Severe methemoglobinemia due to topical dapsone misuse in a teenage girl

Dapsone gel is a topical treatment for facial acne in adolescents and adults, and while systemic dapsone therapy is known to be associated with methemoglobinemia, once-daily topical dapsone has been well tolerated with few side effects in large randomized controlled trials. We describe the first reported case of severe methemoglobinemia in a healthy adolescent using daily topical dapsone. Although the medication was prescribed for facial use only, the patient reported topical use over her back and chest as well. This case illustrates the potential for significant systemic dapsone absorption even with daily topical dosing and demonstrates the need for clear anticipatory guidance to prevent the potential morbidity and mortality associated with methemoglobinemia from improper topical dapsone use.     

Polystyrene nanoplastics (20 nm) are able to bioaccumulate and cause oxidative DNA damages in the brain tissue of zebrafish embryo (Danio rerio)

Nano-sized plastic particles formed from both daily use plastics and its debris have become a potential health and environmental problem due to features such as transportation through food webs and maternal transfer. Although many studies on the toxicity of plastics exist more detailed and molecular studies are needed to evaluate and review the effects of plastics especially in nano-size range. For this purpose, we have microinjected polystyrene nanoplastics (PNP) (20 nm) to the zebrafish embryo, which is one of the best model organisms for developmental toxicity studies, to simulate intake with food or maternal. Survival, hatching and malformations evaluated during the experimental period (120 h). Moreover, we have aimed to put forth the presence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis signalling accumulation in the body in addition to bioaccumulation of PNP and immunochemical toxicity (8-OHdG) on the brain of zebrafish larvae at the 120th hour. According to results, it has been demonstrated that 20 nm diameter PNP can reach the brain and bioaccumulate there, moreover lead to oxidative DNA damage in the brain regions where it bioaccumulates. Here we have also imaged the PNP from a vertebrate brain via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for the first time. As a result of these, it has been detected increasing mortality and prevailing abnormalities in addition to excessive ROS and apoptosis in especially the brain. As a conclusion, obtained data have suggested that precautions, on the use and contamination of the plastic product, to be taken during both pregnancy and baby care/feeding are important for the health of the baby in future.     

含贝达喹啉方案治疗耐药肺结核的不良反应分析

目的: 分析贝达喹啉联合常规抗结核药物治疗耐药肺结核过程中产生的不良反应,为贝达喹啉的安全使用与监测提供依据。方法: 采用回顾性研究的方法,搜集2018年11月至2020年12月于山东省公共卫生临床中心耐药结核病房完成了24周治疗及随访的127例耐多药肺结核、准广泛耐药肺结核、广泛耐药肺结核及利福平耐药肺结核患者作为研究对象,其中,使用含贝达喹啉方案治疗的66例患者作为观察组,使用不含贝达喹啉治疗方案的61例患者作为对照组。收集研究对象的临床资料,包括年龄、性别、耐药诊断类型、是否合并糖尿病、是否合用其他导致QTc间期延长的药物等。监测两组研究对象在治疗过程中药物不良反应的发生情况,分析观察组患者发生QTc间期延长(>450ms)的影响因素。结果: 观察组QTc间期延长发生率为48.5%(32/66),明显高于对照组的26.2%(16/61),差异有统计学意义(χ²=6.678,P=0.001);观察组与对照组发生QTc间期>500ms者分别有3例(4.5%)和1例(1.6%),差异无统计学意义(Fisher精确概率法,P=0.143)。两组其他药物不良反应发生情况未见差异。观察组QTc间期随着含贝达喹啉治疗方案使用时间增加逐渐增大,第4周末QTc间期为(435.1±28.8)ms,明显高于基线期QTc间期[(419.0±23.2)ms],差异有统计学意义(t=3.477,P=0.001);在第12周末达峰值[(439.5±30.7)ms]。多因素分析显示,年龄≥45岁的患者使用含贝达喹啉方案治疗时出现QTc间期延长的风险是年龄18~45岁者的9.027倍(95%CI:1.033~78.859);合并使用其他可导致QTc间期延长的药物亦是导致患者发生QTc间期延长的独立危险因素[OR(95%CI)=9.033(1.042~78.326)]。结论: 耐药肺结核患者应用含贝达喹啉方案治疗后QTc间期延长的发生率增高,但未见严重的心脏不良事件;其他系统不良事件发生率未见增加。高龄患者是QTc间期延长发生的高危人群。     

Take the lead

A 23-year-old previously healthy woman presented with headache, generalized seizures, ataxia, encephalopathy, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting culminating in a 40-pound weight loss. A contrasted magnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain showed T2/FLAIR hyperintensities in the sulci of the occipital and parietal lobes, a punctate focus of restricted diffusion along the inferior aspect of the left caudate head and an empty sella. A lumbar puncture showed an opening pressure of 55 cm H2O, and kidney, ureter, and bladder X ray showed a radiopaque particle in the colon. Serum lead level was 85 mcg/dL (< 3.5). Blood smear showed foreign bodies identified as lead particles in the blood with basophilic stippling of RBCs. She was treated with chelation therapy and bowel irrigation and eventually recovered. Further investigation indicated that she was being slowly poisoned by her husband, a chiropractor who had access to lead.     

Rapid infusion of excessive phenytoin: A newborn autopsy case

The patient was a two-day-old female infant. The patient’s mother was a primigravid in her 20 s who developed premature abruption of the normal placenta on the first day of the 33rd week of gestation. The infant was born by emergency cesarean section with severe neonatal asphyxia with a birth weight of 1928 g. Spontaneous circulation was returned 11 min after birth. The infant was treated under mechanical ventilation in the neonatal intensive care unit, and phenobarbital was administered for repeated seizures. On day 2, spontaneous respiration was observed; however, the patient developed seizures repeatedly. The dose of phenobarbital reached the maximum and was switched to midazolam. In the early morning of day 3, while midazolam was administered up to the maximum dose, the infant developed status epilepticus, and the anticonvulsant drug was changed to phenytoin. Due to a calculation error, the intravenous administration of phenytoin was started at 400 mg/30 min, which is 10-fold of the normal dose. Six minutes later, after 80 mg was administered, the administration was stopped due to a drop in blood pressure; however, the infant died of cardiac arrest. An autopsy, which was performed approximately 25 h after death, revealed the blood phenytoin concentration in the heart was 63.85 μg/mL. The cause of death was determined to be acute phenytoin toxicity. This is the first fatal case reported of the blood concentration of phenytoin caused by rapid intravenous administration.     

Spectrum-Toxicity Correlation Study Revealed the Influence of the Nine-Time Steaming and Sun Drying Method on Hepatotoxic Components of Polygoni Multiflori Radix

Objective: Polygoni Multiflori Radix (PM) is a traditional herbal medicine with repeated reports of liver injury events in recent years. We wondered whether the classical processing method, namely, nine-time steaming and sun drying (NSSD), had toxicity-attenuating effects on PM and the relationships between toxicity and times of processing, as well as with the alteration trends of its compounds. Materials and Methods: The chemical fingerprints of different PM extracts were developed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography. The spectrum-toxicity correlation between the chemical fingerprints and hepatocellular toxicity was analyzed with multiple correlation analysis. Results: The results suggested that the hepatotoxicity of NSSD processing products markedly decreased with the repeated steaming and sun drying, which was obviously superior to the product processed by the modern method. Comprehensive analysis revealed that the contents of cis-stilbene glycoside and emodin-8-O-β-D-glucoside related to liver injury susceptibility were reduced with the times of NSSD processing, which was consistent with the decreased trend of hepatocellular toxicity. After the five times of NSSD, the contents of them as well as the hepatotoxicity of PM were steady. Moreover, we found that the contents of catechin and physcion declined rapidly after the one time of NSSD and then remained stable until the nine times of NSSD. Based on the fact, they could be utilized to indicate whether PM products were processed by steaming and sun drying. Conclusions: This paper confirmed that the NSSD had a good influence on the toxicity attenuating to PM and found four compounds which could apply for the quality control of PM.     

Impact of external beam pelvic radiotherapy of endometrial carcinoma: A focus on chronic digestive toxicity

PurposeThe standard treatment for endometrial cancer is surgery, although depending on the risk factors, adjuvant radiation therapy may also be given. It is proposed for high-risk carcinomas for which an improvement in progression-free survival though not overall survival has been shown. However, despite the development of radiotherapy treatments with intensity modulation and image guidance, adjuvant radiation therapy remains toxic to the digestive system. We aimed to investigate the incidence of digestive toxicity and the presence of any predictive factors.Materials and methodsData were retrospectively collected from patients treated with adjuvant radiotherapy for endometrial carcinoma at the Institut de cancérologie de Lorraine and centre hospitalier Émile-Durkheim between January 2010 and October 2016 and analyzed to identify factors associated with chronic digestive toxicity.ResultsOne hundred and thirty-nine patients received a total dose of 50 Gy fractionated into 25 sessions, five per week for five weeks. The median follow-up after irradiation completion was 38 months. The incidence of gastrointestinal and rectal toxicity in all patients treated with pelvic irradiation for endometrial carcinoma was 11.1% (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 5.4–19%) for grade 3–4 and 25.6% (95%CI: 17.0–34.9%) for grade 2–4. No factor was found to be significantly predictive of chronic digestive toxicity. At five years, the overall survival was 74.3%, (95%CI: 65.3–81.4%), progression-free survival was 69.6% (95%CI: 60.1–77.3%) and incidence of pelvic recurrence was 7.9% (95%CI: 3.8–13.9%).ConclusionOur results confirmed that pelvic radiotherapy can induce a relatively high rate of digestive toxicity but failed to identify relevant factors able to predict it.     

Outcomes and toxicity of concurrent CDK4/6 inhibitor and locoregional radiotherapy for patients with de novo metastatic breast cancer

The objective of the present study was to assess the outcomes and toxicity of patients treated with concurrent administration of CDK4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) and locoregional radiation therapy (RT), including the breast with a boost or the thoracic wall after mastectomy and the regional lymph node areas. We retrospectively analyzed data from 27 patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative de novo metastatic breast cancer treated with CDK4/6i and concomitant locoregional RT in 2017/2022. Survival rates were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method. Prognostic factors were tested with log-rank test. CDK4/6i was used as the first systemic metastatic treatment for all the patients, and the median overall treatment time was 26 months. The median time from initiation of CDK4/6i to the start of RT was 10 months (IQR: 7-14 months). The median duration of concomitant CDK4/6i and RT administration was 21 days (IQR: 14.5-23 days). After a median follow-up of 19 months (IQR: 14-36 months), 1 patient died, 11/27 had distant metastases and 1 patient had local recurrence, respectively. The 1- and 3-years progression-free survival (PFS) were 61.4% (95% CI: 45.1%-83.7%) and 53.7% (35.8%-80.5%), respectively. The acute toxicities most observed during RT were neutropenia (44%) and dermatitis (37%). Dermatitis was significantly more frequent in patients with large target volumes (CTV > 911 cc and PTV > 1285 cc). CDK4/6i had to be discontinued in five patients during RT (due to toxicity in three cases and disease progression in two cases). One patient has developed grade 2 late pulmonary fibrosis. Finally, our study demonstrated that concurrent administration of locoregional RT and CDK4/6i did not induce severe late toxicity for most patients.     

Cardiac assessment of early breast cancer patients 18 years after treatment with cyclophosphamide-, methotrexate-, fluorouracil- or epirubicin-based chemotherapy

BackgroundEpirubicin-based chemotherapy improves the outcome of early breast cancer (BC) patients. However, cardiotoxicity remains an important side effect.MethodsWe re-consented node-positive BC patients enrolled in a phase III trial between 1988 and 1996 which compared six cycles of oral cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, fluorouracil (CMF) versus two epirubicin–cyclophosphamide regimens differing by the anthracycline cumulative dose [standard-dose epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (SDE) (8 × 60 mg/m²) and higher-dose epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (HDE) (8 × 100 mg/m²)]. Eligible patients were those who were alive and free of disease and had no contra-indications to the proposed tests (cardiac evaluation). Cardiotoxicity was defined as asymptomatic systolic dysfunction (left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 50%, New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class I) or symptomatic heart failure (NYHA Class II–IV).Differences in cardiotoxicity between CMF and SDE/HDE were assessed using chi-square and Fisher Exact tests for binary variables and t-test and Wilcoxon test for continuous variables.ResultsAmong the 777 patients, 20 cases of CHF were reported (CMF = 1, SDE = 5, HDE = 14; p < 0.001). Between September 2010 and June 2013, 82 patients (30%) out of 269 eligible patients accepted to participate in this substudy. Median follow-up was 18 years (range 15–24). Epirubicin-treated patients had significantly higher heart rate, more abnormal echocardiograms and LVEF by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared to CMF-treated ones. A trend towards higher BNP was also observed in the SDE/HDE group (P = 0.08). No differences were observed in LVEF assessed by echocardiogram or troponin T levels.ConclusionsParticipation rate in this substudy was lower than expected highlighting the complexity of re-calling patients several years after the initial BC diagnosis. After 18 years, epirubicin-treated patients had a lower LVEF by MRI, more abnormal echocardiograms, higher heart rates compared to patients treated with CMF. However, no major delayed cardiotoxicity was observed.