Short communication. Serological evidence for Parapoxvirus infection in chamois from the Tyrol regions of Austria and Italy

Orf-virus (ORFV) is a parapoxvirus that infects small ruminants worldwide causing sporadic zoonotic infections, mainly transmitted by direct contact with sheep and goats. Following an ORFV case in a hunter of Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), who did not report previous contact to domestic animals, a serological survey in Western Austria was conducted to assess the seroprevalence of ORFV in this species. In addition, this study also tested blood/tissue samples of chamois from different areas of the adjacent province of Bolzano/Northern Italy for antibodies against ORFV using immunofluorescence and ELISA. The observed seropositivity rates in the chamois tested on the Austrian and Italian side of the Alps were 23.5% and 9.5%, respectively, with a combined 95% confidence interval ranging from 0.0678 to 0.238. Although the prevalence was significantly lower than the one observed in Austrian sheep flocks, this study provided the first evidence that parapoxviruses have spilled over into chamois populations to a significant degree in the Tyrol regions of Austria and Italy

Predictors of Individual Response to Placebo or Tadalafil 5mg among Men with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Secondary to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: An Integrated Clinical Data Mining Analysis

<div><p>Background</p><p>A significant percentage of patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) achieve clinically meaningful improvement when receiving placebo or tadalafil 5mg once daily. However, individual patient characteristics associated with treatment response are unknown.</p><p>Methods</p><p>This integrated clinical data mining analysis was designed to identify factors associated with a clinically meaningful response to placebo or tadalafil 5mg once daily in an individual patient with LUTS-BPH. Analyses were performed on pooled data from four randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, clinical studies, including about 1,500 patients, from which 107 baseline characteristics were selected and 8 response criteria. The split set evaluation method (1,000 repeats) was used to estimate prediction accuracy, with the database randomly split into training and test subsets. Logistic Regression (LR), Decision Tree (DT), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF) models were then generated on the training subset and used to predict response in the test subset. Prediction models were generated for placebo and tadalafil 5mg once daily Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) analysis was used to select optimal prediction models lying on the ROC surface.</p><p>Findings</p><p>International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) baseline group (mild/moderate vs. severe) for active treatment and placebo achieved the highest combined sensitivity and specificity of 70% and ~50% for all analyses, respectively. This was below the sensitivity and specificity threshold of 80% that would enable reliable allocation of an individual patient to either the responder or non-responder group</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>This extensive clinical data mining study in LUTS-BPH did not identify baseline clinical or demographic characteristics that were sufficiently predictive of an individual patient response to placebo or once daily tadalafil 5mg. However, the study reaffirms the efficacy of tadalalfil 5mg once daily in the treatment of LUTS-BPH in the majority of patients and the importance of evaluating individual patient need in selecting the most appropriate treatment.</p></div

Definition of treatment response on the IPSS, BII and PGI-I after 12 weeks treatment with tadalafil or placebo as used in the clinical data mining analysis.

<p>BII, BPH Impact Index; IPSS, International Prostate Symptom Score; PGI-I, Patient Global Impression of Improvement; QoL, quality of life.</p><p>Definition of treatment response on the IPSS, BII and PGI-I after 12 weeks treatment with tadalafil or placebo as used in the clinical data mining analysis.</p

Secondary Results (Tadalafil 5mg once daily).

<p>*Model on ROC surface with best performance if false positive and false negative errors are equally important.</p><p>** Alpha-Blockers, beta-blockers, calcium channels blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers and diuretics.</p><p>BII, BPH Impact Index; CI, confidence interval; IIEF, International Index of Erectile Function; IPSS, International Prostate Symptom Score; N, no; PGI, Patient Global Impression of Improvement; Q_max, maximal flow rate; QoL, quality of life; ROC, Receiver Operating Curve; Y, yes.</p><p>Secondary Results (Tadalafil 5mg once daily).</p