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A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled study of the effects of qili qiangxin capsules in patients with chronic heart failure.
Li, X, Zhang, J, Huang, J, Ma, A, Yang, J, Li, W, Wu, Z, Yao, C, Zhang, Y, Yao, W, et al
Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2013;(12):1065-1072
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of qili qiangxin capsules in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). BACKGROUND Qili qiangxin capsules are a traditional Chinese medicine that has been approved in China for the treatment of CHF, but the evidence supporting its efficacy remains unclear. METHODS A total of 512 patients with CHF were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive the placebo or qili qiangxin capsules in addition to their standard medications for the treatment of CHF. The primary endpoint was the reduction or percent change in the plasma N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level during 12 weeks of treatment. RESULTS At the 12-week follow-up, a significant reduction in the NT-proBNP level from baseline was observed in both groups, but the qili qiangxin capsule group demonstrated a significantly greater reduction than the placebo group (p = 0.002); 47.95% of patients in the qili qiangxin capsule group demonstrated reductions in NT-proBNP levels of at least 30% compared with 31.98% of patients in the placebo group (p < 0.001). Treatment with qili qiangxin capsules also demonstrated superior performance in comparison to the placebo with respect to New York Heart Association functional classification, left ventricular ejection fraction, 6-min walking distance, and quality of life. CONCLUSIONS On a background of standard treatment, qili qiangxin capsules further reduced the levels of NT-proBNP. Together, our data suggest that qili qiangxin capsules could be used in combination therapy for CHF.
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Increased frequencies of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein/MHC class II-binding CD4 cells in patients with multiple sclerosis.
Raddassi, K, Kent, SC, Yang, J, Bourcier, K, Bradshaw, EM, Seyfert-Margolis, V, Nepom, GT, Kwok, WW, Hafler, DA
Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950). 2011;(2):1039-46
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Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by infiltration of pathogenic immune cells in the CNS resulting in destruction of the myelin sheath and surrounding axons. We and others have previously measured the frequency of human myelin-reactive T cells in peripheral blood. Using T cell cloning techniques, a modest increase in the frequency of myelin-reactive T cells in patients as compared with control subjects was observed. In this study, we investigated whether myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-specific T cells could be detected and their frequency was measured using DRB1*0401/MOG(97-109(107E-S)) tetramers in MS subjects and healthy controls expressing HLA class II DRB1*0401. We defined the optimal culture conditions for expansion of MOG-reactive T cells upon MOG peptide stimulation of PMBCs. MOG(97-109)-reactive CD4(+) T cells, isolated with DRB1*0401/MOG(97-109) tetramers, and after a short-term culture of PMBCs with MOG(97-109) peptides, were detected more frequently from patients with MS as compared with healthy controls. T cell clones from single cell cloning of DRB1*0401/MOG(97-109(107E-S)) tetramer(+) cells confirmed that these T cell clones were responsive to both the native and the substituted MOG peptide. These data indicate that autoantigen-specific T cells can be detected and enumerated from the blood of subjects using class II tetramers, and the frequency of MOG(97-109)-reactive T cells is greater in patients with MS as compared with healthy controls.