1. Medications and cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease : Cohort cluster analysis of 15,428 patientsPol Grau-Jurado, Shayan Mostafaei, Hong Xu, Minjia Mo, Bojana Petek, Irena Kalar, Luana Naia, Julianna Kele, Silvia Maioli, Joana Carvalho, Maria Eriksdotter Jönhagen, Saikat Chatterjee, Sara Garcia-Ptacek, 2025, original scientific article Abstract: BackgroundMedications for comorbid conditions may affect cognition in Alzheimer's disease (AD). ObjectiveTo explore the association between common medications and cognition, measured with the Mini-Mental State Examination. MethodsCohort study including persons with AD from the Swedish Registry for Cognitive/Dementia Disorders (SveDem). Medications were included if they were used by ≥5% of patients (26 individual drugs). Each follow-up was analyzed independently by performing 100 Monte-Carlo simulations of two steps each 1) k-means clustering of patients according to Mini-Mental State Examination at follow-up and its decline since previous measure, and 2) Identification of medications presenting statistically significant differences in the proportion of users in the different clusters. Results15,428 patients (60.38% women) were studied. Four clusters were identified. Medications associated with the best cognition cluster (relative to the worse) were atorvastatin (point estimate 1.44 95% confidence interval [1.15–1.83] at first follow-up, simvastatin (1.41 [1.11–1.78] at second follow-up), warfarin (1.56 [1.22–2.01] first follow-up), zopiclone (1.35 [1.15–1.58], and metformin (2.08 [1.35–3.33] second follow-up. Oxazepam (0.60 [0.50–0.73] first follow-up), paracetamol (0.83 [0.73–0.95] first follow-up), cyanocobalamin, felodipine and furosemide were associated with the worst cluster. Cholinesterase inhibitors were associated with the best cognition clusters, whereas memantine appeared in the worse cognition clusters, consistent with its indication in moderate to severe dementia. ConclusionsWe performed unsupervised clustering to classify patients based on their current cognition and cognitive decline from previous testing. Atorvastatin, simvastatin, warfarin, metformin, and zopiclone presented a positive and statistically significant associations with cognition, while oxazepam, cyanocobalamin, felodipine, furosemide and paracetamol, were associated with the worst cluster.
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, cohort study, comorbidity, metformin, Mini-Mental State Examination, oxazepam, pharmacological treatments, statins, warfarin, zopiclone
Published in DiRROS: 15.04.2026; Views: 162; Downloads: 151
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2. Clinical factors in SARS-CoV-2 antibody response in unvaccinated mothersMirjam Druškovič, Gorazd Kavšek, Vita Andreja Mesarič, Aleksandra Štrukelj, Tatjana Avšič-Županc, Alojz Ihan, Tanja Premru-Sršen, 2026, original scientific article Abstract: Objectives: Understanding the clinical factors influencing the SARS-CoV-2 antibody response during and after pregnancy is critical for optimizingmaternal care and vaccination strategies. This prospective cohort study aimed to evaluate associations between maternal clinical characteristics and SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG and IgA antibody levels at delivery and 42 days postpartum in unvaccinated pregnant women. Methods: A total of 387 pregnant women with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy were included. SARSCoV- 2 infectionwas confirmed using real-time RT-PCR. Clinical data, including age, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, pre-existing morbidities, and obstetric complications, were recorded. SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG and IgA antibodies were quantified using ELISA at delivery and 42 days postpartum. Results: Higher preconception BMI significantly correlated with increased odds of detecting IgG and IgA antibodies at both delivery and postpartum assessments (p<0.05), independently ofmaternal age and chronic diseases.Women without chronic systemic diseases exhibited lower antibody levels at delivery, whereas smokers had significantly lower odds of IgG antibody presence at delivery. Additionally, preexisting cardiovascular diseases were associated with reduced antibody presence at six weeks postpartum. Other clinical parameters did not show significant associations. Conclusions: Preconception BMI and pre-existing systemic diseases may modulate SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses in pregnant women. These clinical factors should inform assessments of maternal and neonatal infection risks and guide vaccination strategies in pregnant populations. Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these associations.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, IgG antibodies, IgA antibodies, pregnancy, body mass index, comorbidity, postpartum period
Published in DiRROS: 18.03.2026; Views: 286; Downloads: 184
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3. Impact of comorbidity on the outcome in men with advanced prostate cancer treated with docetaxelAndrej Žist, Eitan Amir, Alberto Ocaña, Boštjan Šeruga, 2015, original scientific article Abstract: Men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) may not receive docetaxel in everyday clinical practice due to comorbidities. Here we explore the impact of comorbidity on outcome in men with mCRPC treated with docetaxel in a population-based outcome study. Methods. Men with mCRPC treated with docetaxel at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana between 2005 and 2012 were eligible. Comorbidity was assessed by the age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (aa-CCI) and adult comorbidity evaluation (ACE-27) index. Hospital admissions due to the toxicity and deaths during treatment with docetaxel were used as a measure of tolerability. Association between comorbidity and overall survival (OS) was tested using the Cox proportional hazards analysis. Results. Two hundred and eight men were treated with docetaxel. No, mild, moderate and severe comorbidity was present in 2%, 32%, 53% and 13% using aa-CCI and in 27%, 35%, 29% and 8% when assessed by ACE-27. A substantial dose reduction of docetaxel occurred more often in men with moderate or severe comorbidity as compared to those with no or mild comorbidity. At all comorbidity levels about one-third of men required hospitalization or died during treatment with docetaxel. In univariate analysis a higher level of comorbidity was not associated with worse OS (aa-CCI HR 0.99; [95% CI 0.87%1.13], p = 0.93; ACE-27: HR 0.96; [95% CI 0.79%1.17], p = 0.69).
Keywords: metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, prostate cancer, comorbidity, chemotherapy
Published in DiRROS: 22.04.2024; Views: 1381; Downloads: 416
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