Publications by authors named "Grund B"

Background: Neuroimaging plays a vital role in the diagnosis of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and in identifying the underlying etiology for appropriate therapeutic approach. This study aims to determine the significance and potential advantages of using early magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a diagnostic tool for ICH.

Methods: This retrospective study included 359 patients with ICH treated at the Department of Neurology, Mannheim University Hospital between January 2017 and December 2021.

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rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP and Ad26.ZEBOV, MVA-BN-Filo are WHO-prequalified vaccination regimens against Ebola virus disease (EVD). Challenges associated with measuring long-term clinical protection warrant the evaluation of immune response kinetics after vaccination.

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The Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) Cross-Trial Statistics Group gathered lessons learned from statisticians responsible for the design and analysis of the 11 ACTIV therapeutic master protocols to inform contemporary trial design as well as preparation for a future pandemic. The ACTIV master protocols were designed to rapidly assess what treatments might save lives, keep people out of the hospital, and help them feel better faster. Study teams initially worked without knowledge of the natural history of disease and thus without key information for design decisions.

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Article Synopsis
  • In March 2020, the White House Coronavirus Task Force identified the need for expert treatment guidelines for managing COVID-19 due to its life-threatening nature and lack of known effective treatments.
  • The NIH was tasked with quickly assembling a panel of experts to create "living" guidelines, which would be regularly updated as new information about the virus emerged.
  • The article reflects on the Panel's experiences over four years, summarizes its final recommendations, discusses ongoing challenges, and notes that the responsibility for COVID-19 guidelines will now shift to professional organizations following the end of the public health emergency.
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Background: Serial measurement of virological and immunological biomarkers in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 can give valuable insight into the pathogenic roles of viral replication and immune dysregulation. We aimed to characterise biomarker trajectories and their associations with clinical outcomes.

Methods: In this international, prospective cohort study, patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 and enrolled in the Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19 platform trial within the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines programme between Aug 5, 2020 and Sept 30, 2021 were included.

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Objective: Caregivers raising children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) have limited access to evidence-based supports. This single-arm feasibility trial assesses the Families Moving Forward (FMF) Connect app to determine readiness for a larger randomized controlled trial (RCT).

Methods: Eligibility for this online trial included caregivers of children (ages 3-12) with FASD residing in the United States.

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Background: Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (nmAbs) failed to show clear benefit for hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Dynamics of virologic and immunologic biomarkers remain poorly understood.

Methods: Participants enrolled in the Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19 trials were randomized to nmAb versus placebo.

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Background: There is a clinical need for therapeutics for COVID-19 patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure whose 60-day mortality remains at 30-50%. Aviptadil, a lung-protective neuropeptide, and remdesivir, a nucleotide prodrug of an adenosine analog, were compared with placebo among patients with COVID-19 acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure.

Methods: TESICO was a randomised trial of aviptadil and remdesivir versus placebo at 28 sites in the USA.

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Background: For people with HIV and CD4 counts >500 cells/mm, early initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) reduces serious AIDS and serious non-AIDS (SNA) risk compared with deferral of treatment until CD4 counts are <350 cells/mm. Whether excess risk of AIDS and SNA persists once ART is initiated for those who defer treatment is uncertain.

Methods: The Strategic Timing of AntiRetroviral Treatment (START) trial, as previously reported, randomly assigned 4684 ART-naive HIV-positive adults with CD4 counts .

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Background: Questions remain concerning the rapidity of immune responses and the durability and safety of vaccines used to prevent Zaire Ebola virus disease.

Methods: We conducted two randomized, placebo-controlled trials - one involving adults and one involving children - to evaluate the safety and immune responses of three vaccine regimens against Zaire Ebola virus disease: Ad26.ZEBOV followed by MVA-BN-Filo 56 days later (the Ad26-MVA group), rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP followed by placebo 56 days later (the rVSV group), and rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP followed by rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP 56 days later (the rVSV-booster group).

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Introduction: Identifying genetic factors that influence HIV-pathogenesis is critical for understanding disease pathways. Previous studies have suggested a role for the human gene ten-eleven methylcytosine dioxygenase 2 (TET2) in modulating HIV-pathogenesis.

Methods: We assessed whether genetic variation in TET2 was associated with markers of HIV-pathogenesis using both gene level and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) level association in 8512 HIV-positive persons across five clinical trial cohorts.

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Serotonin is transformed into melatonin under the control of the light/dark cycle, representing a cornerstone of circadian rhythmicity. Serotonin also undergoes extensive metabolism to produce 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), a biomarker for the diagnosis and monitoring of serotonin secreting neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). While serotonin, melatonin and their metabolites are part of an integrated comprehensive system, human observations about their respective plasma concentrations are still limited.

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Background: Ensovibep (MP0420) is a designed ankyrin repeat protein, a novel class of engineered proteins, under investigation as a treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Objective: To investigate if ensovibep, in addition to remdesivir and other standard care, improves clinical outcomes among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 compared with standard care alone.

Design: Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial.

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Uncertainty regarding the natural history of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) led to difficulty in efficacy endpoint selection for therapeutic trials. Capturing outcomes that occur after hospital discharge may improve assessment of clinical recovery among hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Evaluate 90-day clinical course of patients hospitalized with COVID-19, comparing three distinct definitions of recovery.

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Background: In a randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial, bamlanivimab, a SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing monoclonal antibody, given in combination with remdesivir, did not improve outcomes among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 based on an early futility assessment.

Objective: To evaluate the a priori hypothesis that bamlanivimab has greater benefit in patients without detectable levels of endogenous neutralizing antibody (nAb) at study entry than in those with antibodies, especially if viral levels are high.

Design: Randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

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Background/aims: Safe and effective therapies for COVID-19 are urgently needed. In order to meet this need, the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines public-private partnership initiated the Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19. Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19 is a multi-arm, multi-stage platform master protocol, which facilitates the rapid evaluation of the safety and efficacy of novel candidate antiviral therapeutic agents for adults hospitalized with COVID-19.

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Article Synopsis
  • The NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines were initiated in March 2020 following a request from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, leading to the establishment of a diverse panel that included experts from multiple sectors to create and update treatment recommendations.
  • Within two weeks, the initial guidelines were published online, but the rapid evolution of COVID-19 treatment data necessitated 24 updates in the first year, reflecting the dynamic nature of clinical research.
  • Key lessons learned from this process include the importance of accessible, credible guidelines, the value of collaboration among various health entities, the necessity for well-designed clinical trials, and the need for frequent updates to adapt to new evidence.
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Background: LY-CoV555, a neutralizing monoclonal antibody, has been associated with a decrease in viral load and the frequency of hospitalizations or emergency department visits among outpatients with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). Data are needed on the effect of this antibody in patients who are hospitalized with Covid-19.

Methods: In this platform trial of therapeutic agents, we randomly assigned hospitalized patients who had Covid-19 without end-organ failure in a 1:1 ratio to receive either LY-CoV555 or matching placebo.

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Background: Safe and effective therapies for COVID-19 are urgently needed. In order to meet this need, the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) public-private partnership initiated the Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19 (TICO). TICO is a multi-arm, multi-stage (MAMS) platform master protocol, which facilitates the rapid evaluation of the safety and efficacy of novel candidate anti-viral therapeutic agents for adults hospitalized with COVID-19.

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In the United States, the efficacy and safety of convalescent plasma for treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently being tested in randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials. Treatment of individual patients with COVID-19 with convalescent plasma outside such trials is also now permitted through U.S.

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Health utility estimates from the current era of HIV treatment, critical for cost-effectiveness analyses (CEA) informing HIV health policy, are limited. We examined peer-reviewed literature to assess the appropriateness of commonly referenced utilities, present previously unreported quality-of-life data from two studies, and discuss future implications for HIV-related CEA. We searched a database of cost-effectiveness analyses specific to HIV prevention efforts from 1999 to 2016 to identify the most commonly referenced sources for health utilities and to examine practices around using and reporting health utility data.

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Objectives: Initial antiretroviral therapy (ART) causes loss of bone mineral density (BMD) over the first 1-2 years. Whether this loss continues with longer therapy is unclear. We determined changes in bone and spine BMD over 5 years in adults receiving immediate or deferred initial ART.

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When a clinical trial has a composite endpoint and a comparison of treatment strategies with multiple intervention components, interim data reviews by a data safety and monitoring board (DSMB) can be challenging as the data evolve on multiple fronts. We illustrate with a study in the treatment of Kaposi sarcoma (KS), an HIV-associated cancer with a multi-faceted disease presentation. The study, ACTG-A5264/AMC-067, was a 1:1 randomized trial to compare two strategies: immediate initiation of etoposide with antiretroviral therapy (ART), or ART with delayed etoposide upon disease progression.

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Background: l-Histidine biosynthesis is embedded in an intertwined metabolic network which renders microbial overproduction of this amino acid challenging. This is reflected in the few available examples of histidine producers in literature. Since knowledge about the metabolic interplay is limited, we systematically perturbed the metabolism of to gain a holistic understanding in the metabolic limitations for l-histidine production.

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