ADRB2 polymorphisms and budesonide/formoterol responses in COPD.

Background: Effects of β(2)-adrenergic receptor gene (ADRB2) polymorphism on therapeutic responses to long-acting β(2)-adrenergic agonists have not been evaluated in long-term COPD trials. We aimed to investigate the effects of the ADRB2 Gly16Arg polymorphism on response to formoterol alone or in combination with the inhaled corticosteroid budesonide in patients with COPD.

Methods: Patients ≥ 40 years of age with moderate to very severe COPD from the 12-month trial I (NCT00206167) or the 6-month trial II (NCT00206154) were randomly assigned to bid budesonide/formoterol pressurized metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) 320/9 μg or 160/9 μg, budesonide pMDI 320 μg + formoterol dry powder inhaler 9 μg (trial II), budesonide pMDI 320 μg (trial II), formoterol dry powder inhaler 9 μg, or placebo.

Effect of ADRB2 polymorphisms on response to longacting beta2-agonist therapy: a pharmacogenetic analysis of two randomised studies.

Background: New evidence has suggested that people with asthma who are homozygous for arginine at aminoacid 16 of the beta2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) might not benefit from longacting beta2-agonist therapy. We, therefore, investigated whether ADRB2 polymorphisms affect response to longacting beta2-agonists in combination with inhaled corticosteroids.

Methods: Asthmatics were stratified by ADRB2 genotype in two studies to assess the effects of inhaled corticosteroids plus longacting beta2-agonists on asthma exacerbations.

Activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase by the anti-diabetic drug metformin in vivo. Role of mitochondrial reactive nitrogen species.

Metformin, one of the most commonly used drugs for the treatment of type II diabetes, was recently found to exert its therapeutic effects, at least in part, by activating the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). However, the site of its action, as well as the mechanism to activate AMPK, remains elusive. Here we report how metformin activates AMPK.

The breathlessness, cough, and sputum scale: the development of empirically based guidelines for interpretation.

Background: A patient report of respiratory symptoms in COPD is essential to successfully monitoring disease, adjusting treatment, and evaluating outcomes.

Objective: To develop empirically based guidelines for interpreting mean changes in symptom scores using the Breathlessness, Cough, and Sputum Scale (BCSS).

Methods: Analyses were performed on data from three multinational trials (n = 2,971).

Infectious disease prophylaxis in renal transplant patients: a survey of US transplant centers.

Definitive approaches to most infectious diseases following renal transplantation have not been established, leading to different approaches at different transplant centers. To study the extent of these differences, we conducted a survey of the practices surrounding specific infectious diseases at US renal transplant centers. A survey containing 103 questions covering viral, bacterial, mycobacterial and protozoal infections was developed.