{"title":"Response to 'Letter to Editor': 'Herpes Zoster After COVID-19 as a Marker of Long-Term Neuro-Ophthalmic Risk'.","authors":"Kuo-Cheng Lu, Yu-Chen Cheng","doi":"10.1093/qjmed/hcag035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcag035","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20806,"journal":{"name":"QJM: An International Journal of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146114116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pseudoprogression after CAR T-cell therapy mimicking orbital lymphoma relapse.","authors":"Takashi Miyachi, Akihiro Kitadate, Naoto Takahashi","doi":"10.1093/qjmed/hcag037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcag037","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20806,"journal":{"name":"QJM: An International Journal of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146107076","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jixiang Pei, Chao Huang, Cuicui Liang, Luxin Feng, Chao Xuan, Hongwei Ji, Kuo Wang, Χueying Wang, Zhexun Lian, Junjie Guo
Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) share metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors, including insulin resistance and chronic inflammation, but the molecular links remain unclear.
Aim: To identify shared diagnostic biomarkers between PCOS and ICM and clarify their biological basis.
Methods: Transcriptomic datasets from multiple PCOS and ICM GEO cohorts were integrated. Differential expression analysis, WGCNA, and 105 machine-learning model combinations were applied to identify robust cross-disease biomarkers. The top-performing Elastic Net (Enet) model was used to screen candidate genes. Immune infiltration, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), and spatial transcriptomics defined cell-type specificity and tissue localization. Drug-target interactions were explored by molecular docking.
Results: Eleven candidate genes were identified, and COL14A1 was the only gene consistently validated across all independent datasets. scRNA-seq identified COL14A1 enrichment in TPM2+ activated fibroblasts, and cell-cell communication analysis highlighted a macrophage-fibroblast crosstalk axis. Spatial transcriptomics confirmed that COL14A1 is tightly linked to fibroblast activation, supporting its role as a mediator of immune-fibrotic responses during postischemic cardiac remodelling. Molecular docking revealed that rofecoxib is a high-affinity potential therapeutic agent targeting COL14A1.
Conclusions: COL14A1 may represent a shared molecular link between PCOS and increased susceptibility to ischemic cardiac injury, potentially acting through macrophage-associated immune activation and fibroblast-mediated ECM remodelling. Rofecoxib may serve as a potential repurposed therapeutic candidate pending further validation. These findings provide mechanistic insights into the ovario-cardiac axis and highlight COL14A1 as a promising target for future risk stratification and intervention studies in women with PCOS.
{"title":"COL14A1 drives ischemic cardiac injury in PCOS: an artificial intelligence-identified biomarker.","authors":"Jixiang Pei, Chao Huang, Cuicui Liang, Luxin Feng, Chao Xuan, Hongwei Ji, Kuo Wang, Χueying Wang, Zhexun Lian, Junjie Guo","doi":"10.1093/qjmed/hcag033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcag033","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) share metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors, including insulin resistance and chronic inflammation, but the molecular links remain unclear.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To identify shared diagnostic biomarkers between PCOS and ICM and clarify their biological basis.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Transcriptomic datasets from multiple PCOS and ICM GEO cohorts were integrated. Differential expression analysis, WGCNA, and 105 machine-learning model combinations were applied to identify robust cross-disease biomarkers. The top-performing Elastic Net (Enet) model was used to screen candidate genes. Immune infiltration, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), and spatial transcriptomics defined cell-type specificity and tissue localization. Drug-target interactions were explored by molecular docking.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Eleven candidate genes were identified, and COL14A1 was the only gene consistently validated across all independent datasets. scRNA-seq identified COL14A1 enrichment in TPM2+ activated fibroblasts, and cell-cell communication analysis highlighted a macrophage-fibroblast crosstalk axis. Spatial transcriptomics confirmed that COL14A1 is tightly linked to fibroblast activation, supporting its role as a mediator of immune-fibrotic responses during postischemic cardiac remodelling. Molecular docking revealed that rofecoxib is a high-affinity potential therapeutic agent targeting COL14A1.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>COL14A1 may represent a shared molecular link between PCOS and increased susceptibility to ischemic cardiac injury, potentially acting through macrophage-associated immune activation and fibroblast-mediated ECM remodelling. Rofecoxib may serve as a potential repurposed therapeutic candidate pending further validation. These findings provide mechanistic insights into the ovario-cardiac axis and highlight COL14A1 as a promising target for future risk stratification and intervention studies in women with PCOS.</p>","PeriodicalId":20806,"journal":{"name":"QJM: An International Journal of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146097151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Raccoon eyes and macroglossia in AL amyloidosis.","authors":"Ankur Jain","doi":"10.1093/qjmed/hcag036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcag036","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20806,"journal":{"name":"QJM: An International Journal of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146092850","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Correction.","authors":"","doi":"10.1093/qjmed/hcaf301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcaf301","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20806,"journal":{"name":"QJM: An International Journal of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146086961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Megakaryocytes, the platelet precursors, have been known to populate tissues other than the bone marrow, most prominently the lung, but also the liver and spleen. Work in myeloproliferative neoplasms has established that dysplastic megakaryocytes are central organisers of the fibrosis in the bone marrow. In this commentary, we frame a hypothesis-gathering question as to whether megakaryocytes might analogously act as context-dependent contributors to organ fibrosis outside the marrow. In the lung, studies have identified resident/trafficking megakaryocytes with inflammatory properties, while in the liver, megakaryocytes-rich extramedullary foci often co-localise with periportal and perisinusoidal fibrosis. Approved agents for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis act on broad growth-factor pathways across multiple cell types that may overlapwith the megakaryocytes/platelet secretome. It is thus possible that megakaryocytes may play a contributory role in organ fibrosis. We acknowledge that these observations are associative and preclinical, and that established epithelial-mesenchymal mechanisms remain central in organ fibrosis. We therefore do not assert that megakaryocytes are contributors of organ fibrosis. Rather, we pose this as a testable question prompted by converging yet incomplete evidence.
{"title":"Do megakaryocytes contribute to organ fibrosis?","authors":"Gerard Gurumurthy, Jecko Thachil","doi":"10.1093/qjmed/hcag031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcag031","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Megakaryocytes, the platelet precursors, have been known to populate tissues other than the bone marrow, most prominently the lung, but also the liver and spleen. Work in myeloproliferative neoplasms has established that dysplastic megakaryocytes are central organisers of the fibrosis in the bone marrow. In this commentary, we frame a hypothesis-gathering question as to whether megakaryocytes might analogously act as context-dependent contributors to organ fibrosis outside the marrow. In the lung, studies have identified resident/trafficking megakaryocytes with inflammatory properties, while in the liver, megakaryocytes-rich extramedullary foci often co-localise with periportal and perisinusoidal fibrosis. Approved agents for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis act on broad growth-factor pathways across multiple cell types that may overlapwith the megakaryocytes/platelet secretome. It is thus possible that megakaryocytes may play a contributory role in organ fibrosis. We acknowledge that these observations are associative and preclinical, and that established epithelial-mesenchymal mechanisms remain central in organ fibrosis. We therefore do not assert that megakaryocytes are contributors of organ fibrosis. Rather, we pose this as a testable question prompted by converging yet incomplete evidence.</p>","PeriodicalId":20806,"journal":{"name":"QJM: An International Journal of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146133087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Heerfordt's syndrome with glossopharyngeal and vagus nerve involvement: A rare manifestation of sarcoidosis.","authors":"Rohit Kumar, Shuvrajyothi Mondal, Ranveer Singh Jadon, Ved Prakash Meena, Animesh Ray, Nishikant Dhamle, Piyush Ranjan, Sanjeev Sinha","doi":"10.1093/qjmed/hcag019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcag019","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20806,"journal":{"name":"QJM: An International Journal of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146041510","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yuze Yin, Yinyan Gao, Hang Yi, Guochao Zhang, Yousheng Mao, Jie Wang
{"title":"Reply: Persistent Racial Disparities in Lung Cancer Survival and the Overlooked Role of Post-Treatment Care.","authors":"Yuze Yin, Yinyan Gao, Hang Yi, Guochao Zhang, Yousheng Mao, Jie Wang","doi":"10.1093/qjmed/hcag030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcag030","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20806,"journal":{"name":"QJM: An International Journal of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146046944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Persistent Racial Disparities in Lung Cancer Survival and the Overlooked Role of Post-Treatment Care.","authors":"Bi-Yu Gao, Chin-Feng Tsai","doi":"10.1093/qjmed/hcag029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcag029","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20806,"journal":{"name":"QJM: An International Journal of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146046966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Acute vs chronic arsenic poisoning. Reply.","authors":"Run Dong, Yang Jiao","doi":"10.1093/qjmed/hcag003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcag003","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20806,"journal":{"name":"QJM: An International Journal of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146019564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}