Articles: disease.
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Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a common disease in clinical, and often recrudescent. However, sometimes Western medicine treatments such as antihistamines cannot completely control the symptoms of CSU; therefore, more effective and optimized treatments are needed. Numerous studies have confirmed that moxibustion therapy is effective in treating CSU. Given that no relevant systematic reviews and meta-analysis have been carried out, we set out to prove the effect of moxibustion therapy for CSU. ⋯ INPLASY2020100045.
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As an increasing age-related eye disease, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is becoming a common cause of irreversible visual loss in elder population. The mechanism of AMD remains uncertain and covers a complex risk factors. Choroidal vascularity index (CVI) is a sensitive parameter obtained by enhanced depth imaging of optical coherence tomography which allows the choroid in more detail and accurate assessment in the pathogenesis of AMD. The objective of this current study is to evaluate choroidal structural alternations measured by CVI in AMD. ⋯ INPLASY.
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Editorial
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition: A Major Pathogenic Driver in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis?
Despite the fact that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a common downstream mechanism of all fibrosing diseases, whether it represents a leading process in the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis has been widely discussed and is still a matter of debate. According to the most recent advances, EMT is thought to be mainly driven by the overexpression of several developmental pathways upstream of dysfunctional epithelial regeneration, which indeed normally occurs after damage and during tissue turnover. Future research should likely be directed at investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying epithelial dysfunction, in order to allow for both the removal of the wording "idiopathic" from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("IPF") and for the identification of earlier and more effective therapeutic targets than the late process of fibrosis.
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The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is amplified in approximately 20% of breast cancers, and HER2 receptor targeting therapy is associated with a significant improvement in disease-free and overall survival. In several clinical trials, the pathologic complete response (pCR) rate was significantly increased with combined pertuzumab and trastuzumab treatment in HER2-amplified breast cancer. Although the efficacy and safety of anti-HER2 dual blockade therapy has been reported, the markers that predict the response are still unclear. ⋯ The patients who experienced a pCR had a median HER2/CEP17 ratio of 7.08 (range, 3.16-10.40) and average HER2 copy number of 17.00 (range, 5.85-37.50). The patients who did not experience a pCR had a median ratio of 4.70 (range, 1.06-9.00) and median HER2 copy number of 12.00 (range, 5.85-20.95) (P = .030, P = .174), respectively.pCR was highly correlated with HER2/CEP17 ratio in neoadjuvant anti-HER2 dual blockade. This suggests that the HER2/CEP17 ratio can be used as a predictive marker for pCR in neoadjuvant trastuzumab and pertuzumab therapy.
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Observational Study
Intrajejunal vs oral levodopa-carbidopa therapy in Parkinson disease: A retrospective cohort study.
Levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) is a method of continuous administration of levodopa - the standard treatment in Parkinson disease (PD, a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by resting tremor, rigidity, gait impairment, and bradykinesia), thought to reduce the short-life and pulsatile problems of oral administration. We aimed to study the effects of Levodopa-Carbidopa therapy in 2 separate groups: one with intrajejunal administration of Levodopa-Carbidopa gel and the second with oral therapy. ⋯ There was a 41.7% (10) reduction in dyskinesia, and 29.2% reduction in wearing off/on-off at 1 year in the LCIG group compared to 0% (0) dyskinesia reduction, and 2.7% reduction in wearing off/on-off in the oral therapy group. Continuous intrajejunal infusion of LCIG ensures a significant and clinical reduction in motor fluctuations compared to oral therapy in advanced PD, even after adjustment for important confounders.