Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of NTBC (2-(2-nitro-4-fluoromethylbenzoyl)-1,3-cyclohexanedione) and mesotrione, inhibitors of 4-hydroxyphenyl pyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD) following a single dose to healthy male volunteers.

Aims: NTBC (2-(2-nitro-4-fluoromethylbenzoyl)-1,3-cyclohexanedione) and mesotrione (2-(4-methylsulphonyl-2-nitrobenzoyl)-1,3-cyclohexanedione) are inhibitors of 4-hydroxyphenyl pyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD). NTBC has been successfully used as a treatment for hereditary tyrosinaemia type 1 (HT-1), while mesotrione has been developed as an herbicide. The pharmacokinetics of the two compounds were investigated in healthy male volunteers following single oral administration.

Effect of amitriptyline on the thyrotropin response to thyrotropin-releasing hormone in endogenous depression.

Patients with endogenous depression whose depressive episodes were clinically resolved after electroconvulsive therapy were divided into two groups: one in which patients remained well (n = 16) and another in which patients relapsed within 6 months (n = 11). Treatment with amitriptyline for 3 weeks did not affect the median thyrotropin (thyroid-stimulating hormone; TSH) response to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) in recovered patients, whereas that in relapsed patients was significantly enhanced. The data suggest that amitriptyline affects the TSH response to TRH differently in stably recovered and relapsed patients.

Prediction of relapse with the TRH test and prophylactic amitriptyline in 39 patients with endogenous depression.

The authors conducted a double-blind prospective study of 39 patients with unipolar endogenous depression who recovered after ECT. Thyrotropin (TSH)-releasing hormone (TRH) tests were performed before and after ECT. Patients were divided into three groups on the basis of their altered TSH response: Persistent remission was predicted for patients in group 1 (N = 15) and relapse was predicted for groups 2A (N = 13) and 2B (N = 11).

Ampicillin and propylthiouracil pharmacokinetics in intestinal bypass patients followed up to a year after operation.

The pharmacokinetics of ampicillin and prophylthiouracil were studied in 6 and 9 patients, respectively, before and several times up to a year after a shunt operation for extreme obesity. The drugs were given intravenously and orally making it possible to estimate the absolute bioavailability. The bioavailability of propylthiouracil (about 80%) was unchanged by the surgical procedure but the fraction of ampicillin (given as pivampicillin) absorbed decreased from a preoperative value of 109 +/- 44% to 44 +/- 30% 12 months after the bypass operation.

Acute effects of parathyroid hormone on vitamin D metabolism in patients with the bone loss of aging.

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of an iv injection of parathyroid extract on serum levels of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25-(OH)2D3] in elderly osteopenic patients and age-matched nonosteopenic controls. Serum concentrations of 1,25-(OH)2D were reduced in elderly osteopenic subjects (mean +/- SEM, 20 +/- 3 pg/ml) compared with values in age-matched nonosteopenic controls (35 +/- 3 pg/ml), whereas no differences were found in serum 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels (1.5 +/- 0.