Which antidepressants have demonstrated superior efficacy? A review of the evidence

A review of published evidence of superior efficacy of a particular antidepressant in major depressive disorder may assist clinicians in making considered treatment choices. To identify such candidates, an international group of experts met to assess published evidence (identified through searches in Medline and Embase databases and discussions with experts in the field) from randomized, controlled trials and meta-analyses comparing two antidepressants under conditions of fair comparison. Criteria were defined to judge the strength of evidence. Two pivotal studies in moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder that demonstrate superiority on the primary efficacy measure, or alternatively one pivotal study supported by consistent results from meta-analyses, was considered to constitute evidence for definite superiority. Three antidepressants met these criteria: clomipramine, venlafaxine, and escitalopram. Three antidepressants were found to have probable superiority: milnacipran, duloxetine, and mirtazapine. Only escitalopram was found to have definite superiority in the treatment of severe depression; probable superiority was identified for venlafaxine and possible superiority for milnacipran and clomipramine. This review of published data found evidence that only a very few antidepressants are shown to be more effective than other

CD163 as a biomarker in colorectal cancer: the expression on circulating monocytes and tumor-associated macrophages, and the soluble form in the blood

The macrophage-associated molecule CD163 has been reported as a prognostic biomarker in different cancer types, but its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) is unclear. We studied CD163 in the tumor microenvironment and circulation of patients with CRC in relation to clinicopathological parameters. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the serum sCD163 levels and multiparameter flow cytometry was used to study the peripheral blood monocytes and their CD163 expression in CRC patients (N= 78) and healthy donors (N= 50). The distribution of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) was studied in primary colorectal tumors with multiplex immunofluorescence. We showed that CRC patients with above-median sCD163 level had a shorter overall survival (OS,p= 0.035) as well as disease-free survival (DFS,p= 0.005). The above-median sCD163 remained significantly associated with a shorter DFS in the multivariate analysis (p= 0.049). Moreover, a shorter OS was observed in CRC patients with an above-median total monocyte percentage (p= 0.007). The number and phenotype of the stromal and intraepithelial TAMs in colorectal tumors were not associated with clinical outcome. In conclusion, sCD163 and monocytes in the circulation may be potential prognostic biomarkers in CRC patients, whereas TAMs in the tumor showed no association with clinical outcome. Thus, our results emphasize the importance of the innate systemic immune response in CRC disease progression.Surgical oncolog

Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2

A search for unstable heavy fermions with the DELPHI detector at LEP is reported. Sequential and non-canonical leptons, as well as excited leptons and quarks, are considered. The data analysed correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 48 pb^{-1} at an e^+e^- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV and about 20 pb^{-1} equally shared between the centre-of-mass energies of 172 GeV and 161 GeV. The search for pair-produced new leptons establishes 95% confidence level mass limits in the region between 70 GeV/c^2 and 90 GeV/c^2, depending on the channel. The search for singly produced excited leptons and quarks establishes upper limits on the ratio of the coupling of the excited fermio

Search for lightest neutralino and stau pair production in light gravitino scenarios with stau NLSP

Promptly decaying lightest neutralinos and long-lived staus are searched for in the context of light gravitino scenarios. It is assumed that the stau is the next to lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) and that the lightest neutralino is the next to NLSP (NNLSP). Data collected with the Delphi detector at centre-of-mass energies from 161 to 183 \GeV are analysed. No evidence of the production of these particles is found. Hence, lower mass limits for both kinds of particles are set at 95% C.L.. The mass of gaugino-like neutralinos is found to be greater than 71.5 GeV/c^2. In the search for long-lived stau, masses less than 70.0 to 77.5 \GeVcc are excluded for gravitino masses from 10 to 150 \eVcc . Combining this search with the searches for stable heavy leptons and Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model staus a lower limit of 68.5 \GeVcc may be set for the stau mas