PLoS medicine
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Published pharmaceutical industry-sponsored trials are more likely than non-industry-sponsored trials to report results and conclusions that favor drug over placebo. Little is known about potential biases in drug-drug comparisons. This study examined associations between research funding source, study design characteristics aimed at reducing bias, and other factors that potentially influence results and conclusions in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of statin-drug comparisons. ⋯ RCTs of head-to-head comparisons of statins with other drugs are more likely to report results and conclusions favoring the sponsor's product compared to the comparator drug. This bias in drug-drug comparison trials should be considered when making decisions regarding drug choice.
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While vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in breast tumors has been correlated with a poor outcome in the pathogenesis of breast cancer, the expression, localization, and function of VEGF receptors VEGFR1 (also known as FLT1) and VEGFR2 (also known as KDR or FLK1), as well as neuropilin 1 (NRP1), in breast cancer are controversial. ⋯ This study provides, to our knowledge for the first time, evidence of a unique survival system in breast cancer cells by which VEGF can act as an internal autocrine (intracrine) survival factor through its binding to VEGFR1. These results may lead to an improved strategy for tumor therapy based on the inhibition of angiogenesis.
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Schistosomiasis--infection with helminth parasites in the genus Schistosoma, including S. mansoni--is a widespread, devastating tropical disease affecting more than 200 million people. No vaccine is available, and praziquantel, the only drug extensively utilized, is currently administered more than 100 million people yearly. Because praziquantel resistance may develop it is essential to identify novel drug targets. Our goal was to investigate the potential of a unique, selenium-containing parasite enzyme thioredoxin glutathione reductase (TGR) as a drug target. ⋯ Collectively, our results indicate that parasite TGR meets all the major criteria to be a key target for antischistosomal chemotherapy. To our knowledge this is the first validation of a Schistosoma drug target using a convergence of both genetic and biochemical approaches.