Recent studies have indicated an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) among people who consume proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), but the results of those studies are inconsistent. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the correction risk of dementia and AD among PPI users. The literature search for relevant studies was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, EMBase and ScienceDirect. Pooled hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the relationship between the PPIs and risk of dementia and AD. Ten independent studies that involved 642305 participants were included in this meta-analysis. PPI users were unassociated with dementia (HR = 1.04, 95% CI 0.92–1.15; I 2 = 95.6%, p < 0.001) and AD (HR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.83–1.09; I 2 = 80.7%, p <0 .001). No evidence of publication bias was detected by Begg’s and Egger’s test. Sensitivity analyses showed no important differences in the estimates of effects. The current evidence indicates that PPI use does not increase dementia and AD risk. The remarkable heterogeneity among the studies warrants a further review of our findings.

Background: Severity index and plasma paraquat (PQ) concentration can predict the prognosis of patients with PQ poisoning. However, the better parameter is yet to be systematically investigated and determined. Thus, we conduct this systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the prognostic value of severity index and plasma PQ concentration in patients with PQ poisoning. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane Library to identify all relevant papers that were published up to March 2019. All diagnostic studies that compared severity index and plasma PQ concentration to predict mortality in patients with PQ poisoning were enrolled in this meta-analysis. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for individual trials were pooled using a random-effect model. We also aggregated heterogeneity testing, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias analysis. Results: Ultimately, seven studies involving 821 patients were included. The pooled OR with a 95% CI of severity index was 24.12 (95% CI: 9.34–62.34, P < .001), with an area under the curve of 0.88 (95% CI: 0.85–0.90), sensitivity of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.74–0.91), and specificity of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.75–0.87). Meanwhile, the pooled OR with 95% CI of plasma PQ concentration was 34.39 (95% CI: 14.69–80.56, P < .001), with an area under the curve of 0.94 (95% CI: 0.91–0.96), sensitivity of 0.86 (95% CI: 0.75–0.93), and specificity of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.76–0.95). Sensitivity analysis demonstrated the stability of the results of our meta-analysis. No significant publication bias was observed in this meta-analysis. Conclusion : Overall, this study indicated that severity index and plasma PQ concentration have relatively high-prognostic value in patients with PQ poisoning, and that the sensitivity and specificity of plasma PQ concentration are superior to those of severity index.

Background. The predictive values of monocytes in the prognosis of patients with acute paraquat (PQ) poisoning are unclear. This retrospective study investigated the predictive values of monocytes in the prognosis of patients with acute PQ poisoning. Methods. Adult patients who suffered from acute PQ poisoning in the emergency care unit of Cangzhou Central Hospital from May 2012 to December 2018 were enrolled. The patients were divided into groups, namely, survival and nonsurvival, according to a 90-day prognosis. Moreover, correlation, logistic regression, receiver-operator characteristic (ROC), and Kaplan–Meier curve analyses were applied to evaluate the monocyte values used to predict the prognosis of patients with acute PQ poisoning. Result. Among the 109 patients, 45 survived within 90 days after the poisoning, resulting in a 41.28% survival rate. The monocyte count of the nonsurvivors was significantly higher than that of the survivors (P< 0.001). Correlation analysis showed that monocyte count positively correlated with plasma PQ concentration (r= 0.413; P< 0.001) and negatively correlated with survival time (r= 0.512; P< 0.001) and 90-day survival (r= 0.503; P< 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that elevated monocytes were the independent risk factors for the 90-day survival. The area under the ROC curve of the monocyte count used to predict the 90-day survival was 0.826 (95% CI: 0.751–0.904), the optimal cut-off was 0.51×109/L, sensitivity was 73.4%, and specificity was 86.7%. Conclusion. This study demonstrated that elevated monocyte count is a useful early predictor of 90-day survival in patients with acute PQ poisoning. However, further studies are warranted to draw firm conclusions.