Results From a Large,Multicenter, Retrospective Analysis On Radium223 Use in Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC) in the Triveneto Italian Region

Background

Radium 223 was introduced for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer based on the results of a randomized controlled trial showing risk reduction for death and skeletal events. Our aim was to evaluate the outcome of patients receiving radium 223 in a real-world setting.

Why do Italian people rate their health worse than French people do? An exploration of cross-country differentials of self-rated health

The prevalence of bad self-rated health (SRH) varies considerably across countries. Here we present the results of a cross-national comparative study based on the data of National Health Surveys conducted in France and Italy. According to these data, 11% of the Italian and 6% of the French adult population aged between 45 and 74 rate their health as bad or very bad. This gap may result from differences in population structure regarding the individual characteristics (sociodemographic characteristics, diseases and disabilities, lifestyle, and others) that impact on SRH i.e., a structural effect. It may also be that the link between these characteristics and SRH is “country-specific” i.e., a contextual effect. We use logistic regression models to assess the contribution of both explanations. We find that the structural effect plays a prominent role in the higher prevalence of bad SRH in Italy compared to France.     

Effects of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid on Rhizobium sp. in pure culture

The effects of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid on the growth rate, chemical composition, ¹⁴C-2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ uptake by Rhizobium sp. M 4 able to nodulate Arachis hypogaea were determined. Cellular growth was diminished by the presence of 10^?3 M 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid in the medium. Alterations in cellular chemical composition, in ¹⁴C-2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and in ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ uptake were found.     

A model for sustainable short-term international medical trips.

The health status of many people in developing countries is often dismal compared with the norms in industrialized countries. Increasingly, medical practitioners in the United States and other industrialized countries have become interested in global health issues, an interest that often takes the form of short-term international medical trips. We discuss several ethical issues associated with participation in such trips and use our experiences in developing the Children's Health International Medical Project of Seattle (CHIMPS) to outline and illustrate a set of 7 guiding principles for making these trips. CHIMPS is a resident-run, faculty-supported international medical program founded in 2002 by pediatric residents at the University of Washington in Seattle. Members of CHIMPS work with a rural community in El Salvador to support ongoing public health interventions there and provide sustainable medical care in collaboration with the community and a local nongovernmental organization. The 7 principles developed as a result of this work-mission, collaboration, education, service, teamwork, sustainability, and evaluation-can be used as a model for health practitioners as they develop or select international medical trips. The importance of partnering with the community and working within the existing medical and public health infrastructure is emphasized. Many of the challenges of doing international medical work can be overcome when efforts are guided by a few specific principles, such as those we have outlined.     

Assessment of risk behaviors for HIV infection among psychiatric inpatients.

A 13-item questionnaire was constructed to assess risk factors for HIV infection among 476 patients newly admitted over a one-year period to a state psychiatric hospital in New York City. Because psychopathology can affect patients' self-reports, the validity of the instrument was established by HIV antibody tests in a subset of 352 patients. Results of the questionnaire indicated that the 352 patients were almost equally divided between the high-risk and low-risk categories. HIV seroprevalence was .6 percent among the low-risk patients, but 14.4 percent among the high-risk patients. The findings suggest that a screening program to detect HIV-positive patients should be undertaken in this population, that it should be focused on the high-risk subgroup, and that the questionnaire can be used to define that subgroup. However, results of the study may not generalize to other geographic areas.     

Impaired postural control in patients affected by tension-type headache

Sixteen subjects, affected by chronic tension-type headache (TTH) accordingly to the International Headache Society Classification (1988) criteria, in presence of tenderness in pericranial muscles,with a mean age of 37+/-11.8 years, and ten healthy volunteer subjects, age and sex matched, were submitted to postural analysis by Static Posturography (S.Ve.P. Amplaid). Aim of the study was to evaluate whether patients with TTH have disturbed postural control, as compared to normal subjects. Postural analysis considered all posturographic variables but focused on spectral frequency analysis of body sway. In both open (OE) and closed eyes (CE) condition, spectral frequency analysis showed a significantly increased body sway at low (OE= p < or = 0.01; CE= p < or = 0.01) and middle (OE= p < or = 0.01; CE= p < or = 0.01) frequencies on the antero-posterior (y) plane and at low frequencies (OE= p < or = 0.05; CE= p < or = 0.05) on the lateral (x) plane. Statistical analysis was performed using the Student's t test for unpaired data, p value 0.05 defined significant. The proprioceptive input seems to be predominant at middle and high frequencies in maintaining posture, our results seem then to suggest a proprioceptive disturbance in TTH patients. The disturbance is likely related to chronic pericranial muscle contraction and tenderness. Posturography and spectral analysis may help not only in the diagnosis of a postural disturbance but even more in the follow-up of TTH patients, during and after a medical and/or a rehabilitative treatment.     

Two tyrosinase nonapeptides recognized on HLA-A2 melanomas by autologous cytolytic T lymphocytes

A number of cytolytic T lymphocyte (CTL) clones derived from several melanoma patients have been found to recognize a majority of melanomas from HLA-A2 patients. We have reported previously that two such CTL clones recognize a product of the tyrosinase gene that is presented by HLA-A2. Here we show that one of these CTL clones recognizes a peptide encoded by the first nine amino acids of the putative signal sequence of tyrosinase. The other CTL clone recognizes a different tyrosinase peptide corresponding to amino acids 368–376. Both peptides contain consensus motifs of HLA-A2 binding peptides.     

The gastrointestinal prokinetic benzamide derivatives are agonists at the non-classical 5-HT receptor (5-HT4) positively coupled to adenylate cyclase in neurons

Summary We have previously shown that a non-classical 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT₄) receptor mediates the stimulation of adenylate cyclase activity in mouse embryo colliculi neurons in primary culture. The pharmacological characteristics of this receptor exclude the possibility that it belongs to the known 5-HT₁, 5-HT₂ or 5-HT₃ receptor types. Here we report that this 5-HT receptor can be stimulated by 4-amino-5-chloro-2-methoxy substituted benzamide derivatives. All these compounds have been reported to be potent stimulants of gastrointestinal motility and some of them are 5-HT₃ receptor antagonists. The rank order of potency of these substituted benzamide derivatives in stimulating cAMP formation was: cisapride > BRL 24924 > 5-HT > zacopride > BRL 20627 > metoclopramide. The non-additivity of benzamide and 5-HT activities suggests that 5-HT and the substituted benzamide derivatives act on the same receptor. Only ICS 205930, a recognized 5-HT₃ receptor antagonist, competitively antagonized the stimulatory effect of cisapride, zacopride and BRL 24924. However, its pK _i (6–6.3) for this new receptor was very different from its pK _i for 5-HT₃ receptors (pK _i = 8 –10). Other selective 5-HT₃ receptor antagonists with an indole group (BRL 43694 and GR 38032F), with a benzoate group (cocaïne, MDL 72222) or with a piperazine group (quipazine) were ineffective in reversing the stimulatory effect of benzamide derivatives. Exposure of neuronal cells to potent agonists at this receptor such as BRL 24924 rapidly reduces its capacity to stimulate cAMP production. For example, a preincubation of 10 min with BRL 24924 (100 mol/l) reduced by 42% the ability of 5-HT to stimulate cAMP production. Cross-desensitization occurs between the effects of 5-HT and benzamides. The unique pharmacology of these nonclassical 5-HT receptors that we propose to call 5-HT₄ is very close and even identical to the pharmacology of the high affinity 5-HT receptors involved in the indirect stimulation of smooth muscle in the guinea pig ileum. These receptors are different from the 5-HT₃ receptors also present in guinea pig ileum.Send offprint requests to A. Dumuis at the above address