Search results for " alpha-2"
showing 10 items of 104 documents
Management of chronic hepatitis C in childhood: The impact of therapy in the clinical practice during the first 2 decades
2011
Background and aim: Treatment of chronic hepatitis C in children is controversial and its role in the clinical practice is unknown. We retrospectively investigated the impact of treatment in a large cohort of children with chronic hepatitis C over the past 20years. Methods: 376 hepatitis C virus RNApositive children were recruited consecutively in five Italian centres since 1990and followed for1–17years. Results: 86 (23%)subjects were treated: 73 with recombinant interferon alone and 13 with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin. Sustained clearance of hepatitis C virus RNA was observed in 25%of the former, in 92%of the latter and in 9% of untreated cases(p < 0.001). Loss of viraemia was re…
High sustained virologic response rates in children with chronic hepatitis C receiving peginterferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin
2010
Pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) alfa-2b plus ribavirin (RBV) is the standard of care for adults with chronic hepatitis C but was not approved for the treatment of children at the time of this study. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of PEG-IFN alfa-2b plus RBV in children.Children and adolescents ages 3-17 years were treated with PEG-IFN alfa-2b (60microg/m(2)/week) plus RBV (15mg/kg/day). The duration of therapy was 24 weeks for genotype (G) 2 and G3 patients with low viral load (600,000IU/ml) and 48 weeks for G1, G4, and G3 with high viral load (or=600,000IU/ml). The primary end point was sustained virologic response (SVR), defined as undetectable hepatitis C vi…
Extended-release guanfacine hydrochloride in 6-17-year olds with ADHD: a randomised-withdrawal maintenance of efficacy study.
2015
Background Extended-release guanfacine hydrochloride (GXR), a selective α2A-adrenergic agonist, is a nonstimulant medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised-withdrawal study evaluated the long-term maintenance of GXR efficacy in children/adolescents with ADHD. Methods Children/adolescents (6–17 years) with ADHD received open-label GXR (1–7 mg/day). After 13 weeks, responders were randomised to GXR or placebo in the 26-week, double-blind, randomised-withdrawal phase (RWP). The primary endpoint was the percentage of treatment failure (≥50% increase in ADHD Rating Scale version IV total score and ≥2-point increase …
Which patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C can benefit from prolonged treatment with the 'accordion' regimen?
2007
The on-treatment virological response to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin therapy is a useful tool in the management of patients with chronic hepatitis C. The time at which hepatitis C virus RNA becomes undetectable by a sensitive PCR assay has a huge impact on the probability of achieving a sustained virological response, particularly in genotype 1 patients, and may be useful in selecting patients for prolonged therapy. Indiscriminate extension of treatment in patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1 is not beneficial. However, there is a subgroup of patients – the so-called ‘slow responders’ – who benefit from extending treatment from 48 to 72 weeks and can be readily identified afte…
Re-treatment of Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Who Do Not Respond to Peginterferon-[alpha]2b: A Randomized Trial
2009
BACKGROUND Many patients with chronic hepatitis C have not responded to therapy with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin. OBJECTIVE To evaluate use of peginterferon-alpha2a plus ribavirin to re-treat nonresponders to peginterferon-alpha2b plus ribavirin. DESIGN Randomized, parallel-group trial conducted between September 2003 and February 2007. Patients and researchers were not blinded to intervention assignment. Random assignment was centralized, computer-generated, and stratified by geographic region, hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype, and histologic diagnosis. SETTING 106 international centers. PATIENTS 950 nonresponders to 12 or more weeks of therapy with peginterferon-alpha2b plus ribav…
Significance of IgG and IgM HCV antibody secretion in vitro in patients with chronic hepatitis C: correlation with disease activity and response to i…
1994
Hepatitis C virus antibodies are found in the serum of most patients with chronic hepatitis C. However, the significance of the humoral response is still uncertain. In this study, in vitro IgG and IgM anti-hepatitis C virus secretion by peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with chronic hepatitis C was analyzed. Peripheral-blood mononuclear cells from 21 of 36 patients (58.3%) secreted IgG anti-hepatitis C virus in vitro, as demonstrated with anti-hepatitis C virus—specific enzyme immunoassays and recombinant immunoblot assays. Ten of the 36 patients (27.8%) showed both IgG and IgM anti-hepatitis C virus core in vitro. In 9 of these 10 patients, IgM anti-hepatitis C virus was also …
Peginterferon alfa-2b and Ribavirin: Effective in Patients With Hepatitis C Who Failed Interferon alfa/Ribavirin Therapy
2009
Treatment with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin produces a sustained virologic response (SVR) in approximately 60% of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients. Alternate options are needed for patients who relapse or do not respond to therapy.This prospective, international, multicenter, open-label study evaluated efficacy and safety of peginterferon alfa-2b (1.5 microg/kg/wk) plus weight-based ribavirin (800-1400 mg/day) in 2333 chronic HCV-infected patients with significant fibrosis/cirrhosis whose previous interferon alfa/ribavirin therapy failed. Patients with undetectable HCV-RNA at treatment week (TW) 12 received 48 weeks of therapy; patients with detectable HCV-RNA at TW12 could ent…
Brinzolamide/brimonidine fixed-dose combination bid as an adjunct to a prostaglandin analog for open-angle glaucoma/ocular hypertension.
2019
Purpose: To evaluate the additive intraocular pressure–lowering effect of twice-daily brinzolamide 1%/brimonidine 0.2% fixed-dose combination (BBFC) as an adjunct to a prostaglandin analog (PGA) in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension insufficiently controlled with PGA monotherapy. Methods: In this Phase 4, double-masked trial, patients aged ⩾18 years, with a mean intraocular pressure of ⩾19 and <32 mm Hg in at least one eye were randomized (1:1) to receive BBFC + PGA ( n = 96) or vehicle + PGA ( n = 92) for 6 weeks. The primary endpoint was the mean change in diurnal intraocular pressure from baseline (averaged over 09:00 and 11:00 h) at Week 6. Results: The mean diu…
Nitric oxide, via activation of guanylyl cyclase, suppresses alpha2-adrenoceptor-mediated 5-hydroxytryptamine release from neuroendocrine epithelial …
1998
Isolated tracheae of newborn rabbits were incubated in vitro and the outflow of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) was determined by HPLC with electrochemical detection. Evidence has previously been provided that this 5-HT outflow derives from neuroendocrine epithelial (NEE) cells of the airway mucosa. Phenylephrine, at a maximally effective concentration of 10 microM, caused a transient increase in 5-HT outflow by about 250%, an effect mediated by alpha2B-adrenoceptors, as previously shown. The phenylephrine-induced 5-HT release remained unchanged in calcium-free medium, but was reduced by 75% when the tracheae were incubated in calcium-free medium which contained 0.5 mM EDTA, a treatment known to…
Assessment of hepatitis C virus-RNA clearance under combination therapy for hepatitis C virus genotype 1: performance of transcription-mediated ampli…
2007
Monitoring of HCV-RNA in blood during antiviral therapy is performed mostly by commercially available reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction-based (RT-PCR) assays, with a lower detection limit of 30-50 IU/mL of HCV-RNA. Use of different tests in the pivotal trials of combination therapy has generated some discordance, in terms of predictive value of the early virological response (EVR). To evaluate whether the use of a more sensitive test, as a qualitative assay based on transcription mediated amplification (TMA) with a lower detection limit of 5-10 IU/mL of HCV-RNA, may obtain a better prediction of EVR and of the ultimate virological outcome, we retrospectively evaluated serial s…