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Aims: Long‐term treatment effect studies in large female Fabry patient groups are challenging to design because of phenotype heterogeneity and lack of appropriate comparison groups, and have not been reported. We compared long‐term cardiomyopathy and kidney function outcomes after agalsidase beta treatment with preceding treatment‐naive outcomes. Methods and results: Self‐controlled pretreatment and post‐treatment comparison (piecewise mixed linear modelling) included Fabry female patients ≥18 years at treatment initiation who received agalsidase beta (0.9–1.1 mg/kg every other week) for ≥2 years, with ≥2 pretreatment and ≥2 post‐treatment outcome measurements during 10‐year follow‐up. Left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWT)/interventricular septal thickness (IVST) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR, Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration creatinine equation) analyses included 42 and 86 patients, respectively, aged 50.0 and 46.3 years at treatment initiation, respectively. LVPWT and IVST increased pretreatment (follow‐up 3.5 years) but stabilized during 3.6 years of treatment (LVPWT: n = 38, slope difference [95% confidence interval (CI)] = −0.41 [−0.68, −0.15] mm/year, Ppre–post difference <0.01; IVST: n = 38, slope difference = −0.32 [−0.67, 0.02] mm/year, Ppre–post difference = 0.07). These findings were not modified by renal involvement or antiproteinuric agent use. Compared with the treatment‐naive period (follow‐up 3.6 years), eGFR decline remained modest and stabilized within normal ranges during 4.1 years of treatment (slope difference, 95% CI: −0.13 [−1.15, 0.89] mL/min/1.73m2/year, Ppre–post difference = 0.80). Conclusions: Cardiac hypertrophy, progressing during pretreatment follow‐up, appeared to stabilize during sustained agalsidase beta treatment. eGFR decline remained within normal ranges. This suggests that treatment may prevent further Fabry‐related progression of cardiomyopathy in female patients and maintain normal kidney function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Anderson-Fabry disease ( AFD) is an important X-linked metabolic disease resulting in progressive end-organ involvement, with cardiac disease being the dominant determinant of survival in a gender-dependent manner. Recent epidemiological screening for AFD suggests the prevalence is much higher than previously recognized, with estimates of 1:3000. Our aim was to discover novel plasma biomarker signatures in adult patients with AFD. Methods and results We used an unbiased proteomic screening approach to discover novel plasma biomarker signatures. In the discovery cohort of 46 subjects, 14 healthy controls and 32 patients with AFD, we used a mass spectrometry iTRAQ proteomic approach followed by multiple reaction monitoring ( MRM) assays to identify biomarkers. Of the 38 protein groups discovered by iTRAQ, 18 already had existing MRM assays. Based on MRM, we identified an eight-protein biomarker panel (22 kDa protein, afamin, α1 antichymotrypsin, apolipoprotein E, β-Ala His dipeptidase, haemoglobin α-2, isoform 1 of sex hormone-binding globulin, and peroxiredoxin 2) that was very specific and sensitive for male AFD patients. In female AFD patients, we identified a nine-marker panel of proteins with only three proteins, apolipoprotein E, haemoglobin α-2, and peroxiredoxin 2, common to both genders, suggesting a gender-specific alteration in plasma biomarkers in patients with AFD. The biomarkers were validated in plasma samples from 48 subjects using MRM, and they performed inferiorly in patients with heart failure. Conclusions We have identified gender-specific plasma protein biomarker panels that are specific and sensitive for the AFD phenotype. The gender-specific panels offer important insight into potential differences in pathophysiology and prognosis between males and females with AFD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic similar in structure to erythromycin, but suggested to have fewer drug interactions. Although a pharmacokinetic interaction between clarithromycin and cyclosporine was recently reported, its magnitude and mechanism have not been explored. A 43‐year‐old renal transplant recipient receiving cyclosporine was treated with clarithromycin because of pneumonia. A cyclosporine pharmacokinetic study was performed 8 days after the initiation of the clarithromycin and 14 days after stopping the drug. Clarithromycin coadministration caused an approximately 2‐fold increase in the area under the whole blood concentration versus time curve of cyclosporine. The oral clearance of cyclosporine was halved by clarithromycin, but the terminal elimination rate constant decreased only 15% and mean residence time 20%. These observations suggest that clarithromycin inhibits not only the hepatic metabolism but also the intestinal metabolism of cyclosporine. Caution is advised when administering the two drugs concurrently, and additional studies are necessary to elucidate the mechanism of this interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]