The effect of CYP3A5 and ABCB1 single nucleotide polymorphisms on tacrolimus dose requirements in Caucasian liver transplant patients

Background: Tacrolimus is a substrate of cytochrome P-450 (CYP) 3A enzyme and of the drug transporter ABCBl. We have investigated the effects of possible relevant CYP3A5 and ABCBl single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) present in both donors and recipients on tacrolimus blood levels achieved in a population of 32 Caucasian liver transplant patients. Material/Methods: At 1, 3 and 6 months after transplantation, tacrolimus doses (mg/kg/day) and trough blood levels (C0) were determined. Polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was used for gen-otyping CYP3A5*3 [6986A>G] as well as ABCBl at exons 21 [2677G>T] and 26 [3435C>T]. Results:87.5…

USE OF HERBAL REMEDIES AMONG CANCER AND TRANSPLANT PATIENTS IN THE TOWN OF PALERMO, SICILY

Concomitant use of herbal remedies may lead to toxicity or failure of conventional therapies in different patients. The objectives of this survey were to assess: (1) the prevalence of the use of vegetal remedies by cancer and transplanted patients (2) the level of communication about such use to the physicians (3) whether such use might be associated to adverse reactions or interactions with conventional drugs. The study was carried out on 100 consecutive cancer patients attending the outpatient medical oncology clinic of the University Hospital "P. Giaccone", Palermo and on other 100 transplanted patients who were hospitalized or followed up at ISMETT, Palermo. Another group was composed o…

Inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) as new possible therapeutic targets in hepatocellular cancer

Resistance to Gemcitabine in a Lymphoma Cell Line Resistant to Fas-mediated Apoptosis

BACKGROUND: The T-cell lymphoma cell line HuT78B1, selected for resistance to Fas-mediated apoptosis, resulted unexpectedly resistant to the apoptotic and cytotoxic effects of gemcitabine (dFdC). We investigated whether this resistance was due to the impairment of the Fas/Fas-ligand (FasL) system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: dFdC effects were studied in HuT78B1 and in the parental Fas-sensitive HuT78 cells exposed to inhibitors of the Fas/FasL system. RESULTS: FasL- and Fas-blocking antibodies did not interfere with dFdC-induced apoptosis in HuT78 cells, whereas inhibitors of caspase-8, -9, -1 or -3 had partial inhibitory effects. Notably, in HuT78B1 cells there was a markedly reduced dFdC accum…

Antitumor effects of curcumin and of its combinations with cisplatin or doxorubicin on human hepatic cancer cells: Possible relationship to NF-kB activation and IAP gene expression