Unmet clinical needs and burden of disease in hidradenitis suppurativa: real-world experience from EU5 and US.

BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, inflammatory, debilitating skin disease characterized by painful deep lesions and associated with substantial disease burden. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to describe physician- and patient-reported clinical unmet needs from a real-world perspective. METHODS: This study used data from the Adelphi HS Disease Specific Programme, a point-in-time survey of dermatologists and their patients with HS in Europe and the United States. Dermatologists completed patient record forms (PRFs) for 5-7 consecutively consulting patients with HS; patients or carers of patients also optionally completed a patient/carer self-completion questionnaire (PSC/CSC). Data collection included demographics, symptomatology and impact on quality of life (QoL). RESULTS: Dermatologists (N = 312) completed PRFs for 1787 patients with HS; patient- and carer-reported questionnaires (PSC/CSC) were completed for 33.1% (591/1787) of patients. The mean age was 34.4 ± 12.2 years and 57.6% of patients were female (1029/1787). Physician-judged disease severity at sampling was categorized as mild in 66.0% (1179/1787), moderate in 29.3% (523/1787) and severe in 4.7% (85/1787) of patients. Deterioration or unstable condition over the previous 12 months was described by 17.1% [235/1372] and 12.6% [41/325] of physician- and patient/carer-reported cases, respectively. Despite receiving treatment, high proportions of patients still experienced symptoms at sampling (general pain/discomfort [49.5%, 885/1787]; inflammation/redness of lesions/abscesses [46.1%, 823/1787] and itching [29.9%, 535/1787]); these symptoms were more frequent in patients with moderate or severe disease. Patients reported a mean Dermatology Life Quality Index score of 5.9 ± 5.4 (555/591; mild, 4.1 ± 4.3; moderate, 9.4 ± 5.4; severe, 13.3 ± 5.5) and a mean Hidradenitis Suppurativa Quality of Life score of 11.0 ± 10.6 (518/591; mild, 7.6 ± 8.3; moderate, 17.7 ± 10.0; severe, 31.0 ± 15.4) indicating a substantial impact on QoL. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with HS experienced a high disease burden despite being actively treated by a dermatologist. This study demonstrates that the burden of HS disease is generally poorly managed with a considerable impact observed on patients' QoL.

Rationale and study design of a trial to assess rTMS add-on value for the amelioration of negative symptoms of schizophrenia (RADOVAN).

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia is a severe and often difficult to treat psychiatric illness. In many patients, negative symptoms dominate the clinical picture. Meta-analysis has suggested moderate, but significant effects of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS) on these symptoms. For treatment of depression a much shorter protocol - intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) - has shown to be non-inferior to conventional high-frequency rTMS. This randomized, sham-controlled, rater-blinded clinical trial assesses the effects of conventional HF-rTMS as well as of iTBS of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in comparison with sham. METHODS: The study will be conducted at two psychiatric university hospitals in Germany and at two in the Czech Republic. Assuming an effect size of 0.64 to be detected with a power of 80%, the calculated sample size is 90 patients. Primary outcome will be the difference in the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) score between each active arm and the sham arm at end of treatment.In addition, the trial investigates effects on depressive symptoms, cognitive performance and cigarette smoking. Recording magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) data will serve to assess whether treatment success can be predicted by neural markers and is related to specific neurobiological changes. DISCUSSION: This is a clinical trial directly comparing 10 Hz-rTMS and iTBS in a sham-controlled manner in treating negative symptoms of schizophrenia. If successful, this would present an interesting treatment option for a chronic and severe condition that can be applied at most psychiatric hospitals and only takes up a few minutes per day. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: This trial has been registered at clinicaltrials.gov, Identifier: NCT04318977. DATA DISSEMINATION: Results from the trial shall be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at meetings and conferences.

Secukinumab is effective in treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis: real-life effectiveness and safety from the PROSPECT study.

BACKGROUND: Secukinumab, a fully human anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody, has demonstrated efficacy and safety in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Trial protocols specify transition periods and prohibit concomitant psoriasis medication. Data are therefore needed on secukinumab effectiveness and safety in routine clinical practice. OBJECTIVES: The PROSPECT study assesses prior and concomitant psoriasis treatments and transition periods in subjects receiving secukinumab. Here, we report interim effectiveness and safety data for secukinumab in the context of prior and concomitant treatments. METHODS: PROSPECT is an ongoing 24-week, single-cohort, non-interventional study. Subjects with moderate-to-severe psoriasis with a decision to receive secukinumab 300 mg were included. RESULTS: Of 1988 subjects, 1238/1988 (62.4%) were male, and mean age was 48.1 ± 13.7 years. Mean baseline Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score was 17.7 ± 12.5. 90.9% of subjects had prior systemic treatment. Concomitant treatment was recorded in 44.3% of subjects. Median duration of transition period was 14.0, 30.0 and 44.5 days from prior topical, conventional systemic and biologic treatments. At Week 24, PASI75/90/100 was reached by 86.1%, 68.5% and 39.7% of subjects who started secukinumab treatment at baseline. No unexpected safety signals were observed. CONCLUSION: PROSPECT provides a large prospective real-world analysis of secukinumab treatment and includes prior and concomitant use of psoriasis treatments in subjects receiving secukinumab in a real-world setting. Secukinumab effectiveness and safety were comparable to that seen in the phase 2/3 secukinumab clinical trial programme.

Secukinumab treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in routine clinical care: real-life data of prior and concomitant use of psoriasis treatments from the PROSPECT study.

BACKGROUND: Secukinumab, a fully human anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody, has demonstrated efficacy and safety in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. However, as per study protocols, transition periods from prior psoriasis treatments of a defined minimal length were required and use of concomitant psoriasis medication was prohibited. There is therefore a lack of data on the effect of shorter transition periods and concomitant psoriasis treatment with other pharmacologically active substances on the effectiveness and safety of secukinumab in routine clinical practice. OBJECTIVES: The PROSPECT study was designed to assess prior and concomitant use of psoriasis treatments in subjects receiving secukinumab and the duration of transition periods from prior treatments to secukinumab. Here, we report the baseline characteristics and the duration of transition period in an interim analysis of the first 805 subjects. METHODS: PROSPECT is an ongoing 24-week, single-cohort, non-interventional study. Subjects with moderate to severe psoriasis with a decision to receive secukinumab were included. RESULTS: The majority of subjects were male (491/796, 61.7%), with a mean age of 47.7 years (SD 13.7). The baseline Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) was available for 92.4% (744/805) of subjects, and mean baseline PASI was 17.5 (SD 13.1); 93.4% (752/805) of subjects had signs of high disease severity. Use of concomitant treatment increased with the number of signs. Within the last 12 months prior to inclusion, 10%, 40%, and 28% of subjects had received topical, conventional systemic, or biologic treatments as their last prior psoriasis therapy, respectively, and 22% of subjects had not received any psoriasis therapy. Discontinuation of prior treatment due to adverse events was high in subjects with conventional systemic treatment (93/413, 22.5%) compared to biologic treatment (5/210, 2.4%). The median duration of the transition period was 14.0, 30.5, and 38.0 days for prior topical, conventional systemic, and biologic treatments, respectively. CONCLUSION: PROSPECT is the first study to investigate prior and concomitant use of psoriasis treatments in subjects receiving secukinumab in a real-world setting. The majority of the subjects had a high disease burden and use of concomitant treatment increased with disease severity. The duration of the transition period depended on prior treatment.

Serum dextromethorphan/dextrorphan metabolic ratio for CYP2D6 phenotyping in clinical practice.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Accurate prediction of actual CYP2D6 metabolic activity may prevent some adverse drug reactions and improve therapeutic response in patients receiving CYP2D6 substrates. Dextromethorphan-to-dextrorphan metabolic ratio (MR(DEM/DOR)) is well established as a marker of CYP2D6 metabolizer status. The relationship between urine and plasma or serum MR(DEM/DOR) is not well established nor is there evidence of antimode for separation of intermediate and especially poor metabolizers (PM) from extensive metabolizers (EM). This study addressed whether CYP2D6 phenotyping using molar metabolic ratio of dextromethorphan to dextrorphan (MR(DEM/DOR)) in serum is usable and reliable in clinical practice as urinary MR(DEM/DOR). METHODS: We measured MR(DEM/DOR) in serum and CYP2D6 genotype in 51 drug-naive patients and 30 volunteers. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) analysis was used for the evaluation of optimum cut-off value for discriminating between extensive, intermediate and PM. In addition, we studied the correlation of serum MR(DEM/DOR) with urine MR(DEM/DOR) in the 30 healthy volunteers. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A trimodal distribution of log MR(DEM/DOR) in serum was observed, with substantial overlap between extensive and intermediate metabolizer groups. We obtained an acceptable cut-off serum MR(DEM/DOR) value to discriminate between PM and either extensive or extensive + intermediate metabolizers. Using serum MR(DEM/DOR), it seems to be unreliable to discriminate EM from intermediate metabolizers (IM). A strong correlation between serum MR(DEM/DOR) and urine MR(DEM/DOR) was found. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Serum MR(DEM/DOR) (3 h) correlated with MR(DEM/DOR) in urine (0-8 h). Serum MR(DEM/DOR) discriminated between extensive and PM and between extensive + intermediate and PM. Our CYP2D6 phenotyping using serum dextromethorphan/dextrorphan molar ratio appears reliable but requires independent validation.

[Hippocampus, structure of the brain and schizophrenia]. / Hipokampus, morfologie mozku a schizofrenie.

Schizophrenia is a clinically heterogeneous state without clearly defined pathogenesis. This limits the classification approaches with consequent lack of ability for individual treatment strategies. It becomes evident that hippocampus is a key structure in the neuropathology of schizophrenia and a concept of hippocampal reduction as an endophenotype of schizophrenia was established. The biggest support came from MRI volumetric studies. Despite that, due to some inconsistent findings, clinical consequences of hippocampal shrinkage are not yet clear. Contemporary methods of brain imaging (computation morphometry, voxel-based morphometry) could help us to outline the concept of schizophrenia and to clarify the clinical consequences of brain structure changes.

Comparison of Point Similarity Measures for Atlas-based Registration of MRI Brain Images.

High-dimensional deformable registration of MRI brain images is presented here. The deformation is driven by local forces estimated from point similarities based on joint histogram and with the use of prior information obtained from tissue probability maps available in selected commonly used brain atlases. Three point similarity measures are tested in an experiment with data obtained from standard Simulated Brain Database.

[Present status and future of imaging methods in neuropsychiatry]. / Soucasnost a budoucnost zobrazovacích metod v neuropsychiatrii.

Introduction describes historical relations between neurology and psychiatry. Both disciplines are now much nearer to each other than before--they have received similar diagnostic tools and they have similar therapeutic methods. Psychiatry is considered to be an integral part of neuroscience. The article reviews findings on the structural and functional changes accompanying the most serious psychiatric diseases and the growing role of the brain imaging methods is depicted.

[Nicotine receptors, the hippocampus and schizophrenia]. / Nikotinové receptory, hippokampus a schizofrenie.

This paper deals with nicotinic receptor abnormalities of hippocampus in schizophrenia. It reviews genetic, electrophysiologic and anatomical studies and possible therapeutic use of such findings. Short summation of hippocampal physiology and functional anatomy is presented. In schizophrenia there is a defect of information processing--sensory gating, a function under nicotinic control. Role of cholinergic enhancement in the treatment of schizophrenia is also mentioned.