Incidence of hypopituitarism in adults undergoing radiotherapy for neck and head cancer: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: When children with head and neck cancer receive radiation therapy as part of their treatment, a considerable frequency of hypopituitarism has been recognised. However, in adults, it has been little studied and it is possible that patients may be inadvertently affected. The objective is to estimate the incidence of anterior pituitary dysfunction in adults undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A total of five databases will be used to perform the document search: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (Core Collection), Ovid-MEDLINE and Embase. Cohort studies will be included without restriction by language or date. The main outcome will be the incidence of adenohypophyseal dysfunction for each axis: prolactin, growth hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, luteinising hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone. Incidence meta-analysis will be performed using the Freeman-Tukey double arcsine method. In addition, a random-effects model will be used along with a 95% CI. Subgroup analyses will be performed according to tumour location, radiation dose and endocrine assessment time. Meta-regression will be applied according to patient's age and time elapsed until diagnosis. ETHICS AND DISCLOSURE: Since this will be a systematic review of published data, no ethics committee approval is required. The results will be presented at conferences and finally published in a peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021235163.

Effect of Bariatric Surgery on Gut Microbiota: A Scientometric Analysis.

Objective: To perform a bibliometric analysis of the scientific production related to intestinal microbiota and bariatric surgery between January 2016 and December 2022. Materials and Methods: A bibliographic search was performed in the Scopus database to identify published papers. Free and controlled terms (MeSH and Emtree) were used. The information collected was analyzed with SciVal. Results: A total of 518 published papers were included in the analysis. Carel Le Roux was the author with the highest scientific production; however, Edi Prifti had the highest impact. French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale) was the institution with the highest number of published articles. Six of the 10 institutions with the highest production were in France, yet the United States had the highest volume of scientific production in this research topic. Most papers were published in first quartile journals. Articles with international collaboration had the highest impact. There is a sustained increase in the number of publications since 2019. Conclusions: The study found that the vast majority of research on gut microbiota changes following bariatric surgery are conducted in the United States and European countries. In addition, the sustained increase in production coupled with the articles being published in high-quality journals and having good citation impact are indictors of the current interest in this research field.

Efectos del ejercicio aeróbico sobre los componentes del síndrome metabólico en adultos mayores con diabetes mellitus tipo 2: revisión sistemática y metaanálisis / Effects of aerobic exercise on the components of metabolic syndrome in the older population with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objetivo. Determinar los efectos del ejercicio aeróbico sobre los componentes del síndrome metabólico en pacientes adultos mayores diabéticos mediante una revisión sistemática con meta-análisis. Materiales y métodos. Utilizamos las bases de datos PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Cochrane library, Web of Science y el buscador Google Scholar. Se seleccionaron los ensayos controlados aleatorizados (ECA) según los criterios de inclusión. Dos revisores determinaron de forma independiente si los estudios cumplían con los criterios de in-clusión, extrajeron los datos y utilizaron la herramienta Cochrane de riesgo de sesgo (RoB 2). Los análisis cuantitativos se realizaron en el programa R v 4.0.5, utilizando efectos aleatorios. Resultados. Las búsquedas identificaron 8697 estudios, de los que siete ECA se incluyeron en la síntesis cualitativa. Se evaluó que la mayoría de los estudios tenían un RoB alto o bajo en al menos tres dominios. El metaanálisis mostró que el ejercicio aeróbico fue eficaz para mejorar los niveles de glucosa (diferencia de medias estandarizada [DME]: -1,04; intervalo de confianza al 95% [IC 95%] -1,27; -0,81), presión arterial sistólica (DME: -0,79; IC 95%: -1,02; -0,56), presión arterial diastólica (DME: -0,75; IC 95%: -0,98; -0,52), hemoglobina glucosilada (DME: -0,57; IC 95%: -0,77; -0,37), HDL (DME: 0,35; IC 95%: 0,15; 0,55), triglicéridos (DME: -0,26; IC 95%: -0,47; -0,06). No se informaron efectos adversos significativos. El nivel de certeza de los resultados fue baja para la glucosa en ayunas, moderado para la presión arterial sistólica y diastólica, y muy bajo para los demás resulta-dos, además de pocos efectos adversos. Sin embargo, estos resultados deben ser interpretados con cautela debido al uso de marcadores subrogados. Conclusiones. El ejercicio aeróbico demostró tener una mejoría significativa en los componentes del síndrome metabólico en adultos mayores diabéticos y no se reportaron efectos adversos importantes. Sin embargo, recomendamos más ECA que tengan un mayor tiempo de intervención para establecer el impacto sobre los síntomas y las complicaciones.

OXA-48 Carbapenemase in Klebsiella pneumoniae Sequence Type 307 in Ecuador.

Antibiotic resistance is on the rise, leading to an increase in morbidity and mortality due to infectious diseases. Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes bronchopneumonia, abscesses, urinary tract infection, osteomyelitis, and a wide variety of infections. The ubiquity of this microorganism confounds with the great increase in antibiotic resistance and have bred great concern worldwide. K. pneumoniae sequence type (ST) 307 is a widespread emerging clone associated with hospital-acquired infections, although sporadic community infections have also been reported. The aim of our study is to describe the first case of Klebsiella pneumoniae (ST) 307 harboring the blaOXA-48-like gene in Ecuador. We characterized a new plasmid that carry OXA-48 and could be the source of future outbreaks. The strain was recovered from a patient with cancer previously admitted in a Ukrainian hospital, suggesting that this mechanism of resistance could be imported. These findings highlight the importance of programs based on active molecular surveillance for the intercontinental spread of multidrug-resistant microorganisms with emergent carbapenemases.

A class of costimulatory CD28-bispecific antibodies that enhance the antitumor activity of CD3-bispecific antibodies.

T cell activation is initiated upon binding of the T cell receptor (TCR)/CD3 complex to peptide-major histocompatibility complexes ("signal 1"); activation is enhanced by engagement of a second "costimulatory" receptor, such as the CD28 receptor on T cells binding to its cognate ligand(s) on the target cell ("signal 2"). CD3-based bispecific antibodies act by replacing conventional signal 1, linking T cells to tumor cells by binding a tumor-specific antigen (TSA) with one arm of the bispecific and bridging to TCR/CD3 with the other. Although some of these so-called TSAxCD3 bispecifics have demonstrated promising antitumor efficacy in patients with cancer, their activity remains to be optimized. Here, we introduce a class of bispecific antibodies that mimic signal 2 by bridging TSA to the costimulatory CD28 receptor on T cells. We term these TSAxCD28 bispecifics and describe two such bispecific antibodies: one specific for ovarian and the other for prostate cancer antigens. Unlike CD28 superagonists, which broadly activate T cells and resulted in profound toxicity in early clinical trials, these TSAxCD28 bispecifics show limited activity and no toxicity when used alone in genetically humanized immunocompetent mouse models or in primates. However, when combined with TSAxCD3 bispecifics, they enhance the artificial synapse between a T cell and its target cell, potentiate T cell activation, and markedly improve antitumor activity of CD3 bispecifics in a variety of xenogeneic and syngeneic tumor models. Combining this class of CD28-costimulatory bispecific antibodies with the emerging class of TSAxCD3 bispecifics may provide well-tolerated, off-the-shelf antibody therapies with robust antitumor efficacy.