Liver transplant and hepatitis C in methadone maintenance therapy: a case report

Methadone maintenance therapy for the treatment of opioid dependence continues to carry a social stigma. Until recently, patients on methadone were not considered for liver transplantation. We describe the first case of a patient on methadone who received a liver transplant for end stage liver disease and was successfully treated for recurrent hepatitis C. More than five years post transplant and three years post viral clearance, the patient continues to do well and is stable on low-dose methadone. This case emphasizes the need to reconsider the non-evidence based policy adopted by transplant centers that require methadone maintenance therapy patients to stop methadone prior to consideration for transplant evaluation

Clinical Outcomes of 2-Drug Regimens vs 3-Drug Regimens in Antiretroviral Treatment–Experienced People Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus

BACKGROUND: Limited data exist comparing clinical outcomes of two-drug regimens (2DRs) and three-drug regimens (3DRs) in people living with HIV. METHODS: Antiretroviral treatment-experienced individuals in RESPOND switching to a new 2DR or 3DR from 1/1/12-1/10/18 were included. The incidence of clinical events (AIDS, non-AIDS cancer, cardiovascular disease, end-stage liver and renal disease, death) was compared between regimens using Poisson regression. RESULTS: Of 9791 individuals included, 1088 (11.1%) started 2DRs and 8703 (88.9%) 3DRs. The most common 2DRs were dolutegravir plus lamivudine (22.8%) and raltegravir plus boosted darunavir (19.8%); the most common 3DR was dolutegravir plus 2 nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (46.9%). Individuals on 2DRs were older (median 52.6 years [interquartile range 46.7-59.0] vs 47.7 [39.7-54.3]), and a higher proportion had ≥1 comorbidity (81.6% vs 73.9%).There were 619 events during 27,159 person-years of follow-up (PYFU): 540 (incidence rate [IR] 22.5/1000 PYFU [95% CI 20.7-24.5]) on 3DRs, 79 (30.9/1000 PYFU [24.8-38.5]) on 2DRs. The most common events were death (7.5/1000 PYFU [95% CI 6.5-8.6]) and non-AIDS cancer (5.8/1000 PYFU [4.9-6.8]). After adjustment for baseline demographic and clinical characteristics, there was a similar incidence of events on both regimen types (2DRs vs 3DRs IR ratio: 0.92 [0.72-1.19]; p=0.53). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first large, international cohort assessing clinical outcomes on 2DRs. After accounting for baseline characteristics, there was a similar incidence of events on 2DRs and 3DRs. 2DRs appear to be a viable treatment option with regard to clinical outcomes; further research on resistance barriers and long-term durability of 2DRs is needed

Partial sequencing of the bottle gourd genome reveals markers useful for phylogenetic analysis and breeding

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bottle gourd [<it>Lagenaria siceraria </it>(Mol.) Standl.] is an important cucurbit crop worldwide. Archaeological research indicates that bottle gourd was domesticated more than 10,000 years ago, making it one of the earliest plants cultivated by man. In spite of its widespread importance and long history of cultivation almost nothing has been known about the genome of this species thus far.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report here the partial sequencing of bottle gourd genome using the 454 GS-FLX Titanium sequencing platform. A total of 150,253 sequence reads, which were assembled into 3,994 contigs and 82,522 singletons were generated. The total length of the non-redundant singletons/assemblies is 32 Mb, theoretically covering ~ 10% of the bottle gourd genome. Functional annotation of the sequences revealed a broad range of functional types, covering all the three top-level ontologies. Comparison of the gene sequences between bottle gourd and the model cucurbit cucumber (<it>Cucumis sativus</it>) revealed a 90% sequence similarity on average. Using the sequence information, 4395 microsatellite-containing sequences were identified and 400 SSR markers were developed, of which 94% amplified bands of anticipated sizes. Transferability of these markers to four other cucurbit species showed obvious decline with increasing phylogenetic distance. From analyzing polymorphisms of a subset of 14 SSR markers assayed on 44 representative China bottle gourd varieties/landraces, a principal coordinates (PCo) analysis output and a UPGMA-based dendrogram were constructed. Bottle gourd accessions tended to group by fruit shape rather than geographic origin, although in certain subclades the lines from the same or close origin did tend to cluster.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This work provides an initial basis for genome characterization, gene isolation and comparative genomics analysis in bottle gourd. The SSR markers developed would facilitate marker assisted breeding schemes for efficient introduction of desired traits.</p

Effectiveness of hygienic-dietary recommendations as enhancers of antidepressant treatment in patients with Depression: Study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In recent years some studies have been published supporting the efficacy of light exposure, physical activity, sleep control and a Mediterranean diet pattern on the improvement or prevention of Depression. However, to our knowledge, there have been no studies using all these measures together as an adjuvant antidepressant strategy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Multicenter, randomized, controlled, two arm-parallel, clinical trial. Eighty depressed patients undergoing standard antidepressant treatment will be advised to follow four additional hygienic-dietary recommendations about exercise, diet, sunlight exposure and sleep. Outcome measures will be assessed before and after the 6 month intervention period.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>We expect the patients in the active recommendations group to experience a greater improvement in their depressive symptoms. If so, this would be a great support for doctors who might systematically recommend these simple and costless measures, especially in primary care.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ISRCTN59506583</p

A closer look to the sgoldstino interpretation of the diphoton excess

Abstract: We revisit the sgoldstino interpretation of the diphoton excess in the context of gauge mediation. While the bound on the gluino mass might seem to make the sgoldstino contribution to the diphoton excess unobservable, we show that the interpretation is viable in a thin, near critical region of the parameter space. This regime gives rise to drastic departures from the standard gauge mediation picture. While the fermion messengers lie in the (10-100) TeV range, some scalar messengers are significantly lighter and are responsible for the sgoldstino production and decay. Their effective coupling to the sgoldstino is correspondingly enhanced, and a non-perturbative regime is triggered when light and heavy messenger masses differ by a factor 73 4\u3c0. We also comment on the possible role of an R-axion and on the possibility to decouple the sfermions in this context. \ua9 2016, The Author(s)