W Indian Med J
-
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disease of the pulmonary vascular bed and causes right heart failure and death. Combination therapy which targets three different pathways is necessary due to the progressive nature of the disease. In patients with PAH, there are two approaches in combination therapy: "first-line up-front" and "sequential add-on" treatment. In "firstline up-front" treatment, patients receive double or triple drug therapy from the start. In the "sequential add-on" approach, a single drug is initially started and then according to the patient's requirements, a second or third drug is added. There is insufficient evidence about the efficiency and safety of treatment approaches. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the treatment approach in patients with PAH at a tertiary centre. ⋯ In this study, combination therapy was given to patients as "sequential add-on therapy". At the end of the follow-up period, monotherapy was sufficient in 34.5% of patients of the study group and in eight patients, sildenafil or prostaglandin analogues were added; a total of 15 patients (48.4%) completed the study under dual therapy. Four patients (12.9%) received combination therapy with three drugs.
-
To determine the prevalence of congenital malformations in Grenada for the period January 2000-December 2004. ⋯ The prevalence of congenital malformations in Grenada is low in comparison to other developed and developing countries.
-
The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of addition of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) and thymoquinone (TQ) on oxidative and nitrosative stress in the liver tissue of irradiated rats. ⋯ Thymoquinone and CAPE decrease oxidative and nitrosative stress markers and have antioxidant effects, which also increase antioxidant capacity in the liver tissue of irradiated rats.
-
Leishmaniasis is usually treated with chemotherapy; however, toxicity, resistance and high-cost limit use of the chemical drugs. Leishmania eukaryotic initiation factor (LeIF) protein acts the same as interleukin (IL)-12 and reduces the secretion of IL-4 in lymph node cells of mice infected with Leishmania major. The aim of this study was cloning of the gene encoding LeIF antigen into eukaryotic expression plasmid pEGFP-N1. ⋯ We cloned LeIF gene which could be expressed in eukaryotic cells in vivo and could be used as a vaccine candidate against leishmaniasis in future studies.
-
To determine whether risk stratification using the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score is a predictor of in-hospital mortality for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in a multi-ethnic Caribbean population. ⋯ The GRACE risk score was found to be a reliable predictor of in-hospital mortality in this ACS population and therefore can be used to identify those high-risk patients who may benefit from aggressive management strategies, thereby allowing for more effective use of limited resources.