Efficiency of anti-inflammatory or antibiotic treatment in patients with non-complicated acute bronchitis and discoloured sputum.
Authors: Llor C, Moragas A, Bayona C, et al.
BMJ 2013; 10.1136/bmj.f5762
Summary: Acute bronchitis is prevalent and is a common reason for visits to primary care. It is predominantly caused by viruses and reflects an inflammatory response in the bronchi to infection. Despite this, most patients presenting to primary care receive antibiotic treatment. 416 participants aged 18–70 years with symptoms suggestive of a lower respiratory tract infection without pre-existing underlying pulmonary disease were randomised to receive ibuprofen 600 mg t.d.s., amoxicillin–clavulanic acid 625 mg t.d.s. or placebo t.d.s. for 10 days. Neither amoxicillin–clavulanic acid nor ibuprofen was associated with increased likelihood of cough resolution compared with placebo at 12 days (hazard ratio 1.03, 95% confidence interval 0.78 to 1.35 and 1.20, 0.93 to1.61, respectively). There was no statistical significance in the difference in days with frequent cough between antibiotic, ibuprofen and placebo arms (log rank test 0.25). There were however, a statistically significant number of adverse events from patients taking amoxicillin–clavulanic acid (12%) compared to ibuprofen (5%) and placebo (3%), p = 0.008. There is no evidence to suggest from this study that in non-complicated acute bronchitis, treatment with ibuprofen or amoxicillin–clavulanic acid has any benefit in shortening duration of cough symptoms. This has implications for antibiotic prescribing in primary care and further research with alternative treatment options may be appropriate.
Reviewed by: Amelia Cutts (UK, Assembly 1)
ERCC1 function in nuclear excision and interstrand crosslink repair pathways is mediated exclusively by the ERCC1-202 isoform
Authors: Friboulet L, Postel-Vinay S, Sourisseau T, et al.
Cell Cycle 2013; doi: 10.4161/cc.26309
Summary: ERCC1 expression was long discussed for predicting response of platinum-based chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. This study analysed all four isoforms expressed from the ERCC1 gene of which only one shows activity in DNA repair pathways by binding and stabilising XPF. Those two proteins are …