Effects of Compound Danshen Dripping Pills on Ventricular Remodeling and Cardiac Function after Acute Anterior Wall ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (CODE-AAMI): Protocol for a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial / 中国结合医学杂志

BACKGROUND@#Ventricular remodeling after acute anterior wall ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (AAMI) is an important factor in occurrence of heart failure which additionally results in poor prognosis. Therefore, the treatment of ventricular remodeling needs to be further optimized. Compound Danshen Dripping Pills (CDDP), a traditional Chinese medicine, exerts a protective effect on microcirculatory disturbance caused by ischemia-reperfusion injury and attenuates ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction.@*OBJECTIVE@#This study is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CDDP in improving ventricular remodeling and cardiac function after AAMI on a larger scale.@*METHODS@#This study is a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group clinical trial. The total of 268 patients with AAMI after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) will be randomly assigned 1:1 to the CDDP group (n=134) and control group (n=134) with a follow-up of 48 weeks. Both groups will be treated with standard therapy of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), with the CDDP group administrating 20 tablets of CDDP before pPCI and 10 tablets 3 times daily after pPCI, and the control group treated with a placebo simultaneously. The primary endpoint is 48-week echocardiographic outcomes including left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (LVEDVI), and left ventricular end-systolic volume index (LVESVI). The secondary endpoint includes the change in N terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level, arrhythmias, and cardiovascular events (death, cardiac arrest, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, rehospitalization due to heart failure or angina pectoris, deterioration of cardiac function, and stroke). Investigators and patients are both blinded to the allocated treatment.@*DISCUSSION@#This prospective study will investigate the efficacy and safety of CDDP in improving ventricular remodeling and cardiac function in patients undergoing pPCI for a first AAMI. Patients in the CDDP group will be compared with those in the control group. If certified to be effective, CDDP treatment in AAMI will probably be advised on a larger scale. (Trial registration No. NCT05000411).

Outcome Indexes in Randomized Controlled Trials of Chinese Medicine for Diabetic Kidney Disease / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo analyze the utilization of outcome indexes and other trial design elements in randomized controlled trials （RCTs） of Chinese medicine for diabetic kidney disease （DKD） and provide a basis for the design of clinical trials and the development of core outcome index sets for Chinese medicine treatment of DKD. MethodSeven medical databases （CNKI， Wanfang Data， VIP， SinoMed， etc.） and two clinical trial registration centers （clinicaltrials.gov and chinadrugtrials.org.cn） were searched for RCTs of Chinese medicine for DKD published in the past 5 years. The included studies were assessed for risk of bias using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions， and the outcome indexes and other trial design elements were statistically analyzed. ResultNinety-seven RCTs were enrolled， including five trial registration protocols. The overall risk of bias was found to be high in the included studies. Stage Ⅲ DKD （36 studies， 41.38%） and the Qi-Yin deficiency with blood stasis syndrome （16 studies， 26.23%） were the top DKD stage and traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome， respectively. The treatment duration ranged from 2 weeks to 96 weeks， with 12 weeks being the most common duration （52 studies， 56.52%）. A total of 152 outcome indexes were used in 92 RCTs and five registered trials， with a frequency of 1 040 times. These indexes were classified into eight categories： Laboratory tests （blood）， laboratory tests （urine）， clinical efficacy， TCM syndrome score， quality of life scales， vital signs， other indexes， and other events. The most frequently used outcome indexes were serum creatinine （68 times， 70.10%）， clinical response rate （55 times， 56.70%）， fasting blood glucose （51 times， 52.58%）， blood urea nitrogen （48 times， 49.48%）， total cholesterol （47 times， 48.45%）， and 24-hour urinary protein excretion （43 times， 44.33%）. Safety indexes were used in 56 RCTs and two registered trials， with 53 different indexes and a frequency of 227 times. The most frequently used safety indexes were adverse reactions （49 times， 84.48%）， liver function （28 times， 48.28%）， complete blood count （24 times， 41.38%）， electrocardiogram （17 times， 29.31%）， and urinalysis （14 times， 24.14%）. Ten RCTs and five registered trials reported primary outcome indexes， and 54 RCTs reported clinical response rates. ConclusionThe current design of outcome indexes in RCTs of Chinese medicine for DKD is not standardized. In the future， efforts should be made to develop core outcome index sets that highlight the characteristics of TCM， improve the quality of clinical research， and enhance the applicability of trial results.

Exploration of early food effect study of innovative drugs based on physiologically-based pharmacokinetic absorption model / 中国临床药理学与治疗学

Since the impact of food on innovative drugs exposure will increase the risk of evaluation failures for safety and effectiveness, food effect study is routinely completed before multiple ascending dose (MAD) trials for innovative drugs. The prediction performance of physiologically-based pharmacokinetic absorption model (absorption PBPK model) in the application of food effect prediction has improved, we proposed a new strategy to explore food effect based on the absorption PBPK model. Based on the accurate prediction by absorption PBPK model, the food effect studies for qualified innovative drugs would be nested in MAD clinical trials to intend replacing the early independent food effect study. That would be promising to reduce costs and time for drug development, and also to provide the template for early food effect study in China.

Optimization and implementation of clinical trial of acupuncture: reflection on the successful case of acupuncture for postprandial distress syndrome / 中国针灸

Taking the clinical trial of acupuncture in treatment of postprandial distress syndrome as an example, this paper proposes that the acupuncture clinical trial protocol should be optimized in view of acupuncture prescription, acupuncture frequency and outcomes. Besides, the data quality of acupuncture clinical trial should be improved in consideration of data sharing and electronic data capture so as to provide a reference for the majority of researchers to optimize and implement acupuncture clinical trial.

The role of modeling and simulation in pediatric clinical trials / 国际药学研究杂志

Children’ s ability to dispose of drugs and the efficacy/safety of drugs for children differ from those adults as children are in the process of growth and development. In general,medication for children in a certain age group should be supported by clinical trial data from the corresponding pediatric population. However,compared with clinical trials in adults,children’s clinical trials have many challenges such as the ethical limitation and the difficulty in enrolling subjects. As a result,the use of drugs for children is often not formally approved by the drug regulatory authori- ties. At present,researchers tend to apply modeling and simulation to clinical trials,and conduct prospective studies be- fore the clinical use of drug to predict the optimal dosage regimen for children of different ages. In particular,there have been several successful cases in determining the optimal sample size for clinical trials based on the optimal design theory, optimizing sampling time point using the prior information from modeling,and processing sparse data by the Bayesian principle. This paper summarizes the role of modeling and simulation in pediatric clinical trials by reviewing previously reported clinical trial literature.

The problem of medicating women like the men: conceptual discussion of menstrual cycle-dependent psychopharmacology

While hormonal changes during the ovulatory cycles affect multiple body systems, medical management, including medication dosing remains largely uniform between the sexes. Little is known about sex-specific pharmacology in women. Although hormonal fluctuations of the normal menstruating process alters women's physiology and brain biochemistry, medication dosing does not consider such cyclical changes. Using schizophrenia as an example, this paper illustrates how a woman's clinical symptoms can change throughout the ovulatory cycle, leading to fluctuations in medication responses. Effects of sex steroids on the brain, clinical pharmacology are discussed. Effective medication dose may be different at different phases of the menstrual cycle. Further research is needed to better understand optimal treatment strategies in reproductive women; we present a potential clinical trial design for examining optimal medication dosing strategies for conditions that have menstruation related clinical fluctuations.

Discussion on Clinical Trial Design of Artificial Hip Prosthesis / 中国医疗器械杂志

Recently, the registration of artificial hip prosthesis products increased year by year. In the new version of the provisions for medical device registration, the domestic or import of such products in the registration declaration may need to complete a clinical trial in the country. How to carry out scientific clinical trials of the product design is the common concern of enterprises and clinical trial institutions. To review the guideline and literature concerning registration for artificial hip prosthesis, the focus on clinical trial design of artificial hip prosthesis include clinical inclusion, evaluation standard, sample size. Through the discussion, we hope to provide advice and guidance for clinical trials of this kind of products.

Función de la estadística en el contexto de los ensayos clínicos / Role of statistics in the clinical trials

La complejidad y los elevados costos que se asocian al desarrollo de medicamentos han impuesto la búsqueda de estrategias más eficientes que combinen reducción de tiempo con calidad de investigación. La metodología estadística tiene una función fundamental en este proceso. En el presente trabajo se realiza una revisión bibliográfica de la función de la estadística en las investigaciones terapéuticas, cuyos objetivos consisten en describir cómo interviene la estadística en los ensayos clínicos y exponer algunos avances y retos que enfrenta el bioestadístico en el contexto actual del desarrollo de estos estudios. Se describe el proceso estadístico dentro del ensayo clínico desde un punto de vista práctico, exigencias regulatorias y disposición documental. Se exponen algunos temas metodológicos específicos y técnicas estadísticas desarrolladas con aplicaciones en estos estudios. En conclusión, la metodología estadística en los ensayos clínicos ha experimentado un desarrollo creciente en los últimos años. Las investigaciones proponen el uso de diseños flexibles que dinamizan los estudios y métodos de análisis más sensibles. Las entidades regulatorias establecen guías en estos temas que orientan para la presentación armonizada de ensayos clínicos ante diversas situaciones. La aplicación de técnicas estadísticas más sensibles y el uso de la tecnología que sustenta estos avances es un tema en desarrollo y con creciente presencia en la literatura de ensayos clínicos

The complexity and high costs associated to the development of drugs have brought about the search for more efficient strategies combining time saving and research quality. The statistical methodology plays a fundamental role in this process. The present paper made a literature review of the role of statistics in therapeutic research. The objectives were to describe how statistics participate in the clinical trials and to present some advances attained as well as the challenges met by the biostatician in the present context of development of these studies. The statistical process was described in the clinical trial from the practical viewpoint, including regulatory demands and documentary availability. Some specific methodological topics as well as application-developed statistical techniques were presented. It was concluded that the statistical methodology in clinical trials has experienced growing development in the last few years. The research suggested the use of flexible designs that would speed up the most sensitive studies and methods of analysis. The regulatory bodies set guidelines that give instructions for the harmonized presentation of clinical trials under various circumstances. The application of more sensitive statistical techniques and the use of technologies supporting these advances is a subject that is increasingly dealt with by the scientific literature on clinical trials

The Role of Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy for Early-Stage and Oligometastatic Non-small Cell Lung Cancer: Evidence for Changing Paradigms / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

A compelling body of non-randomized evidence has established stereotactic ablative lung radiotherapy (SABR) as a standard of care for medically inoperable patients with peripheral early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This convenient outpatient therapy, which is typically delivered in 3-8 fractions, is also well tolerated by elderly and frail patients, makes efficient use of resources and is feasible using standard commercial equipment. The introduction of lung SABR into large populations has led to an increased utilization of radiotherapy, a reduction in the proportion of untreated patients and an increase in overall survival. In selected patients, the same ablative technology can now achieve durable local control of NSCLC metastases in a variety of common locations including the adrenal glands, bone, brain, and liver. At the same time as this, advances in prognostic molecular markers and targeted systemic therapies mean that there is now a subgroup of patients with stage IV NSCLC and a median survival of around 2 years. This creates opportunities for new trials that incorporate SABR and patient-specific systemic strategies. This selective mini-review focuses on the emerging role of SABR in patients with early-stage and oligometastatic NSCLC.

Clinical challenges in the ataxias / 中南大学学报(医学版)

Ataxias are rare diseases and the etiologic heterogeneity make individual entities even rarer. There are still substantial numbers of patients who are still poorly understood. Available assessment techniques still point to large numbers of patients needed for clinical trials and the need for cooperative efforts, better assessment tools and novel trial designs. Better understanding of neural circuitry abnormalities may lead to more effective symptomatic therapy. Opportunities exist for targeting at risk individuals for effective therapies but how this can be done is not clear. Preventive strategies may become feasible in many ataxias.

How to Design a Clinical Trial for Spinal Cord Injury / 中国康复理论与实践

@#The most rigorous and valid spinal cord injury(SCI)clinical trials would be a prospective,double-blind,randomly,control one.The design and conduct of SCI clinical trials should meet appropriate standards to make it of efficacy and safety,trustworthy,and in the best interests of subjects.