The pharmacotherapy implications of ventricular assist device in the patient with end-stage heart failure.

Advances in mechanical circulatory support, such as the use of ventricular assist devices (VADs), have become a means for prolonging survival in end-stage heart failure (HF). VADs decrease the symptoms of HF and improve quality of life by replacing some of the work of a failing heart. They unload the ventricle to provide improved cardiac output and end-organ perfusion, resulting in improvement in cardiorenal syndromes and New York Heart Association functional class rating.

Improved survival after heart transplantation in patients with bridge to transplant in the recent era: a 17-year single-center experience.

Background: Ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation as a bridge to transplant (BTT) has become an important approach for heart transplant candidates. In this study we document our institutional long-term results and recent improvements in BTT therapy.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 531 consecutive heart transplant recipients between January 1990 and August 2007.

Analytical and pharmacological studies on Mahonia aquifolium.

Alcoholic extracts of the antipsoriatic Mahonia aquifolium drug which were analysed for their qualitative and quantitative alkaloid content, showed an in vitro inhibiting effect on cyclo-oxygenase (CO) of sheep seminal vesicles and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) of porcine leucocytes. The same extracts exhibited also immunostimulating activities in two phagocytosis assays. In contrast the major alkaloids of Mahonia aquifolium extracts berberine, palmatine, magnoflorine and jatrorrhizine were found to be inactive at all in both antiinflammatory assays, suggesting a different mechanism of action for the alkaloids or further not yet detected compounds in the extract.