Current Issue : July - September Volume : 2018 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 5 Articles
The majority of metastatic germ cell tumors (GCTs) are cured with cisplatin-based chemotherapy, but 20ââ?¬â??30% of patients will\nrelapse after first-line chemotherapy and require additional salvage strategies. The two major salvage approaches in this scenario\nare high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) with autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) or conventional-dose chemotherapy (CDCT).\nBoth CDCT and HDCT have curative potential in the management of relapsed/refractory GCT. However, due to a lack of\nconclusive randomized trials, it remains unknown whether sequential HDCT or CDCT represents the optimal initial salvage\napproach, with practice varying between tertiary institutions. This represents the most pressing question remaining for defining\nGCT treatment standards and optimizing outcomes. The authors review prognostic factors in the initial salvage setting as well as\nthe major studies assessing the efficacy of CDCT, HDCT, or both, describing the strengths and weaknesses that formed the\nrationale behind the ongoing international phase III ââ?¬Å?TIGERââ?¬Â trial....
Current knowledge on the role of retinol in the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer\n(CRC) is very limited. We investigated the association of serum retinol levels with survival outcomes\nin a large cohort of 2908 CRC patients from Germany. Retinol concentrations were determined in\nserum collected shortly after diagnosis by mass spectrometry. Associations between serum retinol\nlevels and survival outcomes were assessed using multivariable Cox regression and dose-response\nanalyses. The joint association of serum retinol and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) with\nsurvival outcomes was also examined. During a median follow-up of 4.8 years, 787 deaths occurred,\n573 of which were due to CRC. Dose-response curves showed an inverse relationship between serum\nretinol levels and survival endpoints in the range of <2.4 Ã?¼mol/L, but no associations at higher levels.\nLow (<1.2 Ã?¼mol/L) versus high (ââ?°Â¥2.4 Ã?¼mol/L) serum retinol levels were associated with poorer\noverall survival (Hazard ratio (HR) = 1.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.19ââ?¬â??1.78, P-trend = 0.0003)\nand CRC-specific survival (HR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.33ââ?¬â??2.15, P-trend < 0.0001). Joint presence of low\nserum retinol (<1.2 Ã?¼mol/L) and low 25(OH)D3 (<30 nmol/L) was associated with a particularly\nstrong decrease in overall and CRC-specific survival. Low serum retinol levels were identified\nas a predictor of poor survival in CRC patients, in particular when co-occurring with low serum\nconcentrations of 25(OH)D3. The clinical implications of these findings require further investigation....
Background. Daikenchuto (DKT) is a Kampo medicine used for the treatment of constipation. In this study, we evaluated the\neffectiveness of DKT against constipation. Patients and Methods. Thirty-three patients administered DKT for constipation were\nselected and divided into low-dose (7.5 g DKT; ...
The Plant, Costus afer Ker Gawl. belongs to the family of Costaceae and has\nvarious uses where they exist. Their use in folk medicine and phytomedicine is\nin the treatment and management of variety of human ailment, like diabetes\nmellitus, abdominal problems etc. The search for new antidiabetic therapies\nhas become increasingly urgent due to the development of adverse effects and\nresistance by the chemically synthesized drugs on one hand and effectiveness\nwith low cost of the plant materials on the other hand. The investigations carried\nout is to determine the long term effects of Costus afer leaf methanol extract,\nsnail slime and the combined Costus afer and snail slime extracts on\nblood glucose levels of alloxan induced diabetic Swiss albino rats treated orally\nfor 21 days on graded dose of (100 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg). From the determination,\nthe snail slime showed positive effect on blood glucose lowering level\nbut less effective when compared with similar dose of the Costus afer leaf\nmethanol extract. The investigation indicated that there was 103 mg/dL and\n87 mg/dL blood glucose reduction for the low dose of Costus afer and Snail\nslime respectively while the standard hypoglycemic drug (Glibenclamide, 5\nmg/kg) used for comparison yielded a blood glucose level reduction of 103\nmg/dL. Similarly, the high dose used in the study gave a blood glucose reduction\nof 99 mg/dL and 95 mg/dL for Costus afer leaf methanol extract and Snail slime respectively. The results obtained when alloxan induced rats was treated\nwith C. afer leaf methanol extract, Snail slime extract, and combined C. afer\nand snail slime extracts was analysed using Statistix 8.0 American version. The\nresult showed a dose dependent fashion and the difference obtained from the\ncompared results was statistically significant at p < 0.05. This result supports\nthe views of other researchers that some herbal anti-diabetic remedies which\nreduce blood glucose levels were similar to those of synthetic oral hypoglycemic\ndrugs like metformin and sulfonylurea etc [1]. Still to that, medicinal and\npharmacological activities of medicinal plants are often attributed to the\npresence of the so called secondary plant metabolites. Hence this regenerative\ncapacity of snail slime and the fact that diabetes is characterized by damage of\nthe pancreatic beta cells, may give credit to the hypoglycaemic effect observed\nin Costus afer methanol leaf extract and snail slime for possible drug formulation\nfor anti-diabetic remedy. Our findings may approve snail slime which is\ninsoluble in both acid and alkaline medium, to act as a carrier of chemical and\nbiological nanoparticles for medical and pharmaceutical use....
Background. Observational data suggest that the fixed initial recommended tacrolimus (Tc) dosing (0.2mg/kg/day) results in\nsupratherapeutic drug levels in some patients during the early posttransplant period.The aim of the study was to analyze a wide\npanel of patient-related factors and their interactions which increase the risk for first Tc blood level > 15 ng/ml. Materials and\nMethods. We performed a retrospective analysis of 488 consecutive adult kidney transplant recipients who were initially treated\nwith triple immunosuppressive regimen containing tacrolimus twice daily. The analysis included the first assessment of Tc trough\nblood levels and several demographic, anthropometric, laboratory, and comedication data. Results.Themultiple logistic regression\nanalysis showed that age > 55 years, BMI > 24.6 kg/m2, blood hemoglobin concentration > 9.5 g/dl, and the presence of anti-HCV\nantibodies independently increased the risk for first Tc level > 15 ng/ml.The relative risk (RR) for first tacrolimus level > 15 ng/ml\nwas 1.88 (95% CI 1.35ââ?¬â??2.64, ...
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