Πέμπτη 20 Οκτωβρίου 2022

Risk factors for high‐dose methotrexate associated toxicities in patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader
Risk factors for high-dose methotrexate associated toxicities in patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma

In this study, including 54 PCNSL patients with 175 HD-MTX-based chemotherapy courses, the rate of AKI and myelosuppression increased significantly in patients treated with HD-MTX co-administered with VDS. We also found a significant correlation between MTX pharmacokinetics, eGFR before MTX infusion, and toxicity.


Abstract

What is Known and Objective

Methotrexate (MTX) is an antimetabolic antitumor drug with high individual differences and may lead to severe toxicities in a considerable number of patients. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing major adverse events in patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma treated with high-dose MTX (HD-MTX), which could be useful in clinical practice.

Methods

Fifty-four patients who received 175 courses of MTX at 3–8 g/m2 between January 2015 and December 2016 were enrolled in this study. We assessed the association between clinical characteristics, MTX pharmacokinetics, MTX delayed elimination, and adverse events, including hepatotoxicity, acute kidney injury (AKI), and myelosuppression.

Results and Discussion

A total of 124 adverse events occurred after MTX infusion. Using independent sample t-tests, we found that patients with myelosuppression had higher MTX area under the concentration-time curve up to 48 h after infusion (AUC0-48h) (p = 0.001) and MTX peak concentration (Cmax) (p = 0.002). MTX concentrations at 48 and 72 h were higher in patients with AKI than in those without (p = 0.034 and p = 0.041, respectively). Using chi-square tests, we found that AKI was correlated with MTX elimination at either 48 h or 72 h (22.1% vs. 8.2%, p = 0.010). By multivariate logistic regression model, our results showed that baseline level of ALT and WBC had a significant effect on hepatotoxicity (OR = 1.079, 95% CI 1.044–1.116, p = 6.9 × 10−6; OR = 0.808, 95% CI 0.711–0.917, p = 0.001, respectiv ely). Patient's age, eGFR before MTX infusion, and co-administration of vindesine had a significant effect on AKI (OR = 0.960, 95% CI 0.935–0.986, p = 0.003; OR = 1.009, 95% CI 1.001–1.017, p = 0.034; OR = 5.463, 95% CI 1.793–16.646, p = 0.003, respectively). LDH and Co-administration of vindesine had a significant effect on myelosuppression (OR = 0.985, 95% CI 0.972–0.998, p = 0.025; OR = 3.070, 95% CI 1.032–9.133, p = 0.044).

What is New and Conclusion

Our study demonstrated that co-administration of VDS, eGFR before MTX infusion, and the baseline index of laboratory examinations including ALT, WBC, LDH may be useful biomarkers for predicting MTX-induced toxicities.

View on Web

Evidence for human infection with avian influenza A(H9N2) virus via environmental transmission inside live poultry market in Xiamen, China

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader

Abstract

H9N2 avian influenza virus (AIV) has become prevalent in the live poultry market (LPM) worldwide, and environmental transmission mode is an important way for AIVs to infect human beings in the LPM. In order to find evidence for human infection with influenza A(H9N2) virus via environmental contamination, we evaluated one human isolate and three environmental isolates inside LPMs in Xiamen, China. The phylogeny, transmissibility, and pathogenicity of the four isolates were sorted out systematically. As for the H9N2 virus, which evolved alongside the "Avian-Environment-Human" spreading chain in LPMs from the summer of 2019 to the summer of 2020, its overall efficiency of contact and aerosol transmissibility improved, which might contribute to the increasing probability of human infection. This study indicated that environmental exposure might act as an important source of human infection in LPMs.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights res erved.

View on Web

Association of COVID‐19 vaccination before conception with maternal thyroid function during early pregnancy: a single‐center study in China

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader

ABSTRACT

Despite the high vaccination coverage, potential COVID-19 vaccine-induced adverse effects, especially in pregnant women, have not been fully characterized. We examined the association between COVID-19 vaccination before conception and maternal thyroid function during early pregnancy. We conducted a retrospective cohort study in Shanghai, China. A total of 6979 pregnant women were included. Vaccine administration was obtained from electronic vaccination record. Serum levels of thyroid hormone were measured by fluorescence and chemiluminescence immunoassays. Among the 6979 included pregnant women, 3470 (49.7%) received at least two doses of an inactivated vaccine. COVID-19 vaccination had a statistically significant association with both maternal serum level of free thyroxine (FT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). Compared with unvaccinated pregnant women, the mean FT4 levels were lower in pregnant women who had been vaccinated within 3 months before the date of conception by 0.27 pg/L (β=-0.27, 95% CI, -0.42, -0.12), and the mean TSH levels were higher by 0.08 mIU/L (β=0.08, 95% CI, 0.00, 0.15). However, when the interval from vaccination to conception was prolonged to more than 3 months, COVID-19 vaccination was not associated with serum FT4 or TSH levels. Moreover, we found that COVID-19 vaccination did not significantly associate with maternal hypothyroidism. Our study suggested that vaccination with inactivated COVID-19 vaccines before conception might result in a small change in maternal thyroid function, but this did not reach clinically significant levels.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

View on Web

In silico evaluation of the impact of Omicron variant of concern sublineage BA.4 and BA.5 on the sensitivity of RT‐qPCR assays for SARS‐CoV‐2 detection using whole genome sequencing

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader

ABSTRACT

Background

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant of concern (VoC) Omicron (B.1.1.529) has rapidly spread around the world, presenting a new threat to global public human health. Due to the large number of mutations accumulated by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron, concerns have emerged over potentially reduced diagnostic accuracy of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), the gold standard diagnostic test for diagnosing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Thus, we aimed to assess the impact of the currently endemic Omicron sublineages BA.4 and BA.5 on the integrity and sensitivity of RT-qPCR assays used for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis via in silico analysis. We employed whole genome sequencing data and evaluated the potential for false negatives or test failure due to mismatches between primers/probes and Omicron VoC viral genome.

Methods

In silico sensitivity of 12 RT-qPCR tests (containing 30 primers and probe sets) developed for detection of SARS-CoV-2 reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) or available in the literature, was assessed for specifically detecting SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages, obtained after removing redundancy from publicly available genomes from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) databases. Mismatches between amplicon regions of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VoC and primers and probe sets were evaluated, and clustering analysis of corresponding amplicon sequences was carried out.

Results

From the 1164 representative SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VoC BA.4 sublineage genomes analyzed, a substitution in the first five nucleotides (C to T) of the amplicon's 3' end were observed in all samples resulting in 0% sensitivity for assays HKUnivRdRp/Hel (mismatch in reverse primer) and CoremCharite N (mismatch in both forward and reverse primers). Due to a mismatch in the forward primer's 5' end (3-nucleotide substitution, GGG to AAC), the sensitivity of ChinaCDC N assay was at 0.69%. The 10 nucleotide mismatches in the reverse primer resulted in 0.09% sensitivity for Omicron sublineage BA.4 for Thai N assay. Of the 1926 BA.5 sublineage genomes, HKUnivRdRp/Hel assay also had 0% sensitivity. A sensitivity of 3.06% was observed for ChinaCDC N assay because of a mismatch in the forward primer's 5' end (3-nucleotide substitution, GGG to AAC). Similarly, due to the 10 nucleotide mismatches in the reverse primer, Thai N assay's sensitivity was low at 0.21% for sublineage BA.5. Further, 8 assays for BA.4 sublineage retained high sensitivity (more than 97%) and 9 assays for BA.5 sublineage retained more than 99% sensitivity.

Conclusion

We observed four assays (HKUnivRdRp/Hel, ChinaCDC N, Thai N, CoremCharite N) that could potentially result in false negative results for SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VoCs BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages. Interestingl y, CoremCharite N had 0% sensitivity for Omicron Voc BA.4 but 99.53% sensitivity for BA.5. In addition, 66.67% of the assays for BA.4 sublineage and 75% of the assays for BA.5 sublineage retained high sensitivity. Further, amplicon clustering and additional substitutions analysis along with sensitivity analysis could be used for modification and development of RT-qPCR assays for detecting SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VoC sublineages.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

View on Web

Using the serratus anterior free flap for dynamic facial reanimation: Systematic review

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader

Abstract

It was the purpose of this study to evaluate the role of the serratus anterior free flap (SAFF) with its long thoracic nerve (LTN) as composite flap for dynamic facial reanimation. A total of 10 studies, published between 2004 and 2021, met inclusion criteria. Clinical data of 48 patients were used for the systematic review and analysis. One to three slips were used, mainly as one-stage procedures (n = 39; 81.3%), to create different force vectors. Single or double innervated muscle transfers were utilized in 32 (66.7%) and 16 (33.3%) cases with additionally harvested skin paddles in 4 (8.3%) patients. The LTN was mostly anastomosed to the ipsilateral masseteric nerve (45.8%; n = 22) or to remaining facial nerve branches (37.5%; n = 18), while cross-facial-nerve-grafting was rarely used (16.7%; n = 8). The SAFF as composite flap with different force vectors proved to be a good candidate for immediate dynamic facia l reanimation after any midface defects.

View on Web

Serologic evaluation of vaccine preventable infections and vaccination rates in kidney transplant candidates

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader
Serologic evaluation of vaccine preventable infections and vaccination rates in kidney transplant candidates

 


Abstract

Introduction

Assessing vaccine serologic status presents opportunities to provide live vaccinations to kidney transplant candidates (KTC). This is especially important given the increased risk of infection while taking lifelong immunosuppression following transplant and the inability to routinely provide live vaccines to patients on immunosuppressive medications. In March 2019, the American Society of Transplantation Infectious Disease Community of Practice (AST-IDCOP) released updated guidelines for vaccination of KTC, which emphasize pretransplant viral serology screening and live vaccine administration prior to transplant.

Primary Endpoint

The primary endpoint of this study was to determine adherence to AST-IDCOP guidelines for live measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and VZV vaccination prior to transplant in KTC non-immune by serology.

Methods

This retrospective, descriptive study examined serologic status and rates of live vaccination in 672 patients listed for kidney transplant at our center between July 2014 and July 2019. Secondary endpoints included subgroup analysis of adherence to full AST-IDCOP vaccination recommendations and validation of CDC presumed immunity definitions for measles and VZV.

Results

Seventeen patients (2.7%) were nonimmune by serology for VZV, while 182 (27.1%) were nonimmune by serology to MMR. In a subgroup analysis of the seronegative KTC, none received VZV vaccination, and 6% received MMR vaccination prior to transplant or last follow-up.

Conclusions

Overall, a large portion of KTC had immunity gaps that were not resolved before transplantation. These findings are limited due to the retrospective, single-center nature of this study and should be confirmed with larger, prospective assessments of serologic status and vaccine administration.

View on Web

Long-term Traffic-related Air Pollutant Exposure and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Diagnosis

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader
imageBackground: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease. Limited evidence suggests ALS diagnosis may be associated with air pollution exposure and specifically traffic-related pollutants. Methods: In this population-based case–control study, we used 3,937 ALS cases from the Danish National Patient Register diagnosed during 1989–2013 and matched on age, sex, year of birth, and vital status to 19,333 population-based controls free of ALS at index date. We used validated predictions of elemental carbon (EC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), and fine particles (PM2.5) to assign 1-, 5-, and 10-year average exposures pre-ALS diagnosis at study participants' present and historical residential addresses. We used an adjusted Bayesian hierarchical conditional logistic model to estimate individual pollutant associations and joint and average associations for traffic-related pollutants (EC, NOx, CO). Results: For a standard deviation (SD) increase in 5-year average concentrations, EC (SD = 0.42 µg/m3) had a high probability of individual association with increased odds of ALS (11.5%; 95% credible interval [CrI] = –1.0%, 25.6%; 96.3% posterior probability of positive association), with negative associations for NOx (SD = 20 µg/m3) (–4.6%; 95% CrI = 18.1%, 8.9%; 27.8% posterior probability of positive association), CO (SD = 106 µg/m3) (–3.2%; 95% CrI = 14.4%, 10.0%; 26.7% posterior probability of positive association), and a null association for nonelemental carbon fine particles (non-EC PM2.5) (SD = 2.37 µg/m3) (0.7%; 95% CrI = 9.2%, 12.4%). We found no association between ALS and joint or average traffic pollution concentrations. Conclusions: This study found high probability of a positive association between ALS diagnosis and EC concentration. Further work is needed to understand the role of traffic-related air pollution in ALS pathogenesis.
View on Web

Gestational Hypertensive Disorders and Maternal Breast Cancer Risk

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader
imageBackground: Preeclampsia and gestational hypertension are hypothesized to be associated with reduced maternal breast cancer risk, but the epidemiologic evidence is inconclusive. Our objective was to examine associations between gestational hypertensive disorders and breast cancer in a nationwide cohort of women with a family history of breast cancer. Methods: Women ages 35–74 years who had a sister previously diagnosed with breast cancer, but had never had breast cancer themselves, were enrolled in the Sister Study from 2003 to 2009 (N = 50,884). At enrollment, participants reported diagnoses of eclampsia, preeclampsia, or gestational hypertension in each pregnancy. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between history of a gestational hypertensive disorder and incident invasive breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ among 40,720 parous women. We used age as the time scale and adjusted for birth cohort, race–ethnicity, and reproductive, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors. We examined effect measure modification by risk factors for gestational hypertensive disease and breast cancer and assessed possible etiologic heterogeneity across tumor characteristics. Results: The prevalence of gestational hypertensive disease was 12%. During follow-up (mean = 10.9 years), 3,198 eligible women self-reported a breast cancer diagnosis. History of a gestational hypertensive disorder was not associated with breast cancer risk (HR = 1.0; 95% CI = 0.90, 1.1). We did not observe clear evidence of effect measure modification or etiologic heterogeneity. Conclusions: History of a gestational hypertensive disorder was not associated with breast cancer risk in a cohort of women with a first-degree family history of breast cancer.
View on Web

Prolonged Dexamethasone Exposure Enhances Zebrafish Lateral-Line Regeneration But Disrupts Mitochondrial Homeostasis and Hair Cell Function

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader
AbstractThe synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone is commonly used to treat inner ear disorders. Previous work in larval zebrafish has shown that dexamethasone treatment enhances hair cell regeneration, yet dexamethasone has also been shown to inhibit regeneration of peripheral nerves after lesion. We therefore used the zebrafish model to determine the impact of dexamethasone treatment on lateral-line hair cells and primary afferents. To explore dexamethasone in the context of regeneration, we used copper sulfate (CuSO4) to induce hair cell loss and retraction of nerve terminals, and then allowed animals to recover in dexamethasone for 48  h. Consistent with previous work, we observed significantly more regenerated hair cells in dexamethasone-treated larvae. Importantly, we found that th...
View on Web

Αρχειοθήκη ιστολογίου