The burden of illness of rheumatoid arthritis in Latin America-A systematic literature review.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease which, when left untreated, may result in the destruction of multiple joints and damage a wide variety of body systems, including the skin, eyes, lungs, heart, and blood vessels. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of disease burden for RA in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Web of Science were searched for publications in English, Spanish, or Portuguese from 2008 through June 2018. A total of 1700 records were retrieved and 36 articles were included. The estimated prevalence of RA for these countries ranged from 0.15% (Colombia) to 2.8% (Mexico). The Global Burden of Disease initiative 2019 estimated that RA accounted for 0.13% of world disability-adjusted life-years. For Latin America, these figures were higher: Argentina 0.16%, Brazil 0.16%, Colombia 0.21%, Mexico 0.30%, and Venezuela 0.24%. RA has a negative impact on physical, mental, and emotional well-being as shown by substantially lower scores on measures of quality of life (SF-36) compared with the general population. The annual direct cost in Mexico was estimated at US$3599 per person. For patients with severe RA in Brazil these costs were approximately US$10 000. Data from other studied countries were similar. Though evidence of the full cost and impact of RA in Latin American countries is scarce and additional studies are needed, the burden of RA in these regions is significant and comparable to other parts the world.

Patient Preferences for Biologic and Biosimilar Osteoporosis Treatments in Colombia.

PURPOSE: Teriparatide is used to treat patients with established osteoporosis but is often reserved for patients who have inadequate response to antiresorptive therapy. Biosimilar teriparatide, which is believed to have efficacy and safety similar to the originator product, is now available in Colombia. However, little is known about patients' preferences for originator biologic and biosimilar treatments. Our objective was to quantify the relative importance that patients in Colombia place on features of injectable osteoporosis treatments including whether the treatment is an originator biologic or a biosimilar. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We used a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to elicit preferences of patients with osteoporosis treatment devices in Colombia. The survey was completed by 200 respondents at high risk of fracture, with or without teriparatide experience. Each treatment alternative within the DCE was characterized by five attributes: type of medicine (originator biologic, biosimilar), needle length, angle of injection, how to measure the medicine dose, and how long the medicine can be left unrefrigerated. A random parameters logit regression was used to estimate preferences and conditional relative attribute importance, while controlling for preference heterogeneity. RESULTS: A total of 200 patients (mean age = 58.3 years) completed the survey. Most were female (84.5%) and married (54.5%); 50.5% had secondary education or less, 21% had current teriparatide exposure. The attribute with the highest conditional relative importance estimate (standard error) was biologic versus biosimilar (10 [1.11]), followed by needle length (8.06 [1.11]), dose measurement (6.38 [0.87]), refrigeration (3.81 [1.18]), and angle of injection (1.30 [0.66]). Unobserved preference heterogeneity was present and controlled for in the analyses. CONCLUSION: Despite the availability of biosimilar teriparatide in Colombia, patients expressed a strong preference for an originator biologic osteoporosis medicine over a biosimilar osteoporosis medicine, when the efficacy, safety, and cost of the two options were assumed to be the same.

Retrospective analysis of patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer in Colombia.

Aims: To assess patient and disease characteristics, treatment patterns, and associated costs in patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer (A/MGC) in Colombia, in both the public and private hospitals. Materials and methods: A total of 145 patients who had received first-line chemotherapy treatment (platinum analog and/or a fluoropyrimidine) and were followed for at least 3 months after the last administration of a first-line cytotoxic agent were eligible for inclusion. Case-report forms were elaborated based on the patients' medical records from three Colombian hospitals. Estimates of treatment costs were calculated using unit costs from the participating hospitals. Results: Of the 145 patients, more than half (64.83%) were male, 79.56% were diagnosed with metastatic stage IV disease (mean age = 58.14 years). Prior to MGC diagnosis, 31.71% of the patients being operated on received a total gastrectomy; 66.9% of the patients received a doublet therapy, of which 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in combination with cisplatin was the standard treatment (14%), followed by combination with leucovorin (12%). Only around 10% of the patients responded to first-line treatment. Out of 41.38% of the patients who received a second-line treatment, 71.67% were still administered a platinum analog and/or fluoropyrimidine. During the follow-up period, 52% of the patients progressed and 20% achieved stable disease. Best supportive care mostly consisted of outpatient visits after last line-therapy (72.41%), palliative radiotherapy (18.6%), and surgery (37.2%). Limitations and conclusions: Gastric cancer is one of the main causes of cancer-related death in Colombia, as most of the patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, when prognosis is poor. Treatment patterns are highly heterogeneous. Second-line treatments were mostly initiated with paclitaxel, capecitabine, irinotecan, or cisplatin.

Carga de enfermedad en años de vida ajustados por discapacidad del cáncer gástrico en Colombia / Disease Burden of Gastric Cancer in Disability-Adjusted Life Years in Colombia

Resumen Objetivo: el cáncer gástrico es la segunda causa de muerte por cáncer y la quinta neoplasia más frecuente en el mundo. En Colombia, es la primera causa de mortalidad por cáncer. La incidencia y mortalidad anuales son 16,3 y 14,2/100 000 habitantes, respectivamente. El objetivo de este estudio fue estimar su carga de enfermedad, medida en años de vida ajustados por discapacidad (AVAD), en Colombia. Métodos: se desarrolló un estudio con enfoque en prevalencia para el año 2014. Para estimar la prevalencia, se realizó una búsqueda en los registros del Sistema de Información en Protección Social (SISPRO) y el Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE). La duración promedio de los casos prevalentes y la sobrevida estimada se obtuvieron de la literatura local. Los AVAD fueron calculados sumando los años de vida perdidos por muerte prematura (AVPM) y los años de vida vividos con discapacidad (AVVD), según la metodología de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS). Resultados: las prevalencias estimadas para 5 años en población mayor de 15 años fueron 40,9/100 000 en mujeres y 62,5/100 000 en hombres. El total de AVAD fue 293,418, con una tasa de 623/100 000 habitantes, de los cuales el 97,4% corresponde a AVPM. La tasa de AVVD y AVPM para Colombia fue 16 y 607/100 000, respectivamente. Conclusiones: los datos obtenidos de SISPRO y el DANE estiman una alta carga de enfermedad en Colombia. Es necesaria la implementación de estrategias de detección temprana del cáncer para disminuir la carga de la enfermedad y mejorar el pronóstico de los pacientes.

Abstract Objective: Gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death and the fifth most common neoplasm in the world. In Colombia, it is the leading cause of cancer mortality. The annual incidence and mortality are 16.3/100,000 and 14.2/100,000 inhabitants respectively. The aim of this study was to estimate the disease burden in Colombia as measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Methods: This study focuses on prevalence in 2014. To estimate prevalence, a search was made in the registries of the Social Protection Information System (SISPRO) and the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE). The average duration of cases and estimated survival were obtained from the local literature. DALYs were calculated by adding the years of life lost due to premature death (YLLs) and years of life lived with disability (YLD) according to the methodology of the World Health Organization (WHO). Results: Prevalences estimated for five years in the population older than 15 years were 40.9/100,000 for women and 62.5/100,000 for men. The total DALY was 293,418, with a rate of 623/100,000 inhabitants; 97.4% correspond to YLL. The YLD and YLL for Colombia were 16/100,000 and 607/100,000, respectively. Conclusions: Data obtained from SISPRO and DANE estimate a high disease burden in Colombia. It is necessary to implement early cancer detection strategies to reduce the burden of disease and improve patient prognosis.

Effect of culture conditions and signal peptide on production of human recombinant N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate sulfatase in Escherichia coli BL21.

The production and characterization of an active recombinant N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate sulfatase (GALNS) in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) has been previously reported. In this study, the effect of the signal peptide (SP), inducer concentration, process scale, and operational mode (batch and semi-continuous) on GALNS production were evaluated. When native SP was presented, higher enzyme activity levels were observed in both soluble and inclusion bodies fractions, and its removal had a significant impact on enzyme activation. At shake scale, the optimal IPTG concentrations were 0.5 and 1.5 mM for the strains with and without SP, respectively, whereas at bench scale, the highest enzyme activities were observed with 1.5 mM IPTG for both strains. Noteworthy, enzyme activity in the culture media was only detected when SP was presented and the culture was carried out under semi-continuous mode. We showed for the first time that the mechanism that in prokaryotes recognizes the SP to mediate sulfatase activation can also recognize a eukaryotic SP, favoring the activation of the enzyme, and could also favor the secretion of the recombinant protein. These results offer significant information for scaling-up the production of human sulfatases in E. coli.