Carvedilol targets beta-arrestins to rewire innate immunity and improve oncolytic adenoviral therapy

Oncolytic viruses are being tested in clinical trials, including in women with ovarian cancer. We use a drug-repurposing approach to identify existing drugs that enhance the activity of oncolytic adenoviruses. This reveals that carvedilol, a β-arrestin-biased β-blocker, synergises with both wild-type adenovirus and the E1A-CR2-deleted oncolytic adenovirus, dl922-947. Synergy is not due to β-adrenergic blockade but is dependent on β-arrestins and is reversed by β-arrestin CRISPR gene editing. Co-treatment with dl922-947 and carvedilol causes increased viral DNA replication, greater viral protein expression and higher titres of infectious viral particles. Carvedilol also enhances viral efficacy in orthotopic, intraperitoneal murine models, achieving more rapid tumour clearance than virus alone. Increased anti-cancer activity is associated with an intratumoural inflammatory cell infiltrate and systemic cytokine release. In summary, carvedilol augments the activity of oncolytic adenoviruses via β-arrestins to re-wire cytokine networks and innate immunity and could therefore improve oncolytic viruses for cancer patient treatment

Predictors of antiretroviral therapy initiation in eThekwini (Durban), South Africa: Findings from a prospective cohort study

Despite expanded antiretroviral therapy (ART) eligibility in South Africa, many people diagnosed with HIV do not initiate ART promptly, yet understanding of the reasons is limited. Using data from an 8-month prospective cohort interview study of women and men newly-diagnosed with HIV in three public-sector primary care clinics in the eThekwini (Durban) region, South Africa, 2010–2014, we examined if theoretically-relevant social-structural, social-cognitive, psychosocial, and health status indicators were associated with time to ART initiation. Of 459 diagnosed, 350 returned to the clinic for their CD4+ test results (linkage); 153 (33.3%) were ART-eligible according to treatment criteria at the time; 115 (75.2% of those eligible) initiated ART (median = 12.86 weeks [95% CI: 9.75, 15.97] after linkage). In adjusted Cox proportional hazard models, internalized stigma was associated with a 65% decrease in the rate of ART initiation (Adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] 0.35, 95% CI: 0.19–0.80) during the period less than four weeks after linkage to care, but not four or more weeks after linkage to care, suggesting that stigma-reduction interventions implemented shortly after diagnosis may accelerate ART uptake. As reported by others, older age was associated with more rapid ART initiation (AHR for 1-year age increase: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.01–1.07) and higher CD4+ cell count (≥300μL vs. <150μL) was associated with a lower rate of initiation (AHR 0.38, 95% CI: 0.19–0.80). Several other factors that were assessed prior to diagnosis, including stronger belief in traditional medicine, higher endorsement of stigma toward people living with HIV, food insecurity, and higher psychological distress, were found to be in the expected direction of association with ART initiation, but confidence intervals were wide and could not exclude a null finding

The prevalence of dental erosion and associated risk factors in 12-13-year-old school children in Southern China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dental erosion has been investigated in developed and developing countries and the prevalence varies considerably in different countries, geographic locations, and age groups. With the lifestyle of the Chinese people changing significantly over the decades, dental erosion has begun to receive more attention. However, the information about dental erosion in China is scarce. The purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence of dental erosion and associated risk factors in 12-13-year-old school children in Guangzhou, Southern China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This cross-sectional survey was performed by two trained, calibrated examiners. A stratified random sample of 12-13-year-old children (774 boys and 725 girls) from 10 schools was examined for dental erosion using the diagnostic criteria of Eccles and the index of O'Sullivan was applied to record the distribution, severity, and amount of the lesions. Data on the socio-economic status, health behaviours, and general health involved in the etiology of dental erosion were obtained from a self-completed questionnaire. The analyses were performed using SPSS software.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At least one tooth surface with signs of erosion was found in 416 children (27.3%). The most frequently affected teeth were the central incisors (upper central incisors, 16.3% and 15.9%; lower central incisors, 17.4% and 14.8%). The most frequently affected surface was the incisal or occlusal edge (43.2%). The loss of enamel contour was present in 54.6% of the tooth surfaces with erosion. Of the affected tooth surfaces, 69.3% had greater than one-half of the tooth surface was affected. The results from logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the children who were female, consumed carbonated drinks once a week or more, and those whose mothers were educated to the primary level tended to have more dental erosion.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Dental erosion in 12-13-year-old Chinese school children is becoming a significant problem. A strategy of offering preventive care, including more campaigns promoting a healthier lifestyle for those at risk of dental erosion should be conducted in Chinese children and their parents.</p

Ferric carboxymaltose for the treatment of iron deficiency in heart failure: a multinational cost-effectiveness analysis utilising AFFIRM-AHF.

AIMS: Iron deficiency is common in patients with heart failure (HF). In AFFIRM-AHF, ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) reduced the risk of hospitalisations for HF (HHF) and improved quality of life vs. placebo in iron-deficient patients with a recent episode of acute HF. The objective of this study was to estimate the cost-effectiveness of FCM compared with placebo in iron-deficient patients with left ventricular ejection fraction <50%, stabilised after an episode of acute HF, using data from the AFFIRM-AHF trial from Italian, UK, US and Swiss payer perspectives. METHODS AND RESULTS: A lifetime Markov model was built to characterise outcomes in patients according to the AFFIRM-AHF trial. Health states were defined using the 12-item Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ-12). Subsequent HHF were incorporated using a negative binomial regression model with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality incorporated via parametric survival analysis. Direct healthcare costs (2020 GBP/USD/EUR/CHF) and utility values were sourced from published literature and AFFIRM-AHF. Modelled outcomes indicated that treatment with FCM was dominant (cost saving with additional health gains) in the UK, USA and Switzerland, and highly cost-effective in Italy [incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) EUR 1269 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY)]. Results were driven by reduced costs for HHF events combined with QALY gains of 0.43-0.44, attributable to increased time in higher KCCQ states (representing better functional outcomes). Sensitivity and subgroup analyses demonstrated data robustness, with the ICER remaining dominant or highly cost-effective under a wide range of scenarios, including increasing treatment costs and various patient subgroups, despite a moderate increase in costs for de novo HF and smaller QALY gains for ischaemic aetiology. CONCLUSION: Ferric carboxymaltose is estimated to be a highly cost-effective treatment across countries (Italy, UK, USA and Switzerland) representing different healthcare systems

A cross-sectional study on attitudes toward gender equality, sexual behavior, positive sexual experiences, and communication about sex among sexually active and non-sexually active adolescents in Bolivia and Ecuador

Background: It is widely agreed upon that gender is a key aspect of sexuality however, questions remain on how gender exactly influences adolescents’ sexual health. Objective: The aim of this research was to study correlations between gender equality attitudes and sexual behavior, sexual experiences and communication about sex among sexually active and non-sexually active adolescents in 2 Latin American countries. Design: In 2011, a cross-sectional study was carried out among 5,913 adolescents aged 14–18 in 20 secondary schools in Cochabamba (Bolivia) and 6 secondary schools in Cuenca (Ecuador). Models were built using logistic regressions to assess the predictive value of attitudes toward gender equality on adolescents’ sexual behavior, on experiences and on communication. Results: The analysis shows that sexually active adolescents who consider gender equality as important report higher current use of contraceptives within the couple. They are more likely to describe their last sexual intercourse as a positive experience and consider it easier to talk with their partner about sexuality than sexually experienced adolescents who are less positively inclined toward gender equality. These correlations remained consistent whether the respondent was a boy or a girl. Non-sexually active adolescents, who consider gender equality to be important, are more likely to think that sexual intercourse is a positive experience. They consider it less necessary to have sexual intercourse to maintain a relationship and find it easier to communicate with their girlfriend or boyfriend than sexually non-active adolescents who consider gender equality to be less important. Comparable results were found for boys and girls. Conclusions: Our results suggest that gender equality attitudes have a positive impact on adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and wellbeing. Further research is necessary to better understand the relationship between gender attitudes and specific SRH outcomes such as unwanted teenage pregnancies and sexual pleasure among adolescents worldwide

Integrated Polygenic Tool Substantially Enhances Coronary Artery Disease Prediction

BACKGROUND: There is considerable interest in whether genetic data can be used to improve standard cardiovascular disease risk calculators, as the latter are routinely used in clinical practice to manage preventative treatment. METHODS: Using the UK Biobank resource, we developed our own polygenic risk score for coronary artery disease (CAD). We used an additional 60 000 UK Biobank individuals to develop an integrated risk tool (IRT) that combined our polygenic risk score with established risk tools (either the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology pooled cohort equations [PCE] or UK QRISK3), and we tested our IRT in an additional, independent set of 186 451 UK Biobank individuals. RESULTS: The novel CAD polygenic risk score shows superior predictive power for CAD events, compared with other published polygenic risk scores, and is largely uncorrelated with PCE and QRISK3. When combined with PCE into an IRT, it has superior predictive accuracy. Overall, 10.4% of incident CAD cases were misclassified as low risk by PCE and correctly classified as high risk by the IRT, compared with 4.4% misclassified by the IRT and correctly classified by PCE. The overall net reclassification improvement for the IRT was 5.9% (95% CI, 4.7–7.0). When individuals were stratified into age-by-sex subgroups, the improvement was larger for all subgroups (range, 8.3%–15.4%), with the best performance in 40- to 54-year-old men (15.4% [95% CI, 11.6–19.3]). Comparable results were found using a different risk tool (QRISK3) and also a broader definition of cardiovascular disease. Use of the IRT is estimated to avoid up to 12 000 deaths in the United States over a 5-year period. CONCLUSIONS: An IRT that includes polygenic risk outperforms current risk stratification tools and offers greater opportunity for early interventions. Given the plummeting costs of genetic tests, future iterations of CAD risk tools would be enhanced with the addition of a person’s polygenic risk

Novel DLX3 variants in amelogenesis imperfecta with attenuated tricho‐dento‐osseous syndrome

Objectives: Variants in DLX3 cause tricho‐dento‐osseous syndrome (TDO, MIM #190320), a systemic condition with hair, nail and bony changes, taurodontism and amelogenesis imperfecta (AI), inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. Different variants found within this gene are associated with different phenotypic presentations. To date, six different DLX3 variants have been reported in TDO. The aim of this paper was to explore and discuss three recently uncovered new variants in DLX3. Subjects and Methods: Whole‐exome sequencing identified a new DLX3 variant in one family, recruited as part of an ongoing study of genetic variants associated with AI. Targeted clinical exome sequencing of two further families revealed another new variant of DLX3 and complete heterozygous deletion of DLX3. For all three families, the phenotypes were shown to consist of AI and taurodontism, together with other attenuated features of TDO. Results: c.574delG p.(E192Rfs*66), c.476G>T (p.R159L) and a heterozygous deletion of the entire DLX3 coding region were identified in our families. Conclusion: These previously unreported variants add to the growing literature surrounding AI, allowing for more accurate genetic testing and better understanding of the associated clinical consequences

Lack of evidence for interventions offered in UK fertility centres.

Carl Heneghan and colleagues call for better quality evidence to help people seeking assisted reproduction make informed choices

Current measures of metabolic heterogeneity within cervical cancer do not predict disease outcome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A previous study evaluated the intra-tumoral heterogeneity observed in the uptake of F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in pre-treatment positron emission tomography (PET) scans of cancers of the uterine cervix as an indicator of disease outcome. This was done via a novel statistic which ostensibly measured the spatial variations in intra-tumoral metabolic activity. In this work, we argue that statistic is intrinsically <it>non</it>-spatial, and that the apparent delineation between unsuccessfully- and successfully-treated patient groups via that statistic is spurious.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We first offer a straightforward mathematical demonstration of our argument. Next, we recapitulate an assiduous re-analysis of the originally published data which was derived from FDG-PET imagery. Finally, we present the results of a principal component analysis of FDG-PET images similar to those previously analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We find that the previously published measure of intra-tumoral heterogeneity is intrinsically non-spatial, and actually is only a surrogate for tumor volume. We also find that an optimized linear combination of more canonical heterogeneity quantifiers does not predict disease outcome.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Current measures of intra-tumoral metabolic activity are not predictive of disease outcome as has been claimed previously. The implications of this finding are: clinical categorization of patients based upon these statistics is invalid; more sophisticated, and perhaps innately-geometric, quantifications of metabolic activity are required for predicting disease outcome.</p

Definitive and adjuvant radiotherapy for sinonasal squamous cell carcinomas: a single institutional experience

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the disease outcomes of patients treated with definitive and adjuvant radiotherapy for squamous cell carcinomas of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses in a single institution. Methods: Between 2007–2012 patients were retrospectively identified from electronic databases who had undergone surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy or definitive radiotherapy for sinonasal squamous cell carcinomas with curative intent. Results: Fourty three patients with sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma were identified (22 nasal cavity, 21 paranasal sinuses). 31/43 (72 %) had T3 or T4 disease; nodal stage was N0 in 38, N1 in 4, Na/b in 0 and N2c in 1 patient. Median age was 67 years (range 41–86). 18 (42 %) received definitive and 25 (58 %) adjuvant radiotherapy. Radiotherapy was delivered using either conventional radiotherapy (n = 39) or intensity modulated radiotherapy (n = 4). Elective neck radiotherapy was delivered to two patients. Chemotherapy was delivered to 6/43 (14 %) of patients. Two-year local control, regional control, distant metastases free survival, progression free survival, cause specific survival and overall survival were 81 %, 90 %, 95 %, 71 %, 84 % and 80 % respectively. There was no significant difference in outcome comparing patients who underwent surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy with patients receiving definitive radiotherapy (2 year locoregional disease free survival 75 % and 70 % respectively, p = 0.98). Pooly differentiated tumours were significantly associated with inferior disease outcomes. Local, regional, combined local and regional, and distant failure occurred in 7 (16 %), 3 (7 %), 1 (2 %) and 2 (5 %) of patients; all 3 regional recurrences were in patients with nasal cavity squamous cell carcinomas who had not undergone elective neck treatment. Conclusions: Definitive or adjuvant radiotherapy provides an effective treatment for sinonasal malignancies. The main pattern of failure remains local, suggesting the need for investigation of intensified local therapy. Whilst remaining uncommon, the cases of regional failure mean that the merits of elective lymph node treatment should be considered on an individual basis