No abstract

No abstract

Background Pridopidine is a novel drug that helps stabilize psychomotor function in patients with Huntington's disease (HD) by activating the cortical glutamate pathway. It promises to achieve the unmet needs of current therapies of HD without worsening other symptoms. Objective To review the literature discussing the efficacy of pridopidine in alleviating motor symptoms and its safety in patients with HD. Methods We searched Scopus, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Wiley, and PubMed for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of pridopidine on HD. Data from eligible studies were extracted and pooled as mean differences for efficacy and risk ratios (RRs) for safety using RevMan software version 5.3. Results A total of 4 relevant RCTs with 1130 patients were selected (816 in the pridopidine group and 314 in the placebo group). The pooled effect size favored pridopidine over placebo insignificantly in the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale Total Motor Score (mean difference [MD], −0.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], −2.01 to 0.14; P = 0.09), whereas the effect size of 3 studies significantly favored pridopidine over placebo in the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale Modified Motor Score (MD, −0.81; 95% CI, −1.48 to −0.13; P = 0.02). Pridopidine generally was well tolerated. None of the adverse effects were considerably higher in the case of pridopidine compared with placebo in overall adverse events (RR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.94–1.13; P = 0.49) and serious adverse events (RR, 1.62; 95% CI, 0.88–2.99; P = 0.12). Conclusion The effects of pridopidine on motor functions (especially voluntary movements) in patients with HD are encouraging and provide a good safety profile that motivates further clinical trials on patients to confirm its effectiveness and safety.

Numerous connections between the level of vitamin D (Vit-D) and the novel coronavirus disease -19 (COVID-19) have surfaced during the pandemic. So, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the effect of Vit-D deficiency and its supplementation on the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients. We looked for relevant articles in Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web Science, PubMed, and EBSCO up until the end of 2022. The Open Meta Analyst software was used to analyze the extracted data. We classified them into two main categories based on their objectives. First, the studies that evaluated the effects of Vit-D deficiency in patients, and lastly, the studies that evaluated Vit-D as a supplement, both on mortality rate, hospitalization duration, ICU admission rate, and mechanical ventilation rate. A total of 8001 COVID-19 patients from 42 studies were included. A high serum Vit-D concentration compared to those with lower levels was associated with a significantly lower mortality rate (RR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.11: 2.02, p = 0.01). According to the estimated effect of 18 studies, those who took Vit-D supplements had a significantly lower mortality rate, hospitalization duration, ICU admission rate, and mechanical ventilation rate than those who did not. The group receiving Vit-D doses between 50 000 to 100 000 IU had a significantly better clinical outcome compared to lower and higher doses. COVID-19 patients with normal Vit-D levels had significantly lower death rates than those with hypovitaminosis. Vit-D supplements in COVID-19 significantly improved clinical outcomes. Vit-D supplementation between 50 000 to 100 000 IU, in patients with COVID-19 significantly outperformed other doses in terms of mortality.

No abstract