Articles: disease.
-
Meta Analysis
Astragalus membranaceus formula for moderate-high risk idiopathic membranous nephropathy: A meta-analysis.
Idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) is a noninflammatory autoimmune glomerulonephropathy. Based on the risk stratification for disease progression, conservative nonimmunosuppressive and immunosuppressive therapy strategies have been recommended. However, there remains challenges. Therefore, novel approaches to treat IMN are needed. We evaluated the efficacy of Astragalus membranaceus (A membranaceus) combined with supportive care or immunosuppressive therapy in the treatment of moderate-high risk IMN. ⋯ Adjunctive use of A membranaceus preparations combined with supportive care or immunosuppressive therapy have a promising treatment for improving complete response rate, partial response rate, serum albumin, and reducing proteinuria, serum creatinine levels compared to immunosuppressive therapy in people with MN being at moderate-high risk for disease progression. Given the inherent limitations of the included studies, future well-designed randomized controlled trials are required to confirm and update the findings of this analysis.
-
Hypotension can occur in patients receiving levodopa (L-dopa) treatment for parkinsonism. However, only few studies have focused on the characteristics of orthostatic hypotension (OH) induced by the L-dopa challenge test (LCT). This study aimed to investigate the characteristics and influencing factors of LCT-induced OH in a relatively large sample of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). ⋯ LCT increased the odds of OH in non-OH PD, causing symptomatic OH in 10.3% of patients in our study, thereby raising safety concerns. Increase in age was observed to be a risk factor for LCT-induced OH in PD patients. A study with a larger sample size is warranted to confirm our results.
-
Breast invasive cancer (BRCA) is the most common malignancy and the second leading cause of malignancy death among women. Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) family played a vital role in regulating certain biological processes and could serve as biomarkers for many diseases or cancers. ⋯ STAT5B was a biomarker associated with prognosis and immune infiltration in breast cancer.
-
Chronic heart failure (CHF) is the ultimate destination of most cardiovascular diseases and one of the leading causes of death for the elderly. Despite significant advances in the therapy of heart failure, the mortality and rehospitalization rates remain high. Guipi Decoction (GPD) has been reported to be significantly effective on patients with CHF, but it still lacks evidence-based medicine support. ⋯ GPD can improve cardiac function and inhibit ventricular remodeling with few adverse effects. However, more rigorous and high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed to verify the conclusion.
-
Numerous vaccines have been evaluated and approved for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since pregnant persons have been excluded from most clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines, sufficient data regarding the safety of these vaccines for the pregnant person and their fetus have rarely been available at the time of product licensure. However, as COVID-19 vaccines have been deployed, data on the safety, reactogenicity, immunogenicity, and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant persons and neonates are becoming increasingly available. A living systematic review and meta-analysis of the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant persons and newborns could provide the information necessary to help guide vaccine policy decisions. ⋯ We aim to conduct a living systematic review and meta-analysis based on biweekly searches of medical databases (e.g., MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL) and clinical trial registries to systematically identify relevant studies of COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant persons. Pairs of reviewers will independently select, extract data, and conduct risk of bias assessments. We will include randomized clinical trials, quasi-experimental studies, cohort, case-control, cross-sectional studies, and case reports. Primary outcomes will be the safety, efficacy, and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant persons, including neonatal outcomes. Secondary outcomes will be immunogenicity and reactogenicity. We will conduct paired meta-analyses, including prespecified subgroup and sensitivity analyses. We will use the grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation approach to evaluate the certainty of evidence.