| 1. |
- Jeong, D. Y., et al.
(författare)
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Empirical assessment of biases in cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of alzheimer’s disease : An umbrella review and re-analysis of data from meta-analyses
- 2021
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Ingår i: European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences. - : Verduci Publisher. - 1128-3602. ; 25:3, s. 1536-1547
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a leading cause of years lived with disability in older age, and several cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) markers have been proposed in individual meta-analyses to be associated with AD but field-wide evaluation and scrutiny of the literature is not available. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed an umbrella review for the reported associations between CSF biomarkers and AD. Data from available meta-analyses were reanalyzed using both random and fixed effects models. We also estimated between-study heterogeneity, small-study effects, excess significance, and prediction interval. RESULTS: A total of 38 meta-analyses on CSF markers from 11 eligible articles were identified and reanalyzed. In 14 (36%) of the meta-analyses, the summary estimate and the results of the largest study showed non-concordant results in terms of statistical significance. Large heterogeneity (I2≥75%) was observed in 73% and small-study effects under Egger’s test were shown in 28% of CSF biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that there is an excess of statistically significant results and significant biases in the literature of CSF biomarkers for AD. Therefore, the results of CSF biomarkers should be interpreted with caution.
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| 2. |
- Choi, M. J., et al.
(författare)
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Suicide associated with COVID-19 infection : an immunological point of view
- 2021
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Ingår i: European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences. - Rome, Italy : VERDUCI PUBLISHER. - 1128-3602 .- 2284-0729. ; 25:20, s. 6397-6407
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic and leading cause of death. Beyond the deaths directly caused by the virus and the suicides related to the psychological response to the dramatic changes as socioeconomic related to the pandemic, there might also be suicides related to the inflammatory responses of the infection. Infection induces inflammation as a cytokine storm, and there is an increasing number of studies that report a relationship between infection and suicide. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched the World Health Organization status report and the PubMed database for keywords (COVID-19, suicide, infection, inflammation, cytokines), and reviewed five cytokine pathways between suicide and inflammation using two meta-analyses and two observational studies starting from November 31, 2020, focusing on the relationship between suicide and inflammation by infection. First, we discussed existing evidence explaining the relationship between suicidal behaviors and inflammation. Second, we summarized the inflammatory features found in COVID-19 patients. Finally, we highlight the potential for these factors to affect the risk of suicide in COVID-19 patients. RESULTS: Patients infected with COVID-19 have high amounts of IL-1 beta, IFN-gamma, IP10, and MCP1, which may lead to Th1 cell response activation. Also, Th2 cytokines (e.g., IL-4 and IL-10) were increased in COVID-19 infection. In COVID-19 patients, neurological conditions, like headache, dizziness, ataxia, seizures, and others have been observed. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 pandemic can serve as a significant environmental factor contributing directly to increased suicide risk; the role of inflammation by an infection should not be overlooked.
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| 3. |
- Lee, H. J., et al.
(författare)
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Efficacy and safety of epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) monotherapy for advanced EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis
- 2021
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Ingår i: European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences. - : VERDUCI PUBLISHER. - 1128-3602 .- 2284-0729. ; 25:20, s. 6232-6244
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: It is controversial whether there is efficacy or safety benefit of epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) in advanced EGFR-mutated non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared to standard chemotherapy. We aim to assess the efficacy and safety of EGFR-TKIs compared to another chemotherapeutics in EGFR-mutated NSCLC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Up to April 27th, 2020, PubMed, Embase, Medline, Scopus, Cochrane library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched for articles or trials meeting the inclusion criteria. After filtering, 230 eligible studies were initially identified. Data extraction followed PRISMA and included outcomes were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and severe adverse events (SAEs). Direct and indirect meta-analyses were generated in the context of log-linear mixed-effects models, with fixed effects for each relative comparison and random effects for each study. RESULTS: The results showed that EGFR-TKI therapy had improved PFS with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.40 (95% CI: 0.36-0.44, p<0.001) compared to standard chemotherapy. Nevertheless, the EGFR-TKIs showed no benefit on OS (HR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.83-1.10, p=0.556). In the analysis of adverse events, EGFR-TKIs had fewer SAEs than standard chemotherapy (HR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.26-0.33, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our systemic review indicates that EGFR-TKI therapy has improved PFS, and reduced SAEs compared to standard chemotherapy in advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC.
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| 5. |
- Lee, K. H., et al.
(författare)
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Risk factors of COVID-19 mortality: a systematic review of current literature and lessons from recent retracted articles
- 2020
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Ingår i: European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences. - : VERDUCI PUBLISHER. - 1128-3602. ; 24:24, s. 13089-13097
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Recently, two influential articles that reported the association of (hydroxy)chloroquine or angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality were retracted due to significant methodological issues. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the same clinical issues through an improved research method and to find out the differences from the retracted papers. We systematically reviewed pre-existing literature, and compared the results with those of the retracted papers to gain a novel insight. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We extracted common risk factors identified in two retracted papers, and conducted relevant publication search until June 26, 2020 in PubMed. Then, we analyzed the risk factors for COVID-19 mortality and compared them to those of the retracted papers. RESULTS: Our systematic review demonstrated that most demographic and clinical risk factors for COVID-19 mortality were similar to those of the retracted papers. However, while the retracted paper indicated that both (hydroxy)chloroquine monotherapy and combination therapy with macrolide were associated with higher risk of mortality, our study showed that only combination therapy of hydroxychloroquine and macrolide was associated with higher risk of mortality (odds ratio 2.33; 95% confidence interval 1.63-3.34). In addition, our study demonstrated that use of ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) was associated with reduced risk of mortality (0.77; 0.65-0.91). CONCLUSIONS: When analyzing the same clinical issues with the two retracted papers through a systematic review of randomized controlled trials and relevant cohort studies. we found out that (hydroxy)chloroquine monotherapy was not associated with higher risk of mortality, and that the use of ACE inhibitors or ARBs was associated with reduced risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients.
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