Current clinical pharmacology最新文献

Background: Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome (NRDS) is one of the most frequent causes of neonatal mortality especially in premature infants. Although it has been well established that maternal antenatal corticosteroid therapy has a positive effect on NRDS reduction, yet the effectiveness of this treatment in multifetal pregnancies is dubious.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the effect of betamethasone therapy on the incidence of NRDS in multifetal pregnancies through a randomized controlled trial.

Methods: 140 women with a multifetal pregnancy at less than 28 weeks' gestational age were randomly allocated into intervention and control groups. Women at the intervention group received intramuscularly betamethasone (12 mg/kg/BW twice). Neonatal outcomes were evaluated between two groups of intervention and control, and two subgroups of preterm and term births. This study is registered with the Iranian Clinical Trials Registry, number IRCT20180227038879N1.

Results: The incidence of NRDS was significantly lower in infants of betamethasone group than the ones in the control group (4.9% vs 18.1%, P=0.034) while it did not show a significant reduction in preterm infants compared to mature ones. Also, the intervention group presented a significant lower neonatal ventilation than the control group (47.2% vs 63.2%, P=0.041). Other neonatal outcomes, including age at birth, birth weight, Apgar score, NICU admission, and the number of mortalities were not significantly different between study groups.

Conclusion: Betamethasone therapy during 28-32 weeks of gestation in multifetal pregnancies was associated with better neonatal outcomes through significant reductions in NRDS incidence and requiring ventilator treatment. However, betamethasone administration did not reduce the chance of NRDS in premature infants.

Background: Benzodiazepine is one of the most important causes of substance abuse and intoxication throughout the world and Iran.

Objective: The aim of our study is to determine the role of stimulants in reversing CNS level in acute Benzodiazepine poisoning patients who were hospitalized at referral poison center.

Method: This was a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial study on 32 cases with pure acute Benzodiazepine poisoning from March 2016 to February 2017. Diagnosis of pure acute poisoning was based on history, and laboratory confirmation. We gathered the demographics, clinical data, laboratory data, hospitalization and outcome. Participants were randomized into two groups: Methylphenidate Group (MPH) and Placebo Group (PBO).

Results: The randomized sample consisted of 32 participants who were predominately female (83%). The majority of the PBO group and the MPH group reported improvement in their consciousness with a significant difference between the two groups (p = .005). Paired sample t-test analyses on Reed Scale data revealed an increase in the probability of improvement during the trial for the MPH group compared to the PBO group. Furthermore, the HCo3 (bicarbonate) level has a significant p-value with respect to age groups (p = .02). None of our cases required either the ICU facility or intubation.

Conclusion: Our study provided the MPH superiority over PBO in reversing CNS symptoms in loss of consciousness in acute BZD poisoned patients. Thus, this trial provides concrete evidence that improvement in consciousness levels (Reed Scale rated) among those patients receiving MPH was associated with a methylphenidate use.

Background: Several drugs are used for treating IgA nephropathy (IgAN). We carried out a network meta-analysis evaluating these drugs.

Methods: Electronic databases were searched for appropriate randomized clinical trials carried out in patients with IgAN. The primary outcome was proteinuria remission rates and there were several other secondary outcome measures. The risk of bias was assessed. Mixed treatment comparison estimates were modelled from direct and indirect comparison estimates. Grading of the evidence for key comparisons was carried out.

Results: Fifty-seven clinical trials were included in the systematic review and 51 in the metaanalysis. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, corticosteroids/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB), ARB, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), ARB/ACEI, corticosteroids/ACEI and hypolipidemics/ ARB were observed with significantly higher rates of proteinuria remission than the standard of care. Several benefits were observed with other drugs on the secondary outcome measures. A very low grade was observed for the interventions.

Conclusion: We observed a few interventions to perform better in the management of IgAN. The results of this study will aid in further evaluation of such drugs that may assist in saving the resources and time. However, the readers should interpret the findings with great caution as the results might change with the advent of future head-to-head clinical trials.

Background: In the recent years, immunotherapeutics and specifically immunecheckpoints inhibitors have marked a significant shift in the diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), allowing us to use immunotherapeutics alone or combined with chemotherapy for a great subset of patients. However, new interesting approaches are being presently investigated, markedly immunotherapy combinations, that is, the use of two or more immunotherapeutics combined.

Methods: In particular, the combination of anti-PD-1 nivolumab and anti-CTLA-4 ipilimumab has already provided groundbreaking positive results in the advanced NSCLC and other combinations are currently under investigation.

Results: Therefore, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive state-of-the-art review about immunotherapy combination, along with suggestions about future directions. A comprehensive literature search was carried out to identify eligible studies from MEDLINE/PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov.

Conclusion: Nivolumab plus ipilimumab represent the most promising immunotherapy combination for the treatment of advanced NSCLC patients; safety, tolerability and efficacy of new immunotherapeutics (in monotherapy and in immunotherapy combinations) must be further assessed in future studies.

The incidence, prevalence, and cost of care associated with diagnosis and management of inflammatory bowel disease are on the rise. The role of gut microbiota in the causation of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis has not been established yet. Nevertheless, several animal models and human studies point towards the association. Targeting intestinal dysbiosis for remission induction, maintenance, and relapse prevention is an attractive treatment approach with minimal adverse effects. However, the data is still conflicting. The purpose of this article is to provide the most comprehensive and updated review on the utility of prebiotics and probiotics in the management of active Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis/pouchitis and their role in the remission induction, maintenance, and relapse prevention. A thorough literature review was performed on PubMed, Ovid Medline, and EMBASE using the terms "prebiotics AND ulcerative colitis", "probiotics AND ulcerative colitis", "prebiotics AND Crohn's disease", "probiotics AND Crohn's disease", "probiotics AND acute pouchitis", "probiotics AND chronic pouchitis" and "prebiotics AND pouchitis". Observational studies and clinical trials conducted on humans and published in the English language were included. A total of 71 clinical trials evaluating the utility of prebiotics and probiotics in the management of inflammatory bowel disease were reviewed and the findings were summarized. Most of these studies on probiotics evaluated lactobacillus, De Simone Formulation or Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 and there is some evidence supporting these agents for induction and maintenance of remission in ulcerative colitis and prevention of pouchitis relapse with minimal adverse effects. The efficacy of prebiotics such as fructooligosaccharides and Plantago ovata seeds in ulcerative colitis are inconclusive and the data regarding the utility of prebiotics in pouchitis is limited. The results of the clinical trials for remission induction and maintenance in active Crohn's disease or post-operative relapse with probiotics and prebiotics are inadequate and not very convincing. Prebiotics and probiotics are safe, effective and have great therapeutic potential. However, better designed clinical trials in the multicenter setting with a large sample and long duration of intervention are needed to identify the specific strain or combination of probiotics and prebiotics which will be more beneficial and effective in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Peripheral neuropathy is a painful condition deriving from many and varied etiologies. Certain medications have been implicated in the iatrogenic development of Drug Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (DIPN) and include chemotherapeutic agents, antimicrobials, cardiovascular drugs, psychotropic, anticonvulsants, among others. This review synthesizes current clinical concepts regarding the mechanism, common inciting medications, and treatment options for drug-induced peripheral neuropathy.

Methods: The authors undertook a structured search of bibliographic databases for peer-reviewed research literature using a focused review question and inclusion/exclusion criteria. The most relevant and up to date research was included.

Results: Drug-induced peripheral neuropathy is a common and painful condition caused by many different and frequently prescribed medications. Most often, DIPN is seen in chemotherapeutic agents, antimicrobials, cardiovascular drugs, psychotropic, and anticonvulsant drugs. Certain drugs exhibit more consistent neuropathic side effects, such as the chemotherapeutic compounds, but others are more commonly prescribed by a larger proportion of providers, such as the statins. DIPN is more likely to occur in patients with concomitant risk factors such as preexisting neuropathy, diabetes, and associated genetically predisposing diseases. DIPN is often difficult to treat, however medications including duloxetine, and gabapentin are shown to reduce neuropathic pain. Advanced techniques of neuromodulation offer promise though further randomized and controlled studies are needed to confirm efficacy.

Conclusion: Awareness of the drugs covered in this review and their potential for adverse neuropathic effect is important for providers caring for patients who report new onset symptoms of pain, paresthesia, or weakness. Prevention of DIPN is especially important because treatment often proves challenging. While many pharmacologic therapies have demonstrated analgesic potential in the pain caused by DIPN, many patients remain refractive to treatment. More studies are needed to elucidate the effectiveness of interventional, neuromodulating therapies.

Background: It is still controversial whether pomegranate causes drug interactions. Pomegranate juice has been shown to inhibit CYP3A in-vitro and animal studies. The coadministration of pomegranate juice with cyclosporine, a narrow therapeutic drug that is the substrate of CYP3A, might lead to drug toxicity. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of pomegranate juice on the pharmacokinetics of cyclosporine in healthy Thai volunteers.

Methods: The study design was an open-label, randomized, single dose, crossover study with a 2- week washout period. Each fasting subject received 2 microemulsion tablets of 100 mg of cyclosporine with 500 ml of pomegranate juice (test) or 500 ml of water (control). Serial blood samples were collected up to 24 h after dosing, and blood samples were analyzed for cyclosporine concentrations by using chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. Fourteen healthy volunteers completed the study.

Results: The 90% confidence intervals for the test/control ratio using logarithmically transformed data of area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) from time zero until the last measured concentration (AUC0-t), AUC from time zero to infinity (AUC0-∞), and maximum concentration (Cmax) were 91.6-105.6, 92.0-105.2 and 82.3-102.5, respectively. The results were within the accepted bioequivalence range for narrow therapeutic index drugs (90-111% for AUC and 80-125% for Cmax). There were no differences in adverse event between the groups.

Conclusion: Single dose administration of pomegranate juice with cyclosporine did not significantly affect the oral bioavailability of cyclosporine. However, further work is needed to thoroughly evaluate the effect of pomegranate on narrow therapeutic drugs.