Anti-tumour necrosis factor discontinuation in inflammatory bowel disease patients in remission: study protocol of a prospective, multicentre, randomized clinical trial

Background: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease who achieve remission with anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) drugs may have treatment withdrawn due to safety concerns and cost considerations, but there is a lack of prospective, controlled data investigating this strategy. The primary study aim is to compare the rates of clinical remission at 1?year in patients who discontinue anti-TNF treatment versus those who continue treatment. Methods: This is an ongoing, prospective, double-blind, multicentre, randomized, placebo-controlled study in patients with Crohn?s disease or ulcerative colitis who have achieved clinical remission for ?6?months with an anti-TNF treatment and an immunosuppressant. Patients are being randomized 1:1 to discontinue anti-TNF therapy or continue therapy. Randomization stratifies patients by the type of inflammatory bowel disease and drug (infliximab versus adalimumab) at study inclusion. The primary endpoint of the study is sustained clinical remission at 1?year. Other endpoints include endoscopic and radiological activity, patient-reported outcomes (quality of life, work productivity), safety and predictive factors for relapse. The required sample size is 194 patients. In addition to the main analysis (discontinuation versus continuation), subanalyses will include stratification by type of inflammatory bowel disease, phenotype and previous treatment. Biological samples will be obtained to identify factors predictive of relapse after treatment withdrawal. Results: Enrolment began in 2016, and the study is expected to end in 2020. Conclusions: This study will contribute prospective, controlled data on outcomes and predictors of relapse in patients with inflammatory bowel disease after withdrawal of anti-TNF agents following achievement of clinical remission. Clinical trial reference number: EudraCT 2015-001410-1

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

Meeting abstrac

A model of indirect cell death caused by tumor vascular damage after high-dose radiotherapy

There is increasing evidence that high doses of radiotherapy, like those delivered in stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), trigger indirect mechanisms of cell death. Such effect seems to be two-fold. High doses may trigger an immune response and may cause vascular damage, leading to cell starvation and death. Development of mathematical response models, including indirect death, may help clinicians to design SBRT optimal schedules. Despite increasing experimental literature on indirect tumor cell death caused by vascular damage, efforts on modeling this effect have been limited. In this work, we present a biomathematical model of this effect. In our model, tumor oxygenation is obtained by solving the reaction-diffusion equation; radiotherapy kills tumor cells according to the linear-quadratic model, and also endothelial cells (EC), which can trigger loss of functionality of capillaries. Capillary death will affect tumor oxygenation, driving nearby tumor cells into severe hypoxia. Capillaries can recover functionality due to EC proliferation. Tumor cells entering a predetermined severe hypoxia status die according to a hypoxia-death model. This model fits recently published experimental data showing the effect of vascular damage on surviving fractions. It fits surviving fraction curves and qualitatively reproduces experimental values of percentages of functional capillaries 48 hours postirradiation, and hypoxic cells pre- and 48 hours postirradiation. This model is useful for exploring aspects of tumor and EC response to radiotherapy and constitutes a stepping stone toward modeling indirect tumor cell death caused by vascular damage and accounting for this effect during SBRT planning. SIGNIFICANCE: A novel biomathematical model of indirect tumor cell death caused by vascular radiation damage could potentially help clinicians interpret experimental data and design better radiotherapy schedules

Population pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of micafungin against Candida species in obese, critically ill, and morbidly obese critically ill patients

BACKGROUND: Dosing in obese critically ill patients is challenging due to pathophysiological changes derived from obesity and/or critical illness, and it remains fully unexplored. This study estimated the micafungin probability of reaching adequate 24-h area under the curve (AUC0-24h)/minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values against Candida spp. for an obese/nonobese, critically ill/noncritically ill, large population. METHODS: Blood samples for pharmacokinetic analyses were collected from 10 critically ill nonobese patients, 10 noncritically ill obese patients, and 11 critically ill morbidly obese patients under empirical/directed micafungin treatment. Patients received once daily 100-150 mg micafungin at the discretion of the treating physician following the prescribing information and hospital guidelines. Total micafungin concentrations were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Monte-Carlo simulations were performed and the probability of target attainment (PTA) was calculated using the AUC0-24/MIC cut-offs 285 (C. parapsilosis), 3000 (all Candida spp.), and 5000 (nonparapsilosis Candida spp.). Intravenous once-daily 100-mg, 150-mg, and 200-mg doses were simulated at different body weights (45, 80, 115, 150, and 185 kg) and age (30, 50, 70 and 90 years old). PTAs ≥ 90% were considered optimal. Fractional target attainment (FTA) was calculated using published MIC distributions. A dosing regimen was considered successful if the FTA was ≥ 90%. RESULTS: Overall, 100 mg of micafungin was once-daily administered for nonobese and obese patients with body mass index (BMI) ≤ 45 kg/m2 and 150 mg for morbidly obese patients with BMI > 45 kg/m2 (except two noncritically ill obese patients with BMI ~ 35 kg/m2 receiving 150 mg, and one critically ill patient with BMI > 45 kg/m2 receiving 100 mg). Micafungin concentrations in plasma were best described using a two-compartment model. Weight and age (but not severity score) were significant covariates and improved the model. FTAs > 90% were obtained against C. albicans with the 200 mg/24 h dose for all body weights (up to 185 kg), and with the 150 mg/24 h for body weights < 115 kg, and against C. glabrata with the 200 mg/24 h dose for body weights < 115 kg. CONCLUSION: The lack of adequacy for the 100 mg/24 h dose suggested the need to increase the dose to 150 mg/24 h for C. albicans infections. Further pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic studies should address optimization of micafungin dosing for nonalbicans Candida infections

Corneal Segmentation Analysis Increases Glaucoma Diagnostic Ability of Optic Nerve Head Examination, Heidelberg Retina Tomograph’s Moorfield’s Regression Analysis, and Glaucoma Probability Score

Purpose. To study whether a corneal thickness segmentation model, consisting in a central circular zone of 1 mm radius centered at the corneal apex (zone I) and five concentric rings of 1 mm width (moving outwards: zones II to VI), could boost the diagnostic accuracy of Heidelberg Retina Tomograph’s (HRT’s) MRA and GPS. Material and Methods. Cross-sectional study. 121 healthy volunteers and 125 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma. Six binary multivariate logistic regression models were constructed (MOD-A1, MOD-A2, MOD-B1, MOD-B2, MOD-C1, and MOD-C2). The dependent variable was the presence of glaucoma. In MOD-A1, the predictor was the result (presence of glaucoma) of the analysis of the stereophotography of the optic nerve head (ONH). In MOD-B1 and MOD-C1, the predictor was the result of the MRA and GPS, respectively. In MOD-B2 and MOD-C2, the predictors were the same along with corneal variables: central, overall, and zones I to VI thicknesses. This scheme was reproduced for model MOD-A2 (stereophotography along with corneal variables). Models were compared using the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC). Results. MOD-A1-AUC: 0.771; MOD-A2-AUC: 0.88; MOD-B1-AUC: 0.736; MOD-B2-AUC: 0.845; MOD-C1-AUC: 0.712; MOD-C2-AUC: 0.838. Conclusion. Corneal thickness variables enhance ONH assessment and HRT’s MRA and GPS diagnostic capacity

Prácticas pedagógicas y políticas educativas : investigaciones en el territorio bonaerense

Prácticas pedagógicas y políticas educativas. Investigaciones en el territorio bonaerense es la primera publicación en forma de libro que reúne producciones de los equipos de investigación y docencia de la Universidad Pedagógica, validadas académicamente por pares externos oficialmente reconocidos. Este libro expresa la potencialidad de concebir un modelo formativo que revierta la histórica escisión entre docencia e investigación y de concretarlo en una institución universitaria. Por diversos motivos, las visiones paradigmáticas que signaron la formación docente excluyeron la investigación como uno de sus pilares. Un modelo universitario como el que la UNIPE se propone implica que los docentes y demás agentes educativos construyan una actitud investigativa como requisito indispensable para adaptarse a condiciones sociales crecientemente cambiantes, sin perder de vista -aun en contextos de alta vulnerabilidad social y con un bajo grado de reconocimiento- el sentido formativo del trabajo colectivo en las instituciones educativas. La formación docente constituye el eje vertebrador de todos los trabajos de este libro, que consideramos una primera contribución al pensamiento pedagógico entendido como aquel que interroga a la educación de la perspectiva de la formación humana