Search results for "General Pharmacology"
showing 10 items of 356 documents
Sleep apnea and its role in transportation safety
2017
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a main cause of excessive daytime sleepiness and increases the risk for driving accidents, which can be normalized by treatment with continuous positive airway pressure ventilation. Since it is estimated that OSA is not diagnosed in about 80% of cases, recognition of patients at risk for driving accidents is a problem from both medical and societal points of view. Strategies to screen and identify subjects at high risk for driving accidents are under study in order to improve safety on the road, especially for commercial drivers, who show a high prevalence of OSA.
Xerostomia induced by radiotherapy: an overview of the physiopathology, clinical evidence, and management of the oral damage
2015
Background: The irradiation of head and neck cancer (HNC) often causes damage to the salivary glands. The resulting salivary gland hypofunction and xerostomia seriously reduce the patient’s quality of life. Purpose: To analyze the literature of actual management strategies for radiation-induced hypofunction and xerostomia in HNC patients. Methods: MEDLINE/PubMed and the Cochrane Library databases were electronically evaluated for articles published from January 1, 1970, to June 30, 2013. Two reviewers independently screened and included papers according to the predefined selection criteria. Results: Sixty-one articles met the inclusion criteria. The systematic review of the literature sugge…
Release of acetylcholine from murine embryonic stem cells: Effect of nicotinic and muscarinic receptors and blockade of organic cation transporter
2012
The non-neuronal cholinergic system is widely expressed in nature. The present experiments were performed to characterize the non-neuronal cholinergic system in murine embryonic stem cells (CGR8 cell line).CGR8 cells were cultured in gelatinized flasks with Glasgow's buffered minimal essential medium (Gibco, Germany). Acetylcholine was measured by HPLC combined with bioreactor and electrochemical detection.CGR8 cells contained 1.08±0.12 pmol acetylcholine/10(6) cells (n=7) which was reduced to 0.50±0.06 pmol/10(6) cells (n=6; p0.05) in the presence (4h) of 30μM bromoacetylcholine to block choline acetyltransferase. A time-dependent release of acetylcholine into the incubation medium was dem…
The non-neuronal cholinergic system in humans: expression, function and pathophysiology.
2003
Acetylcholine, a prime example of a neurotransmitter, has been detected in bacteria, algae, protozoa, and primitive plants, indicating an extremely early appearance in the evolutionary process (about 3 billion years). In humans, acetylcholine and/or the synthesizing enzyme, choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), have been found in epithelial cells (airways, alimentary tract, urogenital tract, epidermis), mesothelial (pleura, pericardium), endothelial, muscle and immune cells (mononuclear cells, granulocytes, alveolar macrophages, mast cells). The widespread expression of non-neuronal acetylcholine is accompanied by the ubiquitous presence of cholinesterase and receptors (nicotinic, muscarinic). …
A low threshold to ECG-gated repeat CTA reduces the risk of false-positive diagnosis of type A dissection in interhospital referrals: a case series s…
2018
Angela Kornberger,1 Iris Burck,2 Hazem El Beyrouti,1 Nancy Halloum,1 Andres Beiras-Fernandez,1 Christian-Friedrich Vahl1 1Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital of Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany; 2Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital of Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Background: False-positive diagnosis of acute Stanford type A aortic dissection (AAD) on computed tomography angiography (CTA) is still an issue and may lead to substantial consequences. Given that electrocardiography (ECG)-gated CTA provides greater diagnostic safety, it may be assumed that interhospital referral…
Release of non-neuronal acetylcholine from the isolated human placenta is affected by antidepressants.
2007
Non-neuronal acetylcholine (ACh) is released from the human placenta into the extracellular space via organic cation transporters (OCTs). The present experiments investigated whether ACh release from epithelial cells is affected by drugs which are substrates of OCTs. The antidepressant drugs amitriptyline and doxepine were tested as both substances are not approved for pregnant women but frequently used. Release of ACh was measured in 10 min intervals over a period of 100 min. Test substances were added from t=50 min of incubation onwards. The effect was calculated by comparing the ACh release of the last three samples (t=70-100 min; B2) with that immediately before the application of the t…
Proliferative effect of acetylcholine on rat trachea epithelial cells is mediated by nicotinic receptors and muscarinic receptors of the M1-subtype.
2003
Acetylcholine (ACh), synthesized in mammalian non-neuronal cells such as epithelial cells of the airways, digestive tract and skin, is involved in the regulation of basic cell functions (so-called non-neuronal cholinergic system). In the present experiments rat trachea epithelial cells have been cultured to study the proliferative effect of applied ACh by [3H]thymidine incorporation. ACh (exposure time 24 h) caused a concentration-dependent increase in cell proliferation with a doubling of the [3H]thymidine incorporation at a concentration of 0.1 microM. This effect was partly reduced by 30 microM tubocurarine and completely abolished by the additional application of 1 microM atropine. The …
PS-075 Evaluation of fall risks in elderly patients
2014
Background Falls among hospitalised elderly patients are a major public health concern since they can cause loss of independence, injury and sometimes patient death. Purpose To examine risk factors, especially drugs, potentially related to falls in elderly patients and to define possible actions. Materials and methods A retrospective (May 1 2010–March 31 2013) study was performed at ISMETT, a 90-bed hospital. Patient characteristics (age/gender/body mass index, BMI), clinical conditions (diagnosis/comorbidity), ward (Intensive Care Unit, Step-Down Unit, Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit and Abdominal Surgery Unit), length of stay, number of medicines taken within three days before falling and sev…
Role of the hospital pharmacist in an Italian antimicrobial stewardship programme
2020
The inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents is contributing to an increasing phenomenon of bacterial resistance. For this reason, there is a growing interest in ‘antimicrobial stewardship’, a series of coordinated and multidisciplinary interventions aimed to promote the safe and appropriate use of antimicrobials in which the pharmacist’s contribution is necessary for the optimal choice of drug, dose, duration of therapy and the implementation of cost containment strategies. AIM OF THE STUDY: We wanted to create a reference model and a specific training manual on antibiotic stewardship to introduce the role of the department pharmacist with specific infection disease skills in the Italian …
The evolution of European Medicines Agency drug approval: the adaptive licensing: Table 1
2015
In March 2014, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) launched a pilot project of ‘adaptive licensing’ to speed up access to drugs in development, in order to respond to unmet medical needs. The project will involve parallel scientific advice from the regulatory agency, pharmaceutical industry, the companies Health Technology Assessment (HTAs) bodies, organisations studying guidelines on clinical treatment and patient associations. The traditional process of drug authorisation is divided into several parts, involving in vitro studies and in vivo studies in animals (preclinical studies), as well as phase 1–3 randomised controlled trials conducted in humans over a predefined period. When authori…