BioMed research international
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Review Meta Analysis
Improved COVID-19 Outcomes following Statin Therapy: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Although vaccine rollout for COVID-19 has been effective in some countries, there is still an urgent need to reduce disease transmission and severity. We recently carried out a meta-analysis and found that pre- and in-hospital use of statins may improve COVID-19 mortality outcomes. Here, we provide an updated meta-analysis in an attempt to validate these results and increase the statistical power of these potentially important findings. ⋯ Taken together, this updated meta-analysis extends and confirms the findings of our previous study, suggesting that in-hospital statin use leads to significant reduction of all-cause mortality in COVID-19 cases. Considering these results, statin therapy during hospitalization, while indicated, should be recommended.
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A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to compare the difference in efficacy and safety between epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) with antiangiogenic inhibitors (A + T) and EGFR-TKI monotherapy in patients with treatment-naïve advanced EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). ⋯ Addition of antiangiogenic inhibitors to first-line EGFR-TKI therapy significantly reduced the risk of disease progression for patients with advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC regardless of EGFR mutation type and brain metastasis status. The lack of OS benefit may be explained by differences in subsequent treatments rather than drug resistance mechanisms.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Pretreatment with Pectoral Nerve Block II Is Effective for Reducing Pain in Patients Undergoing Thoracoscopic Lobectomy: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.
Although video-assisted thoracoscopy has a smaller incision than traditional surgery, the postoperative pain is still severe. Ultrasound-guided pectoral nerve block (PECS) II is a new technique that can reduce pain in patients, and it had not been reported in the analgesia after thoracoscopic lobectomy. ⋯ Preconditioning of PECS II can stabilize the intraoperative circulation and significantly reduce pain and the consumption of opioids after operation.
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Antiseptic wound ointments are widely used to treat dermal wounds that are microbially contaminated. Polygalacturonic acid (PG)+caprylic acid (CAP) is a novel combination that has been shown to eradicate biofilms. We developed a novel PG+CAP ointment and compared the biofilm eradication capability and cytotoxicity of PG+CAP with that of commercially available antiseptic wound ointments. ⋯ Metabolic activity results followed a similar pattern. Cytotoxicity of PG+CAP ointment towards erythrocytes was comparable to saline. PG+CAP ointment seems to be safe and can rapidly eradicate microbial biofilm; thus, PG+CAP ointment merits further in vivo testing as a potential antimicrobial wound ointment.
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Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the nervous system, which is still incurable. In recent years, with the progress of immunosuppressive and supportive treatment, the therapeutic effect of MG in the acute stage is satisfactory, and the mortality rate has been greatly reduced. However, there is still no consensus on how to conduct long-term management of stable MG, such as guiding patients to identify relapses, practice exercise, return to work and school, etc. ⋯ Finally, due to a lack of high-quality evidence on physical training/exercise in patients with MG, the topic was excluded after the literature review. Therefore, this paper reviewed the current status of MG rehabilitation research and the difficulties faced by stable MG patients in self-management. It is suggested that we should take advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) and leverage it to develop the data-driven decision support platforms for MG management which can be used for adverse event monitoring, disease education, chronic management, and a wide variety of data collection and analysis.