1,721,016 research outputs found
Vaccine hesitancy among religious groups: reasons underlying this phenomenon and communication strategies to rebuild trust
Full text linkThe research leading to these results has been performed in the framework of the European training programme in Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacoepidemiology, Eu2
Biosimilars in the European Union from comparability exercise to real world experience: What we achieved and what we still need to achieve
No full textGoing 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
Drugs approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis: review of their safety profile
Full text linkIntroduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disorder of the brain and spinal cord characterized by inflammation, demyelination, and axonal degeneration. Area covered: Even though the pharmacological armamentarium for MS treatment is considerably improved in the last 20 years, safety data especially for the second-line and innovative treatments are lacking. In order to analyze the safety profile of drugs used for the treatment of MS, a literature review of pre-marketing, post-marketing studies and case reports was performed. Expert opinion: Nowadays, the numerous drugs approved in the last years for the treatment of MS allow a better control of the disease and a better patient compliance. The main advantages of the new disease-modifying agents for MS (DMTs), in fact, derive from the new oral administration and the prolonged half-life with consequent improvement in compliance compared to first-line therapy which required subcutaneous administrations. However, DMTs can cause serious, sometimes life-threatening or fatal, drug adverse reactions. Due to the lack of safety data and given the recent marketing approval of the last DMTs for MS, observational studies and post-marketing surveillance activities will be necessary in order to improve the knowledge about the safety profile of these drugs and the improvement of their use in clinical practice. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Drugs-induced pathological gambling: An analysis of italian spontaneous reporting system
No full textPathological gambling has been reported as a direct complication of Parkinson’s disease and its pharmacological treatment based on dopamine agonists. Moreover, further medications (not dopamine agonists) were associated to the occurrence of gambling disorder. We aim to analyze the spontaneous reports of gambling disorder on the whole Italian territory with a focus on Campania Region (Southern Italy) from January 1st 2002 to July 31st 2018. We analyzed gambling disorder’s reports across the 2002–2018 period in the Italian spontaneous reporting database (Rete Nazionale di Farmacovigilanza—RNF), with a focus on Campania region. 94 suspected cases of gambling disorder associated to apomorphine, aripiprazole, cabergoline, levodopa, levodopa and derivatives in association with entaca-pone/benserazide and carbidopa, pergolide, pramipexole, ropinirole, and rotigotine were reported into the RNF. Of these cases, two related to pramipexole and one to aripiprazole were sent to Campania Pharmacovigilance Regional Centre. Although it is widely recognized that dopamine agonists may induce behavioral disorders, Parkinson’s disease is itself associated to pathological gambling, compulsive shopping and eating. Since our results could not clarify the correlation between Parkinson’s disease, its pharmacological treatment and pathological gambling, in order to better define this correlation there is a need to conduct further ad hoc observational studies
New era in treatment options of chronic hepatitis C: focus on safety of new direct-acting antivirals (DAAs)
No full textIntroduction: New direct-acting antivirals have changed hepatitis C virus infection management extremely. Areas covered: The pharmacological management of HCV infection and the main characteristics of new DAA therapies have been discussed. In order to analyse safety data regarding DAA therapies, a narrative review was performed searching for safety results of main second generation DAAs pivotal and post-marketing studies. Data on main DAAs drug-drug interactions have also been discussed. Results of main DAAs pivotal studies revealed that these drugs were frequently associated to adverse events such as asthenia, headache, nausea, and insomnia. Although some of post-marketing studies confirmed the good tolerability profile already detected in the pre-marketing phase, real-world safety data showed that second generation DAAs can be associated to cutaneous, metabolic, pulmonary, hepatic, and renal adverse events. Expert opinion: Safety results of pivotal and post-marketing studies indicated that the most recently approved DAAs are well tolerated. However, considering the recent marketing approval of new DAAs, further observational studies and post-marketing surveillance activities will be necessary in order to improve the knowledge of their safety
SARS-Cov-2 infection: Response of human immune system and possible implications for the rapid test and treatment
No full textThe new coronavirus outbreak is an ongoing pandemic that is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The new coronavirus SARS-Cov-2 belongs to the subfamily of β–coronaviruses and shares 79.5% of the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV, the causative agent of the epidemic that started in 2002 and ended in 2004. Considering the clinical impact of the new outbreak, it is highly important to study the potential responses of the human immune system during the SARS-CoV-2 infection as well as the role of virus-specific T cells and by B-lymphocytes. Moreover, specific data on the production of IgG and IgM is crucial to allow the rapid identification of the infection. In this paper we also described the importance of sensitive and specific rapid test for SARS-CoV-2. Indeed, this test represents an important immunological tool aimed at identifying the precise phase of the infection in order to undertake a more appropriate pharmacological treatment. Lastly, we provided an overview of pharmacological treatments aimed to reduce inflammatory processes underlying the infection and the need for the discovery of a new vaccine against SARS-CoV-2
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