Drugs under experimental and clinical research
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Clinical trial of the efficacy and safety of moguisteine in patients with cough associated with chronic respiratory diseases.
This completely randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial was carried out to evaluate the antitussive activity and safety of a 200 mg t.i.d. regimen of moguisteine (20 mg/ml ready-to-use suspension) during four days in patients with cough associated to chronic respiratory disorders. A total of 87 patients were enrolled, 42 on moguisteine and 45 on placebo. All had persistent dry or slightly productive coughs associated with chronic respiratory disorders. ⋯ The antitussive activity of moguisteine did not show remarkable variations either by diagnosis or by type of cough (dry/slightly productive). No serious adverse events were reported. No changes/trends were identified in laboratory tests that might indicate functional or toxic effects of moguisteine on specific organs.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Protective effect of levodropropizine against cough induced by inhalation of nebulized distilled water in patients with obstructive lung disease.
Levodropropizine is a recently developed, peripherally active antitussive agent which is widely used in clinical practice. In order to obtain further information on the spectrum of activity of this compound in experimental clinical models, a double-blind controlled study was carried out to evaluate the potential effect of the drug against cough and bronchoconstriction induced by inhalation of an ultrasonically nebulized solution of distilled water in patients with obstructive lung disease. Twenty patients were randomly divided into two groups, which received levodropropizine (60 mg t.i.d.) or placebo respectively for 7 consecutive days. ⋯ S.). Bronchial responsiveness decreased significantly (compared to baseline) in both treatment groups, without any significant difference between drug and placebo. Respiratory function tests were not significantly affected by either treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Upper respiratory tract infections, particularly pharyngitis and acute otitis media (AOM) are the commonest diseases in children. Although viruses are the main causative agents, bacteria may play an important role. With regard to antibiotic therapy, clinicians must solve two problems: differentiation between viral and bacterial aetiology and choice of the optimal drug for each bacterial disease. ⋯ With regard to AOM, the differentiation between bacterial and viral disease is less important because over 70% of cases are of bacterial origin. Besides, an exact aetiological diagnosis is possible only by tympanocentesis, an invasive method. In Italy amoxicillin is still the drug of choice: a twice-daily regimen has been demonstrated to be as effective as the traditional thrice-daily schedule.
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Trimethaphan, a ganglionic blocking agent which is administered by intravenous drip to produce controlled hypotension during surgery, produces a complete neuromuscular blockade at the isolated phrenic nerve-hemidiaphragm preparation of the rat at a concentration of 0.3 mmol X l-1. This blockade is not reversed by neostigmine, a cholinesterase inhibitor, nor by calcium chloride, and this action is attributed to the local anaesthetic activity of the drug. Trimethaphan (1.5 X 10(-2) mmol X l-1) interacts with the following aminoglycoside antibiotics: gentamicin (0.04), streptomycin (0.05), netilmicin (0.06), amikacin (0.11), sisomicin (0.14), kanamycin (0.17), tobramycin (0.18) and dibekacin (0.21 mmol X l-1) to produce a complete neuromuscular blockade. ⋯ The neuromuscular blockade which is obtained after the interaction of trimethaphan with aminoglycoside antibiotics is not reversed by either neostigmine or calcium chloride, although the neuromuscular blockade which is produced by aminoglycoside antibiotics alone is reversed by calcium chloride. It is concluded that the local anaesthetic effect of trimethaphan is the predominant factor of the mechanism of the above interactions. These interactions may produce severe respiratory disturbances (respiratory depression or apnoea) to the patients, during the perioperative period, which can be reversed only with artificial ventilation.
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Considerable progress has been made in the treatment of cancer. However, there is still a need for new drug development. The preclinical antitumour activity of new anticancer agents is evaluated by sequential testing in murine tumours and human xenografts in mice. ⋯ Further dose increases depend on the type and severity of these toxic side-effects. Patients included in phase I clinical trials of anticancer agents must have histologically proven malignant disease that cannot be treated by conventional therapeutic modalities. They should have normal haematological, renal and hepatic functions and should be expected to live long enough to evaluate properly the toxic effects of the new compounds.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)