Double-blind, randomized, 8-week multicenter study of the efficacy and safety of STW 5-II placebo in functional dyspepsia.

Background And Aim: Herbal products are widely used to treat patients with disorders of gut brain interaction but clinical efficacy and safety data for treatments lasting >4 weeks are widely lacking. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of 8 weeks of treatment with the herbal combination product STW 5-II for patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) meeting Rome II criteria. We also conducted a post hoc analysis including patients meeting Rome IV criteria for FD and evaluated the effect of the G-protein beta 3 (GNB3) subunit polymorphism (C825T) on therapeutic response.

Integrating Care Coordination and Mental Health Research Into Dialysis Practice: Stakeholder Perspectives, Methods, and Outcomes.

Rationale & Objective: Despite many studies suggesting beneficial innovations for patients, few make it into clinical practice. This study aims to enhance patient care by facilitating effective dissemination of patient-centered outcomes research to health care workers in outpatient dialysis facilities, aided by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute's (PCORI) dissemination and implementation framework.

Study Design: Dissemination and implementation project.

Evaluation of oncology infusion pharmacy practices: A nationwide survey.

Purpose: Oncology care continues to evolve at a rapid pace including provision of infusion-based care. There is currently a lack of robust metrics around oncology infusion centers and pharmacy practice. The workgroup completed a nationwide survey to learn about oncology-based infusion pharmacy services offered.

Implications of the End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices Model among U.S. Dialysis Providers.

The End Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices (ETC) Model is a mandatory payment model designed to encourage greater use of home dialysis and kidney transplantation among Medicare beneficiaries with kidney failure and to reduce Medicare expenditures while enhancing the quality of care offered to patients with kidney failure. The ETC model will run for six years, from January 1, 2021, to June 30, 2027. This article provides an overview of the ETC Model and analyzes its implications for dialysis providers.

Pathways Project: Development of a Multimodal Innovation To Improve Kidney Supportive Care in Dialysis Centers.

Unlabelled: Current care models for older patients with kidney failure in the United States do not incorporate supportive care approaches. The absence of supportive care contributes to poor symptom management and unwanted forms of care at the end of life. Using an Institute for Healthcare Improvement Collaborative Model for Achieving Breakthrough Improvement, we conducted a focused literature review, interviewed implementation experts, and convened a technical expert panel to distill existing evidence into an evidence-based supportive care change package.

Decreased pericellular matrix production and selection for enhanced cell membrane repair may impair osteocyte responses to mechanical loading in the aging skeleton.

Transient plasma membrane disruptions (PMD) occur in osteocytes with in vitro and in vivo loading, initiating mechanotransduction. The goal here was to determine whether osteocyte PMD formation or repair is affected by aging. Osteocytes from old (24 months) mice developed fewer PMD (-76% females, -54% males) from fluid shear than young (3 months) mice, and old mice developed fewer osteocyte PMD (-51%) during treadmill running.

Chemotherapy-induced senescent cancer cells engulf other cells to enhance their survival.

In chemotherapy-treated breast cancer, wild-type p53 preferentially induces senescence over apoptosis, resulting in a persisting cell population constituting residual disease that drives relapse and poor patient survival via the senescence-associated secretory phenotype. Understanding the properties of tumor cells that allow survival after chemotherapy treatment is paramount. Using time-lapse and confocal microscopy to observe interactions of cells in treated tumors, we show here that chemotherapy-induced senescent cells frequently engulf both neighboring senescent or nonsenescent tumor cells at a remarkable frequency.

Efficacy of Novaluron + Pyriproxyfen (Tekko Pro) Insect Growth Regulators Against Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus.

Ixodids are globally distributed pests that transmit many disease agents. Increasing resistance to conventional acaricides raises the need for alternative tactics. Novaluron and pyriproxyfen are insect growth regulators (IGRs) that have variable potencies against acarines.

Putting patients at the center of kidney care transitions: PREPARE NOW, a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Unlabelled: Care for patients transitioning from chronic kidney disease to kidney failure often falls short of meeting patients' needs. The PREPARE NOW study is a cluster randomized controlled trial studying the effectiveness of a pragmatic health system intervention, 'Patient Centered Kidney Transition Care,' a multi-component health system intervention designed to improve patients' preparation for kidney failure treatment. Patient-Centered Kidney Transition Care provides a suite of new electronic health information tools (including a disease registry and risk prediction tools) to help providers recognize patients in need of Kidney Transitions Care and focus their attention on patients' values and treatment preferences.

Early onset of efficacy in patients with functional and motility-related gastrointestinal disorders : A noninterventional study with Iberogast®.

STW 5 (Iberogast®; Steigerwald Arzneimittelwerk GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany) contains nine plant extracts and possesses well-documented overall efficacy in functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID). Little is known about the onset of symptom relief. Twenty-nine centers in Germany recruited 272 patients with established FGID.

Directed self-assembly software for single cell deposition.

Laser direct-write (LDW) bioprinting methods offer a diverse set of tools to design experiments, fabricate tissue constructs and to cellular microenvironments all in a CAD/CAM manner. To date, we have just scratched the surface of the system's potential and for LDW to be utilized to its fullest, there are many distinct hardware and software components that must be integrated and communicate seamlessly. In this perspective article, we detail the development of novel graphical user interface (GUI) software to improve LDW capability and functionality.

Modulation of gastrointestinal motility beyond metoclopramide and domperidone : Pharmacological and clinical evidence for phytotherapy in functional gastrointestinal disorders.

The prokinetic cisapride, an important therapeutic option in functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, was withdrawn from the market 15 years ago due to rare severe side effects. Likewise in 2014, the use of metoclopramide (MCP) and domperidone in functional GI disorders (FGID) was restricted, consequently leaving a therapeutic gap in clinical practice. A systematic review revealed that the herbal medicinal product (HMP) STW 5 presents a therapeutic option equivalent to MCP and cisapride.

Laser direct-write based fabrication of a spatially-defined, biomimetic construct as a potential model for breast cancer cell invasion into adipose tissue.

Epithelial-adipose interaction is an integral step in breast cancer cell invasion and progression towards lethal metastatic disease. Understanding the physiological contribution of obesity, a major contributor to breast cancer risk and negative prognosis in post-menopausal patients, on cancer cell invasion requires detailed co-culture constructs that reflect mammary microarchitecture. Using laser direct-write, a laser-based CAD/CAM bioprinting technique, we have demonstrated the ability to construct breast cancer cell-laden hydrogel microbeads into spatially defined patterns in hydrogel matrices containing differentiated adipocytes.

Correlates of change in health care worker seasonal influenza vaccination rates among dialysis facilities.

We conducted a campaign to increase seasonal influenza vaccination of dialysis health care workers (HCWs) in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. Between the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 influenza seasons we examined the correlates of change. HCW vaccination rates improved significantly (P < .

Peripheral administration of poly I:C leads to increased hippocampal amyloid-beta and cognitive deficits in a non-transgenic mouse.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive disorder characterized by neuronal and behavioral deterioration. Two hallmark pathologies of AD are amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, and the presence of such pathology can limit cell-to-cell communication, leading to cognitive deficits, and neuronal cell death. Although Aβ plaques were originally thought to cause the cognitive deficits, more simple forms of Aβ, such as monomers, dimers, tetramers and oligomers, have also been shown to be neurotoxic.

Imatinib methanesulfonate reduces hippocampal amyloid-β and restores cognitive function following repeated endotoxin exposure.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized, in part, by atrophy of the adult brain and increased presence of extracellular amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques. Previous studies in our lab have shown that peripheral inflammation can lead to increased central Aβ and deficits in learning and memory. In order to determine whether Aβ accumulation in the brain is responsible for the learning deficits, we attempted to decrease peripheral production of Aβ in order to reduce central Aβ accumulation.

Children with respiratory distress treated with high-flow nasal cannula.

Unlabelled: High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy is a treatment for respiratory distress in neonates and children. In the present study, we assessed its effectiveness, comfort, and possible mechanism of action.

Methods: We reviewed records of 46 patients treated with HFNC and estimated the modified COMFORT score (7 to 35 units), the respiratory clinical scale (0 to 12 units), and the oxygen saturation level.

Clinical effects of STW 5 (Iberogast) are not based on acceleration of gastric emptying in patients with functional dyspepsia and gastroparesis.

STW 5, a herbal extract, is effective for the treatment of symptoms in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD). However, its mode of action is still unclear and a modulation of gastric motility is hypothesized. This multicentre, placebo-controlled double-blind study addressed the question of whether STW 5 accelerates gastric emptying in patients with FD and gastroparesis.

The placebo response in functional dyspepsia--reanalysis of trial data.

Clinical trial data rarely identify factors contributing to the placebo response. We reanalysed the data from the placebo arm (n = 157) of a functional dyspepsia (FD) trial to determine predictors of placebo response including total GIS score, change in GIS score during run-in, type of FD symptoms, duration of illness, age, gender, body mass index (BMI), family occurrence of FD-like symptoms, smoking and alcohol consumption. The same response criteria were applied to the drug arm (n = 158) of the study.

[Assessment of the efficacy and safety of the phytopharmacon STW 5 versus metoclopramide in functional dyspepsia--a retrolective cohort study].

Aim: The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of the phytopharmacon STW 5 versus metoclopramide in functional dyspepsia.

Methods: A retrolective, epidemiological cohort study with parallel groups in 23 randomised centres where both drugs were used routinely was performed. The main outcome variable was improvement of 10 dyspepsia-specific symptoms of a valid gastrointestinal symptom score (GIS) during therapy.

STW 5, a phytopharmacon for patients with functional dyspepsia: results of a multicenter, placebo-controlled double-blind study.

Background: Functional dyspepsia (FD) constitutes a complex picture with a variety of epigastric symptoms. No standard therapy is currently available for FD.

Objective: This multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blind study evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of the herbal drug STW 5, mainly comprising a fresh plant extract from Iberis amara.

Phytotherapy for functional dyspepsia: a review of the clinical evidence for the herbal preparation STW 5.

Functional gastrointestinal disorders such as functional (or non-ulcer) dyspepsia are characterized by a broad spectrum of symptoms referred to the upper abdomen without a detectable cause utilizing routine diagnostic measures. It is now believed that disordered gut function (including abnormalities like disturbances of motility such as postprandial fundic relaxation, gastric emptying and disturbed visceral sensory function) play a key role for the manifestation of these disorders. The underlying pathophysiology is not yet fully understood.

Antioxidative properties of the gastrointestinal phytopharmaceutical remedy STW 5 (Iberogast).

Since inflammation is a common mechanism of many gastrointestinal diseases, reactive oxygen metabolites may play an important role in their pathophysiology. Therefore it is interesting to know, whether phytopharmaceuticals known to modulate gastrointestinal motor function reveal also antioxidative properties. We tested STW 5 (Iberogast), its constituent nine different plant extracts, and some isolated compounds which are present in STW 5 for characterizing their antioxidative and radical quenching activities.