Publications by authors named "Sara Olofsson"

Arginase 1 deficiency (ARG1-D) is an ultrarare, metabolic disease which may cause spastic paraplegia, cognitive deficiency, seizures, and ultimately severe disability. The aim of this study was to assess disease burden in ARG1-D by performing a cross-sectional survey of patients with ARG1-D and their caregivers in four European countries (France, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom). Patients were enrolled at participating clinics and data were collected using a web-based questionnaire.

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Background And Aims: Arginase 1 deficiency (ARG1-D) is a ultrarare disease with manifestations that cause mobility and cognitive impairment that progress over time and may lead to early mortality. Diseases such as ARG1-D have a major impact also outside of the health care sector and the aim of this study was to estimate the current burden of disease associated with ARG1-D from a societal perspective.

Methods: The study was performed as a web-based survey of patients with ARG1-D and their caregivers in four European countries (France, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom).

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Timely treatment of acute allergic reactions (AARs) is important to minimize reaction severity. Corticosteroid tablets dissolved in water are commonly used in mainstay treatment. A new oral film that dissolves on the tongue provides a faster and less cumbersome alternative to tablets for corticosteroid administration during AARs.

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Background: Acute allergic reactions (AARs) occur shortly after exposure to an allergen, and the severity is on a continuum. Systemic corticosteroids (CS) are mainstay treatment of moderate to severe AARs, whereas those at risk of the most severe AARs (ie, anaphylaxis) are also recommended prescription of epinephrine autoinjectors. There is limited research on the impact of AARs not fulfilling the criteria for anaphylaxis.

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The traditional health economic analysis is limited to estimating the impact on the treated patient. As vaccines are usually aimed at preventing infectious diseases, they may be associated with additional values for the non-treated wider population. Although there are valid reasons for treating vaccines differently, and a wide support for a broader perspective in the literature (i.

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Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a metabolic disorder leading to a deficiency in the metabolism of phenylalanine (Phe). Elevated Phe levels in the blood, tissue and brain may lead to emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms in adults. To control blood Phe levels, most individuals with PKU need to follow a strict, life-long Phe-restricted diet.

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The value of a statistical life (VSL) is a widely used measure for the value of mortality risk reduction. As VSL should reflect preferences and attitudes to risk, there are reasons to believe that it varies depending on the type of risk involved. It has been argued that cancer should be considered a "dread disease," which supports the use of a "cancer premium.

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Background: Migraine is a disabling, chronic neurological disease leading to severe headache episodes affecting 13.2% of the Swedish population. Migraine leads to an extensive socio-economic burden in terms of healthcare costs, reduced workforce and quality of life (QoL) but studies of the health-economic consequences in a Swedish context are lacking.

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The identity of the glioblastoma (GBM) cell of origin and its contributions to disease progression and treatment response remain largely unknown. We have analyzed how the phenotypic state of the initially transformed cell affects mouse GBM development and essential GBM cell (GC) properties. We find that GBM induced in neural stem-cell-like glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-expressing cells in the subventricular zone of adult mice shows accelerated tumor development and produces more malignant GCs (mGC1) that are less resistant to cancer drugs, compared with those originating from more differentiated nestin- (mGC2) or 2,'3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (mGC3)-expressing cells.

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Introduction: Trastuzumab is part of the standard treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer. The aim of this study was to estimate the societal value of trastuzumab administered through subcutaneous (SC) injection compared to intravenous (IV) infusion.

Methods: Female patients with HER2-positive breast cancer receiving SC or IV trastuzumab were consecutively enrolled from five Swedish oncology clinics from 2013 to 2015.

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Objective: Apart from improved health outcomes, treatment convenience per se may have a value to individuals. This is sometimes referred to as process utility and can be estimated in terms of willingness-to-pay (WTP) or quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Previous research has produced multiple studies on QALY gains and WTP estimates of insulin-related attributes.

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Objective: The Swedish reimbursement system operates a system where prices are set based on the expected value to the consumer. This value can be measured using willingness to pay (WTP).

Aim: To assess Parkinson's disease (PD) patients' WTP for newly developed microtablets of levodopa in combination with a drug-delivering electronic device (M/E) compared to standard treatment with levodopa in combination with the COMT (catechol-O-methyl transferase)-inhibitor entacapone (L/e).

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Pharmacodynamic and mutant prevention properties of the fluoroquinolone pradofloxacin (PRA) were measured against a set of 17 Escherichia coli strains carrying no, one or two known mutations conferring reduced fluoroquinolone susceptibility. The strains included susceptible wild-types, isogenic constructed mutants, isogenic selected mutants and clinical isolates. The effectiveness of PRA was determined with regard to preventing the selection of resistant mutants, using static and changing concentrations of drug.

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Background: Sweden is a high endemic region for multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurologic disorder characterized by repeated inflammatory episodes affecting the CNS. The disease has its peak age of onset at approximately 30 years and affects women twice as often as men. The young age of onset makes MS one of the major causes of reduced capacity to work due to neurologic disease in Western society.

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The worldwide increase in antibiotic resistance is a concern for public health. The fact that the choice of dose and treatment duration can affect the selection of antibiotic-resistant mutants is becoming more evident, and an increased number of studies have used pharmacodynamic models to describe the drug exposure and pharmacodynamic breakpoints needed to minimize and predict the development of resistance. However, there remains a lack of sufficient data, and future work is needed to fully characterize these target drug concentrations.

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Objectives: To investigate the effects of clinically used doses of norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin on survival and selection in Escherichia coli populations containing fluoroquinolone-resistant subpopulations and to measure the value of the pharmacodynamic index AUC/mutant prevention concentration (MPC) that prevents the growth of pre-existing resistant mutants.

Methods: Mixed cultures of susceptible wild-type and isogenic single (gyrA S83L) or double (gyrA S83L, Delta marR) fluoroquinolone-resistant mutants were exposed to fluoroquinolones for 24 h in an in vitro kinetic model. Antibiotic concentrations modelled pharmacokinetics attained with clinical doses.

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Objectives: To evaluate the mutant prevention concentrations (MPCs) of ciprofloxacin for two susceptible and one first-step gyrA resistant mutant Escherichia coli strains in an in vitro kinetic model and to identify the pharmacodynamic index that best predicts prevention of resistance emergence.

Methods: An in vitro kinetic model was used to measure MPC with static antibiotic concentrations and to test different dosing profiles to study pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics indices important to prevent the growth of resistant mutants. In one set of kinetic experiments the starting concentration was equal to the MPC and the T > MPC was varied before antibiotic dilution was begun.

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Antibiotic dosing regimens may vary in their capacity to select mutants. Our hypothesis was that selection of a more resistant bacterial subpopulation would increase with the time within a selective window (SW), i.e.

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Objectives: To measure the mutant prevention concentration (MPC) of ciprofloxacin for a set of urinary tract infection (UTI) Escherichia coli isolates with different levels of susceptibility and determine whether MPC can be predicted from MIC.

Methods: MPC was defined as the lowest ciprofloxacin concentration that prevented the growth of resistant colonies when 10(10) bacteria were spread on solid medium and incubated for 96 h at 37 degrees C. MIC was measured by Etest.

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