Urinary dipeptidyl peptidase-4 protein is increased by linagliptin and is a potential predictive marker of urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio reduction in patients with type 2 diabetes

Results of a post hoc analysis of urinary dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) protein as a predictor of urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) response to linagliptin treatment based on MARLINA-T2D trial data are described. MARLINA was a 24-week, phase 3b, multinational, placebo-controlled clinical trial, in which patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), HbA1c 6.5%-10.0% and UACR 30-3000 mg/g (n = 360) were treated with linagliptin or placebo. After 24 weeks of treatment, linagliptin significantly inhibited urinary DPP-4 activity and increased urinary DPP-4 protein. Furthermore, medium urinary DPP-4 protein levels (between 5.5 and 7.5 natural logarithmic [ln] μg/g creatinine) at baseline allowed for prediction of improved UACR in linagliptin-treated individuals. In patients with lower or higher levels of urinary DPP-4 protein at baseline, no association between linagliptin treatment and improved UACR was present. This might suggest a varying degree of importance of DPP-4 as a pathophysiological factor in T2D-associated kidney disease. In summary, urinary DPP-4 might be a useful predictive biomarker for UACR improvement by linagliptin.     

DMH1 (4-[6-(4-isopropoxyphenyl)pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidin-3-yl]quinoline) inhibits chemotherapeutic drug-induced autophagy

Our previous work found that DMH1 (4-[6-(4-isopropoxyphenyl)pyrazolo [1,5-a]pyrimidin-3-yl]quinoline) was a novel autophagy inhibitor. Here, we aimed to investigate the effects of DMH1 on chemotherapeutic drug-induced autophagy as well as the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs in different cancer cells. We found that DMH1 inhibited tamoxifen- and cispcis-diaminedichloroplatinum (II) (CDDP)-induced autophagy responses in MCF-7 and HeLa cells, and potentiated the anti-tumor activity of tamoxifen and CDDP for both cells. DMH1 inhibited 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced autophagy responses in MCF-7 and HeLa cells, but did not affect the anti-tumor activity of 5-FU for these two cell lines. DMH1 itself did not induce cell death in MCF-7 and HeLa cells, but inhibited the proliferation of these cells. In conclusion, DMH1 inhibits chemotherapeutic drug-induced autophagy response and the enhancement of efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs by DMH1 is dependent on the cell sensitivity to drugs.KEY WORDS: Autophagy, Tamoxifen, 5-Fluorouracil, Cancer cells     

An Estimate of the Prevalence of COPD in Africa: A Systematic Analysis

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is among the leading causes of death globally, accounting for about 3 million deaths worldwide in 2011. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of COPD in Africa in the year 2010 to provide the information that could assist health policy in the region. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of Medline, EMBASE and Global Health for studies on COPD published between 1990 and 2012. We included original population based studies providing estimates of the prevalence of COPD. We considered the reported estimates in terms of the mean age of the sample, sex ratio, the year of study and the country of the study as possible covariates. Results from two different types of studies, i.e., based on spirometric and non-spirometric diagnosis of COPD, were further compared. The United Nation Population Division's population figures were used to estimate the number of COPD cases in the year 2010. Results: Our search returned 243 studies, from which only 13 met our selection criteria and only five were based on spirometry. The difference in the median prevalence of COPD in persons aged 40 years or older based on spirometry data (13.4%; IQR: 9.4%–22.1%) and non-spirometry data (4.0%; IQR: 2.1%–8.9%) was statistically significant (p = 0.001). There was no significant effect of the gender or the year of the study on the reported prevalence of COPD in either set of studies. The prevalence of COPD increased with age in spirometry-based studies (p = 0.017), which is a plausible finding suggesting internal consistency of spirometry-based estimates, while this trend was not observed in studies using other case definitions. When applied to the appropriate age group (40 years or more), which accounted for 196.4 million people in Africa in 2010, the estimated prevalence translates into 26.3 million (18.5–43.4 million) cases of COPD. Comparable figures for the year 2000 based on the same prevalence rates would amount to 20.0 million (14.1–33.1), suggesting an increase of 31.5% over a decade that is attributable to ageing of the African population alone. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that COPD is likely to already represent a very large public health problem in Africa. Moreover, rapidly ageing African population should expect a steady increase in the number of COPD cases in the next decade and beyond. The quantity and quality of available evidence does not match the size of the problem. There is a need for more research on COPD prevalence, but also incidence, mortality and risk factors in Africa. We hope this study will raise awareness of COPD in Africa and encourage further research.     

小儿感冒颗粒HPLC指纹图谱研究

目的 建立小儿感冒颗粒HPLC指纹图谱,为小儿感冒颗粒的质量控制提供参考方法。方法 Capcell PAK C₁₈色谱柱（4.6 mm╳250 mm,5 μm）;流动相：乙腈-0.2%磷酸,梯度洗脱;检测波长：0~45 min(327 nm),45~83 min(202 nm);柱温：30 ℃;流速：1 mL·min^-1,进样量：10 µL。结果 同企业不同批号样品间相似度为0.782~0.998,不同企业样品间相似度0.798~0.994。结论 该方法简便、准确、重复性好,可用于小儿感冒颗粒的质量控制。     

Effects of demographic variables and health status on brief vocabulary measures in Greek

Background: Assessment of lexical/semantic knowledge is essential on a number of diagnostic situations. Since more than one test is typically required, brief assessments would be useful as part of an extensive neuropsychological battery.

Aims: The present study reports the effects of demographic variables and reported health status on performance on the short forms of three such tests adapted into Greek.

Methods & Procedures: Tests used were PPVT-R, WASI Vocabulary subtest, and BNT. The sample consisted of 468 community-dwelling adults aged 50–84 years.

Outcomes & Results: Short forms consisted of 32 items for the PPVT-R, 15 items for WASI Vocabulary, and 20 items for BNT. Correlation coefficients between full and short forms ranged between .95 and .97. Total rate of inconsistent classification of persons with very low scores (lower than 2 SD below the population mean) based on the short forms was less than 3%, highlighting adequate potential sensitivity for clinical purposes. The equivalence of the two versions of each test was further attested by similar patterns of relationships with demographic variables. Indices of internal consistency and test–retest reliability were very good for each of the three tests. Finally, the sensitivity of the short forms of each test for detecting lexical/semantic deterioration as a function of systemic diseases is discussed.