The safety profile of Polyoxidonium in daily practice: results from postauthorization safety study in Slovakia.

Aim: This study assessed the safety of Polyoxidonium 6 mg lyophilisate for solution for injection in routine practice with a special focus on signs or symptoms of potential adverse renal effects.

Materials & Methods: A local, multicenter, prospective, open-label, noninterventional, uncontrolled postauthorization safety study was conducted in 15 healthcare centers in Slovakia. Adult patients who received commercially available Polyoxidonium 6 mg lyophilisate for solution for injection as a part of their routine care were observed for one cycle of treatment, consisting of five or ten injections.

Comparison of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of two recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor formulations after single subcutaneous administration to healthy volunteers.

Background And Objective: The aim of this randomized, single dose, two-period crossover study with two weeks wash-out period was the demonstration of bioequivalence of two recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rG-CSF) formulations after subcutaneous administration of 300μg comparing their pharmacokinetic (primary endpoints AUC0-24, AUC0-∞ and Cmax) and pharmacodynamic (primary endpoints ANC AUC0-72, ANC AUC0-∞ and ANCmax) profiles in healthy male subjects.

Materials And Methods: A total of 36 (23.0±6.

Paracetamol and simvastatin: a potential interaction resulting in hepatotoxicity.

The safety profile of paracetamol and simvastatin is sufficiently well known, although no interactions between these two medicinal products have been described in the scientific literature so far. A 66-year-old female patient who experienced myocardial infarction and underwent coronary artery bypass grafting 9 years ago was taking simvastatin at a daily dose of 10 mg. Liver enzyme tests were carried out regularly, and their results were always normal.

The prevalence of metabolic risk factors among outpatients with diagnosed nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Lithuania.

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease; there is growing evidence that it is a hepatic manifestation of a metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of metabolic risk factors among patients with NAFLD.

Material/methods: Outpatients with NAFLD were recruited into the study.

An open-label multicenter safety, tolerability, and efficacy study of recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in the prevention of neutropenic complications in breast cancer patients.

Unlabelled: The primary objective of this open-label, two chemotherapy arm, phase 4 study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of newly developed recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rG-CSF) used to prevent neutropenia-related complications in patients with metastatic breast cancer treated with docetaxel (75 mg/m(2)) and doxorubicin (50 mg/m(2)) or docetaxel (100 mg/m(2)) alone.

Material And Methods: A total of 50 patients who were treated with a maximum of 6 cycles of either docetaxel-doxorubicin (36 patients) or docetaxel alone (14 patients) every 21 days were recruited from 3 centers in Lithuania. All the patients received study medication rG-CSF at a dosage of 5 μg/kg per day (Sicor Biotech UAB, Teva Group) from day 2 of each cycle and continued for minimum 5 days or until absolute neutrophil count reached ≥1.

Rationality of administered gentamicin dose in cerebral coma patients treated in an intensive care unit.

Gentamicin is still widely used in the treatment of patients in an intensive care unit (ICU). The efficacy of aminoglycosides correlates with the peak serum concentration (Cmax), and the toxicity with the minimum serum concentration (Cmin). The aim of this study was to determine Cmax and Cmin in serum of cerebral coma ICU patients when a dosage of gentamicin of 5 mg/kg body weight was administered once daily; to evaluate the rationality of mentioned dose; and to identify factors associated with these concentrations.

Severe vancomycin-induced anaphylactic reaction.

Vancomycin is widely used against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections, but it is associated with many adverse effects such as nephrotoxicity, ototoxicity, gastrointestinal disturbances, blood disorders, and two types of hypersensitivity reactions - an anaphylactoid reaction known as "red man syndrome" and anaphylaxis. We report a case of a 23-year-old man who developed a vancomycin-induced anaphylactic reaction in the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection.

Efficacy, tolerability, and preference of mirtazapine orally disintegrating tablets in depressed patients: a 17-week naturalistic study in Lithuania.

Mirtazapine is an established antidepressant with well-documented efficacy demonstrated in controlled clinical trials. However, the gap between the results obtained in controlled clinical trials and everyday clinical practice exists. Therefore, the importance of naturalistic studies in psychiatry is becoming recognized.

[Safety and efficacy study of the recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for prevention of neutropenia and neutropenia-related complications in women with metastatic breast cancer receiving docetaxel/doxorubicin].

Background: We evaluated efficacy and safety of recombinant granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (rGCSF) used as primary prophylaxis to prevent neutropenia and neutropenia-related complications induced by docetaxel and doxorubicin chemotherapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: Three centers in Lithuania enrolled 36 patients who received rGCSF (5 microg/kg/d) on day 2 of each 21-day chemotherapy with docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) and doxorubicin 50 mg/m(2) (AT) starting in the first cycle. Treatment regimen was repeated for up to six cycles.

Characteristics of gender-related circadian arterial blood pressure in healthy adolescents.

Summary Objective: To define 24-h characteristics of arterial blood pressure in healthy adolescent girls and boys; to determine gender-related differences of blood pressure, its circadian pattern.

Material And Methods: The 24-h blood pressure was monitored hourly in healthy girls (n=22, without no account for the menstrual cycle phase) and boys (n=22). Additionally, blood pressure of adolescent girls (n=15) was examined during different phases of their menstrual cycle (follicular, ovulation, and luteal).

Analysis of antidepressant prescribing tendencies in Lithuania in 2003-2004.

Depression is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, affecting 121 million people in whole world. In many developed countries, the number of prescriptions for antidepressants increased steeply during the 1990s. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the antidepressant prescribing patterns in all regions of Lithuania during 2003-2004, to analyze the use within different antidepressant groups, and to examine trends in age- and gender-specific antidepressant use.

Trends in the consumption of antidepressant drugs in Lithuania in 2002-2004.

Objective: To evaluate trends in the use of antidepressant drugs in Lithuania between 2002 and 2004 and to perform cost-minimization and reference price analysis enabling more rational use of financial resources of national health system.

Material And Methods: The data on sales of antidepressant drugs in Lithuanian over a 3-year period (2002-2004) were obtained from IMS Health Inc. database.

[Compliance in psychiatry: results of a survey of depressed patients using orally disintegrating tablet].

As many as 60% of the patients do not follow the therapy recommended by their physicians. An important factor that can influence patient's compliance is the physician's opinion about the tolerability and safety of prescribed medication. However, the efforts of both parties, not only physician but also patient, have benefits on the outcome of treatment.

[A case of severe hyponatremia in a patient suffering from epilepsy and using oxcarbazepine].

A 70-year-old patient treated with oxcarbazepine experienced severe hyponatremia. The patient used oxcarbazepine (600 mg twice a day) concomitantly with diuretics (torasemide 10 mg and indapamide 1.25 mg once per day), perindopril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, and amlodipine, a Ca(2+) channel blocker.

[Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents--choice between disturbances of gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular toxicity].

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents are used more than 100 years. Most of them can cause undesirable effects on gastrointestinal tract: ulceration, bleeding and perforation of stomach and duodenum. Gastrointestinal toxicity is diminished when selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors are used.

[Ibogaine--the substance for treatment of toxicomania. Neurochemical and pharmacological action].

The review of scientific literature, concerning the indol alkaloid Ibogaine, which is extracted from the bush Tabernanthe Iboga, is presented in this article. Used as a stimulating factor for hundred of years in non-traditional medicine, this alkaloid could be important for modern pharmacology because of potential anti-addictive properties. The mechanism of action of this alkaloid is closely related to different neurotransmitting systems.

[Present-day approach to pharmacological and clinical aspects of novel antidepressants].

Depression is the most common illness that affects a large number of individuals in all countries. Recent evidence suggest that depressive episodes if left untreated may heighten severity of subsequent episodes and may increase need for more health care resources. The first antidepressants, tricyclics and monoamine oxidase inhibitors, became available in the late 1950s.

[Antipsychotic agents and pharmacotherapy of psychoses].

Antipsychotic drugs have been used clinically for approximately 50 years. Reserpine and chlorpromazine were first drugs found be useful in schizophrenia. The term "antipsychotic" is used to describe a group of drugs that has been used mainly for treating of schizophrenia, but also is effective in some other psychoses and agitated states.