Botulinum toxin blocks mast cells and prevents rosacea like inflammation

Background

Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin condition whose etiology has been linked to mast cells and the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin LL-37. Individuals with refractory disease have demonstrated clinical benefit with periodic injections of onabotulinum toxin, but the mechanism of action is unknown.

Early intervention in myelofibrosis and impact on outcomes: A pooled analysis of the COMFORT-I and COMFORT-II studies

Background

In a pooled analysis of the phase 3 Controlled Myelofibrosis Study With Oral JAK Inhibitor Treatment I (COMFORT-I) and COMFORT-II clinical trials, adult patients with intermediate-2 or high-risk myelofibrosis who received oral ruxolitinib at randomization or after crossover from placebo or best available therapy (BAT) had improved overall survival (OS).

Methods

This post hoc analysis of pooled COMFORT data examined relevant disease outcomes based on the disease duration (≤12 or >12 months from diagnosis) before ruxolitinib initiation.

Results

The analysis included 525 patients (ruxolitinib: ≤12 months, n = 84; >12 months, n = 216; placebo/BAT: ≤12 months, n = 66; >12 months, n = 159); the median age was 65.0–70.0 years. Fewer thrombocytopenia and anemia events were observed among patients who initiated ruxolitinib treatment earlier. At Weeks 24 and 48, the spleen volume response (SVR) was higher for patients who initiated ruxolitinib earlier (47.6% vs. 32.9% at Week 24, p = .0610; 44.0% vs. 26.9% at Week 48, p = .0149). In a multivariable analysis of factors associated with spleen volume reduction, a logistic regression model that controlled for confounding factors found that a significantly greater binary reduction was observed among patients with shorter versus longer disease duration (p = .022). At Week 240, OS was significantly improved among patients who initiated ruxolitinib earlier (63% [95% CI, 51%‒73%] vs. 57% [95% CI, 49%‒64%]; hazard ratio, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.01‒2.31; p = .0430). Regardless of disease duration, a longer OS was observed for patients who received ruxolitinib versus those who received placebo/BAT.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that earlier ruxolitinib initiation for adult patients with intermediate-2 and high-risk myelofibrosis may improve clinical outcomes, including fewer cytopenia events, durable SVR, and prolonged OS.

Plain Language Summary

• Patients with myelofibrosis, a bone marrow cancer, often do not live as long as the general population. These patients may also have an enlarged spleen and difficult symptoms such as fatigue.
• Two large clinical trials showed that patients treated with the drug ruxolitinib lived longer and had improved symptoms compared to those treated with placebo or other standard treatments.
• Here it was examined whether starting treatment with ruxolitinib earlier (i.e., within a year of diagnosis) provided benefits versus delaying treatment.
• Patients who received ruxolitinib within a year of diagnosis lived longer and experienced fewer disease symptoms than those whose treatment was delayed.

     

Ospemifene plus fractional CO2 laser: a powerful strategy to treat postmenopausal vulvar pain

Abstract

This study is a single-center, retrospective analysis of postmenopausal women presenting with dyspareunia and vulvar pain, aiming to evaluate relative effectiveness of vestibular CO₂ laser therapy as a treatment. Three monthly sessions of laser were performed to each patient and thereafter a three-months follow-up was stablished. A total number of 72 patients undergoing vestibular laser treatment were recruited from patient files in the period between 2016 and 2018. Among these, 39 women also received a concomitant treatment with ospemifene (60?mg/day) during the study period. There was a statistically significant reduction of all the symptoms in both groups up to the three month follow-up. Regarding dryness and dyspareunia, the relief tent to be more prominent in the ospemifene?+?laser group at all follow-ups and remained statistically significant at three-month follow-up. Specifically, vestibular dryness was significantly lower in the ospemifene?+?laser group compared with the laser treatment group (?87% vs???34%, respectively), and the vestibular health score started declining faster in the ospemifene?+?laser group. Although, additional research is needed to understand the mechanism of action, our data shows that a combination regimen of laser and ospemifene may improve clinical effectiveness for long-term treatment of symptoms associated with the under-recognized genitourinary syndrome of menopause.     

艾尔巴韦/格拉瑞韦治疗慢性丙型肝炎患者疗效初步观察

目的 初步探讨应用艾尔巴韦/格拉瑞韦治疗慢性丙型肝炎(CHC)患者的疗效。方法 2017年3月~2018年3月仙桃市第一人民医院感染病科收治的CHC患者82例,被随机分为对照组41例和观察组41例,分别给予聚乙二醇干扰素-α联合利巴韦林治疗和艾尔巴韦/格拉瑞韦治疗,两组均连续治疗24周。采用RT- PCR法检测血清 HCV RNA,采用全基因序列测定法行病毒基因分型。比较两组早期病毒学应答(EVR)、治疗结束时病毒学应答(ETVR)和持续病毒学应答(SVR)。结果 在治疗结束时,观察组血清丙氨酸氨基转移酶(ALT)水平为(47.9±19.7)U/L,显著低于对照组【(63.5±21.2)U/L,P<0.05】,天冬氨酸氨基转移酶(AST)水平为(55.5±22.3)U/L,显著低于对照组【(81.3±25.8)U/L,P<0.05】;观察组EVR、ETVR和SVR分别为48.8%、63.4%和70.7%,与对照组的41.5%、53.7%和65.8%比,无统计学差异(P>0.05);18例观察组非HCV Ⅰ型感染者EVR、ETVR和SVR分别为88.9%、94.4%和88.9%,显著高于同组23例HCV Ⅰ型感染者(分别为52.2%、60.9%和52.2%, P<0.05),而与对照组15例非HCV Ⅰ型感染者比,无统计学差异(分别为86.7%、93.3%和73.3%, P>0.05);观察组SVR₁₂为87.8%(36/41),显著高于对照组的73.2%(30/41,P<0.05)。结论 应用直接抗病毒(DAA)药物艾尔巴韦/格拉瑞韦治疗CHC患者近期疗效达到,但远期疗效似优于标准治疗方案, 值得临床进一步验证。     

MEMRI and tumors: a method for the evaluation of the contribution of Mn(II) ions in the extracellular compartment

The purpose of the work was to set‐up a simple method to evaluate the contribution of Mn²⁺ ions in the intra‐ and extracellular tumor compartments in a MEMRI experiment. This task has been tackled by “silencing” the relaxation enhancement arising from Mn²⁺ ions in the extracellular space. In vitro relaxometric measurements allowed assessment of the sequestering activity of DO2A (1,4,7,10‐tetraazacyclododecane‐1,7‐diacetic acid) towards Mn²⁺ ions, as the addition of Ca‐DO2A to a solution of MnCl₂ causes a drop of relaxivity upon the formation of the highly stable and low‐relaxivity Mn‐DO2A. It has been proved that the sequestering ability of DO2A towards Mn²⁺ ions is also fully effective in the presence of serum albumin. Moreover, it has been shown that Mn‐DO2A does not enter cell membranes, nor does the presence of Ca‐DO2A in the extracellular space prompt migration of Mn ions from the intracellular compartment. On this basis the in vivo, instantaneous, drop in SE% (percent signal enhancement) in T₁‐weighted images is taken as evidence of the sequestration of extracellular Mn²⁺ ions upon addition of Ca‐DO2A. By applying the method to B16F10 tumor bearing mice, T₁ decrease is readily detected in the tumor region, whereas a negligible change in SE% is observed in kidneys, liver and muscle. The relaxometric MRI results have been validated by ICP‐MS measurements. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.