Investigating the Source of Fatal Pulmonary Thromboembolism in a Coronial Postmortem Population.

ABSTRACT: The incidence of how often a deep vein thrombosis is found in the calves of the legs at coronial postmortem examination is unclear. This study retrospectively examined postmortem examination reports from Australian Coronial investigations of sudden death resulting from pulmonary thromboembolism to determine the likelihood of dissection of the deep veins of calves of the legs revealing the source of a pulmonary thromboembolism. From 450 cases taken from the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) for 2016, the postmortem reports of 327 cases were reviewed to provide demographic details of victims of sudden death from pulmonary thromboembolism. In 235 cases, it was possible to determine in 76.6% a thrombus had been found in the deep veins of the calves of the legs after dissection. In 141 cases, it was documented that both sides had been examined. From these, it was determined there was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of thrombus in either side. However, it was shown that the presence of an abnormality of a lower limb (such as leg or hip infection, burns, surgery and nonoperated fractures, or a larger circumference) increased the likelihood that a deep vein thrombus would be found on that side.

A call for increased inclusivity and global representation in pharmacogenetic testing.

Commercial pharmacogenetic testing panels capture a fraction of the genetic variation underlying medication metabolism and predisposition to adverse reactions. In this study we compared variation in six pharmacogenes detected by whole genome sequencing (WGS) to a targeted commercial panel in a cohort of 308 individuals with family history of pediatric heart disease. In 1% of the cohort, WGS identified rare variants that altered the interpretation of metabolizer status and would thus prevent potential errors in gene-based dosing.

Expert Panel Curation of 31 Genes in Relation to Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy.

Introduction: Limb girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMDs) are a group of genetically heterogeneous autosomal conditions with some degree of phenotypic homogeneity. LGMD is defined as having onset >2 years of age with progressive proximal weakness, elevated serum creatine kinase levels and dystrophic features on muscle biopsy. Advances in massively parallel sequencing have led to a surge in genes linked to LGMD. Methods: The ClinGen Muscular Dystrophies and Myopathies gene curation expert panel (MDM GCEP, formerly Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy GCEP) convened to evaluate the strength of evidence supporting gene-disease relationships (GDR) using the ClinGen gene-disease clinical validity framework to evaluate 31 genes implicated in LGMD. Results: The GDR was exclusively LGMD for 17 genes, whereas an additional 14 genes were related to a broader phenotype encompassing congenital weakness. Four genes (CAPN3, COL6A1, COL6A2, COL6A3) were split into two separate disease entities, based on each displaying both dominant and recessive inheritance patterns, resulting in curation of 35 GDRs. Of these, 30 (86%) were classified as Definitive, 4 (11%) as Moderate and 1 (3%) as Limited. Two genes, POMGNT1 and DAG1, though definitively related to myopathy, currently have insufficient evidence to support a relationship specifically with LGMD. Conclusions: The expert-reviewed assertions on the clinical validity of genes implicated in LGMDs form an invaluable resource for clinicians and molecular geneticists. We encourage the global neuromuscular community to publish case-level data that help clarify disputed or novel LGMD associations.

Landscape of TPMT and NUDT15 Pharmacogenetic Variation in a Cohort of Canadian Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients.

BACKGROUND: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) exhibit considerable interindividual variability in medication response, highlighting the need for precision medicine approaches to optimize and tailor treatment. Pharmacogenetics (PGx) offers the ability to individualize dosing by examining genetic factors underlying the metabolism of medications such as thiopurines. Pharmacogenetic testing can identify individuals who may be at risk for thiopurine dose-dependent adverse reactions including myelosuppression. We aimed to evaluate PGx variation in genes supported by clinical guidelines that inform dosing of thiopurines and characterize differences in the distribution of actionable PGx variation among diverse ancestral groups. METHODS: Pharmacogenetic variation in TPMT and NUDT15 was captured by genome-wide genotyping of 1083 pediatric IBD patients from a diverse Canadian cohort. Genetic ancestry was inferred using principal component analysis. The proportion of PGx variation and associated metabolizer status phenotypes was compared across 5 genetic ancestral groups within the cohort (Admixed American, African, East Asian, European, and South Asian) and to prior global estimates from corresponding populations. RESULTS: Collectively, 11% of the cohort was categorized as intermediate or poor metabolizers of thiopurines, which would warrant a significant dose reduction or selection of alternate therapy. Clinically actionable variation in TPMT was more prevalent in participants of European and Admixed American/Latino ancestry (8.7% and 7.5%, respectively), whereas variation in NUDT15 was more prevalent in participants of East Asian and Admixed American/Latino ancestry (16% and 15% respectively). CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate the considerable interpopulation variability in PGx variation underlying thiopurine metabolism, which should be factored into testing diverse patient populations.

In a large, pediatric inflammatory bowel disease cohort comprised of 5 genetic ancestry groups, we evaluated the distribution of loss-of-function pharmacogenetic variants in TPMT and NUDT15 and predicted phenotypes (impact on thiopurine metabolism).

Establishing the protocols for the South Australian Emergency Department Admission Blood Psychoactive Testing (EDABPT) programme for drug surveillance.

OBJECTIVE: ED presentations because of illicit use of psychotropic drugs and pharmaceuticals result in significant medical harm and resource consumption. Patient assessment is complicated by the regular emergence of new psychoactive substances, difficulties associated with their identification and a lack of information about their effects. Here we report the protocol for the Emergency Department Admission Blood Psychoactive Testing (EDABPT) programme, an observational study utilising clinical data capture and definitive drug identification to assess the medical impact and patterns of illicit drug use in the community, and their geographic and temporal fluctuations. The study provides data to an early warning system targeting an improved public health response to emerging drugs of concern. METHODS: Enrolment of adult patients presenting with suspected illicit drug use occurs at four major EDs in a single urban setting. Clinical and demographic data are collected by treating clinicians. Blood samples are collected at presentation and frozen on site prior to transport to a specialised forensic facility for comprehensive toxicological screening. RESULTS: Results are fed back to clinicians and disseminated more broadly via an existing local early warning system. Targeted warnings and public health releases are instigated where heightened risk or harm is identified. CONCLUSION: The study pairs city-wide patient enrolment with analytically confirmed toxicology results to allow broad sampling and identification of illicit drugs causing medical harm. It provides a mechanism for the identification of new agents as they emerge in the community, delivers a relevant and reliable source of information for public health agencies and clinicians and supplements existing local early warning mechanisms.

Changes in red blood cell transfusion practice during the turn of the millennium: a retrospective analysis of adult patients undergoing elective open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair using the Mayo database.

BACKGROUND: Significant changes in perioperative red blood cell (RBC) transfusion practice during the past two decades have been reported but similar data are not available for patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) surgery. METHODS: Adult patients who had undergone primary, elective, open AAA repair were stratified into one of two transfusion-related groups: early practice (1980-1982) or late practice (2003-2006). RBC transfusion and hemoglobin concentration (Hb) were analyzed as a continuous variable and compared between groups with use of the rank sum test. Perioperative complications were compared between groups with Fisher's exact test. Data were age adjusted, and analyses were corrected for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: Compared with the early practice group, patients in the late practice group had significantly lower intraoperative (mean 10 +/- 1.4 vs. 11.5 +/- 1.5 g/dL), postoperative (11.9 +/- 1.4 vs. 13.4 +/- 1.5 g/dL), and discharge Hbs (mean 10.8 +/- 1.2 vs. 12.5 +/- 1.5 g/dL) (p < 0.0001 for each variable). Patients in the late practice group were significantly less likely to receive intraoperative allogenic transfusions (46% vs. 99%, p < 0.0001). Additionally, significantly fewer total allogenic units of RBCs per patient were transfused in the late practice group (mean 1.7 vs. 4.3, p < 0.0001). Intraoperative autotransfusions were used in 97% of the late practice patients but in none of the early practice patients (p < 0.0001). In the late practice group, 119 patients (40%) experienced a major perioperative morbidity or mortality event compared with 106 patients (35%) in the early practice group (p = 0.27). CONCLUSION: In this retrospective analysis, we observed significantly lower perioperative Hb, fewer allogenic RBC transfusions, and more autotransfusions in open AAA repairs done in 2003-2006 versus those done in 1980-1982. Additionally, late transfusion practice patients were older and had more comorbid diseases. Despite these observations, no significant differences in perioperative morbidity or mortality were observed between groups.

Pathologic and molecular responses to neoadjuvant trastuzumab and/or lapatinib from a phase II randomized trial in HER2-positive breast cancer (TRIO-US B07).

In this multicenter, open-label, randomized phase II investigator-sponsored neoadjuvant trial with funding provided by Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline (TRIO-US B07, Clinical Trials NCT00769470), participants with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer (N = 128) were recruited from 13 United States oncology centers throughout the Translational Research in Oncology network. Participants were randomized to receive trastuzumab (T; N = 34), lapatinib (L; N = 36), or both (TL; N = 58) as HER2-targeted therapy, with each participant given one cycle of this designated anti-HER2 therapy alone followed by six cycles of standard combination chemotherapy with the same anti-HER2 therapy. The primary objective was to estimate the rate of pathologic complete response (pCR) at the time of surgery in each of the three arms. In the intent-to-treat population, we observed similar pCR rates between T (47%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 30-65%) and TL (52%, 95% CI 38-65%), and a lower pCR rate with L (25%, 95% CI 13-43%). In the T arm, 100% of participants completed all protocol-specified treatment prior to surgery, as compared to 69% in the L arm and 74% in the TL arm. Tumor or tumor bed tissue was collected whenever possible pre-treatment (N = 110), after one cycle of HER2-targeted therapy alone (N = 89), and at time of surgery (N = 59). Higher-level amplification of HER2 and hormone receptor (HR)-negative status were associated with a higher pCR rate. Large shifts in the tumor, immune, and stromal gene expression occurred after one cycle of HER2-targeted therapy. In contrast to pCR rates, the L-containing arms exhibited greater proliferation reduction than T at this timepoint. Immune expression signatures increased in all arms after one cycle of HER2-targeted therapy, decreasing again by the time of surgery. Our results inform approaches to early assessment of sensitivity to anti-HER2 therapy and shed light on the role of the immune microenvironment in response to HER2-targeted agents.

Cognitive deficits after recovery from thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

BACKGROUND: Patients with apparent complete recovery from thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) often complain of problems with memory, concentration, and fatigue. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Twenty-four patients who were enrolled in the Oklahoma TTP-HUS Registry for their initial episode of TTP, 1995-2006, and who had ADAMTS13 activity of less than 10 percent were evaluated for a broad range of cognitive functions 0.1 to 10.6 years (median, 4.0 years) after their most recent episode. At the time of their evaluation, they had normal physical and Mini-Mental State Examinations and no evidence of TTP. RESULTS: The patients, as a group, performed significantly worse on 4 of the 11 cognitive domains tested than standardized US data from neurologically normal individuals adjusted for age, sex, and education (p < 0.05). These four domains measured complex attention and concentration skills, information processing speed, rapid language generation, and rote memorization. Twenty-one (88%) patients performed below expectations on at least 1 of the 11 domains. No clear patterns were observed between cognitive test results and patients' characteristics or features of the preceding TTP, including age, occurrence of severe neurologic abnormalities, multiple episodes, and interval from an acute episode. CONCLUSION: Patients who have recovered from TTP may have persistent cognitive abnormalities. The abnormalities observed in these patients are characteristic of disorders associated with diffuse subcortical microvascular disease. Studies of larger patient groups will be required to confirm these preliminary observations and to determine patient characteristics that may contribute to persistent cognitive abnormalities.

A new resin-bound universal isonitrile for the Ugi 4CC reaction: preparation and applications to the synthesis of 2,5-diketopiperazines and 1,4-benzodiazepine-2,5-diones.

[reaction: see text] The preparation and synthetic applications of a novel resin-bound isonitrile are described. The resin is an example of a novel convertible isonitrile that can be utilized in the Ugi multicomponent reaction. Base-activation of the resin-bound Ugi product results in cleavage via formation of a N-acyloxazolidone that is then trapped as a carboxylic acid ester. This resin and the methodology described are suitable for synthesizing diversity libraries of 2,5-diketopiperazines and 1,4-benzodiazepine-2,5-diones.

Discovery of danoprevir (ITMN-191/R7227), a highly selective and potent inhibitor of hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3/4A protease.

HCV serine protease NS3 represents an attractive drug target because it is not only essential for viral replication but also implicated in the viral evasion of the host immune response pathway through direct cleavage of key proteins in the human innate immune system. Through structure-based drug design and optimization, macrocyclic peptidomimetic molecules bearing both a lipophilic P2 isoindoline carbamate and a P1/P1' acylsulfonamide/acylsulfamide carboxylic acid bioisostere were prepared that possessed subnanomolar potency against the NS3 protease in a subgenomic replicon-based cellular assay (Huh-7). Danoprevir (compound 49) was selected as the clinical development candidate for its favorable potency profile across multiple HCV genotypes and key mutant strains and for its good in vitro ADME profiles and in vivo target tissue (liver) exposures across multiple animal species. X-ray crystallographic studies elucidated several key features in the binding of danoprevir to HCV NS3 protease and proved invaluable to our iterative structure-based design strategy.

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of matrix metalloprotease inhibitors bearing cyclopropane-derived peptidomimetics as P1' and P2' replacements.

We have previously used trisubstituted cyclopropanes as peptide replacements to induce conformational constraints in known pseudopeptide inhibitors of a number of important enzymes. Cyclopropane-derived peptide mimics are novel in that they are among the few replacements that locally orient the peptide backbone and the amino acid side chain in a predefined manner. Although these dipeptide isosteres have been employed to orient amino acid side chains mimicking the gauche(-) conformation of chi(1)-space, their ability to project the side chains into an anti orientation has not been evaluated. As a first step toward this goal, the conformationally constrained pseudopeptides 8 and 10 and their corresponding flexible analogues 9 and 11 were prepared and tested as inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). These compounds are analogues of 4 and 5, which were known to be potent MMP inhibitors. The anti orientations of the isopropyl side chain in 8 and the aromatic ring in 10 relative to the peptide backbone substituents on the cyclopropane were predicted to correspond to the known orientations of the P1' and P2' side chains of 5 when bound to MMPs. Hence, 8 and 10 were designed explicitly to probe topological features of the S1' or the S2' binding pockets of the MMPs. They were also designed to explore the importance of the P1'-P2' amide group, which is known to form highly conserved hydrogen bonds in several MMP-inhibitor complexes, and the viability of introducing a retro amide linkage between P2' and P3'. Pseudopeptides 8 and 9 were found to be weak competitive inhibitors of a series of MMPs. Any entropically favorable conformational constraints that were induced by the cyclopropane in 8 were thus overwhelmed by the loss of the hydrogen bonding capability associated with the P1'-P2' amide group. On the other hand, compounds 10 and 11, which contain a P2'-P3' retro amide group, were modest competitive inhibitors of a series of MMPs. The results obtained for 10 and 11 suggest that there may be a loss of hydrogen bonding capability associated with introducing the P2'-P3' retro amide group. However, because the conformationally constrained pseudopeptide 10 was significantly more potent than its flexible analogue 11, trisubstituted cyclopropanes related to 3 may serve as useful rigid dipeptide replacements in some biologically active pseudopeptides.

Influenza neuraminidase inhibitors: structure-based design of a novel inhibitor series.

Combinatorial and structure-based medicinal chemistry strategies were used together to advance a lead compound with an activity of K(i) = 58 microM via a potency enhancement of >70 000-fold to an analogue with an activity of K(i) = 0.8 nM against influenza neuraminidase (A/Tokyo/67). Lead optimization was initiated using molecular modeling and combinatorial chemistry. Protein crystal structures revealed that inconsistent structure-activity relationship (SAR) data resulted from different binding orientations of the inhibitor core five-membered rings from one series to another. Binding modes for a series of compounds showed up to a 180 degrees variation in orientation of the five-membered ring within the active site. Potent analogues were only achieved with chemical series that were observed to bind in the same orientation and yielded consistent SAR. In one series, consistent binding was obtained by an unprecedented occupation of a negatively charged binding pocket by a neutral methyl ester unit. The structural rationale for this novel SAR variation, based on protein crystallographic data, is given.