Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA
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Meta Analysis
Evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy of COVID-19 antigen tests: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to affect countries worldwide. To inhibit the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), testing of patients, contact tracing, and quarantine of their close contacts have been used as major nonpharmaceutical interventions. The advantages of antigen tests, such as low cost and rapid turnaround, may allow for the rapid identification of larger numbers of infectious persons. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of antigen tests for SARS-CoV-2. ⋯ Antigen tests have moderate sensitivity and high specificity for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. Antigen tests might have a higher sensitivity in detecting SARS-CoV-2 within 7 days after symptom onset. Based on our findings, antigen testing might be an effective method for identifying contagious individuals to block SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
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Dopamine agonists such as bromocriptine and cabergoline have been found to be an effective treatment for hyperprolactinemia, not only inducing adenoma shrinkage but also lowering serum prolactin levels. Among known dopamine agonists, cabergoline is the drug of choice due to its enhanced tolerability compared with bromocriptine. This study aimed to evaluate cabergoline's effectiveness, along with transsphenoidal surgery, in the treatment of hyperprolactinemia. ⋯ Cabergoline has been demonstrated to be effective and should be considered as a first-line treatment for hyperprolactinemia. In our study, transsphenoidal surgery was also demonstrated to achieve good results compared with medical treatment. Surgical intervention may resurface as an alternative first-line treatment. When used in combination with cabergoline, surgery offers a higher disease remission rate than either drug or operation alone.
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The mainstay therapy for latent tuberculosis infection is a 9-month regimen of daily isoniazid (9H) and a 3-month regimen of 12 once-weekly doses of isoniazid and rifapentine (3HP). We performed this updated meta-analysis to compare hepatotoxicity, efficacy and completion rate between these two regimens. ⋯ The 3HP regimen is superior to the 9H regimen, with less hepatotoxicity, and better efficacy and completion rate in treating latent tuberculosis infection.
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Comparative Study
Serum levels of alpha1-antitrypsin isoforms in patients with ovarian clear cell carcinoma: An exploratory study.
Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) is frequently associated with endometriosis. Since serum levels of cancer antigen 125 (CA125) have limited diagnostic and prognostic value in this malignancy, there is an unmet need for reliable and specific biomarkers. Previous findings indicated that alpha 1-antitrypsin isoforms (isoAAT) are significantly increased in the peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis. This study was undertaken to examine whether serum isoAAT levels in patients with OCCC differ from those measured in women with endometriosis or benign ovarian tumors. We also investigated whether this biomarker may be useful for predicting survival in OCCC. ⋯ Serum isoAAT levels may be diagnostically useful to distinguish OCCC from benign ovarian tumors and could also serve as a potential prognostic marker.
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Oral cancers are the seventh most common cancer globally. While progresses in oral cancer treatment have been made, not all patients respond to these therapies in the same way. To overcome this difficulty, numerous studies have been devoted to identifying biomarkers, which enable early identification of patients who may benefit from a particular treatment modality or at risk for poor prognosis. ⋯ In this review, we employed a basic significance level (<0.05) as the minimal requirement for candidate biomarkers. Effect sizes of the biomarkers in terms of odds ratio, hazard ratio, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curves were subsequently used to evaluate the potential of their clinical use. We identified the CCND1 from the tumor, human papillomavirus, HSP70, and IL-17 from the peripheral blood, and high density of CD45RO+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes as the clinically relevant biomarkers for oral cancers.