University General - Research Publications
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ItemMastocytosis: a case series of 107 consecutive patients(WILEY, 2018-01)
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ItemA case of actinic granuloma responding to oral retinoids(WILEY, 2019-05)
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ItemBaseline patients' characteristics as predictors for therapeutic survival and response in patients with psoriasis on biological treatments(WILEY, 2018-11)BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Biological agents provide a relatively safe and promising long-term therapeutic option for patients with moderate to severe psoriasis in whom conventional treatment has failed. However, these agents are not effective in all patients. We aimed to examine the association of baseline patients' characteristics with the short-term efficacy and the long-term survival of biological therapies in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. METHODS: We performed a retrospective observational study of all patients who received biological treatment for psoriasis at the Royal Melbourne Hospital (N = 146). We extracted data on the patients' characteristics and medical history. The outcomes we measured included a 75% reduction in psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score at 12 and 24 weeks, the total duration of drug survival and dermatology life quality index (DLQI) scores. We used regression modelling to assess the association between each baseline patient's characteristic and outcome measures. RESULTS: An increase in baseline body mass index was associated with a reduced likelihood of achieving PASI75 at 12 and 24 weeks (P = 0.014) and also correlated with reduced long-term therapeutic survival (P = 0.03). High rates of treatment termination were noted in patients with greater baseline DLQI (P = 0.038). CONCLUSION: Greater body mass index at the initiation of biological treatment for psoriasis may contribute to its decreased short-term efficacy. Similarly, a high body mass index or DLQI at baseline was associated with a relatively short duration of biological treatment retention.
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ItemIntraoral human herpes viruses detectable by PCR in majority of patients(John Wiley and Sons, 2021-03)Objectives To identify factors which influence the intraoral prevalence of human herpes viruses (HHVs) using mucosal swabs, saliva samples and qPCR analysis. Methodology In this cross-sectional observational study, matched saliva and oral swabs were collected from a total of 115 subjects: 70 immunocompetent subjects with no mucosal abnormalities, 22 with mucosal abnormalities and 23 therapeutically immunocompromised individuals. Extracted DNA was analysed by multiplex qPCR for detection and quantification of HHVs 1–6. Results At least one human herpes virus was detected in 77.1% of immunocompetent individuals with no mucosal abnormalities, with EBV the most commonly detected at 61.4%. HHV-6 was detected in 17.1%, HSV-1 in 4.3% and CMV in 1.1%. Detection was higher in saliva than in oral swabs. There was no detection of HSV-2 or VZV. Neither presence of oral mucosal abnormality nor therapeutic immunocompromise was related to increased detection of human herpes virus. Conclusion Commensal detection rates of EBV are high, and caution in clinical correlation of positive detection is warranted. Commensal CMV rates are low, and detection is likely to be clinically relevant. This study presents a comprehensive commensal detection rate of HHVs 1–6 by qPCR in saliva and swabs.