Tuberculosis impacts multiple aspects in quality of life in a Romanian cohort of drug-susceptible and drug resistant patients: A patient-reported outcome measures study.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB), and especially its drug resistant forms, is responsible for not only significant mortality, but also considerable morbidity, still under-quantified. This study used four Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS) to assess the status of persons affected by drug-susceptible and drug-resistant TB during their TB treatment or after treatment completion, in Romania, the highest TB burden country in the EU.

Methods: People affected by TB in two different regions in Romania were included during and after treatment, following a cross-sectional design.

TB therapeutic drug monitoring - analysis of opportunities in Romania and Ukraine.

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) could improve TB treatment outcomes by avoiding drug toxicity or underdosing. In this study, we describe the patient burden in three TB centres in Romania and Ukraine with a TDM indication, as per the current guidelines, in order to estimate the feasibility of implementing TDM. A retrospective multi-centre study was conducted at the Iasi Lung Hospital (Iasi, Romania), Bucharest Marius Nasta Institute (Bucharest, Romania) and Chernivtsi TB Centre (Chernivtsi, Ukraine) in adult hospitalised TB patients.

Clinical standards for the management of adverse effects during treatment for TB.

Adverse effects (AE) to TB treatment cause morbidity, mortality and treatment interruption. The aim of these clinical standards is to encourage best practise for the diagnosis and management of AE. 65/81 invited experts participated in a Delphi process using a 5-point Likert scale to score draft standards.

eHealth in TB clinical management.

The constant expansion of internet and mobile technologies has created new opportunities in the field of eHealth, or the digital delivery of healthcare services. This TB meta-analysis aims to examine eHealth and its impact on TB clinical management in order to formulate recommendations for further development. A systematic search was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framework in PubMed and Embase of articles published up to April 2021.

Corrigendum to "Mass spectrometry for therapeutic drug monitoring of anti-tuberculosis drugs" [Clin. Mass Spectrom. 14(Part A) (2019) 34-45].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.clinms.

Clinical standards for the dosing and management of TB drugs.

Optimal drug dosing is important to ensure adequate response to treatment, prevent development of drug resistance and reduce drug toxicity. The aim of these clinical standards is to provide guidance on 'best practice´ for dosing and management of TB drugs. A panel of 57 global experts in the fields of microbiology, pharmacology and TB care were identified; 51 participated in a Delphi process.

Country-specific approaches to latent tuberculosis screening targeting migrants in EU/EEA* countries: A survey of national experts, September 2019 to February 2020.

BackgroundMigrants in low tuberculosis (TB) incidence countries in the European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) are an at-risk group for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and are increasingly included in LTBI screening programmes.AimTo investigate current approaches and implement LTBI screening in recently arrived migrants in the EU/EEA and Switzerland.MethodsAt least one TB expert working at a national level from the EU/EEA and one TB expert from Switzerland completed an electronic questionnaire.

Practices of therapeutic drug monitoring in tuberculosis: an international survey.

https://bit.ly/34PFSfd

Initiation and completion of treatment for latent tuberculosis infection in migrants globally: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is one of the most prevalent infections globally and can lead to the development of active tuberculosis disease. In many low-burden countries, LTBI is concentrated within migrant populations often because of a higher disease burden in the migrant's country of origin. National programmes consequently focus on screening and treating LTBI in migrants to prevent future tuberculosis cases; however, how effective these programmes are is unclear.

Patients and Medical Staff Attitudes Toward the Future Inclusion of eHealth in Tuberculosis Management: Perspectives From Six Countries Evaluated using a Qualitative Framework.

Background: Digitally delivering healthcare services is very attractive for tuberculosis (TB) management as this disease has a complex diagnosis and lengthy management and involves multiple medical and nonmedical specialists. Especially in low- and middle-income countries, eHealth could potentially offer cost-effective solutions to bridge financial, social, time, and distance challenges.

Objective: The goal of the research is to understand what would make eHealth globally applicable and gain insight into different TB situations, opportunities, and challenges.

Mass spectrometry for therapeutic drug monitoring of anti-tuberculosis drugs.

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) uses drug concentrations, primarily from plasma, to optimize drug dosing. Optimisation of drug dosing may improve treatment outcomes, reduce toxicity and reduce the risk of acquired drug resistance. The aim of this narrative review is to outline and discuss the challenges of developing multi-analyte assays for anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) by reviewing the existing literature in the field.

Asthma-like symptoms in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis and Adalimumab treatment.

After the introduction of anti-TNFα medication for treatment of autoimmune conditions, clinicians have investigated not only other possible uses for the drugs, but also less common side-effects and interactions with other pathologies. Despite some succes registered with Adalimumab as an antiinflammatory agent in severe asthma, there have been case reports of patients developing asthma or asthma-like symptoms following anti-TNFα therapy. The case presents a patient without previous family or personal history of respiratory or atopic conditions that developed bronchospasm immediately after the initiation of Adalimumab and Methotrexate treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.

Pig tissues express a catalytically inefficient 25-kDa thiamine triphosphatase: insight in the catalytic mechanisms of this enzyme.

Thiamine triphosphate (ThTP) is found in most organisms and may be an intracellular signal molecule produced in response to stress. We have recently cloned the cDNA coding for a highly specific mammalian 25-kDa thiamine triphosphatase. The enzyme was active in all mammalian species studied except pig, although the corresponding mRNA was present.

Human recombinant thiamine triphosphatase: purification, secondary structure and catalytic properties.

Thiamine triphosphate (ThTP) is found in most living organisms and it may act as a phosphate donor for protein phosphorylation. We have recently cloned the cDNA coding for a highly specific mammalian 25 kDa thiamine triphosphatase (ThTPase; EC 3.6.

Bisindole alkaloids from Strychnos guianensis are effective antagonists of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in cultured human TE671 cells.

Several mono- and bisindole quaternary alkaloids isolated from the stem bark of Strychnos guianensis have recently been shown to be effective blockers of neuromuscular transmission in mice. In this study, we used a human clonal cell line (TE671) expressing muscle-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The agonist carbamylcholine activated a receptor-mediated (86)Rb(+) efflux and this activation was antagonized by the indole alkaloids, the most active being bisindole bisquaternary compounds.

ATP-driven, Na(+)-independent inward Cl- pumping in neuroblastoma cells.

In immature neurones, the steady-state intracellular Cl- concentration [Cl-](i) is generally higher than expected for passive distribution, and this is believed to be due to Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl(-) co-transport. Here, we show that N2a neuroblastoma cells, incubated in HEPES-buffered NaCl medium maintain a [Cl-](i) around 60 mm, two- to threefold higher than expected for passive distribution at a membrane potential of - 49 mV. When the cells were transferred to a Cl(-) -free medium, [Cl-](i) decreased quickly (t(1/2) < 5 min), suggesting a high Cl- permeability.

Paradoxical sleep deprivation increases the content of glutamate and glutamine in rat cerebral cortex.

We investigated the influence of the sleep/waking cycle, the effects of paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) and of the vigilance-promoting drug modafinil on the amino acid contents of rat brain cortex. No significant nycthemeral variations in amino acid levels could be detected. PSD (12-24 hours), using the water tank method, significantly increased the levels of glutamate and glutamine.

An atypical anion transporter functioning at acid pH in neuroblastoma cells.

At pH 7.4, 36Cl- uptake by neuroblastoma cells was Na(+)-independent, saturable and blocked by submicromolar concentrations of DIDS. This suggests that at this pH, Cl- transport is mediated by an exchanger analogous to erythroid band 3.

Radioimmunoassay of IgG and IgM anti-albumin autoantibodies in human serum.

An antigen-coated plate radioimmunoassay used to detect autoantibodies of IgG and IgM classes against human serum albumin is described. It comprises 3 steps: (a) adsorption of glutaraldehyde-polymerized human serum albumin on the wells of a plastic plate, (b) incubation of the serum to be tested with the antigen in the wells, and (c) the addition of radiolabelled antibodies against human IgG or IgM. The method has been used to estimate the level of anti-albumin autoantibodies (AAA) belonging to IgG or IgM classes in the sera of normal subjects and patients with liver diseases.

A probabilistic approach to ageing and elimination of senescent plasma protein.

A probabilistic mechanism of plasma protein ageing and elimination is suggested, based on the following assumptions: (1) ageing of plasma protein molecules is the result of their interaction with some microenvironmental factors, acting as disturbing factors; (2) a protein species is characterized by a definite spectrum of conformational substates, some of which, "altered" substates, are specifically recognized by a selective catabolic system and then compulsorily eliminated; (3) the disturbing (ageing) factors act by increasing the probability of reaching an "altered" substate. Based on these assumptions a mathematical model, giving the expression of the normalized catabolic rate as a function of the frequency and the effectiveness of disturbing impacts, is set up and some possible correlations with physicochemical data are discussed.

Immunochemical characterization of anti-albumin antibodies in liver diseases.

Anti-albumin antibodies (AAA) were isolated from sera of hepatic patients and normal individuals by affinity chromatography on insolubilized glutaraldehyde-treated human albumin. Anti-albumin antibodies were found to belong to IgG and IgM classes in both normal and hepatic patients. The normal level of AAA increased in pathologic conditions, the increase recorded for IgM AAA being higher than that for IgG AAA.

Anti-albumin antibodies in normal rabbit sera.

Antibodies reacting with homologous glutaraldehyde (GA)-modified albumin were demonstrated in normal rabbit sera (NRS) by passive hemagglutination and direct binding assay. The ability of rabbit anti-albumin antibodies (AAA) to react with homologous GA-modified albumin was found to increase with the degree of albumin polymerization. AAA did not react with GA-treated monomeric albumin.

Antibodies against glutaraldehyde-modified albumin in normal mouse sera.

An antigen-coated plate radioimmunoassay was used to detect antibodies against homologous glutaraldehyde-modified albumin (in monomeric or polymeric form) in normal mouse sera. Mouse antibodies reacted also with heterologous glutaraldehyde-treated albumin; for instance human albumin. Immunoelectrophoresis of purified anti-albumin antibodies and adsorption experiments on protein A-Sepharose 4B gel indicated that mouse antibodies belong mainly to the IgG class.