A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of long-acting dexamethasone viscous gel delivered by transforaminal injection for lumbosacral radicular pain.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03372161.

Intramuscular AZD7442 (Tixagevimab-Cilgavimab) for Prevention of Covid-19.

Background: The monoclonal-antibody combination AZD7442 is composed of tixagevimab and cilgavimab, two neutralizing antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that have an extended half-life and have been shown to have prophylactic and therapeutic effects in animal models. Pharmacokinetic data in humans indicate that AZD7442 has an extended half-life of approximately 90 days.

Methods: In an ongoing phase 3 trial, we enrolled adults (≥18 years of age) who had an increased risk of an inadequate response to vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), an increased risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, or both.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factor analysis in an age-stratified hospital population with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Objectives: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are at higher risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) particularly at a younger age. We sought to determine the effect of risk factors on the prevalence of CAD in age stratified hospitalized patients with SLE.

Methods: The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) was queried for hospitalized patients with SLE during the years 2010-2015, and a control group without SLE.

Effect of Tanezumab on Joint Pain, Physical Function, and Patient Global Assessment of Osteoarthritis Among Patients With Osteoarthritis of the Hip or Knee: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Patients with osteoarthritis (OA) may remain symptomatic with traditional OA treatments.

Objective: To assess 2 subcutaneous tanezumab dosing regimens for OA.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A randomized, double-blind, multicenter trial from January 2016 to May 14, 2018 (last patient visit).

Nonmyeloablative Stem Cell Transplantation with Alemtuzumab/Low-Dose Irradiation to Cure and Improve the Quality of Life of Adults with Sickle Cell Disease.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is rarely performed in adult patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). We utilized the chemotherapy-free, alemtuzumab/total body irradiation 300 cGy regimen with sirolimus as post-transplantation immunosuppression in 13 high-risk SCD adult patients between November 2011 and June 2014. Patients received matched related donor (MRD) granulocyte colony-stimulating factor-mobilized peripheral blood stem cells, including 2 cases that were ABO incompatible.

Production of biocompatible and antimicrobial bacterial cellulose polymers functionalized by RGDC grafting groups and gentamicin.

Bacterial cellulose (BC), a three-dimensional fibril, is a natural polymer that can be used for many applications. BC effectiveness may be improved by enhancing surface characteristics contributing to a better physiologic interaction with human and animal cells and to intrinsically present antimicrobial agents. In the present study, gentamicin-activated BC membranes were obtained by chemically grafting RGDC peptides (R: arginine; G: glycine; D: aspartic acid; C: cysteine) using coupling agent 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) followed by covalent attachment of gentamicin onto the surface of the BC membrane network.

Hydroxyapatite bioactivated bacterial cellulose promotes osteoblast growth and the formation of bone nodules.

The goal of this study was to investigate the feasibility of bacterial cellulose (BC) scaffold to support osteoblast growth and bone formation. BC was produced by culturing Acetobacter xylinum supplemented with hydroxyapatite (HA) to form BC membranes (without HA) and BC/HA membranes. Membranes were subjected to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis to determine surface element composition.

A parallel open-label trial to evaluate microbial cellulose wound dressing in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.

The purpose of this study was to compare the rate of wound healing in diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) using either a microbial cellulose (MC) wound dressing or Xeroform™ Petrolatum gauze. In a parallel, open-label trial in which the primary outcome was the rate of wound healing and the time to wound closure, 15 ulcers in type II diabetic patients received an MC dressing. Wounds in 19 control patients with type II diabetes were treated with a Xeroform gauze dressing.

Microbial cellulose wound dressing in the treatment of skin tears in the frail elderly.

  In a randomized trial of predominantly category II and III skin tears in a population of frail elderly nursing home residents, standard wound care (24 residents) with Xeroform™ and a secondary dressing (Tegaderm™) was compared with a single application of a microbial cellulose membrane Dermafill (27 residents). Outcomes included the time to wound closure, pain reduction, and ease of use. While wound area was slightly larger in the microbial cellulose treated group, the healing time was equivalent to controls.

Microbial cellulose wound dressing in the treatment of nonhealing lower extremity ulcers.

Following standard care, nonhealing lower extremity (LE) ulcers were managed with a bacterial cellulose (BC) wound dressing, Dermafill™, (AMD/Ritmed, Tonawanda, NY), derived from Acetobacter xylinum. The time to 75% reduction in wound size was compared in 11 chronic wounds before and after the application of BC. The mean period of observation before the application of BC was 315 days; (95% CI: 239-392 days).

Asymptomatic hyperuricemia: to treat or not to treat.

Treatment of asymptomatic hyperuricemia is not necessary in most patients, unless perhaps they have very high levels of uric acid or are otherwise at risk of complications, such as those with a personal or strong family history of gout, urolithiasis, or uric acid nephropathy.

Pathogenesis of hyperuricemia: recent advances.

The literature on the pathogenesis of hyperuricemia have been limited to the discussion of metabolic syndromes associated with risk factors for atherosclerosis and hyperuricemia and the genetics of the juvenile form of hyperuricemic nephropathies. A few new mutations in the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase gene, which result in Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, have been described. In addition, some new insight has been gained in the renal handling of uric acid by the human kidney.