Paget Disease of Bone: Diagnosis and Drug Therapy.
Paget disease of bone: Diagnosis and drug therapy.
Cleve Clin J Med. 2013 Jul; 80(7): 452-462
Seton M
Paget disease of bone is a focal disorder of aging bone that may be asymptomatic or may present with pain, bowing deformity, fracture, or a nonspecific rheumatic complaint. It is the second most common disease of bone in the elderly after osteoporosis, and the loss of structural integrity in affected bone conveys a risk of fracture. It may occur sporadically or in geographic or familial clusters. This article discusses the prevalence, pathology, workup, and treatment of Paget disease of bone. HubMed – drug
A Comparative High-Throughput Screening Protocol to Identify Entry Inhibitors of Enveloped Viruses.
J Biomol Screen. 2013 Jul 2;
Wang J, Cheng H, Ratia K, Varhegyi E, Hendrickson WG, Li J, Rong L
Emerging and reemerging human viral pathogens pose great public health concerns since therapeutics against these viruses are limited. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop novel drugs that can block infection of either a specific virus or a number of viruses. Viral entry is thought to be an ideal target for potential therapeutic prevention. One of the challenges of developing antivirals is that most of these viruses are highly pathogenic and therefore require high biosafety-level containment. In this study, we have adopted a comparative high-throughput screening protocol to identify entry inhibitors for three enveloped viruses (Marburg virus, influenza virus H5N1, and Lassa virus) using a human immunodeficiency virus-based pseudotyping platform. We demonstrate the utility of this approach by screening a small compound library and identifying putative entry inhibitors for these viruses. One major advantage of this protocol is to reduce the number of false positives in hit selection, and we believe that the protocol is useful for inhibitor screening for many enveloped viruses. HubMed – drug
Recurrent ventricular fibrillation under sufficient medical treatment in patient with coronary artery spasm.
BMJ Case Rep. 2013; 2013(jul02_1):
Hiki M, Tokano T, Nakazato Y, Daida H
In cases of coronary artery spasm, life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias are possible and can lead to sudden cardiac death. Treatment for this condition includes implantable cardioverter defibrillators, but their effectiveness in patients who present with ventricular fibrillation is debated. Our patient presented with intractable ventricular fibrillation episodes that triggered shocks from her implanted defibrillator. At 2 years of follow-up, we placed her on 200 mg/day of oral amiodarone, after identifying short-coupled premature contractions as the trigger for the ventricular fibrillation. In the 2 years following initiation of this drug therapy, the patient had no further fibrillation episodes. HubMed – drug
Medical Applications for Pharmacists Using Mobile Devices (July/August).
Ann Pharmacother. 2013 Jul 2;
Aungst TD
BACKGROUND:Mobile devices (eg, smartphones, tablet computers) have become ubiquitous and subsequently there has been a growth in mobile applications (apps). Concurrently, mobile devices have been integrated into health care practice due to the availability and quality of medical apps. These mobile medical apps offer increased access to clinical references and point-of-care tools. However, there has been little identification of mobile medical apps suitable for the practice of pharmacy.OBJECTIVE:To address the shortage of recommendations of mobile medical apps for pharmacists in daily practice.DATA SOURCES:Mobile medical apps were identified via the iTunes and Google Play Stores via the “Medical” app categories and key word searches (eg, drug information, medical calculators). In addition, reviews provided by professional mobile medical app review websites were used to identify apps.STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION:Mobile medical apps were included if they had been updated in the previous 3 months, were available in the US, used evidence-based information or literature support, had dedicated app support, and demonstrated stability. Exclusion criteria included apps that were not available in English, had advertisement bias, used nonreferenced sources, were available only via an institution-only subscription, and were web-based portals.DATA SYNTHESIS:Twenty-seven mobile apps were identified and reviewed that involved general pharmacy practice, including apps that involved drug references, clinical references, medical calculators, laboratory references, news and continuing medical education, and productivity.CONCLUSIONS:Mobile medical apps have a variety of features that are beneficial to pharmacy practice. Individual clinicians should consider several characteristics of these apps to determine which are suitable to incorporate into their daily practice. HubMed – drug
Neuroprotective effects of alpha-ketoglutarate and ethyl pyruvate against motor dysfunction and oxidative changes caused by repeated 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6 tetrahydropyridine exposure in mice.
Hum Exp Toxicol. 2013 Jul; 32(7): 747-758
Satpute R, Lomash V, Kaushal M, Bhattacharya R
1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is a neurotoxin associated with drug abuse and causes permanent symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) by destroying dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the brain. In the present study, the neuroprotective effects of two carboxylic acid compounds, viz. alpha-ketoglutarate (A-KG), a Kreb’s cycle intermediate and ethyl pyruvate (EP), a lipid-soluble analogue of pyruvate, were evaluated against MPTP intoxication in mice and compared with madopar (MD; combination of levodopa plus benserazide), a standard drug. Animals received oral treatment of A-KG (500 mg/kg), EP (100 mg/kg) or MD (5 mg/kg) daily for 5 days followed by intraperitoneal administration of MPTP (20 mg/kg) and posttreatment (+10 min) of A-KG, EP or MD daily for the remaining 5 days. MPTP caused the inhibition of complex I of electron transport chain accompanied by oxidative stress in the brain. It also caused cytotoxicity in the midbrain region as characterized by histology and immunohistochemistry. Treatments of A-KG and EP were found to resolve the loss of motor coordination, oxidative stress, diminished complex I activity and tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons in midbrain. A-KG and EP also regressed the histological damage in the brain and minimized the accumulation of alpha-synuclein in the midbrain region. The data suggest that A-KG and EP which are nontoxic carboxylic acid compounds could be of potential therapeutic value in the treatment of PD. HubMed – drug