Sarcopenia in autoimmune and rheumatic diseases: a comprehensive review

Sarcopenia refers to a decrease in skeletal muscle mass and function. Because sarcopenia affects mortality, and causes significant disability, the clinical importance of sarcopenia is emerging. At first, sarcopenia was recognized as an age-related disease but, recently, it has been reported to be prevalent also in younger patients with autoimmune diseases. Specifically, the association of sarcopenia and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis has been studied in detail. Although the pathogenesis of sarcopenia in autoimmune diseases has not been elucidated, chronic inflammation is believed to contribute to sarcopenia, and moreover the pathogenesis seems to be different depending on the respective underlying disease. The definition of sarcopenia differs among studies, which limits direct comparisons. Therefore, in this review, we cover various definitions of sarcopenia used in previous studies and highlight the prevalence of sarcopenia in diverse autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, systemic sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, and autoimmune diabetes. In addition, we cover the pathogenesis and treatment of sarcopenia in autoimmune and rheumatic diseases. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of sarcopenia in various autoimmune diseases and highlights the need for a consistent definition of sarcopenia

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

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 other 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

Cardiovascular events and safety outcomes associated with remdesivir using a World Health Organization international pharmacovigilance database

On October 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved remdesivir as the first drug for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), increasing remdesivir prescriptions worldwide. However, potential cardiovascular (CV) toxicities associated with remdesivir remain unknown. We aimed to characterize the CV adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with remdesivir using VigiBase, an individual case safety report database of the World Health Organization (WHO). Disproportionality analyses of CV-ADRs associated with remdesivir were performed using reported odds ratios and information components. We conducted in vitro experiments using cardiomyocytes derived from human pluripotent stem cell cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) to confirm cardiotoxicity of remdesivir. To distinguish drug-induced CV-ADRs from COVID-19 effects, we restricted analyses to patients with COVID-19 and found that, after adjusting for multiple confounders, cardiac arrest (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.88, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08–3.29), bradycardia (aOR: 2.09, 95% CI: 1.24–3.53), and hypotension (aOR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.03–2.73) were associated with remdesivir. In vitro data demonstrated that remdesivir reduced the cell viability of hPSC-CMs in time- and dose-dependent manners. Physicians should be aware of potential CV consequences following remdesivir use and implement adequate CV monitoring to maintain a tolerable safety margin

Maternal ApoE genotype and risk of recurrent pregnancy loss: An updated systematic review and meta‐analysis

BackgroundIn order to clarify the role of the maternal apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype and the risk of recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), we herein performed an updated systematic review and meta-analysis to reevaluate the evidence on this association. MethodsA comprehensive literature search was performed on PubMed, Web of Knowledge and the Cochrane library up to September 2022. Methodological study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the credibility of significant pooled odds ratios (ORs) was estimated by the false positive report probability and the Bayesian false discovery probability. ResultsTwelve studies published from 2009 to 2022 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In the overall analysis, the epsilon 4 allele was found to confer an increased risk of RPL compared to the epsilon 3 allele (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.00-2.55, p = 0.049) and women carrying the ApoE epsilon 4 allele displayed a higher risk of RPL compared with those carrying the epsilon 2 and epsilon 3 alleles (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.06-2.87, p = 0.028). Subgroup analysis based on subjects' ethnicity revealed that these associations were restricted to the Asian population (epsilon 4 allele vs. epsilon 3 allele, OR 5.93, 95% CI 1.79-19.61, p = 0.004; epsilon 4 allele carriers vs. carriers of epsilon 2 and epsilon 3 alleles, OR 8.42, 95% CI 1.47-48.12, p = 0.017). None of the associations detected were found to be noteworthy under false positive report probability or Bayesian false discovery probability at a prior probability of 0.001. ConclusionsThis updated meta-analysis highlights an association between maternal ApoE genotype and RPL risk in Asians, but not in Caucasians. Further case-control studies are warranted in women of Asian ancestry to exclude the possibility of false-positive findings

Quantitative Analysis of Circulating Cell-Free DNA for Correlation with Lung Cancer Survival: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Despite the growing interest in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA), no conclusive evidence exists on the value of quantitative analysis of cfDNA for the prediction of lung cancer survival. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of primary studies to estimate the impact of higher baseline cfDNA levels on survival outcomes of patients with lung cancer

Diagnostic accuracy of NUDT15 gene variants for thiopurine-induced leukopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

We herein conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies to estimate diagnostic accuracy of NUDT15 gene polymorphisms for detection of thiopurine-induced leukopenia. Eligible studies were identified through a comprehensive search on PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Cochrane and OpenGrey datasets up to April 2018. The methodological quality of eligible studies was assessed using the QUADAS-2 criteria. The diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was used as a single measure of diagnostic performance. Sixteen studies including a total of 3538 thiopurine-treated patients fulfilled inclusion criteria for the systematic review. Among these, 16 studies were available for the meta-analysis of rs116855232, 6 studies for rs186364861 and 5 studies for rs554405994 of NUDT15. A higher DOR was found for rs116855232 (8.44, 95% CI: 5.46-13.03), as compared to rs554405994 (4.336, 95% CI 2.924-6.429) or rs186364861 (2.742, 95% CI 1.453-5.175). Results of meta-regression analysis showed that incidence of leukopenia (relative DOR: 0.96; 95%CI: 0.93-1.00, p\u2009=\u20090.037) and leukopenia onset (late vs early leukopenia, relative DOR: 0.41, 95% CI 0.20-0.85, p\u2009=\u20090.0189) significantly influenced diagnostic accuracy of rs116855232. Subgroup analysis for rs186364861 and rs554405994 revealed a significant DOR for early-onset leukopenia (rs186364861: 4.04, 95% CI 1.78-9.20; rs554405994: 2.94, 95% CI 1.74-4.95), but not for late-onset leukopenia (rs186364861: 1.52, 95% CI 0.52-4.43; rs554405994: 2.02, 95% CI 0.93-4.40). The present meta-analysis points to rs116855232, rs554405994 and rs186364861 of NUDT15 as clinically relevant predictors of thiopurine-induced leukopenia. Nevertheless, prospective studies of genotype-guided dosing of thiopurines are warranted to prove clinical benefit and cost-effectiveness of pretreatment NUDT15 gene testing across different populations

Impact of SLC22A1 and CYP3A5 genotypes on imatinib response in chronic myeloid leukemia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Contrasting results have been reported on the role of rs628031 and rs683369 polymorphisms of SLC22A1 and rs776746 of CYP3A5 on imatinib treatment response in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). In the present study, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies to estimate the impact of the above-mentioned gene variants on major molecular response (MMR) or complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) in imatinib-treated CML patients. We performed a comprehensive search through PubMed, Web of Knowledge, and Cochrane databases up to September 2017. The pooled analyses showed association between carriers of SLC22A1 rs628031A allele (GA + AA vs GG, OR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.38\ue2\u80\u930.88, P = 0.011) or rs683369G allele (CG + GG vs CC, OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.42\ue2\u80\u930.96, P = 0.032) and a lower MMR rate. The combined analyses also revealed a correlation between the dominant (GG + AG vs AA, OR: 2.43, 95%CI: 1.12\ue2\u80\u935.27, P = 0.024) or the allelic model (G vs A, OR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.09\ue2\u80\u932.72, P = 0.020) of CYP3A5 rs776746 with higher CCyR rates. The subsequent sensitivity analysis confirmed the statistical significance of CYP3A5 rs776746 among Asian CML patients (dominant model OR: 3.90; 95%CI: 2.47\ue2\u80\u936.14, P &lt; 0.001; allelic model OR: 2.08; 95% CI: 1.47\ue2\u80\u932.95, P &lt; 0.001). In conclusion, the present meta-analysis supports the association of SLC22A1 and CYP3A5 genotypes with clinical imatinib response rates of CML patients, nevertheless further large studies, particularly in Caucasians, are still warranted to provide conclusive evidences