Safety and Efficacy of Placenta-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Treatment for Diabetic Patients with Critical Limb Ischemia: A Pilot Study.

AIM: Diabetic foot has become the main cause of non-traumatic amputation. Stem cell therapy, especially mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), holds a great promise as a therapy for diabetic foot with ischemia limb arterial disease. The aim of this pilot study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of placenta-derived MSCs (P-MSCs) treatment for diabetic patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI). METHODS: Four eligible diabetic patients with CLI were consecutively enrolled in this pilot study. On the base of the standard-of-care treatment, these patients accepted P-MSCs treatment by intramuscular injection for successive 3 times at an interval of 4 weeks, and the safety and efficacy of placenta-derived MSCs (P-MSCs) treatment were evaluated. RESULTS: There were no serious adverse events during the period of P-MSCs injection and the 24-weeks follow-up period. The clinical ischemic features of patients were improved 24 weeks after P-MSCs treatment. The scores of resting pain and limb coldness significantly decreased, and pain-free walking distance significantly increased from baseline to 24 weeks after P-MSCs therapy. The resting ankle brachial index increased, but no statistically significant difference was found. The findings of magnetic resonance angiography showed the increase of collateral vessel formation in one patient, but there were no significant changes observed in the other patients. CONCLUSIONS: The data in this pilot study indicated that multiple intramuscular P-MSCs injections may be a safe and effective alternative therapy for diabetic patients with CLI, and larger, placebo-controlled, perspective studies are needed to prove these results.

Efficacy of febuxostat in hyperuricemic patients with mild-to-moderate chronic kidney disease: a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials: A PRISMA-compliant article.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the efficacy of febuxostat in hyperuricemic patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), relevant randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were analyzed. METHODS: We used PubMed, Medline, ISI Web of Science, CBMdisc, and Cochrane Library databases to conduct a systematic literature research. A fixed-effects model was used to evaluate the standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We conducted subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and analyzed publication bias, to comprehensively estimate the renoprotective effects of febuxostat in hyperuricemic patients with CKD. RESULTS: Among 296 retrieved studies, 5 relevant RCTs were included in the meta-analysis. The result showed that serum estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was improved after febuxostat treatment in hyperuricemic patients with CKD, with an SMD (95% CI) of 0.24 [-0.17 to 0.43] and P = .67 (fixed-effects model). No heterogeneity was observed across studies (I  = 0% and P = .67). Subgroup analysis suggested that treatment-related reductions in serum eGFR levels were not related to drug doses, intervention times, or region. CONCLUSIONS: The present meta-analysis suggests that febuxostat may slow the progression of mild-to-moderate CKD. Given the limited number of included studies, additional large sample-size RCTs are required to determine the long-term renoprotective effects of febuxostat in hyperuricemic patients with CKD.

Insulin autoimmune syndrome in a pregnant female: A rare case report.

RATIONALE: Insulin autoimmune syndrome (IAS) is an uncommon disorder characterized by hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia related to insulin-binding autoantibodies. To the best of our knowledge, we report the first case of a pregnant female with IAS. PATIENT CONCERNS: The 26-year-old patient with Graves disease and 10 weeks pregnant developed IAS after approximately 6 months treatment with methimazole. The patient exhibited recurrent spontaneous hypoglycemia. DIAGNOSES: On evaluation, laboratory findings detected both high fasting insulin (>1000 mIU/L) and insulin autoantibodies. An oral glucose tolerance test showed elevated insulin concentrations with disproportionately elevated C-peptide levels. The imaging study showed nomasslesionsinthepancreas,and the patient was clinically diagnosed with IAS. INTERVENTIONS: The patient had an abortion, discontinued methimazole and switched to oral prednisone (30 mg once daily) and propylth- iouracil (100 mg 3 times daily) for 3 months. OUTCOMES: At the 3-month follow-up visit, hypoglycemic episodes had disappeared and insulin antibody levels were no longer detectable. LESSONS: We have described this case and reviewed the relevant literature concerning diagnosis and treatment of IAS. Importantly, this case indicates that clinicians should view pregnancy as another factor of hypoglycemia in IAS.

Metformin Use Is Associated with Reduced Incidence and Improved Survival of Endometrial Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.

Studies have suggested that metformin can potentially decrease the incidence of cancer and improve survival outcomes. However, the association between metformin use and the incidence and survival of endometrial cancer (EC) remains controversial. So, a meta-analysis was performed. An electronic search was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science. The outcome measures were relative risks (RRs) or hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) comparing the EC incidence and survival in patients treated with and without metformin. Eleven studies involving 766,926 participants were included in this study. In the pooled analysis of five studies which evaluated the association of metformin use with the incidence of EC, we found that metformin use was associated with a 13% reduction in EC risk among patients with diabetes (RR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.80-0.95; p = 0.006). In the pooled analysis of six retrospective cohort studies evaluating the effect of metformin on the survival of EC patients, we found that, relative to nonuse, metformin use significantly improved the survival of EC patients (HR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.45-0.87; p = 0.006). This study showed that metformin use was significantly associated with a decreased incidence of EC in diabetes and a favorable survival outcome of EC patients.