Association of Vitamin D Deficiency With Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Pulmonary tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a significant public health issue, especially in developing countries, affecting millions of people every year. Despite the development of many antitubercular antibiotics and increased awareness of preventive methods, it is still a major cause of mortality worldwide. Vitamin D, a micronutrient known to have a major role in bone and calcium metabolism, has also shown its immunomodulatory effects to suppress mycobacterial growth. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the available evidence to explore the association between vitamin D levels and tuberculosis. We performed a systematic search for articles from inception to May 2021 in multiple databases. We included 26 studies in our qualitative synthesis and 12 studies in meta-analysis or quantitative synthesis. In our meta-analysis, we used a random-effect model to calculate the odds ratio (OR) of vitamin D deficiency in tuberculosis patients compared to the healthy controls. On pooled analysis, we found that the odds of the participants having vitamin D deficiency was 3.23 times more in tuberculosis patients compared to the healthy group (OR=3.23, CI = 1.91-5.45, p<0.0001). Thus, we concluded that there is an association between low levels of vitamin D and tuberculosis infections. We suggest conducting long-term prospective cohort studies in tuberculosis endemic countries to better understand the causal relationship between vitamin D deficiency and tuberculosis.

Continuous Subcutaneous Apomorphine Infusion in Advanced Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review.

Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder, is caused due to the loss of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra pars compacta, and it mainly affects the motor function of the diseased individual. The most effective treatment for PD to date is levodopa, the precursor molecule for dopamine which ultimately helps overcome the loss of dopamine in the brain. However, long-term levodopa therapy significantly impairs patients' quality of life by causing various disabling motor and non-motor complications. We conducted this study intending to review the available literature that has compared the efficacy and safety of continuous subcutaneous apomorphine infusion (CSAI) with other available treatment options like deep brain stimulation, intestinal levodopa gel, and oral dopaminergic agents. We searched PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases using the appropriate search strategy. The studies which compared the safety and efficacy of continuous subcutaneous apomorphine infusion to other available treatment options in advanced Parkinson's disease were included in our study. The bias assessment of the studies was done using Cochrane Risk of Bias 2.0 tool for randomized controlled trials, Risk of Bias In Non-Randomized Studies - of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool for non-randomized interventional studies, and Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal tools (JBI) for cohort studies. We included eight articles in our systematic review including a randomized controlled trial. None of the included studies had a high risk of bias. We found that in patients with advanced Parkinson's, CSAI demonstrated definite improvement in off-time duration. CSAI has also been shown to improve various non-motor functions, including neuropsychiatric problems in these patients. CSAI has demonstrated safety and efficacy in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. However, the decision-making is multifactorial. Hence, further studies are required that directly compare the available treatment options with one another and study their overall effects on patients' quality of life.

Is it Worth Adding Systemic Antibiotics to Inhalational Tobramycin Therapy to Treat Pseudomonas Infections in Cystic Fibrosis?

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), a gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium, is one of the most common pathogens causing colonization and infection of the respiratory tract and lungs in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Antibiotic therapy is the mainstay treatment for PA infection, and tobramycin is one of the widely used antibiotics in intravenous or inhalation form. This review aims to explore if there is any advantage of adding systemic antibiotics to tobramycin inhalation therapy by comparing the combination regimen to tobramycin inhalation monotherapy in CF patients with PA infection. We collected studies relevant to our review topic by doing a literature search on multiple databases. According to the currently available studies, the addition of oral antibiotics such as fluoroquinolones and azithromycin to tobramycin inhalation solution (TIS) provides no additional benefit in eradicating PA infection or producing clinical improvement in cystic fibrosis patients. However, adding intravenous antibiotics to TIS has not produced conclusive results and thus requires further research. We recommend conducting more randomized controlled trials comparing different treatment regimens, which may help discover the most beneficial treatment regimen with decreased systemic side effects.