Baricitinib and primary biliary cholangitis.

Background And Aims: There is an unmet need for alternative treatments for patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) who do not respond to treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). A proof-of-concept study of baricitinib, an orally administered Janus kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor, was initiated to evaluate its use in PBC patients.

Approach And Results: Patients with PBC showing inadequate response or intolerance to UDCA were eligible.

Safety and Efficacy of Baricitinib in Patients Receiving Conventional Synthetic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs or Corticosteroids.

Introduction: This study assessed if concomitant use of conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) or corticosteroids altered the response or safety outcomes to baricitinib in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

Methods: Patients with ≥ 6 swollen/tender joints and no prior biologic DMARD were eligible for study inclusion. In RA-BUILD, csDMARD-inadequate responder (IR) patients were randomized to placebo or baricitinib (2 or 4 mg) once daily (QD).

Dose reduction of baricitinib in patients with rheumatoid arthritis achieving sustained disease control: results of a prospective study.

Objectives: This study investigated the effects of dose step-down in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who achieved sustained disease control with baricitinib 4 mg once a day.

Methods: Patients who completed a baricitinib phase 3 study could enter a long-term extension (LTE). In the LTE, patients who received baricitinib 4 mg for ≥15 months and maintained CDAI low disease activity (LDA) or remission (REM) were blindly randomised to continue 4 mg or taper to 2 mg.

Epstein-Barr virus in healthy individuals from Portugal.

Introduction: The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) persists for long periods in latent state inside B-lymphocytes after primary infections, and reactivation usually occurs associated to immunosuppression conditions of the host. Recently, the detection of EBV DNA in circulation has been suggested as a predictor marker for the development of EBV related malignancies.

Aim Of The Study: The aim of our study was to characterize the frequency of circulating EBV in healthy individuals (n=508) from the North region of Portugal, using peripheral blood samples.

Association between EGF +61A/G polymorphism and gastric cancer in Caucasians.

Aim: To investigate the association between epidermal growth factor (EGF) +61A/G polymorphism and susceptibility to gastric cancer, through a cross-sectional study.

Methods: Polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses were used to genotype EGF +61 in 207 patients with gastric lesions (162 patients with gastric adenocarcinomas, 45 with atrophy or intestinal metaplasia) and 984 controls. All subjects were Caucasian.

Overall survival in women with breast cancer: the influence of pepsinogen C gene polymorphism.

We aimed to study the role of an insertion/deletion polymorphism in the Pepsinogen C (PGC) gene in the clinical outcome of 172 breast cancer patients. The six polymorphic alleles were amplified using PCR. Our results indicate that patients carrying the allele 6 present a higher 5-year survival mean (83.

Gastric cancer in a Caucasian population: role of pepsinogen C genetic variants.

Aim: To study the role of an insertion/deletion polymorphism in the pepsinogen C (PGC) gene, an effective marker for terminal differentiation of the stomach mucosa, in the susceptibility to the development of gastric lesions.

Methods: The study was performed with 99 samples of known gastric lesions and 127 samples without evidence of neoplastic disease. PCR was employed and the 6 polymorphic alleles were amplified: Allele 1 (510 bp), Allele 2 (480 bp), Allele 3/4 (450/460 bp), Allele 5 (400 bp) and Allele 6 (310 bp).