610 research outputs found
Safety and effectiveness of switching from infliximab to etanercept in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: results from a large Japanese postmarketing surveillance study
Finding an effective treatment strategy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who have not benefited from previous tumor necrosis factorâÎą antagonist treatment is important for minimizing RA disease activity and improving patient outcomes. The aim of this study was to compare the safety and effectiveness of etanercept in patients with and without infliximab (IFX) treatment experience. Patients (n = 7,099) from a large postmarketing observational study of etanercept use in Japan were divided into 2 cohorts based on previous IFX use (pre-IFX and non-IFX). Baseline characteristics were assessed in each cohort. Adverse events (AEs) and European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) responses were monitored every 4 weeks for 24 weeks. At baseline, pre-IFX patients were younger and had fewer comorbidities and a shorter RA duration than non-IFX patients. During the study, pre-IFX patients received concomitant methotrexate more often than non-IFX patients. The incidence of AEs and serious AEs were significantly lower in pre-IFX patients, as was the percentage of patients who discontinued treatment. Both cohorts had significant improvement (P < 0.001) in EULAR responses at the end of the treatment period. This study demonstrated that etanercept was effective and well tolerated in active RA patients with and without prior IFX treatment
An open-label pilot study of the effectiveness of adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and previous infliximab treatment: relationship to reasons for failure and anti-infliximab antibody status
This prospective open-label pilot study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of adalimumab and the relationship to antibodies against infliximab (IFX) in adult patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had been treated previously with IFX and experienced treatment failure owing to lack or loss of response or intolerance. Patients self-administered adalimumab 40 mg subcutaneously every other week for 16 weeks, followed by maintenance therapy for up to Week 56. Measures of effectiveness included American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response criteria, 28-joint Disease Activity Score, and the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index. Serum IFX concentrations, human antichimeric antibody against IFX (HACA), adalimumab serum concentrations, antiadalimumab antibody, and safety also were assessed. Of the 41 enrolled patients, 37 completed 16 weeks and 30 completed 56 weeks of treatment. Patients experienced clinically meaningful improvements in all measures of RA activity, with greater response rates observed for patients who had experienced loss of initial response to or intolerance of IFX. At Week 16, 46% of patients achieved an ACR20 and 28% achieved an ACR50; 61% achieved an at least moderate and 17% achieved a good EULAR response. Clinical benefit was maintained through Week 56 in all effectiveness parameters. Baseline HACA status did not significantly impact effectiveness. No new safety signals were observed; neither former IFX intolerance status nor baseline HACA status had a clinically relevant impact on adverse event frequency or severity. Adalimumab was effective and well-tolerated in patients with RA who previously failed IFX therapy, irrespective of reason for discontinuation and of HACA status
The Saccadic and Neurological Deficits in Type 3 Gaucher Disease
Our objective was to characterize the saccadic eye movements in patients with type 3 Gaucher disease (chronic neuronopathic) in relationship to neurological and neurophysiological abnormalities. For approximately 4 years, we prospectively followed a cohort of 15 patients with Gaucher type 3, ages 8â28 years, by measuring saccadic eye movements using the scleral search coil method. We found that patients with type 3 Gaucher disease had a significantly higher regression slope of duration vs amplitude and peak duration vs amplitude compared to healthy controls for both horizontal and vertical saccades. Saccadic latency was significantly increased for horizontal saccades only. Downward saccades were more affected than upward saccades. Saccade abnormalities increased over time in some patients reflecting the slowly progressive nature of the disease. Phase plane plots showed individually characteristic patterns of abnormal saccade trajectories. Oculo-manual dexterity scores on the Purdue Pegboard test were low in virtually all patients, even in those with normal cognitive function. Vertical saccade peak duration vs amplitude slope significantly correlated with IQ and with the performance on the Purdue Pegboard but not with the brainstem and somatosensory evoked potentials. We conclude that, in patients with Gaucher disease type 3, saccadic eye movements and oculo-manual dexterity are representative neurological functions for longitudinal studies and can probably be used as endpoints for therapeutic clinical trials
Characterising the KMP-11 and HSP-70 recombinant antigens' humoral immune response profile in chagasic patients
11 pages, 6 figures.-- The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed
here:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/9/186/pre
pubBackground: Antigen specificity and IgG subclass could be significant in the natural history of
Chagas' disease. The relationship between the different stages of human Chagas' disease and the
profiles of total IgG and its subclasses were thus analysed here; they were directed against a crude
T. cruzi extract and three recombinant antigens: the T. cruzi kinetoplastid membrane protein-11
(rKMP-11), an internal fragment of the T. cruzi HSP-70 protein192-433, and the entire Trypanosoma
rangeli HSP-70 protein.
Methods: Seventeen Brazilian acute chagasic patients, 50 Colombian chronic chagasic patients (21
indeterminate and 29 cardiopathic patients) and 30 healthy individuals were included. Total IgG and
its subtypes directed against the above-mentioned recombinant antigens were determined by
ELISA tests.
Results: The T. cruzi KMP-11 and T. rangeli HSP-70 recombinant proteins were able to distinguish
both acute from chronic chagasic patients and infected people from healthy individuals. Specific
antibodies to T. cruzi crude antigen in acute patients came from IgG3 and IgG4 subclasses whereas
IgG1 and IgG3 were the prevalent isotypes in indeterminate and chronic chagasic patients. By
contrast, the specific prominent antibodies in all disease stages against T. cruzi KMP-11 and T. rangeli
HSP-70 recombinant antigens were the IgG1 subclass.This work was supported by Colciencias Research project No. 1203-333-
18692. IDF was supported by Colciencias and the Universidad Javeriana's
Young Researcher 2008 Programme (BogotĂĄ, Colombia). MCT and MCL
were supported by P06-CTS-02242 Grant from PAI (Junta de Andalucia)
and RICET-RD06/0021-0014, Spain. MS received financial support from the
Brazilian agency - CNPq.Peer reviewe
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Search for new physics with same-sign isolated dilepton events with jets and missing transverse energy
A search for new physics is performed in events with two same-sign isolated
leptons, hadronic jets, and missing transverse energy in the final state. The
analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of
4.98 inverse femtobarns produced in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of
7 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. This constitutes a factor of
140 increase in integrated luminosity over previously published results. The
observed yields agree with the standard model predictions and thus no evidence
for new physics is found. The observations are used to set upper limits on
possible new physics contributions and to constrain supersymmetric models. To
facilitate the interpretation of the data in a broader range of new physics
scenarios, information on the event selection, detector response, and
efficiencies is provided.Comment: Published in Physical Review Letter
Measurement of the Z/gamma* + b-jet cross section in pp collisions at 7 TeV
The production of b jets in association with a Z/gamma* boson is studied
using proton-proton collisions delivered by the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy
of 7 TeV and recorded by the CMS detector. The inclusive cross section for
Z/gamma* + b-jet production is measured in a sample corresponding to an
integrated luminosity of 2.2 inverse femtobarns. The Z/gamma* + b-jet cross
section with Z/gamma* to ll (where ll = ee or mu mu) for events with the
invariant mass 60 < M(ll) < 120 GeV, at least one b jet at the hadron level
with pT > 25 GeV and abs(eta) < 2.1, and a separation between the leptons and
the jets of Delta R > 0.5 is found to be 5.84 +/- 0.08 (stat.) +/- 0.72 (syst.)
+(0.25)/-(0.55) (theory) pb. The kinematic properties of the events are also
studied and found to be in agreement with the predictions made by the MadGraph
event generator with the parton shower and the hadronisation performed by
PYTHIA.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physic
Azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles at high transverse momenta in PbPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV
The azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles in PbPb collisions at
nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV is measured with the CMS
detector at the LHC over an extended transverse momentum (pt) range up to
approximately 60 GeV. The data cover both the low-pt region associated with
hydrodynamic flow phenomena and the high-pt region where the anisotropies may
reflect the path-length dependence of parton energy loss in the created medium.
The anisotropy parameter (v2) of the particles is extracted by correlating
charged tracks with respect to the event-plane reconstructed by using the
energy deposited in forward-angle calorimeters. For the six bins of collision
centrality studied, spanning the range of 0-60% most-central events, the
observed v2 values are found to first increase with pt, reaching a maximum
around pt = 3 GeV, and then to gradually decrease to almost zero, with the
decline persisting up to at least pt = 40 GeV over the full centrality range
measured.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
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