Effectiveness of terbutaline pump for the prevention of preterm birth. A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Subcutaneous terbutaline (SQ terbutaline) infusion by pump is used in pregnant women as a prolonged (beyond 48-72 h) maintenance tocolytic following acute treatment of preterm contractions. The effectiveness and safety of this maintenance tocolysis have not been clearly established. We aimed to systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of subcutaneous (SQ) terbutaline infusion by pump for maintenance tocolysis.

Significance of T helper 17 immunity in transplantation.

Purpose Of Review: The aim of this review is to provide an overview of significance of T helper 17 (Th17) immunity in acute, chronic and antibody-mediated allograft rejection. The role of Th17 immunity in development of de-novo autoimmunity following transplantation is outlined. It will also consider the impact of Th17 immunity on transplantation tolerance.

Evidence for chronically altered serotonin function in the cerebral cortex of female 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine polydrug users.

Context: MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also popularly known as "ecstasy") is a popular recreational drug that produces loss of serotonin axons in animal models. Whether MDMA produces chronic reductions in serotonin signaling in humans remains controversial.

Objective: To determine whether MDMA use is associated with chronic reductions in serotonin signaling in the cerebral cortex of women as reflected by increased serotonin(2A) receptor levels.

Assessment of thiopurine S-methyltransferase activity in patients prescribed thiopurines: a systematic review.

Background: The evidence for testing thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) enzymatic activity or genotype before starting therapy with thiopurine-based drugs is unclear.

Purpose: To examine the sensitivity and specificity of TPMT genotyping for TPMT enzymatic activity, reducing harm from thiopurine by pretesting, and the association of thiopurine toxicity with TPMT status in adults and children with chronic inflammatory diseases.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and Ovid HealthSTAR (from inception to December 2010) and BIOSIS and Genetics Abstracts (to May 2009).

Pre-analytic and analytic sources of variations in thiopurine methyltransferase activity measurement in patients prescribed thiopurine-based drugs: A systematic review.

Objectives: Low thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) enzyme activity is associated with increased thiopurine drug toxicity, particularly myelotoxicity. Pre-analytic and analytic variables for TPMT genotype and phenotype (enzyme activity) testing were reviewed.

Design And Methods: A systematic literature review was performed, and diagnostic laboratories were surveyed.

Quantitative, preclinical PET of translocator protein expression in glioma using 18F-N-fluoroacetyl-N-(2,5-dimethoxybenzyl)-2-phenoxyaniline.

Unlabelled: Translocator protein (TSPO), also referred to as peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), is a crucial 18-kDa outer mitochondrial membrane protein involved in numerous cellular functions, including the regulation of cholesterol metabolism, steroidogenesis, and apoptosis. Elevated expression of TSPO in oncology correlates with disease progression and poor survival, suggesting that molecular probes capable of assaying TSPO levels may have potential as cancer imaging biomarkers. In preclinical PET studies, we characterized a high-affinity aryloxyanilide-based TSPO imaging ligand, 18F-N-fluoroacetyl-N-(2,5-dimethoxybenzyl)-2-phenoxyaniline (18F-PBR06), as a candidate probe for the quantitative assessment of TSPO expression in glioma.

Assessment of thiopurine methyltransferase activity in patients prescribed azathioprine or other thiopurine-based drugs.

Objectives: To examine whether pretreatment determination of thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) enzymatic activity (phenotyping) or TPMT genotype, to guide thiopurine therapy in chronic autoimmune disease patients, reduces treatment harms. Other objectives included assessing: preanalytic, analytic, and postanalytic requirements for TPMT testing; diagnostic accuracy of TPMT genotyping versus phenotyping; association of thiopurine toxicity with TPMT genotypic or phenotypic status; and costs of testing, care, and treating drug-associated complications.

Data Sources: MEDLINE®, EMBASE®, and Healthstar were searched from inception to May 2010; the Cochrane Library® to October 2009; and BIOSIS®, Genetics Abstracts, and EconLit™ to May 2009, for English language records.

Development quality criteria to evaluate nontherapeutic studies of incidence, prevalence, or risk factors of chronic diseases: pilot study of new checklists.

Objective: To develop two checklists for the quality of observational studies of incidence or risk factors of diseases.

Study Design And Setting: Initial development of the checklists was based on a systematic literature review. The checklists were refined after pilot trials of validity and reliability were conducted by seven experts, who tested the checklists on 10 articles.

Complementary and alternative therapies for back pain II.

Background: Back and neck pain are important health problems with serious societal and economic implications. Conventional treatments have been shown to have limited benefit in improving patient outcomes. Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies offer additional options in the management of low back and neck pain.

Minoxidil-associated exudative pleural effusion.

Recurrent pleural effusions are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Drug-related reactions causing pleural effusions are not common, but their identification can potentially improve patient outcome. Minoxidil has been implicated in pleuropericardial effusions in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Oral phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors and hormonal treatments for erectile dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common male sexual disorder. The relative benefits and harms of pharmacologic therapies for ED, as well as the value of hormonal testing in men with ED, are uncertain.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and harms of oral phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors and hormonal treatments for ED and assess the effect of measuring serum hormone levels on treatment outcomes for ED.

Systematic review: comparative effectiveness and harms of combination therapy and monotherapy for dyslipidemia.

Background: Statin therapy effectively prevents vascular disease, but treatment targets are often not achieved.

Purpose: To compare the benefits and harms of high-dose statin monotherapy with those of combination therapy in adults at high risk for coronary disease.

Data Sources: English-language records from MEDLINE (1966 to 2009), EMBASE (1980 to 2009), and the Cochrane Library (third quarter of 2008).

Oral sildenafil citrate (viagra) for erectile dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis of harms.

Objectives: To summarize and compare evidence on harms in sildenafil- and placebo-treated men with erectile dysfunction (ED) in a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: Randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) were identified using an electronic search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, and Cochrane CENTRAL. The rates of any adverse events (AEs), most commonly reported AEs, withdrawals because of adverse events, and serious adverse events were ascertained and compared between sildenafil and placebo groups.

Surveillance search techniques identified the need to update systematic reviews.

Objective: This article reports on literature surveillance methods to identify new evidence eligible for updating systematic reviews.

Study Design And Setting: Five surveillance search approaches are tested in the context of identifying studies that would signal major or invalidating new evidence for existing systematic reviews of health care interventions. Recall for each search approach was assessed as proportion of a composite yield of relevant studies across all search approaches that were identified by that approach.

Induction of robust diabetes resistance and prevention of recurrent type 1 diabetes following islet transplantation by gene therapy.

We have previously shown that the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D) can be prevented in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice by reconstitution with autologous hemopoietic stem cells retrovirally transduced with viruses encoding MHC class II I-A beta-chain molecules associated with protection from the disease. In this study we examined whether a blockade of the programmed death-1 (PD-1)-programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) pathway, a major pathway known to control diabetes occurrence, could precipitate T1D in young NOD mice following reconstitution with autologous bone marrow retrovirally transduced with viruses encoding protective MHC class II I-A beta-chain molecules. In addition, we examined whether the expression of protective MHC class II alleles in hemopoietic cells could be used to prevent the recurrence of diabetes in mice with pre-existing disease following islet transplantation.

Role of ICOS pathway in autoimmune and alloimmune responses in NOD mice.

Islet allografts are subject to alloimmune and autoimmune destruction when transplanted into autoimmune prone animals or humans. The ICOS-B7h pathway plays a role in alloimmune responses, but its function in autoimmunity against islet cells is controversial. We investigated the role of ICOS signaling in autoimmune and alloimmune responses in NOD mice.

How quickly do systematic reviews go out of date? A survival analysis.

Background: Systematic reviews are often advocated as the best source of evidence to guide clinical decisions and health care policy, yet we know little about the extent to which they require updating.

Objective: To estimate the average time to changes in evidence that are sufficiently important to warrant updating systematic reviews.

Design: Survival analysis of 100 quantitative systematic reviews.

Mechanisms of PDL1-mediated regulation of autoimmune diabetes.

The PD-1-PDL1 pathway plays a critical role in regulating autoimmune diabetes as blockade or deficiency of PD-1 or PDL1 results in accelerated disease in NOD mice. We explored the cellular mechanisms involved in the regulation of these autoimmune responses by investigations involving various gene-deficient mice on the NOD background. Administration of blocking anti-PDL1 antibody to CD4+ T cell-deficient, CD8+ T cell-deficient and B cell-deficient mice demonstrated that PDL1-mediated regulation of autoreactive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells is critical for diabetes development.