Prognosis Comparison Between Chronic Hepatitis B Patients Receiving a Finite Course of Tenofovir and Entecavir Treatment: A Nationwide Cohort Study in Taiwan

PurposeEntecavir (ETV) and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) are both recommended as first-line treatments for patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) infection according to international HBV treatment guidelines. However, recent studies reported conflicting results regarding the preferred antiviral in the prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This cohort study aimed to investigate this issue by using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, wherein a “finite” but not life-long treatment policy was applied.MethodsFrom January 2008 to December 2013, a total of 12,388 consecutive adult patients with CHB who received a finite course of TDF treatment (n = 1250) or ETV treatment (n = 11,138) were analyzed through screening for study eligibility followed by the 1:4 propensity score matching method.FindingsIn the entire cohort, the annual incidence and survival between the ETV and TDF groups were not significantly different regarding HCC occurrence (2.05 vs 2.74 per 100 patient-years [PY]; P = 0.055; hazard ratio [HR], 0.975; log-rank, P = 0.966), cirrhosis-related complications (1.9 vs 2.4 per 100 PY; P = 0.149; HR, 0.869; log-rank, P = 0.388), or all-cause mortality (2.16 vs 1.6 per 100 PY; P = 0.119; HR, 0.831; log-rank, P = 0.342), respectively. Propensity score matching analyses yielded similar results regarding HCC occurrence, cirrhosis-related complications, and all-cause mortality. In addition, these findings were consistently reproduced in the subgroups of patients with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis that developed before antiviral treatment.ImplicationsETV and TDF did not significantly differ in prevention of HCC occurrence or reduction of cirrhosis-related complications and all-cause mortality in patients with CHB receiving a finite period of treatment.     

Seronegative autoimmune diseases: A challenging diagnosis

Autoimmune diseases (AID) are increasingly prevalent conditions which comprise more than 100 distinct clinical entities that are responsible for a great disease burden worldwide. The early recognition of these diseases is key for preventing their complications and for tailoring proper management. In most cases, autoantibodies, regardless of their potential pathogenetic role, can be detected in the serum of patients with AID, helping clinicians in making a definitive diagnosis and allowing screening strategies for early -and sometimes pre-clinical- diagnosis. Despite their undoubted crucial role, in a minority of cases, patients with AID may not show any autoantibody, a condition that is referred to as seronegative AID. Suboptimal accuracy of the available laboratory tests, antibody absorption, immunosuppressive therapy, immunodeficiencies, antigen exhaustion, and immunosenescence are the main possible determinants of seronegative AID. Indeed, in seronegative AID, the diagnosis is more challenging and must rely on clinical features and on other available tests, often including histopathological evaluation and radiological diagnostic tests. In this review, we critically dissect, in a narrative fashion, the possible causes of seronegativity, as well as the diagnostic and management implications, in several AID including autoimmune gastritis, celiac disease, autoimmune liver disease, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune encephalitis, myasthenia gravis, Sjögren’s syndrome, antiphospholipid syndrome, and autoimmune thyroid diseases.     

Toxicological evaluation of Yulangsan polysaccharide in Wistar rats: A 26-week oral gavage study

Although numerous studies have proven the medicinal values of Yulangsan polysaccharide (YLSP), the toxicity of this active ingredient is unknown. In the acute toxicity study, a single oral administration of 24 g/kg YLSP caused neither toxicological symptoms nor mortality, and the LD₅₀ was estimated >24 g/kg. In the chronic toxicity study, we administered doses of 0, 0.6, 1.2 and 2.4 g/kg YLSP in rats by oral gavage for 26 weeks followed by a 3-week recovery period. There was no mortality or remarkable clinical signs observed during this 26-week study. Additionally, there were no toxic differences in the following parameters: body weight, food consumption, hematology, clinical biochemistry, organ weight, and macroscopic findings. There were no adverse effects on histopathology observed in males or female rats treated with YLSP. Based on the results, the no-observed-adverse-effect-level of YLSP in rats is greater than 2.4 g/kg when administered orally for 26 consecutive weeks.     

Safety and efficacy of oral nemonoxacin versus levofloxacin in treatment of community-acquired pneumonia: A phase 3, multicenter,randomized, double-blind,double-dummy,active-controlled,non-inferiority trial

Background/Purpose

Nemonoxacin is a novel nonfluorinated quinolone with excellent in vitro activity against most pathogens in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), especially Gram-positive isolates. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of nemonoxacin compared with levofloxacin in patients with CAP.

液相色谱-质谱测定鸦胆子油脂肪乳注射液在癌症患者体内的血药浓度

目的 建立液相色谱-质谱(LC-MS)法测定癌症患者单剂量滴注鸦胆 子油脂肪乳后体内油酸浓度。方法 用自身对照试验设计,7名癌症患者,第3 天不给药,抽取不同时间点空白血浆样品;第5天,单剂量滴注鸦胆子油脂肪乳 注射液100 mL,滴注开始后,抽取不同时间点血浆样品,60 min滴完,用LC- MS法测定血药浓度。结果 线性范围为2．44-156 mg·L-1;日内、日间变异 系数均<14％;7名癌症患者单剂量滴注鸦胆子油脂肪乳注射液100 mL后,主 要药代动力学参数:tmax=(1．08±0．19)h,Cmax(95．20±29．10)mg·L-1, AUC0-7h=(265．67±59．32)mg·h·L-1,t1／2=(12．14±6．42)h。结论 本法 适用临床测定血浆中油酸浓度。     

参麦注射液中人参皂苷Rg1和Re药代动力学研究

目的研究参麦注射液中人参皂苷Rg₁和Re人体药代动力学。方法采用已建立的LC/MS/MS法同时测定人血浆中人参皂苷Rg₁和Re浓度，并计算其药代动力学参数。结果人参皂苷Rg₁和Re线性范围为1.023-1 023 μg·L^-1和1.05-1 050 μg·L^-1，方法回收率在99%-105%和99%-104%，日内、日间RSD值均小于15%。参麦注射液60 mL经静脉滴注后人参皂苷Rg₁和Re的药时曲线均符合二房室开放模型，T_1/2α分别为0.28 h和0.10 h，T_1/2β分别为2.1 h和1.2 h。结论该法简便、灵敏、特异，适用于血浆中人参皂苷Rg₁和Re浓度的测定。参麦注射液中人参皂苷Rg₁和Re在人体内血药浓度较低，分布和消除速度较快，药代动力学行为符合二房室模型。     

n,n′-二乙酰-L-胱氨酸对半乳糖胺联用脂多糖引起小鼠免疫性肝衰竭的作用

目的研究n,n′-二乙酰-L-胱氨酸(DiNAC)对免疫性肝衰竭的治疗作用。方法观察DiNAC对Balb/C小鼠由半乳糖胺联用脂多糖引起免疫性肝衰竭的作用。半乳糖胺/脂多糖攻击6 h后，小鼠血清ALT，AST和外周血T细胞亚群分别用全自动生化仪、流式细胞仪测定，并用光镜观察肝组织病理切片，统计半乳糖胺/脂多糖攻击24 h后的小鼠存活率。结果给肝衰竭小鼠ip DiNAC(50，200，800 mg·kg^-1)，能明显阻止小鼠血清ALT和AST活力增高，使肝组织损害减轻及提高小鼠存活率，并呈剂量依赖关系；DiNAC能增强免疫性肝衰竭小鼠外周血CD4⁺,CD8⁺,Th1和Th2 T淋巴细胞的增殖分化。结论DiNAC对免疫性肝衰竭动物有明显的治疗作用，这一作用与其免疫调节有关。     

临床医生的个案研究设计

个案研究设计适合于提出研究假说，这种假说以后可以通过其他方法得到临床确认，这也适用于先导性临床试验(pilot study)，即在设计正式的临床试验之前，对要研究的药物进行一个初步的评估。其设计类型包括简单的A-B时序设计、经典的A-B-A反转设计、替代治疗设计、多基线设计。该设计应用的前提是治疗在较短时间能表现出最大效应，并且效应是短暂的，一旦治疗停止，则病情可逆，如果不是这种情况，则必须考虑成组设计。个案研究的方法一般依赖于“A”阶段的稳定基线期。该研究方法不适宜对急性或易变的疾病状况进行研究，而适用于对具有稳定病症表现的慢性或复发性疾病的研究。     

临床试验知情同意书的设计规程及范例

临床试验知情同意书分“知情告知”与“同意签字”两部分，其设计应符合完全告知、充分理解、自主选择的原则，必要时还应设计帮助受试者理解研究目的、程序、风险与受益的视听资料。临床试验前需作筛选检查，收集生物标本，必须得到两种知情同意，一种用于生物标本的收集和分析，另一种用于得出满意实验室结果并符合纳入标准后参加试验。本文介绍了知情同意书的设计规程，包括设计依据、设计原则、格式、内容与印刷的规定，以及知情同意书的范例。