To present the pooled quantitative evidence of baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes of tocilizumab (TCZ) in patients with refractory Takayasu arteritis (TAK).
A comprehensive systematic ...review and meta-analysis was performed on all available studies retrieved from the MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases, using TCZ in patients with refractory TAK. We applied the commands
and
in Stata Software to pool overall estimates of continuous data and binomial data, respectively. A random-effects model was recruited for analysis.
Nineteen studies with 466 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The mean age at implementation of TCZ was 34.32 years. Female sex and Numano Type V were the most prominent baseline characteristics. During the 12-month follow-up when receiving TCZ treatment, pooled CRP was 1.17 mg/L (95% confidence interval CI -0.18-2.52), pooled ESR was 3.54 mm/h (95% CI 0.51-6.58), and pooled glucocorticoid dose was 6.26 mg/d (95% CI 4.24-8.27). Approximately 76% (95% CI 58-87%) of patients achieved a decrease in glucocorticoid dosage. Meanwhile, patients with TAK had a remission rate of 79% (95% CI 69-86%), a relapse rate of 17% (95% CI 5-45%), an imaging progress rate of 16% (95% CI 9-27%), and a retention rate of 68% (95% CI 50-82%). Adverse events occurred in 16% (95% CI 5-39%) of patients, and infection was the most common adverse event, with a rate of 12% (95% CI 5-28%).
TCZ treatment can provide favorable outcomes in terms of inflammatory markers, steroid-sparing effects, clinical response, drug retention and minimizing adverse effects for patients with refractory TAK.
Introduction
We performed a cross‐sectional study to investigate the clinical usefulness of YKL‐40 in patients with dermatomyositis (DM) and conducted a systematic review to summarize the clinical ...value of YKL‐40 in patients with polymyositis (PM)/DM.
Materials and methods
A cross‐sectional study and a systematic review were performed to study the clinical value of YKL‐40 in patients with PM/DM. Serum YKL‐40 level was detected using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, and its association with clinical and laboratory parameters was analyzed. In the systematic review, electronic databases of OVID Embase, OVID Medline, and web of science were searched to collect studies that reported clinical use of YKL‐40 in patients with PM/DM.
Results
In the cross‐sectional study, serum YKL‐40 level was higher in patients with DM than in healthy controls (median interquartile range: 84.09 52.72–176.4 ng/ml versus 27.37 12.30–53.58 ng/ml, p < 0.0001). Serum levels of YKL‐40 were associated with the course of DM (r = −0.469, p < 0.001), CRP (r = 0.303, p = 0.043), CK (r = 0.263, p = 0.037), and global disease activity (r = 0.628, p < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve was 0.835 (95% confidence interval 0.751–0.920). In the systematic review, a total of four studies were included with moderate to high quality. Serum level of YKL‐40 has the possibility for diagnosing PM/DM, identifying PM/DM patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) or rapid progress ILD, and predicting death.
Conclusion
Serum YKL‐40 level is a possible useful biomarker for PM/DM diagnosis and may be used to predict prognosis.
Serum YKL‐40 level was higher in patients with DM than in healthy controls (median interquartile range: 84.09 52.72–176.4 ng/mL vs 27.37 12.30–53.58 ng/mL, p < 0.0001). Serum levels of YKL‐40 were associated with the course of DM (r = −0.469, p < 0.0001), CRP (r = 0.303, p = 0.043), CK (r = 0.263, p = 0.037), and global disease activity (r = 0.628, p < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve was 0.835 (95% confidence interval 0.751–0.920).
Background. Insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins (IGFBPs) and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) participate in angiogenesis. Dermatomyositis (DM) is characterized by ...microvasculopathy-derived skin lesions. Here, we investigated the clinical significance of serum IGFBP and CTGF levels in DM patients. Methods. In this study, 65 DM patients and 30 healthy controls were enrolled. Serum IGFBP and CTGF levels were examined by ELISA, and their correlation with clinical and laboratory findings was analyzed by Spearman’s correlation. Results. Serum IGFBP-2, IGFBP-4, and CTGF levels were higher in DM patients than in healthy controls (median (quartile): 258.9 (176.4–326.1) ng/mL vs. 167.7 (116.1–209.4) ng/mL, p<0.0001; 450.4 (327.3–631.8) ng/mL vs. 392.2 (339.0–480.2) ng/mL, p=0.04; and 45.71 (38.54–57.45) ng/mL vs. 35.52 (30.23–41.52) ng/mL, p=0.001, respectively). IGFBP-2 and CTGF levels were positively correlated with cutaneous (r=0.257, p=0.040 and r=0.427, p=0.015, respectively) and global (r=0.380, p=0.002 and r=0.292, p=0.019, respectively) disease activity in DM patients. Conclusion. Serum IGFBP-2 and CTGF levels were increased in patients with DM and correlated with cutaneous and global disease activity.
This study was conducted to compare the effect of active dry yeasts (ADY) and yeast cultures (YC), two typical products of yeast preparations, on growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat ...quality and blood indexes in finishing bulls fed a high‐concentrate diet. Forty‐five finishing bulls (mean body weight (BW) ± standard deviation: 505 ± 29 kg BW) were allocated to three groups of 15 bulls and assigned randomly to one of three diets which were CON diet (basal diet), ADY diet (basal diet + Levucell SC) and YC diet (basal diet + Diamond V XP), respectively. After 98 days of trial, all bulls were slaughtered. The result showed that ADY rather than YC improved growth performance and carcass traits of bulls compared to CON. Moreover, both ADY and YC improved beef tenderness and changed blood indexes related to fat metabolism. In conclusion, ADY had more pronounced effect on growth performance of bulls fed high‐concentrate diet, and both ADY and YC improved the beef quality by intensive fat metabolism.
Background
X‐ray repair cross‐complementary 5 (XRCC5) and 6 (XRCC6) are critical for DNA repair. Few studies have assessed their association with breast cancer risk, and related gene‐environment ...interactions remain poorly understood. This study aimed to determine the influence of XRCC5/6 polymorphisms on breast cancer risk, and their interactions with cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and sleep satisfaction.
Methods
The study included 1039 patients with breast cancer and 1040 controls. Four single‐nucleotide polymorphisms of XRCC5 and two of XRCC6 were genotyped. Information about smoking, alcohol consumption, and sleep satisfaction was collected through questionnaires. Odds ratios (OR) and related 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were assessed using unconditional logistic regression models. Gene‐environment interactions were analyzed using logistic regression with multiplicative interaction models.
Results
XRCC5 rs16855458 was associated with increased breast cancer risk in the co‐dominant (ptrend = 0.003) and dominant (CA + AA vs. CC, OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.07–1.56, p = 0.008) genetic models after Bonferroni correction. The CG + GG genotype of XRCC6 rs2267437 was associated with an increased risk of estrogen receptor‐negative/progesterone receptor‐negative (ER−/PR−) breast cancer (CG + GG vs. CC: OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.12–2.13, p = 0.008) after Bonferroni correction. Moreover, an antagonistic interaction between XRCC5 rs16855458 and alcohol consumption (pinteraction = 0.017), and a synergistic interaction between XRCC6 rs2267437 and sleep satisfaction were associated with breast cancer risk (pinteraction = 0.0497). However, these interactions became insignificant after Bonferroni correction.
Conclusion
XRCC5 rs16855458 was associated with breast cancer risk, and XRCC6 rs2267437 was associated with the risk of ER−/PR− breast cancer. Breast cancer risk associated with XRCC5 and XRCC6 polymorphisms might vary according to alcohol consumption and sleep satisfaction, respectively, and merit further investigation.
XRCC5 rs16855458 was associated with breast cancer risk, and XRCC6 rs2267437 was associated with the risk of ER−/PR− breast cancer. Breast cancer risk associated with XRCC5 and XRCC6 polymorphisms might vary according to alcohol consumption and sleep satisfaction, respectively, and merit further investigation.
Two new chromone derivatives (1 and 2) were isolated from the twigs of Cassia auriculata. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including extensive 1D and 2D NMR techniques. ...Compounds 1 and 2 were evaluated for their anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (anti-MRSA) activity. The results revealed that compounds 1 and 2 showed good inhibition with IZD of 12.8 ± 2.2 and 13.0 ± 2.5 mm, respectively.
Two new chromeno3,2-cpyridine alkaloids, 9-acetyl-7-methoxy-3-methyl-10
H
-chromeno3,2-cpyridin- 10-one (
1
) and 8-acetyl-7-methoxy-3-methyl-10
H
-chromeno3,2-cpyridin-10-one (
2
), were isolated ...from the whole plants of
Thalictrum scabrifolium.
Their structures were determined by means of HR-ESI-MS and extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic studies. Compounds
1
and
2
were tested for their antibacterial activity. The results showed that both compounds showed high antibacterial activity against 12 microbial strains isolated from the saliva of smokers.
Dynamic economic dispatch (DED) is a high-dimensional, non-convex, multi-constrained optimization problem. With the increase of wind power integration into power system, the DED problem becomes more ...difficult. In the mathematical model the constraints of wind farm output and spinning reserve are proposed to deal with the random and unpredictable nature of wind power. In the power system with large-scale wind farm integration, wind power should be adjusted according to the available spinning reserve capacity. To improve the searching capability of binary differential evolution (BDE) algorithm, sharing fitness and adaptive control parameters are adopted. At the same time, the constraints are sloved by some new strategies including rotating reserve, minimum start/stop time, and climbing, which can make all the particles feasible and the searching efficiency greatly improved. The presented method proves to be effective and fast in solving dynamic economic dispatch problem by some examples.
Two new anthraquinones, 2,6-dimethyl-3-hydroxy-5-methoxyanthraquinone (
1
) and 2,5-dimethyl-6-hydroxy-3-methoxyanthraquinone (
2
), were isolated from the twigs of
Cassia alata
. Their structures ...were determined by means of HR-ESI-MS and extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic studies. Compounds
1
and
2
were tested for their antibacterial activity. The results showed that both compounds exhibited high antibacterial activity against 11 microbial strains isolated from the saliva of smokers.
With large scale wind power integration, system operators are now facing more uncertain factors in power dispatch and reserve decision. This paper analyzes the influencing factors in power reserve ...decision. Deterministic and probabilistic methods of reserve decision are summarized, especially their differences and characteristics. The problem of reserve configuration can be achieved both from demand side and power supply side with some feasible options such as the combination of wind and thermal power, electric vehicles and other energy storages. Considering the influence of power system production, operation, and consumption comprehensively with large scale wind power integration, the general concept of power reserve is extended based on all the above.
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