Einzelreferate und Buchbesprechungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Einzelreferate und Buchbesprechungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

提高中草药随机对照试验的质量Ⅱ:对照组设计

目的:如何选择对照组是临床随机对照试验设计的关键环节之一。通过对Cochrane图书馆发表的关于中草药治疗2型糖尿病系统评价中所包含的66个临床试验进行对照组设计的评价分析,探讨如何提高中草药临床试验中对照组设计的质量。方法:文献检索2005年7月前发表于Cochrane图书馆且纳入临床试验最多的系统评价——中草药治疗2型糖尿病系统评价中的66个临床试验,分析中草药临床随机对照试验在对照组设计方面存在的问题。结果:在66个临床试验中,所采用的对照组包括安慰剂组、阳性药物组及空白对照组等,但在临床试验设计中则并未说明对照组的选择理由;其中27个临床试验采用中、西药结合与西药疗效的比较;24个临床试验采用中药与西药疗效的比较;5个临床试验采用中药与安慰剂疗效的比较;3个临床试验比较了中、西药结合与西药合安慰剂治疗的疗效;3个临床试验比较了中、西药结合与其他中药治疗的疗效;中药治疗组与空白对照组比较、中药合安慰剂治疗与西药合安慰剂治疗的比较则各为1个临床试验;另有1个临床试验采用了中药分别与中、西药结合,西药以及安慰剂的比较;有1个试验则采用了中药分别与西药及中、西药结合的比较。结论:基于不同的临床试验目的选择对照组是进行对照组设计的根本依据。建议:(1)研究者与设计者必须正确理解对照组选择的重要意义;(2)对照组的选择必须以试验设计目的为基础;(3)选择阳性药物对照组必须有充足的证据证明该阳性药物的疗效,同时必须遵照推荐方法使用阳性药物;(4)必须确保安慰剂所含成分为惰性成分,对所研究疾病无任何治疗作用,且在色、泽、味、形等方面尽可能与试验药物一致;(5)空白对照组的选择必须充分考虑伦理道德因素,且不会因为非盲法评估而对结局评估产生任何偏倚;(6)在对慢性、稳定性疾病进行的研究中,交叉对照试验常较随机对照试验更为适宜。     

Intermediary metabolism of the mature rat following 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin treatment

Changes in body weight, feed intake, hepatic cellularity, and intermediary metabolism were assessed in the mature male (450 g) rat following 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) administration. All animals were schedule-fed (8-hr feeding period/24 hr) and treated with a single oral dose of either TCDD (75 micrograms/kg) or vehicle. Blood and tissues were sampled 16 to 18 hr following the end of the feeding period on 2, 4, 6, and 8 days post-treatment. Mature rats treated with TCDD exhibited a slight but progressive reduction in both body weight and feed intake throughout the 8-day experimental period. An increase in liver mass that was apparent at 2 days and plateaued by 4 days after TCDD treatment was associated with a decrease in the concentration of DNA per gram of wet liver. However, the total liver content of DNA in TCDD-treated rats remained similar to pair-fed animals. Thus, TCDD treatment produced liver enlargement in the mature rat that was the result of hepatocellular hypertrophy and not an increase in cell number. Hepatic glycogen content in TCDD-treated rats was threefold higher than their pair-fed counterparts at 2 to 6 days post-treatment, and this augmentation would account, in part, for the hypertrophy of the liver cell found after administration of TCDD. Plasma glucose and lactate concentrations were similar in TCDD-treated and pair-fed rats, suggesting that the Cori cycle remained unaltered following TCDD administration. Likewise, heart and gastrocnemius glycogen concentrations were similar in all experimental groups. Urinary excretion of urea, ammonia, and creatinine was comparable in TCDD-treated rats and their pair-fed counterparts, indicative of a nitrogen balance that was not disturbed by TCDD. Plasma glutamine concentrations in TCDD-treated rats tended to be reduced and were significantly lower at Day 6 post-treatment when compared to those of pair-fed counterparts, suggestive that amino acid release from muscle was not enhanced in TCDD-treated rats. Likewise, plasma concentrations of branched-chain amino acids, which are metabolized to a large extent in muscle, tended to be lower on Day 6 following TCDD treatment. Yet at Day 6 post-treatment, the circulating concentrations of amino acids that are metabolized by the liver were elevated in TCDD-treated animals. TCDD administration also resulted in an increase in total hepatic protein concentration which was evident at 4 days and increased progressively at 6 and 8 days post-treatment. Liver content of phospholipids also increased gradually following administration of TCDD.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Hypercalcemia in Pregnancy Due to CYP24A1 Mutations: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Pathogenic mutations of CYP24A1 lead to an impaired catabolism of vitamin D metabolites and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of hypercalcemia with low parathyroid hormone concentrations. Diagnosis is based on a reduced 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D to 25-hydroxyvitamin D ratio and confirmed by genetic analyses. Pregnancy is associated with an upregulation of the active vitamin D hormone calcitriol and may thus particularly trigger hypercalcemia in affected patients. We present a case report and a narrative review of pregnant women with CYP24A1 mutations (13 women with 29 pregnancies) outlining the laboratory and clinical characteristics during pregnancy and postpartum and the applied treatment approaches. In general, pregnancy triggered hypercalcemia in the affected women and obstetric complications were frequently reported. Conclusions on drugs to treat hypercalcemia during pregnancy are extremely limited and do not show clear evidence of efficacy. Strictly avoiding vitamin D supplementation seems to be effective in preventing or reducing the degree of hypercalcemia. Our case of a 24-year-old woman who presented with hypercalcemia in the 24th gestational week delivered a healthy baby and hypercalcemia resolved while breastfeeding. Pathogenic mutations of CYP24A1 mutations are rare but should be considered in the context of vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy.     

Investigating COVID-19 Vaccine Impact on the Risk of Hospitalisation through the Analysis of National Surveillance Data Collected in Belgium

The national vaccination campaign against SARS-CoV-2 started in January 2021 in Belgium. In the present study, we aimed to use national hospitalisation surveillance data to investigate the recent evolution of vaccine impact on the risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation. We analysed aggregated data from 27,608 COVID-19 patients hospitalised between October 2021 and February 2022, stratified by age category and vaccination status. For each period, vaccination status, and age group, we estimated risk ratios (RR) corresponding to the ratio between the probability of being hospitalised following SARS-CoV-2 infection if belonging to the vaccinated population and the same probability if belonging to the unvaccinated population. In October 2021, a relatively high RR was estimated for vaccinated people > 75 years old, possibly reflecting waning immunity within this group, which was vaccinated early in 2021 and invited to receive the booster vaccination at that time. In January 2022, a RR increase was observed in all age categories coinciding with the dominance of the Omicron variant. Despite the absence of control for factors like comorbidities, previous infections, or time since the last administered vaccine, we showed that such real-time aggregated data make it possible to approximate trends in vaccine impact over time.     

Impact of natural selection on global patterns of genetic variation and association with clinical phenotypes at genes involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection

Human genomic diversity has been shaped by both ancient and ongoing challenges from viruses. The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has had a devastating impact on population health. However, genetic diversity and evolutionary forces impacting host genes related to SARS-CoV-2 infection are not well understood. We investigated global patterns of genetic variation and signatures of natural selection at host genes relevant to SARS-CoV-2 infection (angiotensin converting enzyme 2 [ACE2], transmembrane protease serine 2 [TMPRSS2], dipeptidyl peptidase 4 [DPP4], and lymphocyte antigen 6 complex locus E [LY6E]). We analyzed data from 2,012 ethnically diverse Africans and 15,977 individuals of European and African ancestry with electronic health records and integrated with global data from the 1000 Genomes Project. At ACE2, we identified 41 nonsynonymous variants that were rare in most populations, several of which impact protein function. However, three nonsynonymous variants (rs138390800, rs147311723, and rs145437639) were common among central African hunter-gatherers from Cameroon (minor allele frequency 0.083 to 0.164) and are on haplotypes that exhibit signatures of positive selection. We identify signatures of selection impacting variation at regulatory regions influencing ACE2 expression in multiple African populations. At TMPRSS2, we identified 13 amino acid changes that are adaptive and specific to the human lineage compared with the chimpanzee genome. Genetic variants that are targets of natural selection are associated with clinical phenotypes common in patients with COVID-19. Our study provides insights into global variation at host genes related to SARS-CoV-2 infection, which have been shaped by natural selection in some populations, possibly due to prior viral infections.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Coronaviruses are enveloped, positive-sense, and single-stranded RNA viruses, many of which are zoonotic pathogens that crossed over into humans. Seven coronavirus species, including SARS-CoV-2, have been discovered that, depending on the virus and host physiological condition, may cause mild or lethal respiratory disease. There is considerable variation in disease prevalence and severity across populations and communities. Importantly, minority populations in the United States appear to have been disproportionally affected by COVID-19 (1, 2). For example, in Chicago, more than 50% of COVID-19 cases and nearly 70% of COVID-19 deaths are in African Americans (who make up 30% of the population of Chicago) (1). While social and economic factors are largely responsible for driving COVID-19 health disparities, investigating genetic diversity at host genes related to SARS-CoV-2 infection could help identify functionally important variation, which may play a role in individual risk for severe COVID-19 infection.In this study, we focused on four key genes playing a role in SARS-CoV-2 infection (3). The ACE2 gene, encoding the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 protein, was reported to be a main binding site for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) during an outbreak in 2003, and evidence showed stronger binding affinity to SARS-CoV-2, which enters the target cells via ACE2 receptors (3, 4). The ACE2 gene is located on the X chromosome (chrX); its expression level varies among populations (5); and it is ubiquitously expressed in the lung, blood vessels, gut, kidney, testis, and brain, all organs that appear to be affected as part of the COVID-19 clinical spectrum (6). SARS-CoV-2 infects cells through a membrane fusion mechanism, which in the case of SARS-CoV, is known to induce down-regulation of ACE2 (7). Such down-regulation has been shown to cause inefficient counteraction of angiotensin II effects, leading to enhanced pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation (7). Additionally, altered expression of ACE2 has been associated with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, which is highly relevant to COVID-19 as several cardiovascular conditions are associated with severe disease. TMPRSS2, located on the outer membrane of host target cells, binds to and cleaves ACE2, resulting in activation of spike proteins on the viral envelope and facilitating membrane fusion and endocytosis (8). Two additional genes, DPP4 and LY6E, have been shown to play an important role in the entry of SARS-CoV-2 virus into host cells. DPP4 is a known functional receptor for the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), causing a severe respiratory illness with high mortality (9, 10). LY6E encodes a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored cell surface protein, which is a critical antiviral immune effector that controls coronavirus infection and pathogenesis (11). Mice lacking LY6E in hematopoietic cells were susceptible to murine coronavirus infection (11).Previous studies of genetic diversity at ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in global human populations did not include an extensive set of African populations (5, 12–14). No common coding variants (defined here as minor allele frequency [MAF] > 0.05) at ACE2 were identified in any prior population studies. However, few studies included diverse indigenous African populations whose genomes harbor the greatest diversity among humans. This leads to a substantial disparity in the representation of African ancestries in human genetic studies of COVID-19, impeding health equity as the transferability of findings based on non-African ancestries to African populations can be low (15). Including more African populations in studying the genetic diversity of genes involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection is extremely necessary. Additionally, the evolutionary forces underlying global patterns of genetic diversity at host genes related to SARS-CoV-2 infection are not well understood. Using methods to detect natural selection signatures at host genes related to viral infections helps identify putatively functional variants that could play a role in disease risk.We characterized genetic variation and studied natural selection signatures at ACE2, TMPRSS2, DPP4, and LY6E in ethnically diverse human populations by analyzing 2,012 genomes from ethnically diverse Africans (referred to as the “African diversity” dataset), 2,504 genomes from the 1000 Genomes Project (1KG), and whole-exome sequencing of 15,977 individuals of European ancestry (EA) and African ancestry from the Penn Medicine BioBank (PMBB) dataset (SI Appendix, Fig. S1). The African diversity dataset includes populations with diverse subsistence patterns (hunter-gatherers, pastoralists, agriculturalists) and speaking languages belonging to the four major language families in Africa (Khoesan; Niger–Congo, of which Bantu is the largest subfamily; Afroasiatic; and Nilo-Saharan). We identify functionally relevant variation, compare the patterns of variation across global populations, and provide insight into the evolutionary forces underlying these patterns of genetic variation. In addition, we perform an association study using the variants identified from whole-exome sequencing at the four genes and clinical traits derived from electronic health record (EHR) data linked to the subjects enrolled in the PMBB. The EHR data include diseases related to organ dysfunctions associated with severe COVID-19, such as respiratory, cardiovascular, liver, and renal complications. Our study of genetic variation in genes involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection provides data to investigate infection susceptibility within and between populations and indicates that variants in these genes may play a role in comorbidities relevant to COVID-19 severity.