Current clinical pharmacology
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Curr Clin Pharmacol · May 2014
Review Comparative StudyL-carnosine modulates respiratory burst and reactive oxygen species production in neutrophil biochemistry and function: may oral dosage form of non-hydrolized dipeptide L-carnosine complement anti-infective anti-influenza flu treatment, prevention and self-care as an alternative to the conventional vaccination?
Influenza A is a viral disease of global dimension, presenting with high morbidity and mortality in annual epidemics, and in pandemics which are of infrequent occurrence but which have very high attack rates. Influenza vaccines of the future must be directed toward use of conserved group-specific viral antigens, such as are present in transitional proteins which are exposed during the fusion of virus to the host cell. Influenza probes revealed a continuing battle for survival between host and parasite in which the host population updates the specificity of its pool of humoral immunity by contact with and response to infection with the most recent viruses which possess altered antigenic specificity in their hemagglutinin (HA) ligand. ⋯ In this way these histidine-containing compounds can modulate the Influenza virus release from neutrophills and reduce virus dissemination through the body of the organism. This review points the ability of therapeutic control of Influenza viral infections associated with modulation by oral nonhydrolized forms of carnosine and related histidine-containg compounds of PMN apoptosis which may be involved at least in part in the pathophysiology of the disease in animals and humans. The data presented in this article, overall, may have implications for global influenza surveillance and planning for pandemic influenza therapeutic prevention with oral forms of non-hydrolized natural L-carnosine as a suitable alternative to the conventional vaccination for various flu ailments.
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The goal of this review is to address the medical implications of placebos and placebo effects in future medical practice. The applications of placebos have become increasingly relevant due to a recent abundance of clinical research that has been conducted on the mechanisms under which a placebo response is formed. With current research on placebo, the thoughts of using placebo effects as an effective form of co-treatment for patients with disorders such as pain, depression or Parkinson's disease might become a feasible proposition. This review focuses on crucial studies that have been done in this area of research with regard to the physiological and psychological mechanisms that are associated with the formation of a placebo effect, as well as emphasizing the patient-clinician relationship and the importance of this relationship for a successful treatment regimen.