BACKGROUND There is conflicting evidence on the reduction of cardiovascular risk in diabetic patients treated with oral antidiabetic agents. OBJECTIVES To compare the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and coronary revascularization (CR) in type 2 diabetic patients treated with rosiglitazone, metformin, or sulfonylurea. METHODS Using data from a large US insurer, we created propensity-match...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this analysis was to evaluate the impact of several classes of oral antihyperglycemic therapy relative to sulfonylurea monotherapy on all-cause mortality among a cohort of patients with diabetes from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A retrospective cohort study using data obtained from the VHA Diabetes Epidemiology Cohort was use...

AIM We investigated the safety and efficacy of a long-term combination therapy with fenofibrate and ezetimibe in Japanese patients with combined hyperlipidemia, in comparison with fenofibrate or ezetimibe alone. METHODS The study was a three-arm parallel-group, open-label randomized trial. Eligible patients were assigned to a combination therapy with fenofibrate (200 mg/day in capsule form or...

PURPOSE To prospectively assess the efficacy and safety of switching to bimatoprost monotherapy or brinzolamide and latanoprost combination therapy in patients who had been receiving latanoprost monotherapy. METHODS A prospective, open-label study was conducted. Patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension who had been receiving latanoprost monotherapy for three months or ...

OBJECTIVE White matter remodeling plays an important role in neurological recovery after stroke. Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) and Niaspan, an agent which increases high density lipoprotein (HDL), each induces neurorestorative effects and promotes white matter remodeling after stroke in non-diabetic rats. In this study, we test whether combination of BMSCs with Niaspan induces an enhanced w...

OBJECTIVES Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease primarily affecting the synovial joints of the body. Methotrexate (MTX) is considered as a mainstay in the management of RA. However, monotherapy with MTX in RA is often limited by potential long-term toxicity. The present study was conducted to evaluate if MTX-pioglitazone combination therapy has an add-on benefit over mono...

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) monotherapy is a therapeutic option for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) variants resistant to lamivudine (LAM). We evaluated the antiviral efficacy and safety of TDF alone compared to those of TDF plus LAM or telbivudine (LdT) combination in patients harboring HBV variants with genotypic resistance to LAM. This multice...

INTRODUCTION The tolerability of lamotrigine as adjunctive and monotherapy in patients requiring a change in antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy was assessed in this multicenter, open-label study. Open-label studies conducted in the clinic setting may provide additional drug tolerability and effectiveness information that may not be evident in pre-approval clinical trials. METHODS Adult patients...

PURPOSE Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) impacts quality of life in men by causing lower urinary tract symptoms. α1-Adrenoceptor (α1-AR) blockers improve lower urinary tract symptoms. We investigated the efficacy of add-on therapy with α1-AR blockers on BPH rats. METHODS Rats in the drug-treated groups were orally administered each drug once a day for 30 days after orchiectomy. To induce BP...

INTRODUCTION The aim was to examine the influence of the SCN1A gene polymorphism IVS5-91 rs3812718 G>A on the response to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in monotherapy or polytherapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS Two hundred epilepsy patients and 200 healthy subjects were genotyped for SCN1A IVS5-91 rs3812718 G>A polymorphism using TaqMan assay. Patients were divided into drug-responsive and drug-resista...