Articles related to CLINICAL STUDY

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) researchers were searching a genetic database for compounds that could suppress the expression of genes previously linked to heavy alcohol use. They put apremilast to the test in two animal models with a genetic risk of binge drinking, as well as in mice from other labs. In each case, apremilast reduced alcohol consumption by increasing activity in the nucleus accumbens, the brain region involved in controlling alcohol intake. Scripps Research Institute then assessed 51 patients over 11 days of treatment and discovered that trial participants’ alcohol consumption was reduced from an average of five drinks per day to two.

There were significant state variations in racial and ethnic disparities in TNBC incidence in this cohort study, with Black women in Delaware, Missouri, Louisiana, and Mississippi having the highest rates among all states and racial and ethnic populations. More research is needed to identify factors contributing to the significant geographic variations in racial and ethnic disparities in TNBC incidence in order to develop effective preventive measures, and social determinants of health contribute to the geographic disparities in TNBC risk, according to the findings.

PDE4 is linked to alcohol and nicotine addiction, so the researchers prioritized apremilast, a newer PDE4 inhibitor for psoriasis, as ideal for repurposing and tested it in multiple animal strains and models, as well as a human Phase IIa study. In mouse models of genetic risk for drinking to intoxication, they discovered that apremilast reduced binge-like alcohol intake and behavioral measures of alcohol motivation.

The researchers discovered that 11 of the participants had likely somatic variants at known pathogenic UBA1 positions, and all 11 had clinical symptoms consistent with VEXAS (Vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, Autoinflammatory, Somatic) syndrome. Five people (45 percent) did not meet the criteria for previous rheumatologic and/or hematologic diagnoses associated with VEXAS syndrome, but all 11 had anemia, which was macrocytic in 10 people and had concomitant thrombocytopenia in 10 people. One male patient had a pathogenic variant identified prior to the onset of VEXAS-related signs or symptoms, and two female patients had disease caused by heterozygous variants. A previously unreported UBA1 variant was found in one symptomatic patient, with in vitro data supporting a catalytic defect and pathogenicity. Disease-causing UBA1 variants were found in one of 13,591 unrelated individuals, as well as in one of 4,269 men and one in 26,238 women over the age of 50.

In a study of 563 placebo-treated patients with COVID, symptoms and viral rebound were recorded in over 30% of cases.

Long-term continuous monitoring for atrial fibrillation in older patients yielded an incidental diagnosis of sinus node dysfunction or atrioventricular block with bradycardia in 21% of patients over the age of 70. But the finding was not associated with any increased risk of syncope or sudden death.