Adherence to Chronic Kidney Disease Screening Guidelines Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes in a US Administrative Claims Database

ObjectiveTo examine the screening rates for kidney damage and function among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and chronic kidney disease stage at diabetes diagnosis using a US administrative claims database.Patients and MethodsThis cohort study used a claims database enriched with laboratory results data. Patients with T2D (defined as 1 inpatient or 2 outpatient claims for diabetes), aged 18 years or older, and with at least 1 year of follow-up enrollment were identified. Patients with type 1 diabetes, kidney disease, or other related conditions at baseline were excluded. We estimated screening rates using laboratory orders for serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) measurement and urine albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR). Chronic kidney disease severity was reported using the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes classification based on laboratory results.ResultsA total of 1,881,447 patients with T2D were eligible for analysis. Mean ± SD age was 63.1±13.1 years; 947,150 patients (50.3%) were male. Serum creatinine tests were ordered within 14 days of the index date among 290,722 patients of 622,915 (46.7%) patients with newly-recognized T2D. Overall, 1,595,964 patients (84.8%) had at least one serum creatinine test ordered during the 1-year follow-up period. Fewer patients received a UACR test during follow-up (814,897 [43.3%]). Less than half of all patients with T2D received a laboratory test order for both serum creatinine and urine albumin measurements during the follow-up period.ConclusionPhysicians treating patients with diabetes are selectively adhering to chronic kidney disease screening guidelines, as indicated by high rates of eGFR testing, but less frequent UACR testing. Despite recommendations to monitor both eGFR and UACR, less than half of patients were screened for albuminuria during the 1-year follow-up.     

C反应蛋白和白蛋白比值预测单发小肝癌患者微血管侵犯的价值研究

背景 既往对肝癌微血管侵犯病理诊断的重要性重视不够，目前国内外缺乏对微血管侵犯统一的病理诊断标准，也未将微血管侵犯列为病理常规诊断指标。C反应蛋白/白蛋白比值（CAR）作为新型系统性炎性因子，与肝癌的增殖、侵袭转移等恶性生物学行为密切相关。 目的 探讨CAR预测单发小肝癌患者微血管侵犯的价值。 方法 选择2017年6月至2021年6月在新疆医科大学第一附属医院行肝切除术的单个、肿瘤直径≤5 cm的术后病理检查证实为肝癌的患者346例为研究对象。收集患者一般资料，并计算CAR。绘制CAR预测单发小肝癌患者微血管侵犯的受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线，并计算CAR的最佳诊断截点，根据CAR最佳诊断截点将患者进行分组，采用1∶1最近邻居倾向性评分匹配（PSM）法将Logistic模型估计的倾向性评分相近患者进行配对，得到两组间各临床特征比较均衡性较高的样本。比较匹配后两组患者微血管侵犯率，采用Logistic回归分析评估匹配前、后CAR对单发小肝癌患者微血管侵犯的预测价值。 结果 346例患者中微血管侵犯阳性131例（37.9%），微血管侵犯阴性215例（62.1%）。ROC曲线分析结果显示，CAR预测单发小肝癌患者微血管侵犯的灵敏度为82.9%，特异度为76.4%，ROC曲线下面积为0.787〔95%CI（0.697，0.877）〕，最佳诊断截点为0.03。根据CAR最佳诊断截点，将患者分为CAR<0.03组（A组，n=145）和CAR≥0.03组（B组，n=201）。采用1∶1最近邻居PSM法，共92对匹配成功，匹配后两组临床资料均衡。匹配后，B组患者微血管侵犯发生率〔43.5%（40/92）〕高于A组〔13.0%（12/92）〕（χ2=6.314，P=0.013）。采用3种Logistic回归分析结果显示，匹配前、后CAR均为单发小肝癌患者微血管侵犯的独立影响因素（P<0.05）。 结论 CAR作为新型系统性炎症指标，可用于预测单发小肝癌微血管侵犯，当CAR≥0.03时提示单发小肝癌微血管侵犯发生率较高。     

Stabilization and formulation of a recombinant Human Cytomegalovirus vector for use as a candidate HIV-1 vaccine

Live attenuated viral vaccine/vector candidates are inherently unstable and infectivity titer losses can readily occur without defining appropriate formulations, storage conditions and clinical handling practices. During initial process development of a candidate vaccine against HIV-1 using a recombinant Human Cytomegalovirus vector (rHCMV-1), large vector titer losses were observed after storage at 4 °C and after undergoing freeze-thaw. Thus, the goal of this work was to develop candidate frozen liquid formulations of rHCMV-1 with improved freeze-thaw and short-term liquid stability for potential use in early clinical trials. To this end, a virus stability screening protocol was developed including use of a rapid, in vitro cell-based immunofluorescence focus assay to quantitate viral titers. A library of ∼50 pharmaceutical excipients (from various known classes of additives) were evaluated for their effect on vector stability after freeze-thaw cycling or incubation at 4 °C for several days. Certain additives including sugars and polymers (e.g., trehalose, sucrose, sorbitol, hydrolyzed gelatin, dextran 40) as well as removal of NaCl (lower ionic strength) protected rHCMV-1 against freeze-thaw mediated losses in viral titers. Optimized solution conditions (e.g., solution pH, buffers and sugar type) slowed the rate of rHCMV-1 titer losses in the liquid state at 4 °C. After evaluating various excipient combinations, three new candidate formulations were designed and rHCMV-1 stability was benchmarked against both the currently-used and a previously reported formulation. The new candidate formulations were significantly more stable in terms of reducing rHCMV-1 titer losses after 5 freeze-thaw cycles or incubation at 4 °C for 30 days. This case study highlights the utility of semi-empirical design of frozen liquid formulations of a live viral vaccine candidate, where protection against infectivity titer losses due to freeze-thaw and short-term liquid storage are sufficient to enable more rapid initiation of early clinical trials.     

Evaluation of the Safety and Feasibility of Same-Day Holmium-166 -Radioembolization Simulation and Treatment of Hepatic Metastases

PurposeTo evaluate the safety and feasibility of same-day treatment, including the simulation procedure for assessment of intrahepatic and extrahepatic distribution of the microspheres, with holmium-166 (¹⁶⁶Ho)-radioembolization.Materials and MethodsThis was a secondary analysis of patients included in the 4 prospective studies (HEPAR I, HEPAR II, HEPAR PLuS, and SIM) on ¹⁶⁶Ho-radioembolization. The technical success rate of the same-day treatment protocol, defined as the number of patients who completed the same-day treatment, was measured. Total in-room time, duration of the scout procedure, time to imaging, and duration of the treatment procedure were recorded. Reasons for discontinuation or adjustment of treatment were identified. Adverse events that occurred during the treatment day were recorded.ResultsOne hundred five of 120 scheduled patients completed the same-day treatment with ¹⁶⁶Ho-radioembolization (success rate, 88%). After the simulation procedure, treatment was cancelled in 15 patients because of extrahepatic deposition (n = 8), suboptimal tumor targeting (n = 1), unanticipated vascular anatomy (n = 5), and dissection (n = 1). In another 14 patients, the treatment plan was adjusted. The median total procedure time (ie, simulation, imaging, and treatment) was 6:39 hours:minutes (range, 3:58–9:17 hours:minutes). Back pain was a major same-day treatment-related complaint (n = 28).Conclusion¹⁶⁶Ho-radioembolization as a same-day treatment procedure is feasible in most selected patients, although treatment was adjusted in 12% of patients and cancelled in 12% of patients. This approach might be beneficial for a select patient population, such as patients needing a radiation segmentectomy.     

纤维蛋白原/白蛋白比值比对可手术乳腺癌患者预后的影响

目的探讨纤维蛋白原/白蛋白比值比(FAR)对可手术乳腺癌患者预后的影响。 方法依据纳入、排除标准，收集中国医学科学院北京协和医院2013年1～12月收治的520例Ⅰ～Ⅲ期可手术乳腺癌患者临床资料进行回顾性研究。在术前检测血浆纤维蛋白原和白蛋白水平。将纤维蛋白原与白蛋白质量浓度比值乘以100定义为FAR。根据受试者工作特征曲线确定FAR最佳临界值，并依据最佳临界值将受试者分为高FAR组(FAR>6.99)147例和低FAR组(FAR≤6.99)343例。采用Kaplan-Meier法和log-rank检验评估2组患者的DFS和OS，用Cox比例风险回归模型分析患者DFS和OS的影响因素。 结果log-rank检验显示，高FAR组患者的DFS和OS均比低FAR组差(χ²＝32.885、16.320，P均<0.001)。Cox比例风险回归模型单因素分析和多因素分析均显示：高FAR为患者DFS的独立危险因素(HR＝4.092，95%CI：2.425～6.903，P<0.001；HR＝4.226，95%CI：2.476～7.212，P<0.001);高FAR为患者OS的独立危险因素(HR＝3.907，95%CI：1.913～7.978，P<0.001；HR＝4.320，95%CI：2.087～8.942，P<0.001)。 结论术前高FAR患者的无疾病进展时间更短，OS率更低。术前FAR水平有望成为预测乳腺癌患者预后的有效指标。     

Same-Day Repeat Hepatopulmonary Shunt Measurement during Planning Angiography for Hepatic Radioembolization

This report describes a technique for measuring lung shunt fraction (LSF) twice in a single session during planning arteriography for radioembolization using low and standard dose technetium-99m macroaggregated albumin (^99mTc-MAA). A patient with a 16.0 cm hepatocellular carcinoma and LSF of 70% was treated with lenvatinib for 4 weeks. Planning arteriography with administration of 0.5 millicuries of ^99mTc-MAA was then performed. Arterial access was maintained while the LSF was calculated, which was persistently elevated at 54%. Embolization of arteriovenous shunts was performed during the same session and 5.0 millicuries of ^99mTc-MAA were administered. The repeat LSF was 29%. Successful radioembolization was subsequently performed.     

Evodiamine-inspired dual inhibitors of histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) and topoisomerase 2 (TOP2) with potent antitumor activity

A great challenge in multi-targeting drug discovery is to identify drug-like lead compounds with therapeutic advantages over single target inhibitors and drug combinations. Inspired by our previous efforts in designing antitumor evodiamine derivatives, herein selective histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) and topoisomerase 2 (TOP2) dual inhibitors were successfully identified, which showed potent in vitro and in vivo antitumor potency. Particularly, compound 30a was orally active and possessed excellent in vivo antitumor activity in the HCT116 xenograft model (TGI = 75.2%, 150 mg/kg, p.o.) without significant toxicity, which was more potent than HDAC inhibitor vorinostat, TOP inhibitor evodiamine and their combination. Taken together, this study highlights the therapeutic advantages of evodiamine-based HDAC1/TOP2 dual inhibitors and provides valuable leads for the development of novel multi-targeting antitumor agents.     

Same-Day Yttrium-90 Radioembolization: Feasibility with Resin Microspheres

Purpose

To evaluate the feasibility of a same-day yttrium-90 (⁹⁰Y) radioembolization protocol with resin microspheres (including pretreatment angiography, lung shunt fraction [LSF] determination, and radioembolization) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver metastases.