Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation: Risk Factors for Violence in Psychosis: Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis of 110 Studies.
Risk Factors for Violence in Psychosis: Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis of 110 Studies.
Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation
PLoS One. 2013; 8(2): e55942
Witt K, van Dorn R, Fazel S
BACKGROUND: Previous reviews on risk and protective factors for violence in psychosis have produced contrasting findings. There is therefore a need to clarify the direction and strength of association of risk and protective factors for violent outcomes in individuals with psychosis. METHOD: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis using 6 electronic databases (CINAHL, EBSCO, EMBASE, Global Health, PsycINFO, PUBMED) and Google Scholar. Studies were identified that reported factors associated with violence in adults diagnosed, using DSM or ICD criteria, with schizophrenia and other psychoses. We considered non-English language studies and dissertations. Risk and protective factors were meta-analysed if reported in three or more primary studies. Meta-regression examined sources of heterogeneity. A novel meta-epidemiological approach was used to group similar risk factors into one of 10 domains. Sub-group analyses were then used to investigate whether risk domains differed for studies reporting severe violence (rather than aggression or hostility) and studies based in inpatient (rather than outpatient) settings. FINDINGS: There were 110 eligible studies reporting on 45,533 individuals, 8,439 (18.5%) of whom were violent. A total of 39,995 (87.8%) were diagnosed with schizophrenia, 209 (0.4%) were diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and 5,329 (11.8%) were diagnosed with other psychoses. Dynamic (or modifiable) risk factors included hostile behaviour, recent drug misuse, non-adherence with psychological therapies (p values<0.001), higher poor impulse control scores, recent substance misuse, recent alcohol misuse (p values<0.01), and non-adherence with medication (p value <0.05). We also examined a number of static factors, the strongest of which were criminal history factors. When restricting outcomes to severe violence, these associations did not change materially. In studies investigating inpatient violence, associations differed in strength but not direction. CONCLUSION: Certain dynamic risk factors are strongly associated with increased violence risk in individuals with psychosis and their role in risk assessment and management warrants further examination. HubMed – drug
SOLiD™ Sequencing of Genomes of Clinical Isolates of Leishmania donovani from India Confirm Leptomonas Co-Infection and Raise Some Key Questions.
Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation
PLoS One. 2013; 8(2): e55738
Singh N, Chikara S, Sundar S
BACKGROUND: Known as ‘neglected disease’ because relatively little effort has been applied to finding cures, leishmaniasis kills more than 150,000 people every year and debilitates millions more. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also called Kala Azar (KA) or black fever in India, claims around 20,000 lives every year. Whole genome analysis presents an excellent means to identify new targets for drugs, vaccine and diagnostics development, and also provide an avenue into the biological basis of parasite virulence in the L. donovani complex prevalent in India. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In our presently described study, the next generation SOLiD™ platform was successfully utilized for the first time to carry out whole genome sequencing of L. donovani clinical isolates from India. We report the exceptional occurrence of insect trypanosomatids in clinical cases of visceral leishmaniasis (Kala Azar) patients in India. We confirm with whole genome sequencing analysis data that isolates which were sequenced from Kala Azar (visceral leishmaniasis) cases were genetically related to Leptomonas. The co-infection in splenic aspirate of these patients with a species of Leptomonas and how likely is it that the infection might be pathogenic, are key questions which need to be investigated. We discuss our results in the context of some important probable hypothesis in this article. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our intriguing results of unusual cases of Kala Azar found to be most similar to Leptomonas species put forth important clinical implications for the treatment of Kala Azar in India. Leptomonas have been shown to be highly susceptible to several standard leishmaniacides in vitro. There is very little divergence among these two species viz. Leishmania sp. and L. seymouri, in terms of genomic sequence and organization. A more extensive perception of the phenomenon of co-infection needs to be addressed from molecular pathogenesis and eco-epidemiological standpoint.
HubMed – drug
Norspermidine and Novel Pd(II) and Pt(II) Polynuclear Complexes of Norspermidine as Potential Antineoplastic Agents Against Breast Cancer.
Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation
PLoS One. 2013; 8(2): e55651
Silva TM, Andersson S, Sukumaran SK, Marques MP, Persson L, Oredsson S
BACKGROUND: New strategies are needed for breast cancer treatment and one initial step is to test new chemotherapeutic drugs in breast cancer cell lines, to choose candidates for further studies towards clinical use. METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS: The cytotoxic effects of a biogenic polyamine analogue – norspermidine – and its trinuclear Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes – Pd(3)NSpd(2) and Pt(3)NSpd(2), respectively – were investigated in one immortalized normal-like and three breast cancer cell lines. The normal-like MCF-10A cells were least sensitive to the compounds, while growth inhibition and cell death was observed in the cancer cell lines. Norspermidine and its Pd(II) complex were generally shown to have stronger antiproliferative effects than the corresponding Pt(II) complex. Moreover, both norspermidine and the Pd(II) complex reduced the cellular activity of the growth-related enzyme, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) to a lower level than the Pt(II) complex in most of the cell lines examined. Treatment with norspermidine or the Pd(II) complex reduced the number of colonies formed in a soft agar assay performed with the breast cancer cell lines, indicating that these compounds reduced the malignancy of the breast cancer cells. The effect of norspermidine or the Pd(II) complex on colony formation was much stronger than that observed for the Pt(II) complex. The results from a new mammalian genotoxicity screen together with those of a single cell gel electrophoresis assay indicated that none of the drugs were genotoxic at a 25 µM concentration. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Overall, norspermidine and its Pd(II) complex were shown to have strong antiproliferative effects. In comparison, the effects obtained with the Pd(II) complex were much stronger than that of the Pt(II) complex. The results obtained in the present study demonstrate that the trinuclear Pd(II) complex of norspermidine (Pd(3)NSpd(2)) may be regarded as a potential new metal-based drug against breast cancer, coupling a significant efficiency to a low toxicity.
HubMed – drug
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