Publications by authors named "Alexis Rames"
Article Synopsis
- Palovarotene is an oral retinoid agonist that showed promising results in animal models for treating emphysema by reducing inflammation and aiding repair.
- A study called REPAIR tested palovarotene's safety and effectiveness over one year on 262 patients with severe α(1)-antitrypsin deficiency and emphysema, comparing it to a placebo.
- Results indicated that, although palovarotene was well tolerated, it did not provide significant benefits in improving lung density or functional outcomes compared to the placebo group.
Background: Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) may be important in the progression of emphysema, but there have been few longitudinal clinical studies of MMP-9 including pulmonary status and COPD exacerbation outcomes.
Methods: We utilized data from the placebo arm (n=126) of a clinical trial of patients with alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) and emphysema to examine the links between plasma MMP-9 levels, pulmonary status, and COPD exacerbations over a one year observation period. Pulmonary function, computed tomography lung density, incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT), and COPD exacerbations were assessed at regular intervals over 12 months.
Article Synopsis
- Emphysema is a lung disease marked by damaged alveolar walls and larger airspaces, leading to decreased gas exchange, loss of elasticity, and lung hyperinflation.
- The REPAIR study investigates Palovarotene, an experimental drug for treating emphysema linked to alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, which can also apply to other smoke-induced emphysema cases.
- The study emphasized rigorous quality control through standardized procedures for accurate lung function measurements, highlighting that CT lung density was the most sensitive indicator of disease progression followed by other lung function tests.
To guarantee the reliability of densitometric data in clinical trials on pulmonary emphysema a quality control procedure is presented, to prevent that a measured progression in lung density could be reflected by a gradual change in the maintenance of the computed tomographic scanner. For that purpose, a foam phantom has been developed, which mimicks the densities of emphysematous lung tissue, fixed in a sealed Perspex box. Analysis software was developed to automatically compare the density readings with a baseline reference.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: To assess the validity of the French version of the Modified Reasons for Smoking Scale (MRSS), and to identify which smoking patterns differentiate male and female smokers, which are related to tobacco dependence (as assessed by the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence, FTND), to mood (Beck Depression Inventory II), to affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) and which are predictors of successful quitting.
Participants: Three hundred and thirty smokers [(mean +/- SD) aged 40 +/- 9 years, 145 (44%) women, mean FTND score: 6.2 +/- 2], candidates for a smoking cessation programme and smoking at least 15 cigarettes/day.
Background: Previous research has shown that smokers have reduced brain and platelet monoamine oxidase B (MAOB) activity. This is probably due to some components of tobacco smoke. When smokers quit, MAOB activity returns to normal.
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