A Prospective, Randomized, Open-Label Study to Evaluate Two Management Strategies for Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Patients Newly on Treatment with Dabigatran.

Introduction: In the pivotal RE-LY trial, dabigatran etexilate (DE) at the dose of 150-mg twice daily (BID), significantly reduced total stroke and ischemic stroke compared with warfarin in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF), while the 110-mg BID dose had efficacy equivalent to warfarin, and major bleeds were significantly reduced. Both DE regimens were generally well tolerated; however, approximately 4% of the patients discontinued treatment with DE due to gastrointestinal (GI) discomfort.

Methods: Clinical trial NCT01493557 was a multicenter, randomized, active control, open-label study to assess the efficacy of two simple GI symptom (GIS) management strategies in DE-treated patients who developed GIS: (1) concurrent treatment with the proton pump inhibitor pantoprazole (DE-P), or (2) ingestion of DE after a meal (DE-M).

Efficacy and Safety of Linagliptin in Black/African American Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A 6-month, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study.

Objective: Although black/African American individuals are disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes, there is scant clinical trial information available on antidiabetes therapies in this group. We compared linagliptin with placebo in black/African American adults who were treatment-naïve or receiving one oral antidiabetes drug.

Methods: Of 226 patients randomized to 24 weeks' linagliptin 5 mg/day or placebo, 208 had baseline and at least one on-treatment glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) measurement.

Black/African American patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: study design and baseline patient characteristics from a randomized clinical trial of linagliptin.

Objective: In the United States, black/African American individuals are more likely than whites to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and have higher rates of complications, but are under-represented in clinical trials. The design of a trial comparing the efficacy and safety of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor linagliptin 5 mg/day with placebo in this patient group, and the characteristics of the patients enrolled are reported.

Research Design And Methods: This United States, multicenter, 24-week, randomized, double-blind study enrolled adults with T2DM who self-reported their race as black or African American, were receiving ≤ 1 oral antidiabetes drug, had a body mass index ≤ 45 kg/m(2) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)) of 7.

Impulse control disorders in Parkinson disease: a multicenter case--control study.

Objective: To assess factors associated with impulse control disorders (ICDs) in Parkinson disease (PD) using a multicenter case--control design.

Methods: Patients enrolled in the DOMINION study, a multicenter study assessing the cross-sectional frequency of ICDs in PD, were eligible to participate in the case--control study. PD patients with and without an ICD (n = 282 each) (compulsive gambling, buying, sexual behavior, and eating) were matched individually on age, gender, and dopamine agonist treatment.

Amantadine use associated with impulse control disorders in Parkinson disease in cross-sectional study.

A recent controlled clinical trial suggested a role for amantadine as a treatment for pathological gambling in patients with Parkinson disease (PD). Analyzing data from a large cross-sectional study of impulse control disorders (ICDs) in PD, amantadine use (n = 728), vs no amantadine use (n = 2,357), was positively associated with a diagnosis of any ICD (17.6% vs 12.

Impulse control disorders in Parkinson disease: a cross-sectional study of 3090 patients.

Context: An association between dopamine-replacement therapies and impulse control disorders (ICDs) in Parkinson disease (PD) has been suggested in preliminary studies.

Objectives: To ascertain point prevalence estimates of 4 ICDs in PD and examine their associations with dopamine-replacement therapies and other clinical characteristics.

Design: Cross-sectional study using an a priori established sampling procedure for subject recruitment and raters blinded to PD medication status.

Malignant melanoma and levodopa in Parkinson's disease: causality or coincidence?

Levodopa is the major drug used in the treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease. However, levodopa continues to be 'contra-indicated' for patients with Parkinson's disease associated with malignant melanoma. Case reports have suggested that levodopa has a causal relationship with malignant melanoma due to their shared dopamine biochemical pathway.