited manual annotation.

Purpose: To study the clustering-constrained attention multiple instance learning (CLAM) approach for staging liver fibrosis on trichrome whole slide images (WSIs) of children and young adults.

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Background: Chronic liver disease (CLD) is a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Liver stiffness, as measured by MR elastography (MRE), is well-accepted as a surrogate marker of liver fibrosis.

Purpose: To develop and validate deep learning (DL) models for predicting MRE-derived liver stiffness using routine clinical non-contrast abdominal T1-weighted (T1w) and T2-weighted (T2w) data from multiple institutions/system manufacturers in pediatric and adult patients.

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Management of choledochoceles (type III choledochal cysts) in children varies. We highlight the potential role of endoscopic management of choledochoceles with cystostomy and biliary sphincterotomy through a series of three successfully treated pediatric patients aged 12-13 at our tertiary center. Patients presented with symptoms including abdominal pain and pancreatitis.

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Fibrosing cholangiopathies, including biliary atresia and primary sclerosing cholangitis, involve immune-mediated bile duct epithelial injury and hepatic bile acid (BA) retention (cholestasis). Regulatory T-cells (Tregs) can prevent auto-reactive lymphocyte activation, yet the effects of BA on this CD4 lymphocyte subset are unknown. Gene regulatory networks for hepatic CD4 lymphocytes in a murine cholestasis model revealed Tregs are polarized to Th17 during cholestasis.

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Background: Transnasal endoscopy (TNE) does not require general anesthesia, an attractive characteristic for monitoring eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). We evaluated the adequacy of TNE-obtained esophageal biopsies using the EoE Histology Scoring System (EoEHSS).

Methods: The Cincinnati Center for Eosinophilic Disorders database was searched for esophageal biopsies obtained by the same endoscopist, using either TNE or conventional endoscopy (CE).

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Eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGID), such as eosinophilic gastritis (EoG), eosinophilic enteritis, and eosinophilic colitis (EoC), are chronic inflammatory conditions characterized by persistent gastrointestinal symptoms and elevated levels of activated eosinophils in the gastrointestinal tract. EoG and eosinophilic duodenitis (EoD) are strongly associated with food allergen triggers and T2 inflammation, whereas EoC shows minimal transcriptomic overlap with other EGIDs. The level of expression of certain genes associated with T2 immune response is associated with certain histopathologic findings of EoG, EoD, and EoC.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Microscopic examination of esophageal biopsies is crucial for diagnosing eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), focusing on eosinophil inflammation but also considering other abnormalities.
  • - Pathology reports should include both peak eosinophil counts and other features before and after therapy.
  • - Unlike esophageal strictures, the pathological changes found in EoE biopsies can be reversed with appropriate treatment.
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Article Synopsis
  • Glycogen Storage Disease type 4 (GSD4) is caused by a deficiency in glycogen branching enzyme 1 (GBE1) and affects multiple organs, leading to symptoms like hepatosplenomegaly and cardiac issues; the study identified two genetic variants in a patient.
  • Researchers used CRISPR/Cas9 to edit induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from a healthy donor to create models that mimic the patient's GBE1 deficiency for better understanding of the disease.
  • The results showed that the edited cells had lower GBE1 activity and displayed polyglucosan deposits similar to the patient's tissues, highlighting the potential of iPSC modeling in studying rare genetic disorders and assessing the impact
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Intestinal colonization by antigenically foreign microbes necessitates expanded peripheral immune tolerance. Here we show commensal microbiota prime expansion of CD4 T cells unified by the Kruppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) transcriptional regulator and an essential role for KLF2+ CD4 cells in averting microbiota-driven intestinal inflammation. CD4 cells with commensal specificity in secondary lymphoid organs and intestinal tissues are enriched for KLF2 expression, and distinct from FOXP3+ regulatory T cells or other differentiation lineages.

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Liver histology in infants with cystic fibrosis (CF) and persistent cholestasis is seldom reported in detail. We extend previous observation of a distinctive intrahepatic cholangiopathy (ICCF) to 3 additional infants homozygous for pathological variants and a fourth infant with a heterozygous variant, summarizing our experience in 10 infants with variants and persistent cholestasis. Cholangiograms demonstrate abnormal extrahepatic ducts in 2 infants with CF, 1 with uniform dilatation interpreted as a choledochal cyst and the other with narrow patent ducts.

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Objectives: Granular cell tumor (GCT) commonly presents in the subcutaneous tissue and head and neck region, and it is uncommon in the gastrointestinal tract. Experience with esophageal GCTs in the pediatric population is limited, with only 7 cases reported in the literature, 3 with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE).

Methods: Case information from 11 pediatric patients with GCTs of the esophagus was retrieved.

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Background & Aims: Two patients with homozygous mutations in PDX1 presented with pancreatic agenesis, chronic diarrhea, and poor weight gain, the causes of which were not identified through routine clinical testing. We aimed to perform a deep analysis of the stomach and intestine using organoids derived from induced pluripotent stem cells from PDX1 patients.

Methods: Gastric fundic, antral, and duodenal organoids were generated using induced pluripotent stem cell lines from a PDX1 patient and an isogenic induced pluripotent stem cell line where the PDX1 point mutation was corrected.

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Background: Pediatric patients with intestinal failure are at increased risk for iron deficiency. Supplementation is not routinely included in parenteral nutrition solutions. There is currently limited research related to the safety of iron supplementation in parenteral nutrition and for intravenous forms used in patients with intestinal failure.

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Cranial fasciitis (CF) is a benign (myo)fibroblastic proliferation of children. Typical presentation consists of a rapidly growing solitary mass on the temporal or parietal cranium in the first 2 years of age. CF is characterized by a rapid growth followed by a relative slowdown and even growth arrest.

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Gastrointestinal biopsies represent an increasing proportion of the paediatric pathologist's workload, an increase fundamentally due to an expansion of the understanding of the basic clinical, molecular, genetic, and histopathological features of paediatric gastrointestinal disorders. The histological interpretation of endoscopically retrieved gastrointestinal biopsies in children requires a unique set of diagnostic expertise and detailed knowledge of various gastrointestinal disorders that have a predilection for the paediatric population. This article's major role is to highlight the unique problems inherent to paediatric gastrointestinal disorders that require immediate communication with the paediatric surgeon or the gastroenterologist.

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Four male infants with cystic fibrosis and prolonged neonatal jaundice underwent Kasai procedure to relieve biliary obstruction due to apparent biliary atresia. The excised remnants had viscid mucus accumulation in hypoplastic gallbladders and distended peribiliary glands. Main hepatic ducts were narrow and/or malformed.

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Eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (EGIDs) are a collection of disorders characterized by allergy-driven inflammation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Affected patients typically present with nonspecific symptoms of GI dysfunction and are frequently found to have mucosal abnormalities during endoscopy as well as increased eosinophil levels on tissue biopsy that are felt to be responsible for generating the clinical findings. Each of these findings is important in both the diagnosis and management of EGIDs.

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Lymphocytic colitis is a subtype of microscopic colitis that is mostly seen in adults. It presents mainly as chronic nonbloody diarrhea, with the hallmark of normal or near-normal endoscopy. In this case series, we are presenting 4 pediatric patients with lymphocytic colitis with prominent apoptosis of the colonic gland epithelium.

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Background: Infants with advanced necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) often need surgical resection of necrotic bowel. We hypothesized that incomplete resection of NEC lesions, signified by the detection of necrotic patches in margins of resected bowel loops, results in inferior clinical outcomes.

Methods: We reviewed the medical records of infants with surgical NEC in the past 15 years for demographic, clinical, and histopathological data.

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Context.—: Congenital mature teratomas of the umbilical cord are extremely rare and pose a challenge in prenatal diagnosis. Mature teratomas are defined as tumors composed of mature tissues derived from more than 1 germ cell layer.

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Context.—: Chondroblastoma-like osteosarcoma is an exceedingly rare variant of osteosarcoma, with 22 cases reported in the English-language literature. The tumor is slightly more common in males, with a broad age range (from childhood to elderly).

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A young man presented with blue nodules on the trunk, face, and extremities that gradually increased in number and size. His mother had similar lesions. Initially, blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome was suspected, but histological findings confirmed the diagnosis of hereditary glomuvenous malformations.

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In the pediatric population, Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia (GIM) is a finding with unknown frequency and, more importantly, unknown clinical implications. The relationship between (HP) infection and GIM is well documented, as well as an association between duodenogastric reflux and GIM. We present two cases of pediatric patients with GIM along with a review of the literature.

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The fibrolamellar variant of hepatocellular carcinoma (FL-HCC) is distinguished from other hepatocellular carcinoma's (HCC) by its unique clinical and pathological features. Cytological features of this tumor on fine needle aspiration have been described earlier. We report a rare case of a 17-year-old African American male with metastatic FL-HCC, diagnosed by body fluid cytology.

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