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In temporomandibular disorder (TMD), the effects of standard interventions such as using an occlusal splint and its impact on pain relief and pain catastrophizing are poorly understood. Earlier work pointed to a crucial role of insula activation with changes in pain relief by occlusal splint treatment. We performed a functional imaging study using specially developed splint systems to allow for a placebo‐controlled longitudinal design. Using functional MRI we examined 20 TMD patients during repetitive occlusal movements at baseline and over the course of splint therapy and also collected self‐reported pain catastrophizing. For balancing performance between baseline and after intervention we used occlusion force measures in an individualized fMRI‐splint system. Splint therapy lasted for approximately 7 weeks with one group selected by randomization wearing a palatine placebo splint over the first 3 weeks (delayed start; 11 individuals). As expected, fMRI activation in areas involved in pain processing (insula, primary and secondary somatosensory cortex) decreased with intervention. At baseline a positive correlation between activation of the left anterior insula and pain catastrophizing was present. Both parameters decreased over intervention while associations were primarily observable for patients with rather mild TMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many researchers in China have performed related clinical research. However, systematic reviews of the registered clinical trials are still lacking. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review of clinical trials for COVID-19 to summarize their characteristics.Methods: This study is based on the PRISMA recommendations in the Cochrane handbook. The Chinese Clinical Registration Center and the ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched to identify registered clinical trials related to COVID-19. The retrieval inception date was February 9, 2020. Two researchers independently selected the literature based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and evaluated the risk of bias.Results: A total of 75 registered clinical trials (63 interventional studies and 12 observational studies) for COVID-19 were identified. The majority of clinical trials were sponsored by Chinese hospitals. Only 11 trials have begun to recruit patients, and none of the registered clinical trials have been completed; 34 trials were early clinical exploratory trials or in the pre-experiment stage, 13 trials were phase III, and four trials were phase IV. The intervention methods included traditional Chinese medicine in 26 trials, Western medicine in 30 trials, and integrated traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine in 19 trials. The subjects were primarily non-critical adult patients (≥ 18 years old). The median sample size of the trials was 100 (IQR: 60-200), and the median length of the trial periods was 179 d (IQR: 94-366 d). The main outcomes were clinical observation and examinations. Overall, the methodological quality of both the interventional trials and observational studies was low.Conclusions: Intensive clinical trials on the treatment of COVID-19 using traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine are ongoing or will be performed in China. However, based on the uncertain methodological quality, small sample size, and long trial duration, we will not be able to obtain reliable, high-quality clinical evidence regarding the treatment of COVID-19 in the near future. Improving the quality of study design, prioritizing promising drugs, and using different designs and statistical methods are worth advocating and recommending for clinical trials of COVID-19 in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among familial cancers, chemoprevention has been studied for familial adenomatous polyposis, hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancers, and familial breast cancers. This report reviews the studies on chemoprevention in familial adenomatous polyposis. A large number of clinical trials have been performed using sulindac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Sulindac reduces the size and number of large-bowel polyps. However, as yet, it cannot be used for this indication in the clinical setting, because of the frequent occurrence of serious gastrointestinal side effects, and there are a number of patients in whom aggressive tumors developed despite a reduction in the size of polyps. Studies of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective inhibitors, with minimal side effects on the digestive tract, are showing promising results. In addition to NSAIDs, clinical trials have been performed using vitamins and dietary components. These show minimal side effects, but their efficacy is still insufficient for clinical use, and further studies are anticipated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]