Fundamental & clinical pharmacology
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Improving methodology for Phase I dose-finding studies is currently of great interest in pharmaceutical and medical research. This article discusses the current atmosphere and attitude towards adaptive designs and focuses on the influence of Bayesian approaches.
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Fundam Clin Pharmacol · Apr 2010
Comparative StudyThe comparison of the effects of anesthetic doses of ketamine, propofol, and etomidate on ischemia-reperfusion injury in skeletal muscle.
The fact that a considerable amount of clinical conditions suffering from ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) occur under general anesthesia has triggered researchers to focus on the effects of anesthetic drugs on IRI. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare the use of different anesthetic drugs in a skeletal IRI model. Tourniquet IRI method was performed and two experimental groups were established as sham-control and IRI group. ⋯ Rats anesthetized with ketamine (60 mg/kg), propofol (100 mg/kg), or etomidate (20 mg/kg) did not show increased malondialdehyde levels in comparison with control levels. While the drugs did not cause a distinction in the levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathion peroxidase, iron, and copper, zinc was in a lower level in IRI group compared to sham-control. In conclusion, ketamine, propofol, and etomidate, with anesthetic doses, denoted efficacious effects on IRI; hence the drugs might be preferred in certain operations with the risk of IRI.
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Fundam Clin Pharmacol · Feb 2010
Medical and non-medical direct costs of chronic low back pain in patients consulting primary care physicians in France.
A retrospective, observational, cohort study in primary care. To determine the total direct medical and non-medical cost of chronic low back pain (LBP) in France and its associated factors. Chronic LBP affects 5-10% of the population its burden in France is unknown. ⋯ Of these costs, 22.9% related to care provided by physiotherapists and allied specialists, 19.5% to medications, 17.4% to hospitalizations, 9.6% to investigations, and 12.5% to physician fees. In multivariate analysis, the factors associated with the cost of chronic LBP were disease severity (RMDQ score) and age of the patients. LBP is a disease that is both common and costly.
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Preconditioning, a well established phenomenon had been used since 1980s to attenuate ischaemia-reperfusion induced injury. However, inability to predict the onset of ischaemia in clinical settings led to the discovery of a new concept of postconditioning (PoCo), in 2000s whereby brief repetitive cycles of ischaemia with intermittent reperfusion followed by prolonged ischaemia-elicited tissue protection. ⋯ Remote PoCo has also emerged as a new concept; however, considerable research is required for understanding its molecular mechanisms. In this review, an exhaustive attempt has been made to unearth some molecular aspects of PoCo.
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Fundam Clin Pharmacol · Aug 2009
Comparative Study Controlled Clinical TrialA prospective comparative study of gentamicin- and amikacin-induced nephrotoxicity in patients with normal baseline renal function.
The aim of this study was to compare the nephrotoxic potential of amikacin (AK) and gentamicin (GM) in patients with normal baseline renal function. This study was a 1-year, non-interventional prospective study of patients administered either GM or AK. The study was carried out at the internal medicine department of Al-Watani governmental study. ⋯ In patients with initial normal renal function, GM was significantly more nephrotoxic than AK. Multiple dosing of GM was more nephrotoxic than single dosing. AK-induced nephrotoxicity was not significantly dependent on dosing frequency.