Clarithromycin reduces the severity of bronchial hyperresponsiveness in patients with asthma

A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled study was designed to evaluate the effects of a semisynthetic macrolide antibiotic, clarithromycin, on bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine in patients with a diagnosis of asthma. Adult asthma patients undergoing treatment with budesonide 400 mug b.i.d. and salbutamol 200 mug p.r.n. less than twice weekly were studied. Arm A (16 males/six females, aged 48 +/- 16 yrs) received clarithromycin 250 mg b.i.d. for 8 weeks, arm B (eight males/12 females, aged 42 +/- 12 yrs) clarithromycin 250 mg t.i.d. and arm C (six males/15 females, aged 41 +/- 16 yrs) placebo dextrose tablets. Bronchial hyperresponsiveness was quantified by measurement of the provocative dose of methacholine causing a 20% fall in forced expiratory volume in one second (PD20). Median (interquartile range) PD20 in the three groups before and after treatment with clarithromycin were: arm A: 0.3 (0.1-1) and 1.3 (0.6-2) mg; arm B: 0.4 (0.1-0.9) and 2 (2-2) mg; and arm C: 0.4 (0.1-0.9) and 0.3 (0.1-0.6) mg, respectively. Serum free cortisol levels were determined and remained unchanged from baseline in the clarithromycin-treated patients. It is concluded that clarithromycin reduces the degree of bronchial hyperresponsiveness in patients with asthma

Development of a web based energy management system for University Campuses: The CAMP-IT platform

University campuses can be considered as small towns due to their size, number of users and mixed and complex activities, including numerous actions usually met in urban environments. The energy and environmental impact of universities could be considerably reduced by applying organizational, technological and energy optimization measures. The aim of the present paper is to present an efficient web based energy management system for Campuses which manages in an energy efficient way the Campus buildings and spaces of public use, monitors the energy load and performs energy analysis per building and for the Campus as a whole, as well as it interacts with each building's BEMS and each user through questionnaires, e-mails and forms. The existing Campus IP infrastructure is exploited by using sensor networks, where nodes communicate their information using Web services, allowing direct integration in modern IT systems. To guarantee the system scalability and respect consolidated and diffused standards, the logical/architectural level of the whole Campus Energy Management System is linked with the existing infrastructure based on Internet Protocol (IP). The overall installation is tested via on line questionnaires to the building users showing a significant increase of the occupants' satisfaction. Finally, the energy efficiency achieved by the proposed system is almost 20%. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Clarithromycin reduces the severity of bronchial hyperresponsiveness in patients with asthma

A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled study was designed to evaluate the effects of a semisynthetic macrolide antibiotic, clarithromycin, on bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine in patients with a diagnosis of asthma. Adult asthma patients undergoing treatment with budesonide 400 mug b.i.d. and salbutamol 200 mug p.r.n. less than twice weekly were studied. Arm A (16 males/six females, aged 48 +/- 16 yrs) received clarithromycin 250 mg b.i.d. for 8 weeks, arm B (eight males/12 females, aged 42 +/- 12 yrs) clarithromycin 250 mg t.i.d. and arm C (six males/15 females, aged 41 +/- 16 yrs) placebo dextrose tablets. Bronchial hyperresponsiveness was quantified by measurement of the provocative dose of methacholine causing a 20% fall in forced expiratory volume in one second (PD20). Median (interquartile range) PD20 in the three groups before and after treatment with clarithromycin were: arm A: 0.3 (0.1-1) and 1.3 (0.6-2) mg; arm B: 0.4 (0.1-0.9) and 2 (2-2) mg; and arm C: 0.4 (0.1-0.9) and 0.3 (0.1-0.6) mg, respectively. Serum free cortisol levels were determined and remained unchanged from baseline in the clarithromycin-treated patients. It is concluded that clarithromycin reduces the degree of bronchial hyperresponsiveness in patients with asthma

Self-perceived quality of sleep among COPD patients in Greece: the SLEPICO study

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide accompanied by a substantial social and economic burden for the patient and the society. Poor sleep quality among COPD patients is frequently unnoticed and unaddressed by physicians and patients themselves, although it is a major source of further deterioration of these patients’ quality of life. The aim of the present study was to record the quality of sleep in COPD patients among the Greek population and correlate these findings with various features of these patients, using the COPD and Asthma Sleep Impact Scale (CASIS). This was a cross-sectional observational study. Forty different variables (demographics, vital sign measurements, COPD-related medical history parameters, comorbidities, CASIS questionnaire results, COPD assessment test, COPD severity based on spirometry measurements, COPD stage based on the ABCD assessment approach, inhaled COPD treatment report) were collected from 3454 nation-wide COPD patients (Greece). The study sample consisted of COPD patients, mainly male (73%) with a median age of 69 years and a median BMI of 27.2. More than half of COPD patients (60.6%) suffered from moderate disease severity and 23.8% from severe disease, while less than half (42.1%) suffered from at least one exacerbation of the disease over the last year prior study enrollment. About 14% reported frequent to very frequent issues affecting their sleep quality, between a fourth and a third of them reported occasional night sleep disturbances, and at least half of them reported no or very infrequent problems in their night sleep. Our study indicates that the COPD assessment test (CAT) and the spirometry-based disease severity can predict the poorness in the quality of sleep (F2,3451 = 1397.5, p < 0.001, adj. R2 = 0.45) as assessed by CASIS score, and that the latter also correlates with age (ρ = 0.122, p < 0.001) and disease duration (ρ = 0.104, p < 0.001). On the contrary, there appears to be no correlation between sleep quality and number of exacerbations. Finally, untreated patients with COPD suffer from poorer quality of sleep compared to treated subjects, independently of the use of inhaled corticosteroids (F2,3451 = 21.65, p < 0.001). The results of the SLEPICO study show that increased age, prolonged disease duration, and especially CAT score ≥ 10, and severe COPD stage, might act as important indicators for deterioration in the quality of sleep, with potential consequences in the daily routine of those patients, thus urging potentially for further pharmacological interventions or modifications. © 2022, The Author(s)

Biweekly administration of docetaxel and gemcitabine for elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: A phase II study

With 69 years being the median age at diagnosis in the United States, management of elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has become a common problem faced by the oncology practitioner. We evaluated a biweekly administration of the combination regimen using docetaxel (Sanofi Aventis, Athens) and gemcitabine (Eli Lilly, Athens) in a phase II study (objective response rate, median survival, median response duration and safety). A total of 198 cycles were administered to 38 patients with advanced NSCLC with a median age of 72 years (range 65-85 years). Patients received docetaxel 80 mg/m2 and gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 on days 1 and 14 of a 28-day cycle. Twenty patients achieved a partial response (PR) (20/34, 58.8%), 4 patients had stable disease (SD) (4/34, 11.7%) and 10 (10/34, 29.4%) had progressive disease (PD). The median time to disease progression was 3 months (range 1-11 months) with a mean survival of 7 months (range 1-29 months). Hematological and non-hematological toxic effects were generally mild to moderate and manageable: grade 3 neurotoxicity and grade 3 allergy occurred in 5 patients (13.1%) and 1 patient (2.6%), respectively. Peripheral neuropathy, mostly grades 1 and 2, was reported in 29 patients (76.3%), which was seen more frequently in patients >70 years of age (P=0.048). We conclude that the biweekly administration of a docetaxel/gemcitabine combination with G-CSF support constitutes a tolerable and convenient regimen for the treatment of elderly patients with advanced NSCLC, with efficacy similar to that reported in other regimens. Hence, this two-drug combination appears promising and warrants further evaluation. © E.S.I.F.T. srl