The utility of point of care serum lactate in predicting serious adverse outcomes among critically ill adult patients at urban emergency departments of tertiary hospitals in Tanzania.

Background: Elevated serum lactate levels have been shown in numerous studies to be associated with serious adverse events, including mortality. Point of care lactate level is increasingly available in resource-limited emergency department (ED) settings. However, little is known about the predictive ability of for serious adverse events.

Anti-inflammatory effects of minocycline are mediated by retinoid signaling.

Background: Minocycline is a lipophilic tetracycline of increasing appeal in neuroscience as it inhibits microglial activation, a mechanism involved in numerous neuropsychiatric disorders. Own data point towards retinoid-mediated effects of minocycline in murine brain and skin, and towards a vicious cycle of neuroinflammation which is driven by microglial activation-induced breakdown of local retinoids such as retinoic acid (RA). We therefore sought to study minocycline's anti-inflammatory effects on human microglial-like monocyte-derived cells in the context of retinoid signaling.

Retinoic Acid Enhances Apolipoprotein E Synthesis in Human Macrophages.

Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) represents a pivotal target in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is modulated through retinoic acid (RA), an endogenous neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory compound. A major source of ApoE are microglia, which are pathologically activated in AD. Activated microglia are known to block RA signaling.

Clozapine-induced agranulocytosis: Evidence for an immune-mediated mechanism from a patient-specific in-vitro approach.

Use of the atypical antipsychotic clozapine (CZP) is compromised by the risk of potentially fatal agranulocytosis/granulocytopenia (CIAG). To address this, we have established a simple, personalized cell culture-based strategy to identify CIAG-susceptible patients, hypothesizing that an immunogenic and possibly haptene-based mechanism underlies CIAG pathophysiology. To detect a putative haptene-induced response to CZP in vitro exposure, a traditional lymphocyte stimulation assay was adapted and applied to patient-specific peripheral blood-derived mononuclear cells (PBMC).

Inhibition of brain retinoic acid catabolism: a mechanism for minocycline's pleiotropic actions?

Objectives: Minocycline is a tetracycline antibiotic increasingly recognized in psychiatry for its pleiotropic anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective potential. While underlying mechanisms are still incompletely understood, several lines of evidence suggest a relevant functional overlap with retinoic acid (RA), a highly potent small molecule exhibiting a great variety of anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties in the adult central nervous system (CNS). RA homeostasis in the adult CNS is tightly controlled through local RA synthesis and cytochrome P450 (CYP450)-mediated inactivation of RA.

Inhibition of retinoic acid catabolism by minocycline: evidence for a novel mode of action?

Retinoic acid (RA) represents an essential and highly potent endogenous retinoid with pronounced anti-inflammatory properties and potent anti-acne activity, and has recently been suggested to share a common anti-inflammatory mode of action with tetracycline antibiotics. We hypothesized that tetracyclines may directly interfere with RA homeostasis via inhibition of its local cytochrome P450 (CYP450)-mediated degradation, an essential component of tightly regulated skin RA homeostasis. To test this hypothesis, we performed controlled in vitro RA metabolism assays using rat skin microsomes and measured RA levels in a RA-synthesizing human keratinocyte cell line, both in the presence and in the absence of minocycline, a tetracycline popular in acne treatment.

[The French linguistic validation of the Ureteric Stent Symptom Questionnaire (USSQ)].

Purpose: Translation and linguistic validation of the French version of the Ureteral Stent Symptom Questionnaire (USSQ).

Materials And Methods: A double-back translation of the original Ureteral Stent Symptom Questionnaire was performed. First, two urologists translated the English version in French.