Efficacy of an avocado-based Mediterranean diet on serum lipids for secondary prevention after ischemic stroke: a randomized phase 2 controlled pilot trial.

Background: The impact of a healthy diet on the secondary prevention of ischemic stroke (IS) remains uncertain. Levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) are inversely associated with the risk of IS recurrence. A Mediterranean diet (MeDi), consisting of a preference for fish/poultry, monosaturated fats from olive oil, fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes/nuts and limited red meats, animal fats and sweetened beverages, reduces metabolic syndrome, LDL-C levels and stroke risk.

Endeavours made by trade associations, pharmaceutical companies and regulators in the replacement, reduction and refinement of animal experimentation in safety testing of pharmaceuticals.

Following the European Commission decision to develop a roadmap to phase out animal testing and the signing of the US Modernisation Act, there is additional pressure on regulators and the pharmaceutical industry to abandon animal experimentation in safety testing. Often, endeavours already made by governments, regulators, trade associations, and industry to replace, reduce and refine animal experimentation (3Rs) are unnoticed. Herein, we review such endeavours to promote wider application and acceptance of 3Rs.

The Dog as a Second Species for Toxicology Testing Provides Value to Drug Development.

The objective of the pharmaceutical industry is to develop new drugs that are safe for human use. In many cases, the accepted approach codified in guidance from regulatory authorities to assess the nonclinical safety profile of potential pharmaceuticals is to perform toxicity testing in two species. However, the use of a second species to establish the safety of new pharmaceuticals has been the subject of much scrutiny in recent years and the industry has been repeatedly challenged to reduce, refine, or replace some or all of the animals used to establish the safety of these pharmaceutical candidates.

Effects of an Avocado-based Mediterranean Diet on Serum Lipids for Secondary Prevention after Ischemic Stroke Trial (ADD-SPISE): Study protocol.

Background:: A poor or unhealthy diet is responsible for an important fraction of ischemic stroke risk. Adherence to dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet, rich in monounsaturated fatty acids mainly from olive oil, is associated with a lower stroke risk. Furthermore, lowering low-density cholesterol (LDL-C) levels decreases stroke recurrence.

Evaluation of Cell Proliferation in Rat Mammary Glands Is Not Predictive of the Carcinogenic Potential of Insulin In Vivo.

For nonclinical safety-assessment of insulin analogues in vivo, mitogenic effects are compared to that of human insulin. Besides histopathologic evaluation, this usually includes assessment of cell proliferation (CP) in mammary glands. Insulin analogue X10 is recommended as positive control, due to its known carcinogenic effect in rat mammary glands.

Reliability of Hand-Held Transcranial Doppler with M-mode Ultrasound in Middle Cerebral Artery Measurement.

Purpose: To determine the intra- and interrater agreement of mean flow velocity (MFV) and pulsatility index (PI) measurement in middle cerebral arteries, assessed by transcranial Doppler (TCD) with M-mode.

Methods: Masked experienced neurosonologists performed TCD with M-mode using handheld probe in healthy adult volunteers. The Bland-Altman method for concordance and intraclass correlation coefficient were used.

Predictors of costs of care in Alzheimer's disease: a multinational sample of 1222 patients.

Background: The costs of care for patients with Alzheimer's disease are correlated with key measures of disease severity. This relationship is important in the economic evaluation of new treatments and is used to translate treatment efficacy into effects on costs through economic modeling. We aimed to identify what measures of disease severity are the most important predictors of societal costs of care and whether their relationship differs across countries.

Relative importance of patient disease indicators on informal care and caregiver burden in Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Cognition, abilities in activities of daily living (ADL), and behavioral disturbances in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) all influence the number of hours informal caregivers spend caring for their patients, and the burden caregivers experience. However, the direct effect and relative importance of each disease severity measure remains unclear.

Methods: Cross-sectional interviews were conducted with 1,222 AD patients and primary caregivers in Spain, Sweden, the U.

Generalized cellular hypertrophy is induced by a dual-acting PPAR agonist in rat urinary bladder urothelium in vivo.

Some developmental dual-acting PPARalpha/gamma agonists, such as ragaglitazar, have shown carcinogenic effects in the rodent urinary bladder urothelium after months-years of dosing. We examined early (precancerous) changes in the bladder urothelium of rats orally dosed with ragaglitazar, using a newly developed flow cytometric method. Following 3 weeks of oral ragaglitazar dosing, increases in physical size occurred in a generalized fashion in rat bladder urothelial cells, determined by flow cytometry.

[Wilson's disease: a review apropos of a clinical experience in 16 patients].

Wilson's Disease is an inherited disorder of copper metabolism. We report 16 patients (6 males) with the disease; 6 had hepatic involvement exclusively, 4 had neurological involvement, 3 had a neurological and hepatic involvement and 3 were asymptomatic. The age onset was 9 years for hepatic and 17 years for neurologic involvement.

Toxicity of vitamin D analogues in rats fed diets with standard or low calcium contents.

Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a standard diet with 0.9/0.7% Ca/P or a semisynthetic low-calcium diet with 0.

[Fulminant hepatic failure in children].

We report the clinical characteristics and course of 38 children with fulminant liver failure. A viral etiology was demonstrated in 19 patients out of 25 with serologic screening (virus A in 17 patients, B in 2 patients). One patient had toxic liver damage from ingestion of a caustic substance.