Tofacitinib versus methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis

Background : Methotrexate is the most frequently used first-line antirheumatic drug. We report the findings of a phase 3 study of monotherapy with tofacitinib, an oral Janus kinase inhibitor, as compared with methotrexate monotherapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had not previously received methotrexate or therapeutic doses of methotrexate. Methods : We randomly assigned 958 patients to receive 5 mg or 10 mg of tofacitinib twice daily or methotrexate at a dose that was incrementally increased to 20 mg per week over 8 weeks; 956 patients received a study drug. The coprimary end points at month 6 were the mean change from baseline in the van der Heijde modified total Sharp score (which ranges from 0 to 448, with higher scores indicating greater structural joint damage) and the proportion of patients with an American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 70 response (>= 70% reduction in the number of both tender and swollen joints and >= 70% improvement in three of five other criteria: the patient's assessment of pain, level of disability, C-reactive protein level or erythrocyte sedimentation rate, global assessment of disease by the patient, and global assessment of disease by the physician). Results : Mean changes in the modified total Sharp score from baseline to month 6 were significantly smaller in the tofacitinib groups than in the methotrexate group, but changes were modest in all three groups (0.2 points in the 5-mg tofacitinib group and <0.1 point in the 10-mg tofacitinib group, as compared with 0.8 points in the methotrexate group [ P<0.001 for both comparisons]). Among the patients receiving tofacitinib, 25.5% in the 5-mg group and 37.7% in the 10-mg group had an ACR 70 response at month 6, as compared with 12.0% of patients in the methotrexate group (P<0.001 for both comparisons). Herpes zoster developed in 31 of 770 patients who received tofacitinib (4.0%) and in 2 of 186 patients who received methotrexate (1.1%). Confirmed cases of cancer (including three cases of lymphoma) developed in 5 patients who received tofacitinib and in 1 patient who received methotrexate. Tofacitinib was associated with increases in creatinine levels and in low-density and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Conclusions : In patients who had not previously received methotrexate or therapeutic doses of methotrexate, tofacitinib monotherapy was superior to methotrexate in reducing signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and inhibiting the progression of structural joint damage. The benefits of tofacitinib need to be considered in the context of the risks of adverse events

GABAergic modulation of hippocampal population activity: sequence learning, place field development, and the phase precession effect

Wallenstein, Gene V. and Michael E. Hasselmo. GABAergic scenario typically continued across theta cycles until the full semodulation of hippocampal population activity: sequence learning, place field development, and the phase precession effect. J. Neuroquence was recalled. When the GABAB-receptor-mediated sup-pression of excitatory and inhibitory transmission at intrinsic fibers physiol. 78: 393–408, 1997. A detailed biophysical model of hip- was not included in the model, place field development was curpocampal region CA3 was constructed to study how GABAergic tailed and the network consequently exhibited poor learning and modulation influences place field development and the learning recall performance. This was, in part, due to increased competition and recall of sequence information. Simulations included 1,000 of information from intrinsic and afferent fibers during early por-multicompartmental pyramidal cells, each consisting of seven intions of each theta cycle. Because afferent sensory information did trinsic and four synaptic currents, and 200 multicompartmental not dominate early in each cycle, the current location of the rat interneurons, consisting of two intrinsic and four synaptic currents. was obscured by ongoing activity from intrinsic sources. Further-Excitatory rhythmic septal input to the apical dendrites of pyrami- more, even when the current location was accurately identified, dal cells and both excitatory and inhibitory input to interneurons competition between afferent and intrinsic sources resulted in a at theta frequencies provided a cellular basis for the development tendency for rapid recall of several locations at once, which ofte

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Treatments for Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder

Background: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is reported to affect between 13% and 31% of women. Between 3% and 8% of women are reported to meet criteria for the more severe form of PMS, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Although PMDD has received increased attention in recent years, the cost effectiveness of treatments for PMDD remains unknown. Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the cost effectiveness of the four medications with a US FDA-approved indication for PMDD: fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine and drospirenone plus ethinyl estradiol (DRSP/EE). Abstract: Methods: A decision-analytic model was used to evaluate both direct costs (medication and physician visits) and clinical outcomes (treatment success, failure and discontinuation). Medication costs were based on average wholesale prices of branded products; physician visit costs were obtained from a claims database study of PMDD patients and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Clinical outcome probabilities were derived from published clinical trials in PMDD. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated using the difference in costs and percentage of successfully treated patients at 6 months. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were used to assess the impact of uncertainty in parameter estimates. Threshold values where a change in the cost-effective strategy occurred were identified using a net benefit framework. Abstract: Results: Starting therapy with DRSP/EE dominated both sertraline and paroxetine, but not fluoxetine. The estimated ICER of initiating treatment with fluoxetine relative to DRSP/EE was &dollar;US4385 per treatment success (year 2007 values). Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves revealed that for ceiling ratios ≥&dollar;US3450 per treatment success, fluoxetine had the highest probability (≥0.37) of being the most cost-effective treatment, relative to the other options. The cost-effectiveness acceptability frontier further indicated that DRSP/EE remained the option with the highest expected net monetary benefit for ceiling values ≤&dollar;US3900 per treatment success. Abstract: Conclusion: These analyses suggest that initiating therapy with DRSP/EE may be a cost-effective option in the treatment of PMDD.Cost-effectiveness, Ethinylestradiol/drospirenone, therapeutic use, Fluoxetine, therapeutic use, Paroxetine, therapeutic use, Premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder, treatment, Sertraline, therapeutic use