Medicine
-
One of the most prevalent infections with a significant disease burden is urinary tract infections (UTIs), which occurs in approximately 50% of women at least once in their lifetime. Antimicrobial resistance to pathogens causing UTIs is expanding worldwide and has been associated with increased use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, including carbapenems, leading to significant costs for insurance and healthcare systems. The emergence of resistance to carbapenems has led to an increasing need for and interest in carbapenem-sparing strategies, including the use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics, such as temocillin. Temocillin has a strong bactericidal effect, along with high tolerability and a good safety profile. It is also stable toward most extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL). The purpose of our study was to design a budget impact analysis (BIA) model and estimate the budget impact of temocillin insurance coverage for the treatment of UTIs caused by ESBL-producing bacteria from the perspective of the payer. ⋯ The inclusion of temocillin in the insurance coverage in Iran for patients developing UTIs caused by ESBL-producing bacteria would be cost-saving for insurance and decrease the risk associated with emerging antimicrobial resistance.
-
Patients with acute acalculous cholecystitis (AAC) often present with acute abdominal symptoms. However, recent clinical studies have suggested that some patients with AAC and an acute abdomen, especially when caused by viruses or rheumatic disease, may not require cholecystectomy and that conservative treatment is adequate. Whether cholecystectomy is superior to conservative treatment for patients with AAC presenting with a severe acute abdomen is still uncertain. ⋯ To account for confounding factors, etiological stratification and logistic regression were performed. The prognosis was similar for patients undergoing cholecystectomy and conservative treatment (P value .364), and virus infection-associated AAC had a better prognosis than rheumatic disease-associated AAC (P value .032). In patients with AAC caused by viruses or rheumatic disease, the acute abdomen can be adequately managed by conservative treatment of the underlying etiology and does not mandate surgical intervention.
-
Ophiocordyceps sinensis is a precious Chinese traditional herb with a long medicinal history. This study used UPLC-MS metabolomics to explore and compare the metabolic profiles of the stroma (OSBSz), sclerotium (OSBSh), and mycelium (OSBS) of O sinensis to analyze their differential metabolites and identified potential active components. Then combined with network pharmacology and molecular docking to explore the mechanism of differential metabolites with anti-influenza properties. ⋯ The molecular docking results showed that the core metabolite D-(-)-glutamine has high binding affinity with SRC, RHOA, and EGFR, re-flecting the multi-component and multi-target network system of O sinensis. In short, the combination of metabonomics, network pharmacology and macromolecular docking technology provides a new way to explore the anti-influenza research of O sinensis. This is undoubtedly an important theoretical support for the clinical application of O sinensis in the future.
-
We aimed to explore the molecular mechanism of Ruxian Shuhou prescription in the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) by using network pharmacology. The active components and targets of the prescription were obtained by Traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database. Gencards database, online mendelian inheritance in man database, therapeutic target database, and DRUGBANK database were used to search for the TNBC-related targets. ⋯ The related signaling pathways were mainly involved in tumor, apoptosis and virus infection, among which the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway was the most closely related to TNBC. Molecular docking showed that the key ingredients had high binding activity with the key targets. The molecular mechanisms of Ruxian Shuhou prescription for TNBC are likely to involve multi-ingredient, multi-target and multi-pathway.
-
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by elevated levels of glucose in circulation which result from insufficient insulin or insulin resistance. The blood group of an individual is thought to be genetically predetermined and plays a vital role in increasing susceptibility to DM for particular blood groups. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the association between ABO and Rhesus blood groups with type 2 DM. ⋯ Moreover, logistic regression analysis showed that B and O blood groups had a significant association with type 2 DM while A and AB blood groups had no association. The findings of this study indicated that type 2 DM has an association with the ABO blood group and has no association with the Rhesus blood group. Individuals with blood group B have a higher risk of developing T2DM (type II DM) as compared to other ABO blood groups.