bThe implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) is a promising strategy to help address the problem of antimicrobial resistance. We sought to determine the efficacy of ASPs and their effect on clinical and economic parameters. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar looking for studies on the efficacy of ASPs in hospitals. Based on 26 studies (extracted from 24,917 citations) with pre-and postimplementation periods from 6 months to 3 years, the pooled percentage change of total antimicrobial consumption after the implementation of ASPs was ؊19.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] ‫؍‬ ؊30.1 to ؊7.5), and the use of restricted antimicrobial agents decreased by ؊26.6% (95% CI ‫؍‬ ؊52.3 to ؊0.8). Interestingly, in intensive care units, the decrease in antimicrobial consumption was ؊39.5% (95% CI ‫؍‬ ؊72.5 to ؊6.4). ). Hospital ASPs result in significant decreases in antimicrobial consumption and cost, and the benefit is higher in the critical care setting. Infections due to specific antimicrobial-resistant pathogens and the overall hospital length of stay are improved as well. Future studies should focus on the sustainability of these outcomes and evaluate potential beneficial long-term effects of ASPs in mortality and infection rates.A bout one-third of the hospitalized patients and more than two-thirds of critically ill patients are on antimicrobial therapy at any time (1, 2), and up to half of antibiotic prescriptions are inappropriate or not necessary (3). In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that about 2 million patients are infected yearly with antimicrobialresistant organisms in the United States, and about 23,000 deaths are directly attributed to these infections (3). This resulted in a call to action for acute care hospitals to implement antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) (4, 5), a term that is used to describe the integrated strategy of improving antimicrobial use in order to enhance patient outcomes, reduce antimicrobial cost, and minimize the side effects associated with antimicrobial use, including drug resistance and nosocomial infections (4, 6, 7). Although there are studies that have already presented data on the efficacy of ASPs in the inpatient setting (8-10), limitations compromise their generalization (i.e., the studies were only conducted in the United States [8], age and study design limitations [9], a lack of clinical outcomes [10], etc.). The purpose of our systematic review and meta-analysis was to measure the efficacy of the implementation of an ASP expressed in daily defined doses (DDD) per 1,000 patient days in the hospital setting independently of the age and study design and to assess the subsequent clinical and economic outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODSThis systematic review and meta-analysis followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) protocol (11).Search strategy. A systematic electronic search of PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases was performed for pertinent studies up t...

Several factors including antibiotic use, immunosuppression and frequent hospitalizations make solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients vulnerable to Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). We conducted a meta-analysis of published studies from 1991-2014 to estimate the prevalence of CDI in this patient population. We searched PubMed, EMBASE and Google Scholar databases. Among the 75,940 retrieved citations, we found 30 studies coded from 35 articles that were relevant to our study. Based on these studies, we estimated the prevalence of CDI among 21,683 patients who underwent transplantation of kidney, liver, lungs, heart, pancreas, intestine or more than one organ and stratified each study based on the type of transplanted organ, place of the study conduction, and size of patient population. The overall estimated prevalence in SOT recipients was 7.4% [95%CI, (5.6-9.5%)] and it varied based on the type of organ transplant. The prevalence was 12.7% [95%CI, (6.4%-20.9%)] among patients who underwent transplantation for more than one organ. The prevalence among other SOT recipients was: lung 10.8% [95% CI, (5.5%-17.7%)], liver 9.1 % [95%CI, (5.8%-13.2%)], intestine 8% [95% CI, (2.6%-15.9%)], heart 5.2% [95%CI, (1.8%-10.2%)], kidney 4.7% [95% CI, (2.6%-7.3%)], and pancreas 3.2% [95% CI, (0.5%-7.9%)]. Among the studies that reported relevant data, the estimated prevalence of severe CDI was 5.3% [95% CI (2.3%-9.3%)] and the overall recurrence rate was 19.7% [95% CI, (13.7%-26.6%)]. In summary, CDI is a significant complication after SOT and preventive strategies are important in order to reduce the CDI related morbidity and mortality.

We found that ICU setting is associated with higher Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) prevalence than general hospital population and 25% among CDI cases in ICU develop pseudomembranous colitis. CDI also affects adversely overall hospital mortality, ICU and overall hospital stay.

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Inflammation is a type of defense response activated to protect organisms from detrimental factors, such as pathogens and tissue damage. Imbalance in inflammatory mechanisms can lead to chronic disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The adaptive immune system is mainly involved in the pathogenesis of IBD, but some innate immune cells are also implicated (de Mattos et al., 2015). While many small-molecule drugs, such as aminosalicylates and corticosteroids, and biological molecules, for instance, infliximab and adalimumab, induce clinical remission in around 50% of the 48 GPR43 (also known as FFAR2), a metabolite-sensing G-protein-coupled receptor stimulated by short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) ligands is involved in innate immunity and metabolism. GPR43 couples with Gαi/o and Gαq/11 heterotrimeric proteins and is capable of decreasing cyclic AMP and inducing Ca 2+ flux. The GPR43 receptor has additionally been shown to bind β-arrestin 2 and inhibit inflammatory pathways, such as NF-κB. However, GPR43 shares the same ligands as GPR41, including acetate, propionate, and butyrate, and determination of its precise functions in association with endogenous ligands, such as SCFAs alone, therefore remains a considerable challenge. In this study, we generated novel synthetic agonists that display allosteric modulatory effects on GPR43 and downregulate NF-κB activity. In particular, the potency of compound 187 was significantly superior to that of preexisting compounds in vitro. However, in the colitis model in vivo, compound 110 induced more potent attenuation of inflammation. These novel allosteric agonists of GPR43 clearly display anti-inflammatory potential, supporting their clinical utility as therapeutic drugs.

Background: Obesity, a chronic disease that is increasing in prevalence in adults, adolescents and children, is now considered a global epidemic. Thyroid dysfunction contributes to the pathogenesis of obesity. Many clinical studies raise the questions of whether thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) changes in physiological limits is associated with obesity and whether there is a link between adipose tissue and hypothalamo-thyroidal axis. Materials and Method: This was a cross-sectional study. All clinically euthyroid patients and healthy volunteer adults of age 18 to 60 years of either gender were included in the study. Fasting blood sample was taken for thyroid function evaluation, which included Free T3, Free T4 and thyroid stimulating hormone. Height, weight, waist circumference and hip circumference were measured. The results were compared with calculated Body Mass Index (BMI). Results: 61 patients who met the inclusion criteria were studied. Among 61 patients 16 had subclinical hypothyroidism, 2 patients had hypothyroidism and 43 were euthyroid. Similarly, 2 underweight patients were observed, 7 had normal weight, 13 were over weight and 39 were obese. The mean TSH according to BMI were 3.8, 4.04, 3.88 and 6.19 respectively. Conclusion: The result in this study showed that the mean TSH increased as BMI increased with significant relationship between serum TSH and BMI (p <0.001). Thus thyroid dysfunction mainly subclinical hypothyroidism and hypothyroidism could be found in association with increased body weight.

The main objective of this paper is to assess the level of patient satisfaction, to assess barriers faced by users of social health insurance during receiving treatment in the hospital, and to find out the relationship of participants' satisfaction with their selected demographic variables. This paper is a cross-sectional descriptive study and covers 354 samples that were selected by systematic sampling technique. The modified version of Assessment of Patients Satisfaction Scale (SAPS) consisting of seven structured items is used to collect the data through the face to face interview. The results of the study indicated that 158 (44.6%) participants are between the age group of 40-59 years and the majority of them i.e. 232 (65.5%) are females. Out of 354, most of the participants 292 (82.5%) are enrolled in the social health insurance scheme for more than 6 months. The study findings indicated that more than half 186 (52.5%) participants are satisfied, followed by 152 (42.9%) are dissatisfied, and 16(4.5%) of participants are very dissatisfied with the treatment service under the social health insurance respectively. The most common barriers faced by the participants while utilizing the health insurance services are unavailability of necessary drugs, long waiting times, limited opening hours, and complex billing system for insurance patients. Hence, the service availability time should be extended and availability of health personnel, medicines as well as other services should be improved that can increase satisfaction among users of health insurance.

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