Publications by authors named "Pedro Lopez-Romero"

Background: Children in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remain the most vulnerable to malaria and malaria mortality. This study estimated the disease burden and distribution of Plasmodium falciparum malaria among children with age categories (0 to < 2 years, 2 to < 6 years, 6 to < 12 years, ≥ 12 years) in SSA.

Methods: Data on the number of cases and incidence rates of P.

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Introduction: RA-BE-REAL has the overall aim of defining a profile of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) starting baricitinib or any other targeted synthetic (ts) or any biologic (b) disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) for the first time, and the primary objective of estimating time until discontinuation from any cause (excluding sustained response) of the initial treatment.

Methods: RA-BE-REAL is an ongoing, prospective, observational, 36-month study in patients with RA initiating treatment with baricitinib (cohort A) or any other tsDMARD or any bDMARD (cohort B) for the first time. The primary objective is to assess the time until treatment discontinuation from any cause (excluding sustained response) at 24 months, (i.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the effects of baricitinib, a medication for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), to see if it can reduce both disease activity and structural damage in patients, using two phase III clinical trials.
  • Results showed that patients already on methotrexate who received baricitinib experienced less joint damage over time, regardless of how active their disease was, while those on placebo had more damage linked to their disease activity levels.
  • In newly diagnosed patients, those receiving baricitinib (with or without methotrexate) had similar rates of joint damage progression, suggesting that baricitinib may effectively decouple disease activity from structural damage progression.
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Background: The development of autoantibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has potential as a marker of treatment response. This analysis assessed the association of an autoantibody response to carbamylated vimentin (anti-CarbV) and to vimentin modified by citrullination (anti-MCV) with response to treatment and structural damage progression in the phase III study RA-BEGIN.

Methods: Data from patients in the modified intent-to-treat population of RA-BEGIN were included for analysis; these patients received methotrexate (MTX), baricitinib 4 mg once daily, or baricitinib plus MTX during the 52-week study period.

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Vertebral fractures (VFx) occur most frequently in the mid-thoracic and thoraco-lumbar regions, which experience the highest mechanical loading along the spine. The prevalence and incidence of VFx by their location and severity, and their relationship with bone mineral density (BMD), are seldom reported in randomized clinical trial cohorts. The VERO trial randomized 1360 postmenopausal women with at least two moderate or one severe VFx to receive either teriparatide or risedronate for up to 24 months.

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Article Synopsis
  • The VERO study found that teriparatide reduced the risk of vertebral and clinical fractures in women with osteoporosis compared to risedronate.
  • A post-hoc analysis examined the impact of psychotropic medications and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) on fracture risks among participants.
  • Results showed that users of PPIs had a significantly higher risk of new vertebral fractures, while benzodiazepine/hypnotic users had an increased risk of clinical fractures, but the treatment benefits of teriparatide remained consistent regardless of medication use.
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Purpose: Using data from the 2-year, randomized, double-dummy VERO trial, we examined the changes in 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25[OH]D) concentrations over time, and whether the fracture risk reduction of teriparatide versus risedronate varies by baseline 25(OH)D sufficiency category.

Methods: Postmenopausal women with established osteoporosis received subcutaneous daily teriparatide 20 μg or oral weekly risedronate 35 mg, with concomitant 500-1000 mg of elemental calcium and 400-800 IU/day of vitamin D supplements. Fracture endpoints were analyzed by predefined subgroups of 25(OH)D insufficient and sufficient patients.

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Objectives: This study investigated the effects of dose step-down in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who achieved sustained disease control with baricitinib 4 mg once a day.

Methods: Patients who completed a baricitinib phase 3 study could enter a long-term extension (LTE). In the LTE, patients who received baricitinib 4 mg for ≥15 months and maintained CDAI low disease activity (LDA) or remission (REM) were blindly randomised to continue 4 mg or taper to 2 mg.

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Objectives: This study aimed to: 1) describe treatment patterns and drug utilization profile (in terms of therapeutic strategy used, switch, persistence and drug consumption variation) among adult patients affected by rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 2) estimate the health care resource utilization and its associated direct cost for the management of RA patients.

Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis, using administrative databases of six Local Health Units in Italy, was performed. All adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis of RA between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2014 were enrolled.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Results indicated that patients who maintained specific low disease activity scores (DAS28-hsCRP and SDAI) were less likely to experience structural damage progression within 52 weeks.
  • * Factors such as high inflammatory markers, smoking, female sex, and lower body mass index were linked to a higher risk of structural damage progression, regardless of the treatment received.
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The 2-year, randomized, double-blind, active-controlled fracture endpoint VERO study included postmenopausal women with established osteoporosis, who had at least 2 moderate or 1 severe baseline vertebral fractures (VFx), and bone mineral density (BMD) T-score ≤-1.5. Patients were treated with either s.

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Background: No clinical trials have compared osteoporosis drugs with incident fractures as the primary outcome. We compared the anti-fracture efficacy of teriparatide with risedronate in patients with severe osteoporosis.

Methods: In this double-blind, double-dummy trial, we enrolled post-menopausal women with at least two moderate or one severe vertebral fracture and a bone mineral density T score of less than or equal to -1·50.

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Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate, the existence of a signature of differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) during osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow MSCs from OA and healthy donors and to describe their possible implication in joint regeneration through modulation of molecular mechanisms involved in homeostatic control in OA pathophysiology.

Methods: Following phenotypic assessment of BM-MSCs obtained from OA diagnosed patients (n = 10) and non-OA (n = 10), total small RNA was isolated after osteogenic induction for 1, 10 and 21 days, miRNA profiles were generated using a commercial expression array of 754 well-characterized miRNAs. MiRNAs, with consistent differential expression were selected for further validation by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis.

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The ADHD Under Treatment Observational Research (AUTOR) study was a European prospective, observational study that assessed factors associated with changes in ADHD severity, estimated change from baseline in quality of life (QoL), and characterized changes in ADHD symptoms over a 2-year period as a function of baseline treatment. The primary objective was to identify factors associated with worsening in ADHD severity during a 2-year follow-up period for subjects aged 6-17 years, who were receiving the same pharmacotherapy for 3-8 months before enrollment and had a Clinical Global Impression (CGI)-ADHD-Severity score of mild/lower and a CGI-ADHD-Improvement score of improved/very much improved. Multivariate logistic regression examined the association of factors with worsening in ADHD.

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Background: The effect of β-blockers on infarct size when used in conjunction with primary percutaneous coronary intervention is unknown. We hypothesize that metoprolol reduces infarct size when administered early (intravenously before reperfusion).

Methods And Results: Patients with Killip class II or less anterior ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention within 6 hours of symptoms onset were randomized to receive intravenous metoprolol (n=131) or not (control, n=139) before reperfusion.

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Background: The onset of inadequate behaviors leading to the development of risk factors for chronic diseases is known to occur early in life. An effective program for health promotion should therefore focus on children and their environment, as the starting point for behavior development. The overarching objective of the Program SI! (Salud Integral - Comprehensive Health) is to intervene at the school level, to establish and develop life-lasting habits that will help preserving health during adulthood.

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Background: Infarct size predicts post-infarction mortality. Oral β-blockade within 24 hours of a ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a class-IA indication, however early intravenous (IV) β-blockers initiation is not encouraged. In recent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based experimental studies, the β(1)-blocker metoprolol has been shown to reduce infarct size only when administered before coronary reperfusion.

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Fiber-rich diets are associated with favorable lipid profiles, but the specific compounds and the mechanisms behind this effect are yet to be fully understood. Lignans are fiber-related polyphenols that have been associated with lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between dietary lignan exposure, measured as the urinary concentration of their metabolites, enterolactone and enterodiol, and serum lipids in a representative sample of U.

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Introduction And Objectives: Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) is an echocardiographic measure that allows us to assess right ventricular systolic function. TAPSE measurement is common in adults but reference values for children are scarce. Our objective was to establish reference values for TAPSE in Spanish children and to determine the relationship of these values with age and body surface.

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Background: The circadian clock influences a number of cardiovascular (patho)physiological processes including the incidence of acute myocardial infarction. A circadian variation in infarct size has recently been shown in rodents, but there is no clinical evidence of this finding.

Objective: To determine the impact of time-of-day onset of ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) on infarct size.

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Background: The main research tool for identifying microRNAs involved in specific cellular processes is gene expression profiling using microarray technology. Agilent is one of the major producers of microRNA arrays, and microarray data are commonly analyzed by using R and the functions and packages collected in the Bioconductor project. However, an analytical package that integrates the specific characteristics of microRNA Agilent arrays has been lacking.

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