Arch Med Sci
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Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is still a great challenge to global public health. As conventional diagnostic methods for TBM are unsatisfactory, interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) have been introduced for TBM diagnosis tentatively. However, the role of IGRAs for diagnosing TBM remains unclear. Thus, we systematically evaluated the diagnostic performance of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and peripheral blood (PB) IGRAs in TBM to fill this blank. ⋯ The diagnostic performance of IGRAs is suboptimal. In terms of cost, turn-around time and accessibility, these assays are unsuitable for use as biomarkers for TBM diagnosis.
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This is a report of a systematic review of the safety and efficacy of naltrexone or naltrexone/bupropion on weight loss. ⋯ Based on these studies, it can be said that naltrexone/bupropion treatment is effective in the weight loss of overweight subjects. The naltrexone/bupropion treatment was well tolerated by the patients, and side effects were rarely reported.
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Worse survival in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) in the presence of a tumour in the ureter vs. pelvicalyceal tumours is reported in some studies; however, the definition of ureteral involvement (UI) varies across studies. We systematically evaluated evidence regarding the prognostic role of UI in overall and cancer-specific survival of patients with UTUC. ⋯ Our meta-analysis identified UI in UTUC as an adverse prognostic factor.
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Review
IFN-γ +874 A>T (rs2430561) gene polymorphism and risk of pulmonary tuberculosis: a meta-analysis.
The role of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) +874 A>T (rs2430561) gene polymorphism has been evaluated in different ethnicities with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) infection, and inconsistent results have been reported. In this study, a meta-analysis was performed to determine the precise association between IFN-γ +874 A>T gene polymorphism and PTB susceptibility. ⋯ In conclusion, the IFN-γ +874 A>T gene polymorphism is significantly associated with reduced risk of PTB, showing a protective effect in the overall and in the Caucasian population. However, this polymorphism is not associated with PTB risk in the Asian population.
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Several published results have established variations in respect to plasma/serum macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) levels and gene polymorphisms with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study gave a more concise estimation on the MIF levels for SLE patients and established the association between MIF polymorphisms and SLE. ⋯ This study provided evidence of significant higher MIF levels in SLE patients and supported the association of MIF-173 C/G and SLE. However, we were not able to establish an association between MIF-794 CATT and SLE.