1,720,959 research outputs found
The effect of highly bioavailable forms of curcumin on lipoprotein(a) plasma levels: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical studies
No full text: Curcumin is a bioactive compound derived from the rhizome of Curcuma longa (turmeric) that has garnered increasing attention for its potential health benefits. However, its use in clinical practice is limited due to its generally poor bioavailability. This issue can be overcome using novel delivery systems that enhance curcumin's solubility, extend its residence time in plasma, improve its pharmacokinetic profile, and increase its cellular uptake. Novel curcumin formulations with improved bioavailability have been suggested to elevate plasma concentrations of lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)), but there is no definitive evidence of a causal relationship. To address this, a systematic literature search was conducted in multiple electronic databases to identify relevant randomized placebo-controlled clinical studies published without a time limit. A meta-analysis of data suggested that dietary supplementation with highly bioavailable forms of curcumin significantly reduces Lp(a) levels [Standardized Mean Difference (SMD)= -0.96 (95 % Confidence Interval (CI): -1.82, -0.11)]. The effect size was robust in the leave-one-out sensitivity analysis and was not primarily driven by any single study. Of course, the clinical significance of this observation should be more thoroughly evaluated in longer-term trials, where the combined metabolic and anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin have vascular protective effects
The Novel Visibility of Myocarditis. From pathology to treatment
Full text linkMyocarditis is one of the most common non-coronary diseases, since it is associated with many infectious and immune-allergic diseases, such as HIV, hepatitis, systemic bacterial and fungal infections. Moreover, this nosological form can be also associated with the side effects of various medicines. For instance, some chemotherapeutic drugs, such as trastuzumab used to treat breast cancer, are able to trigger the myocarditis development. Understanding of mechanisms of the myocarditis development under the similar drugs action, and awareness of a physician about their high risk will help him to avoid undesirable complications, and thereby, to increase the survival rate and standard of living of the world’s population. This article has incorporated all the aspects of the classification, etiology, pathogenesis, morphogenesis, as well as the clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Cardiotoxicity of Chemotherapeutic Drugs (Literature Review and Clinical Case Description)
No full textIntroduction. Oncological diseases are currently one of the leading causes of death, due to the cardiovascular diseases. At the same time, modern antitumor therapy, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, allows life-saving and social adaptation of the cancer patients for decades. However, the use of anticancer therapy is limited due to their side effects. In some cases, severe cardiotoxic effects and complications (coronary heart disease, microvascular angina, systolic or diastolic myocardial dysfunction/cardiomyopathy, chronic heart failure, arterial or pulmonary hypertension, strokes, pericarditis, arrhythmias, thromboembolism of the pulmonary artery, etc.), can extremely adversely affect the prognosis of these patients.
That is why in recent years, cardiooncology has increasingly been the focus of attention of the scientists, however, many aspects of this important interdisciplinary problem are still poorly studied. Obviously, the successful treatment of the cancer patients requires the collaboration of cardiologists, oncologists, chemotherapists, radiation therapists and specialists in the field of imaging technologies. However, in our country there is still no coordination of scientific research in this area, as a result – there are no multifaceted studies, manuals and recommendations, scientific and practical programs for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of various manifestations of cardiotoxicity. The degree of involvement in the therapeutic and diagnostic process and the level of interaction between representatives of the corresponding disciplines have not been determined yet.
The aim of study. To review the world literature on the cardiotoxicity of anticancer drugs and provide a description of the clinical case that demonstrates the importance of this problem.
Materials and methods. We used content analysis, a method of system and comparative analysis, a bibliosemantic method for studying relevant scientific research on the topic of cardiotoxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs. The data was searched in scientometric medical information databases PubMed, NCBI, Medline, ResearchGate for the key words: cardiotoxicity, cardiooncology, anthracycline cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, cardiac lipomatosis, as well as on the basis of the State Medical Library of the Virmen Academy of Medical Sciences. At the end of the article, the clinical case is described.
Results. Among the all chemotherapeutic drugs with the inherent mechanisms of cardiotoxicity, which are widely used in clinical practice, are doxorubicin, paclitaxel, trastuzumab and pertuzumab. To date, the most studied field is the cardiotoxicity of anthracycline drugs. Anthracyclines are highly effective in the treatment of solid tumors and malignant diseases of the blood system, but due to their expressed side effects on the heart, failure to use them can negatively affect the prognosis. On the other hand, anthracyclines can irreversibly damage the heart, which, in turn, also influence the prognosis. For example, doxorubicin is associated with the occurrence of congestive heart failure in 5.0 % of cases when a cumulative lifespan dose of 400.0 mg/m2 is reached, and the higher doses lead to the exponential increase in risk, up to 48.0 % at 700.0 mg/m2. However, the susceptibility to anthracyclines in patients is very different. While many people tolerate their standard dose without any long-term complications, drug-induced cardiac toxicity in some patients may occur after the first dose. The most common pathophysiological mechanism of anthracycline cardiotoxicity is described by the oxidative stress hypothesis, which implies that the generation of reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation of the cell membrane damages cardiomyocytes. It is assumed that there are also other mechanisms that play a definite role in the process. Cardiotoxicity of anthracyclines can be acute, early or late. Acute cardiotoxicity is manifested mainly by the development of supraventricular arrhythmia, transient left ventricular dysfunction and electrocardiographic changes. It develops in less than 1.0 % of patients immediately after the drug infusion and is usually reversible. However, acute cardiac dysfunction may also reflect the damage of myocytes, which may ultimately develop into early or late cardiotoxicity. There is no proven tactic determining reversibility of the heart dysfunction or its progressive being; however, an increase in cardiac biomarkers may indicate a risk for patients with long-term cardiotoxicity.
Other standard chemotherapy drugs that can cause myocardial dysfunction and heart failure are cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, ifosfamide, and taxanes (docetaxel). Cyclophosphamide cardiotoxicity is relatively rare and is primarily observed in the patients receiving large doses (>140.0 mg/kg) prior to the bone marrow transplantation. Heart failure usually occurs within a few days after the drug administration, and the risk factors include total bolus dose, old age, combination therapy with other antitumor agents and the mediastinal radiation. Some alkylating agents similar to cyclophosphamide, such as cisplatin and ifosfamide, occasionally cause heart failure due to several pathological effects, including myocardial ischemia. Additionally, chemotherapy with platinum preparations requires the administration of large intravenous volumes to avoid platinum toxicity. Namely, it is the volume overload in already existing myocardial affection (rather than direct toxicity) that often leads to a debut or recurrent episode of heart failure. Docetaxel, a drug often used in the breast cancer treatment, in combination with other anthracyclines, cyclophosphamide, or trastuzumab, has also been shown to increase the likelihood of heart failure; however, the contribution of individual drugs to the regimens involving several drugs is often difficult to assess.
Some reports suggested that taxanes may be safer for the patients with existing left ventricular dysfunction who should avoid anthracyclines, but the absolute risks of cardiotoxicity of taxanes are still unknown. However, there are serious disputes regarding the patients with breast cancer, for whom the real advantage of using anthracyclines instead of taxanes is not as obvious as in the case of treatment of lymphoma or sarcoma. The risk/benefit assessment should include both the risk factors for individual patients and the potential efficacy based on the characteristics of the tumor.
In order to prevent the cardiological complications, it is recommended to correct all modified risk factors for cardiovascular diseases before prescribing specific antitumor drugs. When conducting chemotherapy, it is recommended to use antioxidants (curcumin, resveratrol), cytoprotectors (trimetazidine, meldonium), and sometimes inhibitors of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (perindopril, enalapril, lisinopril), statins (atorvastatin), and also α- and β-adrenoblocker carvedilol. In the desribed clinical case, the manifestation of the so-called late cardiotoxicity in the form of atrial fibrillation in a patient with left breast cancer who received polychemotherapy using doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, paclitaxel, trastuzumab, pertuzumab is depicted.
Conclusions. The combined efforts of cardiologists, oncologists, chemotherapists, radiation therapeutists and specialists in the field of imaging technologies in the development and implementation of a unified strategy for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiac complications of anticancer therapy of cancer patients is of crucial importance. The actual problems include: creation of registers for assessing the prevalence of cardiotoxic and radiation injuries of the cardiovascular system of the cancer patients receiving antitumor therapy; detection of clinical, laboratory and instrumental markers of early, subclinical affection of the cardiovascular system in the cancer patients who receive antitumor therapy; the study of the tolerability, efficacy and safety of various medications for the prevention and treatment of cardiotoxicity of the antitumor therapy; creation of methodical manuals, clinical guidelines and educational programs for doctors in managing the patients with manifestations of cardiotoxicity; preparation of an information leaflet in and the organization of health care schools for the patients receiving antitumor therapy
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