Deferasirox effectively reduces iron overload in non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia (NTDT) patients: 1-year extension results from the THALASSA study.

Patients with non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia (NTDT) often develop iron overload that requires chelation to levels below the threshold associated with complications. This can take several years in patients with high iron burden, highlighting the value of long-term chelation data. Here, we report the 1-year extension of the THALASSA trial assessing deferasirox in NTDT; patients continued with deferasirox or crossed from placebo to deferasirox. Of 133 patients entering extension, 130 completed. Liver iron concentration (LIC) continued to decrease with deferasirox over 2 years; mean change was -7.14 mg Fe/g dry weight (dw) (mean dose 9.8 ± 3.6 mg/kg/day). In patients originally randomized to placebo, whose LIC had increased by the end of the core study, LIC decreased in the extension with deferasirox with a mean change of -6.66 mg Fe/g dw (baseline to month 24; mean dose in extension 13.7 ± 4.6 mg/kg/day). Of 166 patients enrolled, 64 (38.6 %) and 24 (14.5 %) patients achieved LIC <5 and <3 mg Fe/g dw by the end of the study, respectively. Mean LIC reduction was greatest in patients with the highest pretreatment LIC. Deferasirox progressively decreases iron overload over 2 years in NTDT patients with both low and high LIC. Safety profile of deferasirox over 2 years was consistent with that in the core study.

Deferasirox demonstrates a dose-dependent reduction in liver iron concentration and consistent efficacy across subgroups of non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia patients.

The 1-year THALASSA study enrolled 166 patients with various non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia (NTDT) syndromes, degrees of iron burden and patient characteristics, and demonstrated the overall efficacy and safety of deferasirox in reducing liver iron concentration (LIC) in these patients. Here, reduction in LIC with deferasirox 5 and 10 mg/kg/day starting dose groups is shown to be consistent across the following patient subgroups-baseline LIC/serum ferritin, age, gender, race, splenectomy (yes/no), and underlying NTDT syndrome (ß-thalassemia intermedia, HbE/ß-thalassemia or α-thalassemia). These analyses also evaluated deferasirox dosing strategies for patients with NTDT. Greater reductions in LIC were achieved in patients dose-escalated at Week 24 from deferasirox 10 mg/kg/day starting dose to 20 mg/kg/day. Patients who received an average actual dose of deferasirox >12.5-≤17.5 mg/kg/day achieved a greater LIC decrease compared with the ≥7.5-≤12.5 mg/kg/day and >0-<7.5 mg/kg/day subgroups, demonstrating a dose-response efficacy. LIC reduction across patient subgroups was generally consistent with the primary efficacy analysis with a similar safety profile.

Deferasirox reduces iron overload significantly in nontransfusion-dependent thalassemia: 1-year results from a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Nontransfusion-dependent thalassemia (NTDT) patients may develop iron overload and its associated complications despite receiving only occasional or no transfusions. The present 1-year, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled THALASSA (Assessment of Exjade in Nontransfusion-Dependent Thalassemia) trial assessed the efficacy and safety of deferasirox in iron-overloaded NTDT patients. A total of 166 patients were randomized in a 2:1:2:1 ratio to starting doses of 5 or 10 mg/kg/d of deferasirox or placebo. The means ± SD of the actual deferasirox doses received over the duration of the study in the 5 and 10 mg/kg/d starting dose cohorts were 5.7 ± 1.4 and 11.5 ± 2.9 mg/kg/d, respectively. At 1 year, the liver iron concentration (LIC) decreased significantly compared with placebo (least-squares mean [LSM] ± SEM, -2.33 ± 0.7 mg Fe/g dry weight [dw], P = .001, and -4.18 ± 0.69 mg Fe/g dw, P < .001) for the 5 and 10 mg/kg/d deferasirox groups, respectively (baseline values [means ± SD], 13.11 ± 7.29 and 14.56 ± 7.92 mg Fe/g dw, respectively). Similarly, serum ferritin decreased significantly compared with placebo by LSM -235 and -337 ng/mL for the deferasirox 5 and 10 mg/kg/d groups, respectively (P < .001). In the placebo patients, LIC and serum ferritin increased from baseline by 0.38 mg Fe/g dw and 115 ng/mL (LSM), respectively. The most common drug-related adverse events were nausea (n = 11; 6.6%), rash (n = 8; 4.8%), and diarrhea (n = 6; 3.6%). This is the first randomized study showing that iron chelation with deferasirox significantly reduces iron overload in NTDT patients with a frequency of overall adverse events similar to placebo.

Safety and tolerability of the rivastigmine patch: results of a 28-week open-label extension.

The primary objective of the open-label extension was to evaluate the long-term safety and tolerability of a transdermal rivastigmine patch up to 1 year, as a novel approach to treatment in Alzheimer disease. This was a 28-week extension to a 24-week, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled, and active-controlled study evaluating rivastigmine patches [9.5 mg/24 h (10 cm2) and 17.4 mg/24 h (20 cm2)] and oral capsules (3 to 6 mg twice-daily). Patients entering the extension were switched directly to 9.5 mg/ 24 h rivastigmine patch and increased to 17.4 mg/24 h patch, irrespective of their double-blind study treatment. Primary measures included safety and tolerability assessments, including adverse events and serious adverse events. Of 1195 patients randomized to treatment, 870 (72.8%) completed the double-blind study and entered the open-label extension. During weeks 1 to 4 of the extension, 9.5 mg/24 h rivastigmine patch was well tolerated overall by patients formerly randomized to rivastigmine capsule or patch groups: < or =2.5% reported nausea and < or =1.9% reported vomiting. No unexpected safety issues arose, and skin tolerability was good; similar to the double-blind study. During the 28-week, open-label extension phase, the patch seemed to be well tolerated with a favorable safety profile.

Metabolic activation pattern of distinct hippocampal subregions during spatial learning and memory retrieval.

Activation dynamics of hippocampal subregions during spatial learning and their interplay with neocortical regions is an important dimension in the understanding of hippocampal function. Using the (14C)-2-deoxyglucose autoradiographic method, we have characterized the metabolic changes occurring in hippocampal subregions in mice while learning an eight-arm radial maze task. Autoradiogram densitometry revealed a heterogeneous and evolving pattern of enhanced metabolic activity throughout the hippocampus during the training period and on recall. In the early stages of training, activity was enhanced in the CA1 area from the intermediate portion to the posterior end as well as in the CA3 area within the intermediate portion of the hippocampus. At later stages, CA1 and CA3 activations spread over the entire longitudinal axis, while dentate gyrus (DG) activation occurred from the anterior to the intermediate zone. Activation of the retrosplenial cortex but not the amygdala was also observed during the learning process. On recall, only DG activation was observed in the same anterior part of the hippocampus. These results suggest the existence of a functional segmentation of the hippocampus, each subregion being dynamically but also differentially recruited along the acquisition, consolidation, and retrieval process in parallel with some neocortical sites.

Glutamate infusion coupled with hypoxia has a neuroprotective effect in the rat.

Traumatic brain injury leads to a rise in glutamate, interference with oxygen supply and secondary neuronal death in the region surrounding the primary lesion. In the present experiments we have examined the effect of combining glutamate infusion with hypoxia on both brain metabolism and neuronal death. We have used microdialysis in unanaesthetised rats with a novel dual assay for glucose and lactate to monitor the temporal relation of changes in these metabolites resulting from infusion of 100 mM glutamate alone or combined with a reduction of inspired oxygen to 8%. In a parallel series of experiments we have compared the size of neuronal lesions under the same experimental conditions. We have used MAP2 antibody staining to measure the size of the neuronal lesion. Our results demonstrate that a 30 min glutamate infusion causes an immediate increase in neuronal glucose utilisation and a rise in lactate production. When hypoxia is added during the last 15 min of glutamate infusion there is a small rise in glucose and a large additional increase in lactate. The size of the neuronal lesions produced by infusion of 100 mM glutamate is reduced by the addition of hypoxia.