Adamsendonovan9289
Secukinumab effectiveness has been demonstrated in both psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). However, it is unknown whether patients with arthritis may carry a risk factor for withdrawal.
To identify predictors of secukinumab survival, including the presence of arthritis, in PsO and PsA.
Consecutive PsO and PsA patients initiating secukinumab were enrolled and followed up every 6 months, up to 24 months or discontinuation. Medical history, disease activity indices and body mass index (BMI) were collected. Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank test were used to analyze differences in drug survival according to sex, BMI, biological therapy line in the whole population (psoriatic disease), and separately for PsO/PsA. A multivariable Cox regression model was built to assess whether presence of arthritis (main independent variable) may influence drug survival by having time to secukinumab discontinuation as outcome. Results were expressed as hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval.
Sixty-two PsO and 90 PsA patients were enrolled. Retention rate at 12 and 24 months, respectively, was 85% and 61% for PsO and 68% and 57% for PsA. In the whole population, naïve patients had a higher chance of drug survival (log-rank = 4.06; p = 0.04); in PsA, obese patients had a significantly higher chance to discontinue secukinumab (log-rank = 5.25; p = 0.021). The multivariable Cox regression showed that arthritis was independently associated with a higher risk of secukinumab discontinuation (hazard ratio 2.43; 95% confidence interval 1.06-5.55, p = 0.035) after adjusting for age, sex, gender, BMI, therapy line and PsO severity at baseline.
Our data confirmed a very good response to secukinumab in both PsO and PsA patients. However, presence of arthritis might affect drug survival.
Our data confirmed a very good response to secukinumab in both PsO and PsA patients. However, presence of arthritis might affect drug survival.
Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) are vulnerable to obesity. Annual obesity screening using body mass index (BMI) is the standard of care mandated by US Veterans Health Administration (VHA) guidelines. Our objective was to determine the rates, variability, and predictors of guideline-concordant annual screening for obesity, given potential challenges of height and weight measurements in individuals with SCI.
This is a cross-sectional retrospective study using US national VA databases. We identified all VHA patients with chronic SCI in the fiscal year (FY) 2019, their treating facility and frequency of recorded height and weight. We applied mixed-effects logistic regression models to assess associations between annual BMI screening and patient- and facility-level characteristics.
Of 20,978 individuals with chronic SCI in VHA in FY19, guideline-concordant annual BMI screening was lacking in 37.9%. Accounting for facility-level factors (geographic region, SCI facility type, volume of patients with n some facilities. Older patients with fewer outpatient encounters are more likely to be missed. To inform the design of interventions to improve identification and documentation of obesity, further study is needed to assess potential barriers to obesity screening in the population with SCI.
Several case series of patients with Tolosa-Hunt syndrome have been described in the literature; however, few studies have focused on the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) characteristics. This study aimed to analyse the CSF characteristics of patients with Tolosa-Hunt syndrome.
Fifty-five patients who fulfilled the 3rd Edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders diagnostic criteria for Tolosa-Hunt syndrome were included in this study. We retrospectively analysed data on CSF parameters, imaging findings, and clinical characteristics of these patients.
Oligoclonal bands (OBs) were detected in the CSF of 13 (13/44, 29.5%) patients. The sex ratio was balanced. The mean age at onset of Tolosa-Hunt syndrome was 46.9 ± 10.23 (range 22-72) years. Eight (8/13, 61.5%) patients had multiple cranial nerve palsies. Lesions limited to the cavernous sinus were found on magnetic resonance imaging in 7 (7/13, 53.8%) patients. OBs were significantly detected more frequently in patients whose samples were evaluated less than 30 days after the onset of this diseases (p = 0.026); however, there were no significant differences in the protein level (p = 0.360) and IgG synthesis rate (p = 0.614).
The detection of OBs in the CSF of patients with Tolosa-Hunt syndrome was not rare. It would be interesting to follow-up patients with OBs to determine whether they eventually developed an otherwise more specific inflammatory diagnosis.
The detection of OBs in the CSF of patients with Tolosa-Hunt syndrome was not rare. It would be interesting to follow-up patients with OBs to determine whether they eventually developed an otherwise more specific inflammatory diagnosis.
Symptoms of cognitive impairments vary from mild without clinical manifestation to severe with advanced signs of dementia or Alzheimer's disease (AD). Growing evidence in recent years has indicated the association between the brain and gut microbiota, which has been described as the "gut-brain axis." This systematic review seeks to summarize the primary results from recent human and animal studies regarding the alteration of gut microbiota composition in cognitive disorders.
A systematic literature search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases up to August 2020. The full texts of the papers were analyzed to retrieve the relevant information.
Totally, 24 observational studies (14 animal and 13 human studies) were included. Most of the animal studies were performed on mouse models of AD. Human studies were conducted on patients with Parkinson's disease (3 studies), AD (4 studies), poststroke cognitive impairment patients (1 study), and patients with mild to severe cognitive impairment without mention to the cause of disease (5 studies). More recent evidence suggests that throughout aging Firmicutes and Bifidobacteria decrease but Proteobacteria increases.
The gut microbiota may alter brain function or trigger various psychiatric conditions through the gut-brain axis. Prospective studies are needed in order to explore the role of the gut microbiota in the etiology of dementia and to achieve clinical recommendations.
The gut microbiota may alter brain function or trigger various psychiatric conditions through the gut-brain axis. Prospective studies are needed in order to explore the role of the gut microbiota in the etiology of dementia and to achieve clinical recommendations.
Although diabetes mellitus (DM) increases the risk of proteinuria, the relationship between prediabetes and proteinuria remains not fully understood. Further, whether the change in glucose is associated with the risk for proteinuria is unknown.
This was a retrospective cohort study that included 1,849,074 participants (median age, 45 years; 59.3% men). No participants were taking glucose-lowering medications, and none had positive proteinuria at the initial health check-up. Each participant was categorized into three groups normal (hemoglobin A1c [HbA1c] of <5.7%, n = 1,563,121), prediabetes (HbA1c of 5.7-6.4%, n = 253,490), and DM (HbA1c of ≥6.5%, n = 32,463) groups. We investigated the association between each HbA1c category and incident proteinuria using Cox proportional hazards models. We analyzed the association between the annual change in HbA1c and the risk for proteinuria.
A total of 65,954 participants developed proteinuria during the observation period. Not only DM (hazard ratio [HR] 2.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.07-2.24) but also prediabetes (HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.12-1.17) was associated with a greater risk for proteinuria. The relative risk reduction for proteinuria that was associated with prediabetes and DM was 12.3% and 53.5%, respectively. An annual increase in HbA1c was associated with a greater risk for proteinuria. This association was more pronounced in participants having prediabetes.
Not only DM but also prediabetes increased the risk for proteinuria. The influence of change in HbA1c on incident proteinuria was pronounced in people with prediabetes. Optimizing glucose would provide more benefit to individuals having prediabetes for proteinuria prevention.
Not only DM but also prediabetes increased the risk for proteinuria. The influence of change in HbA1c on incident proteinuria was pronounced in people with prediabetes. Optimizing glucose would provide more benefit to individuals having prediabetes for proteinuria prevention.
Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a commonly inherited disorder characterized by renal cyst formation. selleck A major pathological feature of ADPKD is the development of interstitial inflammation. The endocannabinoid (EC) system is present in the kidney and has recently emerged as an important player in inflammation and the pathogenesis of progressive kidney disease.
Data on ECs were collected using a validated mass spectrometry assay from a well-characterized cohort of 102 ADPKD patients (at baseline and after 2- and 4 years on standard vs. rigorous blood-pressure control) and compared to 100 healthy subjects.
Compared to healthy individuals, we found higher interleukins-6 and -1b as well as reduced plasma levels of anandamide (AEA), 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol (2-AG), and their congeners in ADPKD patients. Baseline AEA concentration negatively associated with the progression of ADPKD as expressed by the yearly percent change in height-corrected total kidney volume and positively with the yearly change in renal function (measured as estimated glomerular filtration rate, ΔeGFR). AEA analog palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is also associated positively with the yearly change in eGFR.
The results of the present study suggest that ADPKD patients present with lower levels of ECs and that reestablishing the normality of the renal EC system via augmentation of AEA, PEA, and 2-AG levels, either through the increase of their synthesis or through a reduction of their degradation, could be beneficial and may present a promising therapeutic target in said patients.
The results of the present study suggest that ADPKD patients present with lower levels of ECs and that reestablishing the normality of the renal EC system via augmentation of AEA, PEA, and 2-AG levels, either through the increase of their synthesis or through a reduction of their degradation, could be beneficial and may present a promising therapeutic target in said patients.Objective. Neural prosthetics often use intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) for sensory restoration. To restore natural and functional feedback, we must first understand how stimulation parameters influence the recruitment of neural populations. ICMS waveform asymmetry modulates the spatial activation of neurons around an electrode at 10 Hz; however, it is unclear how asymmetry may differentially modulate population activity at frequencies typically employed in the clinic (e.g. 100 Hz). We hypothesized that stimulation waveform asymmetry would differentially modulate preferential activation of certain neural populations, and the differential population activity would be frequency-dependent.Approach. We quantified how asymmetric stimulation waveforms delivered at 10 or 100 Hz for 30 s modulated spatiotemporal activity of cortical layer II/III pyramidal neurons usingin vivotwo-photon and mesoscale calcium imaging in anesthetized mice. Asymmetry is defined in terms of the ratio of the duration of the leading phase to the duration of the return phase of charge-balanced cathodal- and anodal-first waveforms (i.