Impaired performance of women with patellofemoral pain during functional tests

ObjectiveTo compare the performance, reliability, and validity of functional tests between women with and without patellofemoral pain.MethodsTwenty women with a diagnosis of patellofemoral pain between 18 and 40 years of age and 20 age-matched pain-free controls participated in the study. All participants performed a set of five function tests: sitting-rising test, sit-to-stand in 30 seconds, stair-climb test, stair descent test, and six-minute step test. To investigate reliability, participants were assessed on two different days, seven days apart, by two independent investigators blinded to the results of the other investigator. Validity was evaluated through associations with the results on the Anterior Knee Pain Scale.ResultsPerformance in the tests was worse in women with patellofemoral pain than in the control group for the sit-to-stand in 30 seconds (mean difference [MD] 3.4reps; 95%CI: 0.4, 6.4), stair-climb test (MD: 0.36 s; 95%CI: 0.1, 0.63), and six-minute step test (MD: 45reps; 95%CI: 20, 70). No differences were observed for the sitting-rising and stair descent tests. All tests in both groups showed moderate to excellent intra- and inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients: 0.61 to 0.91 and 0.72 to 0.96, respectively). Finally, only the results on the sit-to-stand in 30 seconds test correlated with the Anterior Knee Pain Scale (r = 0.44, p = 0.047) in the patellofemoral pain group.ConclusionWomen with patellofemoral pain present lower performance on some functional tests. Functional tests are reliable in patients with patellofemoral pain, although they are not associated with the results on the Anterior Knee Pain Scale self-questionnaire.     

Real-Life Impact of Drug Toxicity on Dolutegravir Tolerability: Clinical Practice Data from a Multicenter Italian Cohort

Dolutegravir (DTG) is currently one of the most used Integrase inhibitors (INI) in antiretroviral therapies (ARV) in both naïve and experienced people living with HIV (PLWHIV). We analyzed a multicenter cohort of PLWHIV, both naïve and experienced, starting an ARV including DTG. We enrolled 3775 PLWHIV: 2763 (73.2%) were males, with a median age of 50 years. During 9890.7 PYFU, we observed 930 discontinuations (9.4 per 100 PYFU). Estimated probabilities of maintaining DTG at three and five years were 75.1% and 67.2%, respectively. Treatment-naïve pts showed a lower probability of maintaining DTG at three and five years compared to treatment-experienced PLWHIV (log-rank p < 0.001). At a multivariate analysis, a longer time of virological suppression (aHR 0.994, p < 0.001) and having experienced a previous virological failure (aHR 0.788, p = 0.016) resulted protective against DTG discontinuation. Most discontinuations (84.0%) happened within the first 12 months of DTG initiation, in particular, 92.2% of discontinuations due to neuropsychiatric toxicity were observed in the first year. Our data confirm the overall good tolerability of DTG in clinical practice, with a low rate of discontinuations. CNS toxicity resulted the main reason for DTG discontinuation, with most related interruptions happening in the first year from DTG introduction.     

Bioactive acylphloroglucinols from Hypericum densiflorum

Three acylphloroglucinol derivatives have been isolated from the hexane and acetone extracts of the aerial parts of Hypericum densiflorum Pursch. The compounds were characterized by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry and identified as 4‐geranyloxy‐2,6‐dihydroxybenzophenone (1), 4‐geranyloxy‐1‐(2‐methylpropanoyl)‐ phloroglucinol (2) and 4‐geranyloxy‐1‐(2‐methylbutanoyl)‐phloroglucinol (3). Compounds 1–3 were evaluated for in vitro cell proliferation inhibitory activity against human breast (MCF‐7), lung (NCI H460), CNS (SF‐268), stomach (AGS) and colon (HCT‐116) tumor cell lines; antibacterial activity against methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX‐1 and ‐2) enzymes; and antioxidant activity in the lipid peroxidation (LPO) assay. All three compounds showed moderate to strong antitumor, antibacterial, antioxidant and inhibition of COX‐2 activities. Also, this is the first reported occurrence of compound 3 in the Hypericum genus. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.