Vascular pharmacology
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Vascular pharmacology · Jun 2007
Clinical TrialAcute haemodynamic responses to inhaled nitric oxide and intravenous sildenafil in distal chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).
Although surgery is the treatment of choice for CTEPH, it is not appropriate for patients with surgically inaccessible distal disease. These patients are traditionally managed supportively, but may benefit from newer, more specific vasoactive therapies. This study examines the acute haemodynamic responses to inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) and intravenous sildenafil in this patient population. ⋯ Although all but one patient failed to fulfil the formal haemodynamic response criteria typically used in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH), subjects displayed significant acute responses to both iNO and sildenafil suggesting that increased vascular tone forms an important component of distal CTEPH. It is possible that these acute haemodynamic responses may translate to improved clinical outcomes, and thus further long term trials of sildenafil in distal CTEPH are warranted.
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Vascular pharmacology · Jun 2007
Potential effects of PKC or protease inhibitors on acute pancreatitis-induced tissue injury in rats.
Acute pancreatitis (AP) is still one of the severe diseases, that cause the development of multiple organ dysfunction with a high mortality. Effective therapies for AP are still limited, mainly due to unclear mechanisms by which AP initiates both pancreatic and extrapancreatic organ injury. ⋯ Inhibition of proteases in AP may be helpful in ameliorating the inflammatory reaction in both pancreatic and extrapancreatic tissues, where neutrophil involvement may be regulated by PKC and proteases.