Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics
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Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. · Dec 2007
ReviewReview article: Probiotics in gastrointestinal and liver diseases.
Probiotics, defined as live micro-organisms with beneficial effects for the host, are widely applied in gastrointestinal and liver diseases. ⋯ Further insight into disease entities and the functioning of probiotic strains is required to be able to select disease-specific strains, which have to be tested in well-designed placebo-controlled studies.
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The incidence and therefore complications of (sigmoid) diverticular disease are increasing. ⋯ Uncomplicated diverticulitis is treated medically. Complicated diverticulitis with small abscesses is treated with antibiotics while larger abscesses are drained with computerised tomography-guided puncture. Emergency surgery is reserved for peritonitis, elective surgery for fistula/stenosis. Surgery to prevent recurrence is indicated only in selected cases (e.g. immune compromised).
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Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. · Nov 2007
Individualized population pharmacokinetic model with limited sampling for cyclosporine monitoring after liver transplantation in clinical practice.
We recently developed and validated limited sampling models (LSMs) for cyclosporine monitoring after orthotopic liver transplantation based on individualized population pharmacokinetic models with Bayesian modelling. Aim To evaluate LSM in practice, and to seek optimal balance between benefit and discomfort. ⋯ The limited sampling model, with only trough- and 2-h sampling, yields excellent accuracy and assesses systemic exposure much better than C2 with less bias and greater precision. Considering the calculated intra-patient variability, more precision is redundant, so LSM 0,2 h seems the optimal way of cyclosporine-monitoring.
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Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. · Nov 2007
Hospitalization for gastrointestinal adverse events attributable to the use of low-dose aspirin among patients 50 years or older also using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: a retrospective cohort study.
Use of aspirin with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs increases the risk of gastrointestinal ulcers; however, it is not clear if this risk varies with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used. ⋯ The increase in gastrointestinal hospitalization attributable to aspirin differed with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used, and seemed higher with cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitors than with non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
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Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. · Oct 2007
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyClinical trial: effect of mitemcinal (a motilin agonist) on gastric emptying in patients with gastroparesis - a randomized, multicentre, placebo-controlled study.
Mitemcinal is an orally active motilin agonist that could potentially improve gastric emptying. ⋯ Mitemcinal is capable of accelerating gastric emptying in both diabetic and idiopathic patients with gastroparesis.