Simvastatin for patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: long term outcomes and cost-effectiveness from a randomised controlled trial

Background: Simvastatin therapy for patients with ARDS has been shown to be safe and associated with minimal adverse effects, but it does not improve clinical outcomes. The aim of this research was to report on mortality and cost-effectiveness of simvastatin in patients with ARDS at 12 months. Methods: A cost-utility analysis alongside a multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial carried out in the UK and Ireland. Five hundred and forty intubated and mechanically ventilated patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive once-daily simvastatin (at a dose of 80 mg) or identical placebo tablets enterally for up to 28 days. Results: Mortality was lower in the simvastatin group (31.8%; 95% CI 26.1, 37.5) compared to the placebo group (37.3%; 95% CI 31.6, 43.0) at 12 months although this was not significant. Simvastatin was associated with statistically significant QALY gain (incremental QALYs 0.064, 95% CI 0.002, 0.127) compared to placebo. Simvastatin was also less costly (incremental total costs –£3601, 95% CI –8061, 859). At a willingness-to-pay threshold of £20,000 per QALY the probability of simvastatin being cost-effective was 99%. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the results were robust to changes in methodological assumptions with the probability of cost-effectiveness never dropping below 90%. Conclusion: Simvastatin was found to be cost-effective for the treatment of ARDS, being associated with both a significant QALY gain and a cost saving. There was no significant reduction in mortality at 12 months

Simvastatin decreases the level of heparin-binding protein in patients with acute lung injury

Background: Heparin-binding protein is released by neutrophils during inflammation and disrupts the integrity of the alveolar and capillary endothelial barrier implicated in the development of acute lung injury and systemic organ failure. We sought to investigate whether oral administration of simvastatin to patients with acute lung injury reduces plasma heparin-binding protein levels and improves intensive care unit outcome. Methods: Blood samples were collected from patients with acute lung injury with 48 h of onset of acute lung injury (day 0), day 3, and day 7. Patients were given placebo or 80 mg simvastatin for up to 14 days. Plasma heparin-binding protein levels from patients with acute lung injury and healthy volunteers were measured by ELISA. Results: Levels of plasma heparin-binding protein were significantly higher in patients with acute lung injury than healthy volunteers on day 0 (p = 0.011). Simvastatin 80 mg administered enterally for 14 days reduced plasma level of heparin-binding protein in patients. Reduced heparin-binding protein was associated with improved intensive care unit survival. Conclusions: A reduction in heparin-binding protein with simvastatin is a potential mechanism by which the statin may modify outcome from acute lung injury

Keratinocyte growth factor in acute lung injury to reduce pulmonary dysfunction – a randomised placebo-controlled trial (KARE): study protocol

Abstract Background Acute lung injury is a common, devastating clinical syndrome associated with substantial mortality and morbidity with currently no proven therapeutic interventional strategy to improve patient outcomes. The objectives of this study are to test the potential therapeutic effects of keratinocyte growth factor for patients with acute lung injury on oxygenation and biological indicators of acute inflammation, lung epithelial and endothelial function, protease:antiprotease balance, and lung extracellular matrix degradation and turnover. Methods/design This will be a prospective, randomised, double-blind, allocation-concealed, placebo-controlled, phase 2, multicentre trial. Randomisation will be stratified by presence of severe sepsis requiring vasopressors. Patients in an ICU fulfilling the American–European Consensus Conference Definition of acute lung injury will be randomised in a 1:1 ratio to receive an intravenous bolus of either keratinocyte growth factor (palifermin, 60 μg/kg) or placebo (0.9% sodium chloride solution) daily for a maximum of 6 days. The primary endpoint of this clinical study is to evaluate the efficacy of palifermin to improve the oxygenation index at day 7 or the last available oxygenation index prior to patient discontinuation from the study.A formal statistical analysis plan has been constructed. Analyses will be carried out on an intention-to-treat basis. A single analysis is planned at the end of the trial. P = 0.05 will be considered statistically significant and all tests will be two-sided. For continuously distributed outcomes, differences between groups will be tested using independent-sample t tests, analysis of variance and analysis of covariance with transformation of variables to normality or nonparametric equivalents. The trial will be reported in line with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (Consort 2010 guidelines). Trial registration http://ISRCTN9569067

The study of Priapulus caudatus reveals conserved molecular patterning underlying different gut morphogenesis in the Ecdysozoa

Background The digestive systems of animals can become highly specialized in response to their exploration and occupation of new ecological niches. Although studies on different animals have revealed commonalities in gut formation, the model systems Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster, which belong to the invertebrate group Ecdysozoa, exhibit remarkable deviations in how their intestines develop. Their morphological and developmental idiosyncrasies have hindered reconstructions of ancestral gut characters for the Ecdysozoa, and limit comparisons with vertebrate models. In this respect, the phylogenetic position, and slow evolving morphological and molecular characters of marine priapulid worms advance them as a key group to decipher evolutionary events that occurred in the lineages leading to C. elegans and D. melanogaster. Results In the priapulid Priapulus caudatus, the gut consists of an ectodermal foregut and anus, and a mid region of at least partial endodermal origin. The inner gut develops into a 16-cell primordium devoid of visceral musculature, arranged in three mid tetrads and two posterior duplets. The mouth invaginates ventrally and shifts to a terminal anterior position as the ventral anterior ectoderm differentially proliferates. Contraction of the musculature occurs as the head region retracts into the trunk and resolves the definitive larval body plan. Despite obvious developmental differences with C. elegans and D. melanogaster, the expression in P. caudatus of the gut-related candidate genes NK2.1, foxQ2, FGF8/17/18, GATA456, HNF4, wnt1, and evx demonstrate three distinct evolutionarily conserved molecular profiles that correlate with morphologically identified sub-regions of the gut. Conclusions The comparative analysis of priapulid development suggests that a midgut formed by a single endodermal population of vegetal cells, a ventral mouth, and the blastoporal origin of the anus are ancestral features in the Ecdysozoa. Our molecular data on P. caudatus reveal a conserved ecdysozoan gut-patterning program and demonstrates that extreme morphological divergence has not been accompanied by major molecular innovations in transcriptional regulators during digestive system evolution in the Ecdysozoa. Our data help us understand the origins of the ecdysozoan body plan, including those of C. elegans and D. melanogaster, and this is critical for comparisons between these two prominent model systems and their vertebrate counterparts

Defining phenotypes and treatment effect heterogeneity to inform acute respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis trials: secondary analyses of three RCTs

Background Sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome are two heterogeneous acute illnesses with high risk of death and for which there are many ‘statistically negative’ randomised controlled trials. We hypothesised that negative randomised controlled trials occur because of between-participant differences in response to treatment, illness manifestation (phenotype) and risk of outcomes (heterogeneity). Objectives To assess (1) heterogeneity of treatment effect, which tests whether or not treatment effect varies with a patient’s pre-randomisation risk of outcome; and (2) whether or not subphenotypes explain the treatment response differences in sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome demonstrated in randomised controlled trials. Study population We performed secondary analysis of two randomised controlled trials in patients with sepsis [i.e. the Vasopressin vs Noradrenaline as Initial Therapy in Septic Shock (VANISH) trial and the Levosimendan for the Prevention of Acute oRgan Dysfunction in Sepsis (LeoPARDS) trial] and one acute respiratory distress syndrome multicentre randomised controlled trial [i.e. the Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibition with simvastatin in Acute lung injury to Reduce Pulmonary dysfunction (HARP-2) trial], conducted in the UK. The VANISH trial is a 2 × 2 factorial randomised controlled trial of vasopressin (Pressyn AR®; Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Saint-Prex, Switzerland) and hydrocortisone sodium phosphate (hereafter referred to as hydrocortisone) (EfcortesolTM; Amdipharm plc, St Helier, Jersey) compared with placebo. The LeoPARDS trial is a two-arm-parallel-group randomised controlled trial of levosimendan (Simdax®; Orion Pharma, Espoo, Finland) compared with placebo. The HARP-2 trial is a parallel-group randomised controlled trial of simvastatin compared with placebo. Methods To test for heterogeneity of the effect on 28-day mortality of vasopressin, hydrocortisone and levosimendan in patients with sepsis and of simvastatin in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. We used the total Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score as the baseline risk measurement, comparing treatment effects in patients with baseline APACHE II scores above (high) and below (low) the median using regression models with an interaction between treatment and baseline risk. To identify subphenotypes, we performed latent class analysis using only baseline clinical and biomarker data, and compared clinical outcomes across subphenotypes and treatment groups. Results The odds of death in the highest APACHE II quartile compared with the lowest quartile ranged from 4.9 to 7.4, across the three trials. We did not observe heterogeneity of treatment effect for vasopressin, hydrocortisone and levosimendan. In the HARP-2 trial, simvastatin reduced mortality in the low-APACHE II group and increased mortality in the high-APACHE II group. In the VANISH trial, a two-subphenotype model provided the best fit for the data. Subphenotype 2 individuals had more inflammation and shorter survival. There were no treatment effect differences between the two subphenotypes. In the LeoPARDS trial, a three-subphenotype model provided the best fit for the data. Subphenotype 3 individuals had the greatest inflammation and lowest survival. There were no treatment effect differences between the three subphenotypes, although survival was lowest in the levosimendan group for all subphenotypes. In the HARP-2 trial, a two-subphenotype model provided the best fit for the data. The inflammatory subphenotype was associated with fewer ventilator-free days and higher 28-day mortality. Limitations The lack of heterogeneity of treatment effect and any treatment effect differences between sepsis subphenotypes may be secondary to the lack of statistical power to detect such effects, if they truly exist. Conclusions We highlight lack of heterogeneity of treatment effect in all three trial populations. We report three subphenotypes in sepsis and two subphenotypes in acute respiratory distress syndrome, with an inflammatory phenotype with greater risk of death as a consistent finding in both sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Future work Our analysis highlights the need to identify key discriminant markers to characterise subphenotypes in sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome with an observational cohort study. Funding This project was funded by the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) programme, a MRC and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) partnership. This will be published in full in Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation; Vol. 8, No. 10. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information

Application of Bayes’ to the prediction of referral decisions made by specialist optometrists in relation to chronic open angle glaucoma

Purpose To determine the accuracy of a Bayesian learning scheme (Bayes’) applied to the prediction of clinical decisions made by specialist optometrists in relation to the referral refinement of chronic open angle glaucoma. Methods This cross-sectional observational study involved collection of data from the worst affected or right eyes of a consecutive sample of cases (n = 1,006) referred into the West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group Community Ophthalmology Team (COT) by high street optometrists. Multilevel classification of each case was based on race, sex, age, family history of chronic open angle glaucoma, reason for referral, Goldmann Applanation Tonometry (intraocular pressure and interocular asymmetry), optic nerve head assessment (vertical size, cup disc ratio and interocular asymmetry), central corneal thickness and visual field analysis (Hodapp–Parrish–Anderson classification). Randomised stratified tenfold cross-validation was applied to determine the accuracy of Bayes’ by comparing its output to the clinical decisions of three COT specialist optometrists; namely, the decision to discharge, follow-up or refer each case. Results Outcomes of cross-validation, expressed as means and standard deviations, showed that the accuracy of Bayes’ was high (95%, 2.0%) but that it falsely discharged (3.4%, 1.6%) or referred (3.1%, 1.5%) some cases. Conclusions The results indicate that Bayes’ has the potential to augment the decisions of specialist optometrists