Author Interviews, Brain Cancer - Brain Tumors, JAMA, Radiation Therapy / 01.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Rakesh Jalali, MD Professor of Radiation Oncology President, Indian Society of Neuro-Oncology Tata Memorial Parel, Mumbai India  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Randomized controlled trials to test the efficacy of radiotherapy techniques are challenging to perform. High-precision conformal techniques such as stereotactic radiosurgery/radiotherapy, intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and particle therapy, etc have been incorporated into routine clinical practice including for brain tumors without always being supported by level-1 evidence. We therefore conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled trial of stereotactic conformal radiotherapy compared to conventional radiotherapy in young patients with residual/progressive bening and low grade brain tumors requiring radiotherapy for optimal disease control. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Microbiome / 01.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Gerard Clarke PhD APC Microbiome Institute Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioural Science University College Cork, Cork, Ireland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Over the last decade or so, we and others have shown that the gut microbiome exerts a broad influence on the central nervous system, reflected in a range of abnormal behaviours and altered brain function in germ-free animals. These germ-free animals grow up in a sterile bubble and allow us to see what aspects of brain and behaviour could be under the influence of the microorganisms in our gastrointestinal tract. One of the most consistent findings to emerge relates to anxiety-like behaviours. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research / 31.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael Large, BSc, MBBS, FRANZCP, DMedSci School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales,  The Prince of Wales Hospitals, Randwick New South Wales, Australia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: It has been increasingly recognized that recently discharged patients have an increased suicide risk. We synthesized the global research over the last half century finding a dramatically elevated suicide rate in the months post discharge and a surprisingly high and enduring rate over much longer periods. (more…)
Author Interviews, Infections, JAMA, UCLA / 31.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gregory John Moran, MD, FACEP Emergency Medicine Dept. & Infectious Diseases Service UCLA Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The bacterial etiology of cellulitis is difficult to determine because there is usually no material for culture, but streptococci are believed to be the most common etiology. Since the emergence of MRSA as a common cause of skin infections in the community, many clinicians add a second antibiotic with MRSA activity to an oral cephalosporin, such as a combination of cephalexin plus trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. It is unknown if there is an additional benefit to adding MRSA activity for treatment of cellulitis. This randomized, blinded trial compared cephalexin plus placebo to cephalexin plus trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for outpatient treatment of cellulitis without an abscess or wound. Bottom line: We did not find a benefit from addition of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. (more…)
Author Interviews, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, NEJM / 31.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Marc Bourlière Professeur Associé CHP (Associate Professor PHC) Chef de service (Head of Department) Hôpital Saint Joseph Hépato-Gastroentérologie MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The majority of HCV patients can be cured with combinations of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs); however, there is still 5 to 10% of patients who relapse after treatment with DAAs for whom there are currently no approved therapeutic options available. In these two international phase 3 studies, we have demonstrated that a single tablet triple regimen combining sofosbuvir, velpastasvir and voxilaprevir (a pangenotypic protease inhibitor) for 12 weeks cured 96% of the patients who had relapsed following prior treatment with DAA regimens including NS5A inhibitors and 98% of the patients who had relapsed following prior treatment with DAA regimens without an NS5A inhibitor. These two studies demonstrate that a pangenotypic retreatment option for this patient population could be soon available. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Orthopedics, Pediatrics / 31.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jacqueline Pasulka, OMS II Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine , Des Moines , IA Division of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago , Chicago , IL MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In this study young athletes were recruited from both sports medicine and general practice clinics and were asked to complete surveys reporting on their sports participation, training patterns, and any sports-related injuries they had over the previous six months. We focused this study on the subset of athletes who met the criteria for being a single-sport specialized athlete based on their reported participation in only one sport and training for eight months or more during the year for that sport. Athletes participating in individual sports were more likely to be single-sport specialized than their team sport peers, and they also reported an earlier age at which they began specializing in their sport. Additionally, injury types differed among these two groups as single-sport specialized athletes in individual sport athletes had a greater proportion of overuse injuries, while single-sport specialized athletes in team sport athletes had a greater proportion of acute injuries. (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Compliance, Cost of Health Care, University Texas / 31.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kalyani B. Sonawane, PhD Assistant Professor/ PhD Program Director Department of Health Services Research, Management and Policy College of Public Health and Health Professions University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32610 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Almost one-third of Americans have high blood pressure. Of those patients who are prescribed medication to control their blood pressure, about 30 percent have problems with side effects and nearly 50 percent will not have their blood pressure controlled within the first year of taking medication. In such scenarios, physicians have the option to either add a medication, such as fixed-dose combination, to the patient’s regimen or gradually increase a patient’s dose of their current drug to achieve blood pressure control; and gradually decrease the dose of their current drug or switch to a different drug to resolve side effects. Using healthcare claims data, we compared the economic impact of these alternative treatment modification strategies. (more…)
Aging, Author Interviews, Science / 31.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kan Cao PhD Associate professor of cell biology and molecular genetics University of Maryland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In 2015, our group demonstrated a surprising positive effect of methylene blue in treating fibroblast cells from progeria patients, a severe premature aging disease. Interestingly, we also noticed a beneficial effect of methylene blue in protecting normal skin cells. In this study, we followed the initial observation, compared methylene blue with other popular antioxidants, and conducted further analysis of the effects of methylene blue in 3d reconstructed skin. The take home message is that we believe methylene blue has a great anti-aging potential. As it is also super safe, we suggest it a potent ingredient for skin care products. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, HIV, Opiods, PLoS / 31.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cora Bernard, MS, PhD candidate Pre-doctoral Student in Management Science and Enginnering Affiliate, Center for Health Policy and the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research Stanford Health Policy MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The US opioid epidemic is leading to an increase in the US drug-injecting population, which also increases the risks of HIV transmission. It is critical to public health that the US invests in a coherent and cost-effective suite of HIV prevention programs. In our model-based analysis, we considered programs that have the potential both to prevent HIV and to improve long-term health outcomes for people who inject drugs. Specifically, we evaluated opioid agonist therapy, which reduces the frequency of injection; needle and syringe exchange programs, which reduce the frequency of injecting equipment sharing; enhanced HIV screening and antiretroviral therapy programs, which virally suppress individuals and decrease downstream transmission; and oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which is taken by an uninfected individual and lowers the risk of infection. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Flu - Influenza, OBGYNE, Vaccine Studies / 31.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Elyse Olshen Kharbanda, MD MPH HealthPartners Institute Minneapolis, MN MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Pregnant women who get the flu are at an increased risk for severe illness. To protect pregnant women, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends women receive inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) during any trimester of their pregnancy. This study used data from the Vaccine Safety Datalink to evaluate if there was an increased risk for selected major structural birth defects for infants whose mothers received IIV in the first trimester of pregnancy versus infants who were unexposed to IIV. Among over 425,000 live births, including 52,856 whose mothers received IIV during first trimester, we evaluated risks for major structural birth defects.  In this large observational study, we did not observe increased risks for major structural birth defects in offspring following first trimester maternal inactivated influenza vaccine exposure. (more…)
Allergies, Asthma, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Social Issues / 31.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Wanda Phipatanakul, MD, MS Associate Professor of Pediatrics Harvard Medical School Director, Asthma Clinical Research Center Boston Children's Hospital Asthma, Allergy and Immunology Boston, MA 02115 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Observational studies have limitations in their ability to examine disparities in asthma, as these studies have relied on self-reported measures of medication use, asthma diagnosis, severity, outcomes, and access to care. Using data collected from a randomized controlled trial, we found that subjects with lower income had a significantly higher number of asthma treatment failures and asthma exacerbations, independent of race, BMI, education, perceived stress, baseline lung function, hospitalizations, inhaled corticosteroid adherence, inhaled corticosteroid dose, environmental allergen sensitization, and second-hand smoke exposure. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE, PLoS / 31.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sarka Lisonkova, MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of British Columbia. Children’s and Women’s Health Centre MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Adverse fetal and infant outcomes associated with maternal age were known and our study confirms that the risk of fetal and neonatal death and severe neonatal morbidity increases among mothers over 30 years. We also knew that older mothers are more likely to have hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic diseases, and they are more likely to develop gestational diabetes, hypertension during pregnancy, and preeclampsia. These complications may put the fetus or newborn at risk, but are generally not considered to be potentially life threatening to the mother. Our study adds new information on the rates of severe maternal morbidities that have a high case-fatality rate, lead to organ damage, or have serious health implications such as hysterectomy. Our study also adds the information on the rates of any severe adverse birth outcome - for baby or mom - in the association with maternal age, which is important for counseling. Women usually want to know ‘what are the chances that anything bad happens’. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Kidney Disease, Transplantation / 30.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Deborah Evans, MA, MSW, LCSW Manager, Social Work Services DaVita Kidney Care MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: For patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) receiving dialysis, receipt of a transplant offers the best possible long-term treatment option. However, the process of becoming qualified to receive a transplant involves many steps, beginning with the patient’s statement of interest. In this study, we sought to characterize transplant interest among patients in a large dialysis organization in the U.S. and to explore reasons identified by the patients for lack of interest in transplant when applicable. As of November 2016, of the 182,906 patients with available transplant status information in the LDO database, 58,057 (31.7%) expressed that they were not interested in transplant. Among patients not interested in transplant, the most frequently identified reasons for lack of interest were:
  • Advanced age (25.7%)
  • Perceived poor health (12.0%)
  • Comfortable with current modality (12.0%)
  • Uninterested in further surgeries (11.9%)
  • 13.2% of patients not interested in transplant indicated that “other” factors were responsible for their lack of interest. At the time of the study, we didn’t have any further insight into what might account for these “other” factors.
Compared to patients with transplant status listed as active, those not interested in transplant were:
  • Older (21.4% < 60 years vs 64.6%)
  • More likely to be female (47.7% vs 36.6%)
  • More likely to be white (43.9% vs 30.4%) and less likely to be Hispanic (14.7% vs 22.2%)
  • More likely to be receiving in-center hemodialysis (92.0% vs 73.7%)
  • More likely to have Medicare/Medicaid as primary insurance (91.3% vs. 77.3%)
(more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Emergency Care / 28.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gary Smith, MD, DrPH Director, Center for Injury Research and Policy Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus, OH MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Golf is enjoyed worldwide as a leisure activity and competitive sport. While golf is viewed as a low-risk sport, acute traumatic and overuse injuries do occur. Previous studies have generally focused on the clinical aspects of golf-related injuries. Few studies examine injuries that occurred during practice at home or school, or due to conditions or hazards on a golf course. (more…)
Author Interviews, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Pediatrics / 27.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Antony Loebel, M.D. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Sunovion, Head of Global Clinical Development Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Group MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? In the six-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 347 children and adolescents (10 to 17 years of age) with bipolar depression received once-daily LATUDA flexibly dosed (20-80 mg/day) or placebo.The Phase 3 clinical study met its primary endpoint, showing statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in symptoms compared to placebo. LATUDA was generally well tolerated, with minimal effects on weight and metabolic parameters. The primary efficacy endpoint was change from baseline to week 6 on the Children Depression Rating Scale, Revised (CDRS-R) total score. LATUDA was associated with statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in bipolar depression symptoms compared to placebo, based on CDRS-R total score (-21.0 vs. -15.3; effect size = 0.45; p<0.0001) and CGI-BP-S score for depression (-1.49 vs. -1.05; effect size = 0.44; p<0.001). LATUDA also demonstrated statistically significant improvement on secondary efficacy endpoints. The most common treatment-emergent adverse events reported for LATUDA compared to placebo were nausea (16% vs. 5.8%), somnolence (9.1% vs. 4.7%), weight gain (6.9% vs. 1.7%), vomiting (6.3% vs. 3.5%), dizziness (5.7% vs. 4.7%) and insomnia (5.1% vs. 2.3%). LATUDA was associated with no increases in fasting glucose or lipids, and minimal increase in mean weight vs. placebo (+0.74 kg vs. +0.44 kg). (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, OBGYNE, Stroke / 27.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eliza Miller, M.D. Vascular neurology fellow New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center New York City  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Preeclampsia is a common disorder that causes high blood pressure during pregnancy. It affects about 1 in 20 pregnant women. Women with preeclampsia are at higher risk for stroke during pregnancy and post-partum, but it’s very difficult to predict who is going to have a stroke. Our study looked at a large dataset of billing data from New York State, and compared women who had preeclampsia and strokes to women who had preeclampsia but did not have a stroke. We found that preeclamptic women with urinary tract infections, bleeding or clotting disorders, or preexisting high blood pressure were at higher risk of having strokes during pregnancy or postpartum. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Pediatrics / 27.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Hermundur Sigmundsson Department of Psychology Norwegian University of Science and Technology MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There are around 23 baby-swimming instructors in Iceland who are offering baby swimming-courses. However, Snorris way to do this is unice after my knowledge. He has been doing baby swimming from 1990 - and has had around 7.000.- babies He heard about this from Norway and discovered that very young babies can stand in this way. He discovered this through practical experience. It works like this:  When holding children in the water - He put his hand under the feet of the children - and lift little bit under i.e gives some pressure (tactile stimuli) the children are gradually able to stand in the feet - so stimuli and experience is important. When they are able to stand once they are able to stand again. How long time it takes for each baby to be able to stand varies a lot - as in our study - the youngest was 3.6 months old. One of the participants was standing in 15 sec in the hands of Snorri in the first week of baby swimming course. I did see babies stand first soon after Snorri started baby swimming instruction around 1990-1991. I was very surprised - and was thinking how is it possible? This is not supported by the literature. My colleagues an I thought about this as a window to study development of balance and coordination in infants. The issue about reflexes versus voluntary movement through experience was central. (more…)
Alcohol, Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 26.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jinhui Zhao PhD Scientist, Centre for Addictions Research of BC University of Victoria MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response:  There are now many studies questioning the validity of the theory that moderate alcohol consumption protects against heart disease. We provided an up to date and comprehensive review of the evidence from ‘cohort’ studies i.e. those that assess health risk behaviours of people then follow them up for a number of years to see what characteristics predict death from a particular condition. We wished to test the theory that the appearance of health benefits in relation to heart disease is due to biases that accumulate and become more severe when cohorts are recruited at older ages (e.g. over 55 years). We found evidence to support this hypothesis. Moderate drinkers recruited before 55 years of age did not show any evidence of reduced risk of heart disease even when followed up into old age. Moderate drinkers from the older cohorts, however, did appear to have significant benefits – a finding we attribute to selection biases that accumulate across the life-course. Several published meta-analyses showed inconsistent findings about how alcohol consumption affects the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Most systematic reviews find associations between low-volume alcohol consumption and reduced CHD risk, while some also find increased CHD risk for higher levels of consumption (Maclure 1993, Corrao, Rubbiati et al. 2000, Corrao, Bagnardi et al. 2004, Ronksley, Brien et al. 2011, Roerecke and Rehm 2012). More recent evidence has accumulated to suggest that the case for cardio-protection may be less straightforward. The association of alcohol consumption with CHD may be confounded or modified by other factors such as age and sex and / or biased by those factors which have not been investigated or controlled for in these previously published studies. (more…)
Author Interviews, Autism, Genetic Research, Schizophrenia, UCLA / 26.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Carrie Bearden, Ph.D. Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Psychology Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior University of California, Los Angeles MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: A 22q11.2 deletion confers the highest known genetic risk for schizophrenia, but a duplication in the same region is strongly associated with autism and is less common in schizophrenia cases than in the general population. Thus, we became interested in trying to understand whether there were differences in brain development that might predispose to one condition vs. the other. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Compliance, Infections / 26.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jorge Salinas MD Epidemic intelligence service officer Division of Tuberculosis Elimination Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Because multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB) treatment regimens are less effective, more complex, and are more likely to have side effects that are difficult to tolerate than regimens for drug-susceptible TB, patients with MDR TB are at a higher risk of dying. Directly observed therapy (a therapy by which patients meet with a healthcare worker at a regularly scheduled time and place so the healthcare worker can observe the patient taking their TB medication) is recommended to treat all forms of TB disease, including MDR TB. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Occupational Health, Vaccine Studies / 26.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anup Srivastav, DVM, MPVM, PhD National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta GA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Healthcare personnel (HCP) are at risk for being exposed to pertussis (whooping cough) and spreading the disease to patients in their work settings. CDC recommends tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccination for healthcare personnel to reduce their risk of getting the disease and spreading it to patients. This is the first report of Tdap vaccination coverage among healthcare personnel by occupational setting. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Columbia, Dental Research / 26.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jaffer A Shariff DDS MPH cert.DPH Periodontal Resident | Research Scientist Division of Periodontics, Columbia University College of Dental Medicine New York MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Marijuana use for both medical and recreational purposes has become increasingly common in recent years; it is the most commonly used recreational drug in the United States. Subsequent increase in its legalization among countries including the United States for recreational purposes, poses an emergent oral and periodontal health concerns. Our study revealed that frequent recreational marijuana users exhibited deeper periodontal probing depths, clinical attachment loss and higher odds of having severe periodontal disease than the non-frequent users, even after controlling for other risk factors linked to gum disease, such as cigarette smoking. (more…)
Author Interviews, Lancet, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics / 26.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Annie Herbert, PhD Department of Behavioural Science and Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Healthcare University College London London  UK  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: 1 in 25 adolescents (i.e. one in every classroom) will be admitted to hospital as an emergency with injuries related self-harm, drug or alcohol misuse, or violence. Currently, the guidelines for how these adolescents are managed differ greatly depending on the type of injury they come in with (whether through self-harm, drug or alcohol misuse, or violence). MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response: In our study, we found that adolescents admitted with any of these injuries were at an increased risk of suicide and of drug or alcohol related death in the ten years after leaving hospital, compared to other admitted adolescents.While the overall risk is relatively low—for example, 2–3 girls out of 1000 and 7 boys out of 1000 who are admitted as an emergency to hospital with drug or alcohol related injuries die from suicide within 10 years—the rates are 5–6 times higher than among adolescents admitted to hospital following an accident. (more…)
Author Interviews, Pediatrics / 24.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Megan Heere, MD Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University Medical Director Temple University Hospital Well Baby Nursery Temple Pediatric Care Philadelphia, PA 19140 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Bed-sharing, the unsafe practice in which parents sleep in the same bed as their babies, is associated with sleep-related deaths in infants, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed. No studies have examined the effect of a Finnish-style baby box on infant sleep environment. Face-to-face postpartum education about safe infant sleep, combined with the distribution of a baby box, which is a cardboard bassinet, reduced the rates of bed-sharing during babies' first 8 days of life. (more…)
Author Interviews, Geriatrics, JAMA, Surgical Research / 24.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cheryl Chia-Hui Chen, RN, DNSc Vice Dean for Student Affairs Professor of Nursing National Taiwan University Nurse Supervisor at National Taiwan University Hospital Taipei, Taiwan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Older patients undergoing abdominal surgery often experience preventable delirium, which greatly influences their postoperative recovery and hospital length of stay. The modified Hospital Elder Life Program (mHELP) utilizes nurses to reduce postoperative delirium and LOS among older patients undergoing abdominal surgery for resection of malignant tumor. The mHELP consisted of 3 protocols: oral and nutritional assistance, early mobilization, and orienting communication, researchers say. Researchers at the National Taiwan University Hospital randomly assigned 377 patients undergoing abdominal surgery for a malignant tumor to an intervention (n = 197) or usual care (n = 180). Postoperative delirium occurred in 6.6 percent of mHELP participants vs 15.1 percent of control individuals (odds of delirium reduced by 56 percent). Intervention group participants received the mHELP for a median of 7 days, and they had a median LOS that was two days shorter (12 vs 14 days). (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV, Pharmacology / 24.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Martin Markowitz MD Clinical Director and Staff Investigator Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center Aaron Diamond Professor at The Rockefeller University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Cabotegravir ((CAB) is an inhibitor of HIV-1 integrase and is amenable to formulation in both oral and long acting injectable forms. In preclinical studies injectable CAB protected against low dose intrarectal challenge using an HIV-like virus in the rhesus macaque model. These results support the clinical development of CAB as prevention. This study was a first attempt to establish a dosing regimen and evaluate safety and acceptability of intramuscular injections of CAB. The study was a placebo controlled blinded study of approximately 120 subjects with a 5:1 randomization active/placebo. Subjects received 800mg CAB given as 2 2mL injections or placebo every 12 weeks for 3 injections after a 4 week safety lead in of oral therapy. Safety acceptability and PK were assessed. The main findings were that injections were associated with injection site reactions in the vast majority of participants that were mild to moderate and of short duration. Only 4 subjects who entered the injection phase discontinued due to injection intolerance. There were no additional safety signals and the participants considered the injections acceptable when asked to complete questionnaires. PK analysis found that despite modeling that suggested that the 800mg q 12 week dose would be adequate, this was not the case. More rapid uptake and release from the depot resulted in lower than anticipated drug levels at trough. Alternate dosing regimens are under study. Another finding is that there were participants (14%) who had detectable drug in plasma detected at 52 weeks after last injection suggesting the presence of a tail in some individuals. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education / 24.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pallavi Amitava Banerjee, PhD, FRS Lecturer, Graduate School of Education St Luke's Campus University of Exeter  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Several educational programs are being run to increase an awareness and understanding of STEM generally and more specifically to encourage young people to take up STEM learning trajectories. A longitudinal study was conducted where nearly 60,000 year 7 students were followed up through secondary school. Every year these students took part in several hands on activities, ambassador led events, school STEM trips throughout each academic year from the beginning of year 7 till they took GCSEs. Two main educational outcomes were considered – a) GCSE attainment in science and math and b) continued post-16 STEM participation (AS- and A-levels). (more…)
Author Interviews, Autism, Diabetes, McGill, Nature / 24.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ilse Gantois, PhD Research Associate Dr. Nahum Sonenberg's laboratory Department of Biochemistry McGill University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by cognitive impairment and affects 1 in 4000 males and 1 in 6000 females. About 60% of persons with Fragile X also have autism spectrum disorder. FXS is caused by absence of Fragile X protein (FMRP), which results in hyperactivation of ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) and mTORC1 (mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1) signaling. We show that treatment with metformin, the most widely used FDA-approved antidiabetic drug, suppresses translation by inhibiting the ERK pathway, and alleviates a variety of behavioural deficits, including impaired social interaction and excessive grooming. In addition, metformin also reversed defects in dendritic spine morphogenesis and synaptic transmission. (more…)