Medicine and Pharmacy Reports最新文献

Background: As a chronic inflammatory disease, psoriasis affects not only the skin but also the metabolic profile of the patients. Biologic therapies, including tumor necrosis alpha (TNF-a) inhibitors and interleukin (IL)-12/23 and IL-17 antagonists, have proven effective in the reduction of psoriasis severity; however their impact on the metabolic and chronic inflammatory profiles of the patients remains incompletely elucidated.

Methods: We performed a longitudinal case-control study on 106 psoriasis patients and an equal number of controls without the disease, as well as a prospective study on the patient group with the end point being 6 months of biologic therapy. Patients received either ixekizumab, secukinumab, guselkumab, certolizumab, ustekinumab, risankizumab, or adalimumab. Abdominal circumference, serum fasting glucose, triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoproteins (HDL), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C reactive protein (CRP) were measured for both patients and controls, with an additional measurement for patients after 6 months.

Results: At baseline, the number of psoriasis patients suffering from obesity, metabolic syndrome, and chronic inflammation significantly outnumbered controls (p<0.05), with the calculated odds ratio being 1.88, 6.83, and 81.84 for these conditions in psoriasis, respectively. Biologic therapies increased the abdominal circumference of patients in a slight but significant fashion (p<0.05), as well as significantly improved HDL, CRP, ESR levels at 6 months (p<0.05). Moreover, after 6 months, the number of patients meeting the diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome and chronic inflammation was significantly lower than at baseline (p<0.001).

Conclusions: According to our results, biologic therapies improve the overall metabolic and inflammatory profiles of psoriasis patients, the most significant ameliorations being noticed for serum HDL, CRP, and ESR.

Fluoropyrimidines represent the backbone of many chemotherapy protocols and the standard treatment for many types of tumors. Toxicity associated with fluoropyrimidines can occur in up to 40% of cases.

Background and purpose: The objective of this study was to analyze the correlation between the plasma concentration of 5-fluorouracil and the adverse events that patients might experience during this therapy.

Methods: A total of 58 patients received 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy. A blood sample was collected from each patient during the drug infusion, in order to assess the area under the curve for 5-fluorouracil. The occurring adverse events were evaluated through medical recordings of the patients' reported symptoms, clinical and paraclinical examinations.

Results: In our study, the majority of patients experienced some type of toxicity. Moreover, we found a correlation between 5-FU plasma concentration (expressed as AUC) and adverse events, a stronger one with hematological adverse reactions and a weaker one with gastrointestinal and cardiovascular toxicity.

Conclusion: Determining the plasma concentration of 5-FU in patients with severe toxicities could represent a method of individualizing the treatment and improving the safety profile.

Background and aim: The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Romania was followed by the declaration of an Emergency State and the subsequent lockdown. As all the schools and universities ceased onsite activities, the teaching process continued exclusively online, on different platforms, such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom.

Objectives: The aim of this cross-sectional study is to evaluate how the lifestyle changes imposed by the Covid-19 lockdown and online lectures influenced the learning experience of Romanian dental students, as their point of view could bring new information which might contribute to improving the teaching process.

Methods: The questionnaire had 28 items, each with either a Likert Scale or a multiple-choice option and was distributed in April 2020, one month after implementation of circulation restrictions and social distancing.

Results: Compared to classical teaching, we found that the online teaching process had a lower efficiency, with a higher satisfaction level for online courses, but lower for online practical teaching activities. The absence of human interaction was found to be detrimental to the teaching process.

Conclusion: Despite the lower efficiency of online learning, it was a good alternative that helped students continue their education in the situation created by the outbreak of Covid-19. For higher learning efficiency, a compromise method consisting of online courses and onsite practical training could be a better alternative.

Background and aims: The aim of this in vitro study is to quantitatively evaluate the effect of different alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages on the tooth enamel surface topography pretreated with various remineralizing agents using Atomic Force Microscopy.

Methods: 120 tooth specimens were prepared from 60 freshly extracted intact human premolars by sectioning from mesial to distal surfaces using low speed diamond discs and were randomly assigned to study groups and control group. Specimens of Group I, Group II and Group III were pre-treated with β-Tri calcium phosphate, bioactive glass and amine fluoride respectively for 4 minutes for 28 days, followed by storage in artificial saliva. All the specimens were evaluated for surface roughness using Atomic Force Microscopy. The specimens were then placed in alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for 10 minutes for 4 days and were again analyzed by Atomic Force Microscopy.Descriptive statistics was performed by using the proportional or frequency distribution of the parameters. The respondents were then grouped according to the branch of specialty if any and the data was evaluated by the one-way ANOVA with post-hoc, with p value <0.005.

Results: In the present study, among the remineralizing agents tested, bioactive glass was found to be more effective than β-Tri Calcium Phosphate and Amine Fluoride. Among the demineralizing agents used in this study, the demineralization potential of Coca Cola was found to be highest, followed by wine and green tea pretreated with β-tricalcium phosphate, bioactive glass and amine fluoride.

Conclusions: The present study concluded that all the remineralizing agents tested were found to be effective in inhibiting the demineralization caused by various alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. Among the remineralizing agents tested, bioactive glass was found to be more effective than β-tri calcium phosphate and amine fluoride.

Aim: To determine the knowledge regarding various aspects of pharmacovigilance among doctors and nurses of a tertiary care teaching hospital and to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among doctors and nurses of a tertiary care teaching hospital. The participants attended a one-hour educational session during which the concept of pharmacovigilance, the Pharmacovigilance Program of India, the need for reporting ADRs, and the method of reporting were explained by a subject expert. A 20-item questionnaire was used to assess their knowledge regarding pharmacovigilance before and after an educational session. The pre-post comparisons were done using Wilcoxon's signed-rank test. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Forty-two doctors and 115 nurses participated in the study. A significant improvement in the participant scores was seen following the educational intervention in both doctors (Z = -5.344, p < 0.001) and nurses (Z = -8.808, p < 0.001). Lack of knowledge/awareness was perceived as the major barrier for ADR reporting among nurses as well as doctors.

Conclusion: There is need for education and training among doctors and nurses to enhance their knowledge about drug safety and reporting practices. Educational intervention is likely to improve the knowledge regarding pharmacovigilance, and thereby enhance reporting by healthcare professionals.

Background and aims: Prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) is a complex disease that can be driven by alterations in both coding and noncoding genes. Recent research has identified coding and non-coding genes that are considered to play important roles in prostate cancer evolution and which may be used as biomarkers for disease diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. TP53 is a critical hub gene in prostate cancer. Advanced studies have demonstrated the crosstalk between coding and non-coding RNAs, particularly microRNAs (miRNAs).

Methods: In this study, we investigated the roundabout of TP53 and their regulatory miRNAs (miR-15a-5p, miR-34a-5p, and miR-141-3p) based on the TCGA data set. We validated an additional patient cohort of 28 matched samples of patients with PRAD at tissue and plasma level.

Results: Therefore, using the UALCAN online database, we evaluated the expression level in PRAD of these genes revealing overexpression of TP53. qRT-PCR validation step endorsed the expression level for these genes. Additionally, we evaluated the expression level of the four key miRNAs (miR-15a-5p, miR-34a-5p, and miR-141-3p) interconnected as a network at tissue and plasma levels.

Conclusions: Through these results, we demonstrated the essential function of TP53 and its associated miRNAs that play a significant role in tumor control, highlighting miRNAs' potential as future therapeutic targets and biomarkers with important implications in managing prostate cancer.