scholarly journals An evaluation of barriers to the initiation of clozapine in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S30-S31
Author(s):  
Declan Hyland ◽  
Seth Jamieson

AimsThis evaluation aimed to identify patient, practitioner and infrastructural barriers to initiation of clozapine treatment in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). In response to recent research supporting use of clozapine as the most effective treatment for patients with TRS, concerted efforts have been made to establish why clozapine is underutilised in the NHS. Following a study conducted by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, which identified barriers and made recommendations, this evaluation aimed to identify barriers to initiation of clozapine in patients under the care of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.This evaluation also aimed to make further recommendations to increase use of clozapine in Mersey Care's TRS patients and assess whether there have been any differences to concerns about clozapine initiation compared to previous evaluations.MethodAn online questionnaire containing a series of Likert scales was e-mailed to all Consultant Psychiatrists in Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. The questionnaire asked Consultants to rate how often they felt a range of barriers interfered with successful initiation of Clozapine treatment. The barriers chosen were based on the 2019 systematic review “Barriers to using clozapine in treatment-resistant schizophrenia.”ResultNineteen consultant psychiatrists completed the online questionnaire. All 19 indicated they either “agreed” (16%) or “strongly agreed” (84%) that they were confident in diagnosing TRS. This was a significant increase compared to the South London and Maudsley evaluation, with only 81% of participants in that study being “fairly familar” or “very familiar” with clozapine guidelines.Furthermore, concerns about inadequate blood testing facilities appear to have been addressed, with no participants in this evaluation staing there were insufficient blood testing facilities. However, 53% of Consultants who completed this evaluation stated they “often” (37%) or “very often” (16%) have patients who refuse clozapine because of the requirement for regular blood testing. Refusal to agree to required blood testing was the commonest reason identified for failure to initiate clozapine in TRS patients. This was consistent with the results from the South London and Maudsley study.ConclusionThose Mersey Care consultants surveyed identified that providing patients with further information about clozapine would be the most valuable intervention to increase likelihood of uptake of clozapine in the treatment of TRS. Significant progress has been made in improving the likelihood that clozapine can be successfully initiated, especially in the removal of practitioner barriers. This evaluation suggests interventions should now be aimed at reducing patient barriers to initiation of treatment.

Author(s):  
David J. Smith

The electron microscope has evolved to the level where it is now straightforward to record highresolution images from thin samples (t∼10 to 20nm) that are directly interpretable in terms of atomic arrangements. Whilst recorded images necessarily represent two-dimensional projections of the structure, many defects such as dislocations and interfaces may be linear or planar in nature and thus might be expected to be amenable to detailed characterization. In this review, we briefly consider the recent significant progress that has been made in quantitative defect analysis using the high-resolution electron microscope and then discuss some drawbacks to the technique as well as potential scope for further improvements. Surveys of defect modelling for some small-unit-cell materials and interfaces have recently been published, and reference should be made to other papers in this symposium for further examples.The technique of structure imaging originated in the early '70s with observations of large-unit-cell block oxides.


2010 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 5-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio González Bueno
Keyword(s):  

Español.  Coincidiendo con el 200 aniversario del nacimiento de Pierre-Edmond Boissier (1810-1885), presentamos un análisis de su primer viaje por el Sur de España, realizado en 1837: estudiamos los motivos que le impulsaron a llevarlo a cabo, la información que tuvo disponible, el viaje en sí y la publicación de sus resultados en la más señera de sus obras, el Voyage botanique dans le midi de l’Espagne… (París, 1839-1845).English. In the 200th anniversary of the birth of Pierre-Edmond Boissier (1810-1885) we analized his first trip to the south of Spain, made in 1837, the reasons that prompted him to carry out, the information available, the trip itself and the publication of their results in the most outstanding of his works, the Voyage botanique dans le midi de l’Espagne ... (Paris, 1839-1845).


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-145
Author(s):  
Tomasz Mackiewicz ◽  
Aleksander Sowa ◽  
Jakub Fichna

: Colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC) remains a critical complication of ulcerative colitis (UC) with mortality of approximately 15%, which makes early CAC diagnosis crucial. The current standard of surveillance, with repetitive colonoscopies and histological testing of biopsied mucosa samples is burdensome and expensive, and therefore less invasive methods and reliable biomarkers are needed. Significant progress has been made thanks to continuous extensive research in this field, however no clinically relevant biomarker has been established so far. This review of the current literature presents the genetic and molecular differences between CAC and sporadic colorectal cancer and covers progress made in the early detection of CAC carcinogenesis. It focuses on biomarkers under development, which can be easily tested in samples of body fluids or breath and, once made clinically available, will help to differentiate between progressors (UC patients who will develop dysplasia) from non-progressors and enable early intervention to decrease the risk of cancer development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asma H. Almaghrebi

Background: The clozapine-derivative quetiapine has been shown in some cases to cause leukopenia and neutropenia. Case Presentation: We reported on a case of a young female diagnosed with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. After failed trials of three antipsychotic medications and despite a history of quetiapineinduced leukopenia, clozapine treatment was introduced due to the severity of the patient’s symptoms, the limited effective treatment options, and a lack of guidelines on this issue. Result: Over a ten-week period of clozapine treatment at 700 mg per day, the patient developed agranulocytosis. Her white blood cell count sharply dropped to 1.6 &#215; 10<sup>9</sup> L, and her neutrophils decreased to 0.1 &#215; 10<sup>9</sup> L. There had been no similar reaction to her previous medications (carbamazepine, risperidone, and haloperidol). Conclusion: The safety of clozapine in a patient who has previously experienced leukopenia and neutropenia with quetiapine requires further investigation. Increased attention should be paid to such cases. Careful monitoring and slow titration are advisable.


Database ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faisal M Fadlelmola ◽  
Kais Ghedira ◽  
Yosr Hamdi ◽  
Mariem Hanachi ◽  
Fouzia Radouani ◽  
...  

Abstract African genomic medicine and microbiome datasets are usually not well characterized in terms of their origin, making it difficult to find and extract data for specific African ethnic groups or even countries. The Pan-African H3Africa Bioinformatics Network (H3ABioNet) recognized the need for developing data portals for African genomic medicine and African microbiomes to address this and ran a hackathon to initiate their development. The two portals were designed and significant progress was made in their development during the hackathon. All the participants worked in a very synergistic and collaborative atmosphere in order to achieve the hackathon's goals. The participants were divided into content and technical teams and worked over a period of 6 days. In response to one of the survey questions of what the participants liked the most during the hackathon, 55% of the hackathon participants highlighted the familial and friendly atmosphere, the team work and the diversity of team members and their expertise. This paper describes the preparations for the portals hackathon and the interaction between the participants and reflects upon the lessons learned about its impact on successfully developing the two data portals as well as building scientific expertise of younger African researchers. Database URL: The code for developing the two portals was made publicly available in GitHub repositories: [https://github.com/codemeleon/Database; https://github.com/codemeleon/AfricanMicrobiomePortal].


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seokwoo Choe ◽  
Sung Min Kim ◽  
Yeji Lee ◽  
Jin Seok ◽  
Jiyong Jung ◽  
...  

AbstractPhotocatalytic N2 reduction has emerged as one of the most attractive routes to produce NH3 as a useful commodity for chemicals used in industries and as a carbon-free energy source. Recently, significant progress has been made in understanding, exploring, and designing efficient photocatalyst. In this review, we outline the important mechanistic and experimental procedures for photocatalytic NH3 production. In addition, we review effective strategies on development of photocatalysts. Finally, our analyses on the characteristics and modifications of photocatalysts have been summarized, based on which we discuss the possible future research directions, particularly on preparing more efficient catalysts. Overall, this review provides insights on improving photocatalytic NH3 production and designing solar-driven chemical conversions.


Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 179
Author(s):  
Kristian Urh ◽  
Margareta Žlajpah ◽  
Nina Zidar ◽  
Emanuela Boštjančič

Significant progress has been made in the last decade in our understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms of colorectal cancer (CRC). Cancer stem cells (CSC) have gained much attention and are now believed to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of various cancers, including CRC. In the current study, we validated gene expression of four genes related to CSC, L1TD1, SLITRK6, ST6GALNAC1 and TCEA3, identified in a previous bioinformatics analysis. Using bioinformatics, potential miRNA-target gene correlations were prioritized. In total, 70 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded biopsy samples from 47 patients with adenoma, adenoma with early carcinoma and CRC without and with lymph node metastases were included. The expression of selected genes and microRNAs (miRNAs) was evaluated using quantitative PCR. Differential expression of all investigated genes and four of six prioritized miRNAs (hsa-miR-199a-3p, hsa-miR-335-5p, hsa-miR-425-5p, hsa-miR-1225-3p, hsa-miR-1233-3p and hsa-miR-1303) was found in at least one group of CRC cancerogenesis. L1TD1, SLITRK6, miR-1233-3p and miR-1225-3p were correlated to the level of malignancy. A negative correlation between miR-199a-3p and its predicted target SLITRK6 was observed, showing potential for further experimental validation in CRC. Our results provide further evidence that CSC-related genes and their regulatory miRNAs are involved in CRC development and progression and suggest that some them, particularly miR-199a-3p and its SLITRK6 target gene, are promising for further validation in CRC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (14) ◽  
pp. 7429
Author(s):  
Matthew Martin ◽  
Mengyao Sun ◽  
Aishat Motolani ◽  
Tao Lu

Over the last several decades, colorectal cancer (CRC) has been one of the most prevalent cancers. While significant progress has been made in both diagnostic screening and therapeutic approaches, a large knowledge gap still remains regarding the early identification and treatment of CRC. Specifically, identification of CRC biomarkers that can help with the creation of targeted therapies as well as increasing the ability for clinicians to predict the biological response of a patient to therapeutics, is of particular importance. This review provides an overview of CRC and its progression stages, as well as the basic types of CRC biomarkers. We then lay out the synopsis of signaling pathways related to CRC, and further highlight the pivotal and multifaceted role of nuclear factor (NF) κB signaling in CRC. Particularly, we bring forth knowledge regarding the tumor microenvironment (TME) in CRC, and its complex interaction with cancer cells. We also provide examples of NF-κB signaling-related CRC biomarkers, and ongoing efforts made at targeting NF-κB signaling in CRC treatment. We conclude and anticipate that with more emerging novel regulators of the NF-κB pathway being discovered, together with their in-depth characterization and the integration of large groups of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data, the day of successful development of more ideal NF-κB inhibitors is fast approaching.


2017 ◽  
Vol 99 (906) ◽  
pp. 927-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mazen Hedar

AbstractLooking at the physical damage caused by the Syrian war, one can begin to imagine the scale of the psychological toll that eight years of crisis have taken on the Syrian people. In a country where mental health was still considered an emerging field before the war, Syrians are working to address and manage the mental health and psychological effects of war. Despite this disastrous situation, there appears to have been significant progress in the field of mental health during the crisis. This article explores the mental health situation in Syria prior to 2011, the effects of the crisis on Syrians, and how these have been managed in recent years. It concludes by citing some examples of progress that have been made in mental health care in Syria and discussing some of the challenges that remain to be addressed.


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