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Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a biomarker for both disease progression and treatment response in multiple sclerosis (MS), but the search continues for additional biomarkers to distinguish between disease activity and progression. Serum glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) could be a useful complement to NfL in MS, although it is not ready for the clinic.NfL is a structural protein of neurons, while GFAP is a structure protein of astrocytes. NfL therefore reflects neuronal damage, while GFAP is an indicator of astrogliosis and astrocytic damage. GFAP has been shown to be increased in progressive MS and has been applied in traumatic brain injury and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. Serum GFAP is a promising biomarker reflecting progression in MS and it is complementary to NfL.

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The oral potassium-competitive acid blocker vonoprazan was superior to the proton pump inhibitor lansoprazole for erosive esophagitis, according to results of the phase 3 PHALCON-EE trial. The 878 patients with healing were re-randomized to receive vonoprazan 10 mg 1 OD, vonoprazan 20 mg, or lansoprazole 15 mg for 24 weeks in the maintenance phase. For maintenance of healing at week 24, vonoprazan was noninferior to lansoprazole in the primary analysis and superior on secondary analysis of healing (80.7% for vonoprazan 20 mg and 79.2% for vonoprazan 10 mg vs 72.0% for lansoprazole; P < .0001 for both comparisons). As expected, serum gastrin increased to a greater extent with vonoprazan than lansoprazole, with levels > 500 pg/mL in 16% of those taking 20 mg at the end of maintenance therapy, the authors report. After stopping vonoprazan, gastrin levels dropped by roughly 60%-65% within 4 weeks. Last May, the FDA approved two vonoprazan based therapies for the treatment of H pylori infection.

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Ibalizumab is a long-acting monoclonal antibody, was first approved by the FDA in 2018 for the treatment of adults with multidrug resistant HIV-1. It is used in combination with other antiretroviral drugs. Prior to this approval, the drug was administered intravenously as a single 2000 mg loading dose, followed by an 800 mg maintenance dose every 2 weeks by a trained medical professional. The intravenous infusion is given over 15 to 30 minutes. Now, the maintenance dose can be administered by IV push, a method where the undiluted medication is delivered intravenously by injection, in just 30 seconds. Adverse effects of ibalizumab include diarrhea, dizziness, nausea, rash, immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome.

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Tezepelumab is an epithelial cytokine, and is the first and only biologic approved in Europe by EC for severe asthma for adults and adolescents with inadequately controlled severe asthma with no phenotype or biomarker limitations. Tezepelumab acts by blocking thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). Most common adverse events in patients were pharyngitis, rash, arthralgia, and injection site reactions.

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The five patients all of whom had an aggressive form of SLE underwent a single infusion of the experimental treatment. All five patients were able to stop their standard treatments for as long as 17 months following the therapy, the study found. The patients also stopped experiencing severe symptoms such as lung inflammation, fibrosis of the heart valves, arthritis, and fatigue. The patients have not relapsed. All of the patients were treated with genetically engineered T cells known as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, a treatment regularly used to kill cancer cells. Researchers harvested the patients’ immune cells and engineered them to destroy dysfunctional cells when infused back into the body.

RSV is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract infections in infants. Worldwide, acute lower respiratory infections associated with RSV account for about 1.4 million hospitalizations & 27,300 in-hospital deaths among infants under the age of 6 months annually, according to the WHO. Nirsevimab is a long-acting antibody given as a single intramuscular injection at a dose of 50 mg for infants with a body weight of less than 5 kg, and 100 mg for infants weighing at least 5 kg. If approved, nirsevimab will be the only preventative option for the broad newborn and infant population against RSV.