Aims: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has shown to have significant immunomodulatory effects in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Current studies show favorable effects of HCQ on traditional cardiac risk factors in patients with SLE. This review examined the effects of HCQ on serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level in patients with SLE.Methods: A systematic search of seven major literature search databases from their inception until 3 April, 2017 identified nine studies. Random-effects pooled mean difference with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. Heterogeneity was measured by I 2 . Publication bias was assessed by visual inspection of funnel plots. Sensitivity analysis examined whether HCQ effect on serum total cholesterol level was similar to the main analysis. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system was used to assess the overall quality of evidence.Results: Pooled study participants were 559 patients from eight observation studies (two before-after studies; six case-control studies) examining the effects of HCQ on serum LDL. Pooled study participants' characteristics were as follows: mean age 45.719, female 95.262%, and prednisone use 58.366%. HCQ reduced mean LDL levels by 24.397 mg/dL (95% CI 8.921-39.872; P = 0.002). The number of studies identifying statin use was too few to perform meta-regression analysis of statin use. Heterogeneity was extensive (I 2 = 94.739%). Symmetrical funnel plot visualized no evidence of publication bias.Conclusion: HCQ was associated with serum LDL level reduction by mean 24.397 mg/dL in patients with SLE. Future prospective studies are need to fully characterize the treatment effect.

Background/AimsAlthough proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have been widely used for the prevention and treatment of stress gastric ulcers in hospital settings, there are concerns that PPIs increase the risk of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). However, little is known about the risk of CDI following PPI and histamine-2 receptor antagonist (H2RA) use. We evaluated the comparative hospital-acquired CDI occurrence risk associated with the concurrent use of PPIs versus H2RAs.MethodsA systematic search of PubMed, MEDLINE/Ovid, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Web of Science, and Google Scholar through August 19, 2016, identified 12 studies that reported the hospital-acquired CDI occurrence following H2RA and PPI use for the prevention and treatment of stress gastric ulcers. Random-effects pooled odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated. Heterogeneity was measured using I2, and a meta-regression analysis was conducted. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system was used to assess the overall quality of the evidence.ResultsA total of 74,132 patients from 12 observational studies were analyzed. Compared to H2RAs, PPIs increased the risk of CDI by 38.6% (pooled odds ratio, 1.386; 95% confidence interval, 1.152 to 1.668; p=0.001; I2=42.81%). Subgroup analyses of the purpose of study medication use, study site, and study design confirmed the consistency of a greater CDI risk with PPIs than with H2RAs. The overall quality of evidence was rated as low.ConclusionsThe use of PPIs for both the prevention and treatment of stress ulcers was associated with a 38.6% increased risk of hospital-acquired CDI occurrence compared to H2RA use.

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Hospital palliative care was associated with a 34% reduction of in-hospital mortality but had no correlation with hospital length of stay.

With increasing use of screening mammography and more effective adjuvant systemic therapies, the majority of women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer will be long-term survivors and experience personal cures. Among the common side effects of adjuvant therapies is treatment-related bone loss, primarily as a result of estrogen deprivation. Whereas this occurs in both postmenopausal and premenopausal women, this brief review will focus on pre- or perimenopausal women when initially diagnosed with breast cancer. An important distinction is between those women who retain ovarian function despite cancer or preventative treatments and the more common situation of premenopausal women who as result of cancer treatments undergo ovarian failure or early menopause. Some women with treatment-related ovarian failure will have sufficient treatment-related bone loss to be at increased risks of subsequent nontraumatic fractures and/or osteoporosis and will be candidates for antiresorptive treatments. The noncancer treatment risk factors, screening and treatments for the management of osteopenia and osteoporosis are generally the same in postmenopausal women with and without breast cancer. However, premenopausal women with relatively rapid onset of treatment-related ovarian failure and bone loss pose several challenges. Awareness of treatment-related bone loss and risks of subsequent osteoporosis is a high priority in an ever-increasing population of breast cancer survivors.