Improved monitoring of clinical response in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus by longitudinal trend in soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1

This work was funded by Arthritis Research UK. MJL holds an Arthritis Research UK Clinician Scientist Fellowship (19631), and was previously supported by the St Thomas’ Lupus Trust. The study received support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded Flow Cytometry Core Facility and the Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy’s & St. Thomas’ National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, in partnership with King’s College London

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac

Nurses' perceptions of aids and obstacles to the provision of optimal end of life care in ICU

Contains fulltext : 172380.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

An investigation of EEG, genetic and cognitive markers of treatment response to antidepressant medication in patients with major depressive disorder: a pilot study.

The aim of this study was to investigate if biomarkers in QEEG, genetic and neuropsychological measures are suitable for the prediction of antidepressant treatment outcome in depression. Twenty-five patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder were assessed twice, pretreatment and at 8-wk follow-up, on a variety of QEEG and neuropsychological tasks. Additionally, cheek swab samples were collected to assess genetic predictors of treatment outcome. The primary outcome measure was the absolute decrease on the HAM-D rating scale. Regression models were built in order to investigate which markers contribute most to the decrease in absolute HAM-D scores. Patients who had a better clinical outcome were characterized by a decrease in the amplitude of the Auditory Oddball N1 at baseline. The 'Met/Met' variant of the COMT gene was the best genetic predictor of treatment outcome. Impaired verbal memory performance was the best cognitive predictor. Raised frontal Theta power was the best EEG predictor of change in HAM-D scores. A tentative integrative model showed that a combination of N1 amplitude at Pz and verbal memory performance accounted for the largest part of the explained variance. These markers may serve as new biomarkers suitable for the prediction of antidepressant treatment outcome

An investigation of EEG, genetic and cognitive markers of treatment response to antidepressant medication in patients with major depressive disorder: a pilot study.

The aim of this study was to investigate if biomarkers in QEEG, genetic and neuropsychological measures are suitable for the prediction of antidepressant treatment outcome in depression. Twenty-five patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder were assessed twice, pretreatment and at 8-wk follow-up, on a variety of QEEG and neuropsychological tasks. Additionally, cheek swab samples were collected to assess genetic predictors of treatment outcome. The primary outcome measure was the absolute decrease on the HAM-D rating scale. Regression models were built in order to investigate which markers contribute most to the decrease in absolute HAM-D scores. Patients who had a better clinical outcome were characterized by a decrease in the amplitude of the Auditory Oddball N1 at baseline. The 'Met/Met' variant of the COMT gene was the best genetic predictor of treatment outcome. Impaired verbal memory performance was the best cognitive predictor. Raised frontal Theta power was the best EEG predictor of change in HAM-D scores. A tentative integrative model showed that a combination of N1 amplitude at Pz and verbal memory performance accounted for the largest part of the explained variance. These markers may serve as new biomarkers suitable for the prediction of antidepressant treatment outcome

A Molecular and Epidemiological Description of a Severe Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Outbreak in a Commercial Swine Production System in Russia

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is an economically devastating disease of swine in many parts of the world. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) type 1 is endemic in Europe, and prevalence of the subtypes differ spatially. In this study, we investigated a severe PRRS outbreak reported in 30 farms located in eastern Russia that belong to a large swine production company in the region that was also experiencing a pseudorabies outbreak in the system. Data included 28 ORF5 sequences from samples across 18 of the 25 infected sites, reverse transcriptase real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) results from diagnostic testing, reports of clinical signs, and animal movement records. We observed that the outbreak was due to two distinct variants of wildtype PRRSV type 1 subtype 1 with an average genetic distance of 15%. Results suggest that the wildtype PRRSV variants were introduced into the region around 2019, before affecting this production system (i.e., sow farms, nurseries, and finisher farms). Clinical signs did not differ between the variants, but they did differ by stage of pig production. Biosecurity lapses, including movement of animals from infected farms contributed to disease spread

Associations between thrombin generation and the risk of cardiovascular disease in elderly patients: results from the PROSPER study

Background. Hypercoagulability may be an important contributor to the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and atherothrombosis. As thrombin fulfills a central role in coagulation and links to several cellular mechanisms involved in arterial disease, we hypothesized that thrombin generation is associated with cardiovascular events in elderly patients. Methods. We studied the relationship between plasma thrombin generation and incident coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke in the PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER). From this multicenter prospective cohort, 4,932 samples of subjects (70–82 years) with pre-existing vascular disease or risk factors were available for thrombin generation measurements. Results. Within the 3.2 years of follow-up incident stroke and CHD was observed in 227 and 545 subjects, respectively. Baseline thrombin generation was significantly decreased in subjects with incident stroke compared with subjects without: normalized peak height 71.1±40.8% versus 82.3±44.9%, p = .0002, and normalized endogenous thrombin potential 79.1±23.3% versus 87.0±24.8%, p < .0001 (mean and SDs). Thrombin generation was independently and inversely associated with stroke risk: hazard ratio 0.71 (95%CI: 0.60–0.85), 0.68 (95%CI: 0.58–0.79), for normalized peak height and normalized endogenous thrombin potential, respectively (all p < .001). In subjects with incident CHD, thrombin generation was comparable to subjects without a coronary event. Only an increased normalized peak height was significantly associated with incident CHD (hazard ratio 1.17 [95% CI: 1.06–1.28], p = .002). Conclusions. We demonstrate that a delayed and decreased thrombin generation is a strong and independent predictor for stroke in elderly people at increased risk of vascular disease. However, no convincing consistent association could be demonstrated between thrombin generation and incident CHD

An Assessment of Diagnostic Assays and Sample Types in the Detection of an Attenuated Genotype 5 African Swine Fever Virus in European Pigs over a 3-Month Period

African swine fever virus causes hemorrhagic disease in swine. Attenuated strains are reported in Africa, Europe, and Asia. Few studies on the diagnostic detection of attenuated ASF viruses are available. Two groups of pigs were inoculated with an attenuated ASFV. Group 2 was also vaccinated with an attenuated porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus vaccine. Commercially available ELISA, as well as extraction and qPCR assays, were used to detect antibodies in serum and oral fluids (OF) and nucleic acid in buccal swabs, tonsillar scrapings, OF, and blood samples collected over 93 days, respectively. After 12 dpi, serum (88.9% to 90.9%) in Group 1 was significantly better for antibody detection than OF (0.7% to 68.4%). Group 1′s overall qPCR detection was highest in blood (48.7%) and OF (44.2%), with the highest detection in blood (85.2%) from 8 to 21 days post inoculation (dpi) and in OF (83.3%) from 1 to 7 dpi. Group 2′s results were not significantly different from Group 1, but detection rates were lower overall. Early detection of attenuated ASFV variants requires active surveillance in apparently healthy animals and is only reliable at the herd level. Likewise, antibody testing will be needed to prove freedom from disease