Validation of a scale to assess adherence to oral chemotherapy based on the experiences of patients and healthcare professionals (EXPAD-ANEO).

Lack of adherence to Oral antineoplastic agents (OAAs) treatment has important clinical, social and economic consequences. To develop and validate a novel instrument for assessing adherence to OAAs, based on the reported experiences of people with cancer in relation to their treatment and the opinions of the healthcare professionals who care for them. We performed a multicenter validation study of a scale designed to assess adherence to OAAs.

Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Adherence to Orally Administered Antineoplastics.

Background: Several factors can influence adherence to orally administered antineoplastics, including fear or anxiety resulting from situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of these patients’ experiences on adherence to orally administered antineoplastics. Methods: Cross-sectional study in four hospitals including >18 year old cancer patients receiving orally administered antineoplastics during the first half of 2021.

Medication Experience and Adherence to Oral Chemotherapy: A Qualitative Study of Patients' and Health Professionals' Perspectives.

Lack of adherence constitutes one of the most important challenges in patients undergoing treatment with oral antineoplastic drugs (ANEO). Understanding cancer patients' experiences with respect to their medication is key for optimizing adherence and therapeutic results. We aimed to assess the medication experience (ME) in patients with cancer in treatment with ANEO, to describe the barriers and facilitators related to the disease and its treatment and to compare them with the healthcare professionals' perspectives.

Effectiveness and safety of pirfenidone for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Objectives: To assess the long-term effectiveness of pirfenidone in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) treatment and to establish its adverse effects profile.

Methods: Retrospective observational study in patients with IPF who initiated treatment with pirfenidone between 2011 and 2016. We collected demographic variables (age, sex); date of first and last treatment; reason for discontinuation; pulmonary function measures (forced vital capacity (FVC), carbon monoxide diffusion capacity (DLCO), and 6 min walk test (6MWT)) at treatment initiation (baseline) and at 1, 2 and 3 year follow-up; adherence to pirfenidone treatment; recorded adverse effects; and mortality.

[Effectiveness of a consensus protocol for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting].

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a consensus protocol for the prevention of CINV at our institution and level of adherence to it.

Method: Prospective observational study. Patients treated with chemotherapy (CT) in whom a 120-hour follow-up was made after the cycle were included.

[Effectiveness of endovascular prostheses as initial treatment for superior vena cava syndrome of malignant cause].

Background And Objective: Superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) is caused by venous return obstruction often originated by an invading mediastinal tumour. Our objective was to evaluate the usefulness of stents as initial treatment for SVCS of malignant origin.

Patients And Methods: From December 1996 to August 2010, 120 patients with SVCS were referred for percutaneous treatment.

Intercenter reproducibility of binary typing for Staphylococcus aureus.

The reproducibility of the binary typing (BT) protocol developed for epidemiological typing of Staphylococcus aureus was analyzed in a biphasic multicenter study. In a Dutch multicenter pilot study, 10 genetically unique isolates of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) were characterized by the BT assay as presented by van Leeuwen et al.

[Renal angiomyolipoma. Ultrasonography and computerized tomography findings].

Objective: To analyze the US and CT findings and their value in the diagnosis and follow-up of renal angiomyolipoma.

Methods/results: The clinical features, US and CT findings in 17 cases of renal angiomyolipoma were reviewed. Patient mean age was 49.

Use of reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for carcinoembryonic antigen, cytokeratin 19, and maspin in the detection of tumor cells in leukapheresis products from patients with breast cancer: comparison with immunocytochemistry.

This study evaluates the role of reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin 19 (CK19), and maspin transcripts to identify breast cancer cells (BCC) in leukapheresis products (LP) collected from breast cancer (BC) patients and compares these results with those obtained using immunocytochemistry (IC). Eighty-four LP obtained from 33 patients with stage II-III BC and control subjects without BC were screened for the presence of BCC by IC and CK19, CEA, and maspin expression using RT-PCR. CEA RT-PCR and IC were the only specific markers, as no false positives were detected in any patients without BC.

Ochrobactrum intermedium infection after liver transplantation.

A case of bacteremia due to Ochrobactrum intermedium, with concomitant liver abscesses, in an orthotopic liver transplant recipient is presented. Identical microorganisms were isolated from fecal specimens and from an aspirate of a liver abscess that was indicative of invasion of the graft by gastrointestinal spread. 16S DNA sequence analysis of the blood isolate revealed the recovery of the recently proposed new species O.

Assessment of resolution and intercenter reproducibility of results of genotyping Staphylococcus aureus by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of SmaI macrorestriction fragments: a multicenter study.

Twenty well-characterized isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus were used to study the optimal resolution and interlaboratory reproducibility of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of DNA macrorestriction fragments. Five identical isolates (one PFGE type), 5 isolates that produced related PFGE subtypes, and 10 isolates with unique PFGE patterns were analyzed blindly in 12 different laboratories by in-house protocols. In several laboratories a standardized PFGE protocol with a commercial kit was applied successfully as well.

Translational activities of EF-Tu [G222D] which cannot be reconciled with the classical scheme of the polypeptide chain elongation cycle.

We have developed a cell-free system of E. coli that enables us to study the in vitro translation of natural mRNA mediated by wild-type or mutant EF-Tu. Various mutant EF-Tu species have been analyzed, one of which, EF-Tu [G222D], appeared to be virtually unable to mediate the translation of natural mRNA.

[Acute pancreatitis and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome].

Viral acute pancreatitis in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected patients has been occasionally described. We studied nine patients with HIV antibodies and acute pancreatitis attributed to Cytomegalovirus and/or Cryptosporidium infection. In four patients the clinical picture was consistent with acute pancreatitis while in five clinical manifestations were unspecific, and diagnosis was based on ultrasonography and/or computed tomography findings.

Anti-inflammatory activity of flavonol glycosides from Erythrospermum monticolum depending on single or repeated local TPA administration.

Two anti-inflammatory principles were isolated from the methanol extract of the leaves of Erythrospermum monticolum (Flacourtiaceae). The isolation was based on a guided bioassay of the inhibitory activity on TPA-induced ear edema in mice. These compounds were identified as quercetin 3-O-xylosyl(1-->2) rhamnoside and quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside.

Chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis: evaluation by means of MR imaging with histologic correlation.

To characterize the relationship between findings on magnetic resonance (MR) images and histologic changes in chronic liver disease, a prospective study was performed in 100 patients with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis and 28 healthy subjects. Biopsy specimens, obtained in all patients before MR imaging, were evaluated with the histologic activity (HA) index; MR images were obtained with short inversion time inversion-recovery (STIR) and spin-echo sequences. On STIR images, normal livers were iso-intense to fat.

Isolation and functional analysis of histidine-tagged elongation factor Tu.

The study of the structure/function relationships of the Escherichia coli elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) via mutagenesis has been hampered by difficulties encountered in separating the mutated factor from other proteins, in particular native EF-Tu. Here we describe a novel system for the purification of EF-Tu mutant species, based on metal-ion affinity chromatography. To facilitate rapid and efficient purification we designed a recombinant EF-Tu with an additional C-terminal sequence of one serine and six histidine residues.

[Calcification of the portal vein associated with hepatocarcinoma].

We report a patient with alcoholic cirrhosis presenting with ascites, jaundice and malaise. Linear calcifications on the portal area were seen in the plain film of the abdomen. Computed tomography confirmed the presence of calcification of the portal vein wall and discovered lesions highly suggestive of diffuse multinodular hepatocarcinoma.

Lesion/fat intensity ratio in MR characterization of hepatic masses.

On T2-weighted spin echo images, lesion/liver intensity ratios can be used to accurately distinguish hepatic cavernous hemangioma from malignant lesions. However, since patients with focal liver lesions may present diffuse liver disease, this relationship can be inaccurate. We studied 91 hepatic lesions to compare the value of lesion/liver and lesion/fat ratios in the differential diagnosis of liver lesions.

[A favorable response to the somatostatin analog SMS 201-995 in a patient with the carcinoid syndrome].

A patient with carcinoid syndrome was treated with the somatostatin analogue (SMS 201-995). The drug significantly improved the symptoms of the patient, flushing and diarrhea, and reduced urinary excretion of 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid. However, hepatic metastases remained unchanged.

High density barium sulphate as an MRI oral contrast.

High density barium sulphate suspension was investigated as an oral contrast on MRI. On 30 consecutive subjects, the stomach (in all cases) and the two first portions of the duodenum (in 21 cases) were filled with the suspension. This oral contrast behaved as a negative contrast, being hypointense on all pulse sequences (spin-echo T1-weighted, spin-echo T2-weighted and STIR).

The interaction between aminoacyl-tRNA and the mutant elongation factors Tu AR and B0.

The binding of Tyr-[AEDANS-s2C]tRNA(Tyr) (Tyr-tRNA(Tyr) modified at the penultimate cytidine residue with a thio group at position 2 of the pyrimidine ring, to which an N-(acetylaminoethyl)-5-naphthylamine-1-sulfonic acid fluorescence group is attached) to mutant elongation factor (EF)-Tu species from E. coli, EF-TuAR (Ala-375----Thr) and EF-TuBO (Gly-222----Asp), both complexed to GTP, was investigated in absence of kirromycin by measuring the change in fluorescence of the modified tRNA induced by complex formation. The calculated dissociation constant in the case of EF-TuAR is about 4 nM and in the case of EF-TuB0, about 1 nM.

Control of the tRNA-tufB operon in Escherichia coli. 2. Mechanisms of the feedback inhibition of tufB expression studied in vivo and in vitro.

The mechanism underlying feedback inhibition of tufB expression has been studied in vivo by gene-dosage experiments and by gene and operon fusions involving lacZ. Raising the cellular EF-Tu content, by introducing a multicopy plasmid encoding EF-TuA into the cell, repressed the level of EF-TuB but left the content of tRNA(Thr)3, encoded by the tRNA-tufB operon, unaffected. This indicates that autoregulation of chromosomal tufB expression does not occur by modulating transcription initiation at the promoter of the tRNA-tufB operon.

Control of the tRNA-tufB operon in Escherichia coli. 1. rRNA gene dosage effects and growth-rate-dependent regulation.

'Ribosome feedback' effects on the expression of the genes specifying tRNA and EF-Tu in E. coli have been studied at increased rrnB doses (rRNA gene doses). We confirm previous observations that the introduction into the cell of a multicopy plasmid carrying the rrnB operon reduces the cellular content of most tRNAs, including those encoded by the tRNA-tufB operon, but leaves the 5S rRNA content unaffected.

Specific alterations of the EF-Tu polypeptide chain considered in the light of its three-dimensional structure.

Specific alterations of the elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) polypeptide chain have been identified in a number of mutant species of this elongation factor. In two species, Ala-375, located on domain II, was found by amino acid analysis to be replaced by Thr and Val, respectively. These replacements substantially lower the affinity of EF-Tu.