Carbon monoxide exposures reported to the UK National Poisons Information Service: a 4-year study.

Background: Unintentional carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning poses a public health challenge. The UK National Poisons Information Service (NPIS) provides advice to healthcare professionals via the online database, TOXBASE®, and a 24-hour telephone line. Our aim was to analyse all CO-related enquiries to the NPIS.

Synergistic activity of linifanib and irinotecan increases the survival of mice bearing orthotopically implanted human anaplastic thyroid cancer.

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is the most aggressive form of thyroid cancer, and novel combined therapies are urgently needed to prolong patient survival. No data are currently available on the preclinical activity of the combination of linifanib, a CSF-1R inhibitor, and irinotecan in ATC. The aim of the study was to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo activity of linifanib plus irinotecan.

Pharmacological effects of vinorelbine in combination with lenvatinib in anaplastic thyroid cancer.

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a rare neoplasia with a poor prognosis. Proliferation and apoptosis assays were performed on ATC cell lines (8305C, 8505C) exposed to vinorelbine, lenvatinib, as well as to concomitant combinations. ABCB1, ABCG2 and CSF-1 mRNA expression was evaluated by real time PCR.

An Italian validation of the Comparative Psychotherapy Process Scale: Reliability and validity.

The Comparative Psychotherapy Process Scale (CPPS) is an instrument designed to measure therapist interventions in a psychotherapy session. The scale includes 20 items divided into two subscales: the PI (psychodynamic-interpersonal) scale, which describes psychodynamic-interpersonal techniques; and the CB (cognitive-behavioural) scale, which includes cognitive-behavioural interventions. The aim of the study was to examine the psychometric properties of the CPPS, comparing the PI and CB subscales with the psychodynamic, cognitive and STTP prototypes, as described by the Psychotherapy Process Q-set(PQS).

Preclinical and clinical combination therapies in the treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer.

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is the most aggressive form of thyroid cancer, and novel therapies are urgently needed to prolong patient survival and improve clinical outcomes. Very few scientific reviews have examined the literature on combination therapies with the goal of describing the available preclinical and clinical data and suggesting future clinical combination treatment schedules. The present review focuses on preclinical and clinical studies of drug combination therapies in ATC.

Effects of Pazopanib Monotherapy vs. Pazopanib and Topotecan Combination on Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Cells.

The purpose of this study was to examine pazopanib/topotecan combination activity vs. pazopanib monotherapy on anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) cells. Proliferation analyses were performed on ATC cell lines administered for 72 h with pazopanib and topotecan alone and to their simultaneous combination.

Protective effects of the combination Bifidobacterium longum plus lactoferrin against NSAID-induced enteropathy.

Objectives: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can exert detrimental effects in the lower digestive tract. The aim of this study was to examine the protective effects of a combination of the probiotic Bifidobacterium longum BB536 (Bifidobacterium) with the prebiotic lactoferrin in a rat model of diclofenac-induced enteropathy.

Methods: Enteropathy was induced in 40-wk-old male rats by intragastric diclofenac (4 mg/kg twice daily for 14 d).

Pharmacological effects of the simultaneous and sequential combinations of trifluridine/tipiracil (TAS-102) and 5-fluorouracil in fluoropyrimidine-sensitive colon cancer cells.

The aim of this study was to investigate possible synergistic effects in vitro of trifluridine/tipiracil (TAS-102) and 5-fluoruracil (5-FU) on fluoropyrimidine-sensitive colon cancer cell lines of different mutational status in order to build a rational basis for the future use of this combination therapy in adjuvant settings or as a first-line treatment for metastatic disease. Proliferation assays were performed on HT-29 (B-raf mutated), SW-620 (ras mutated), and Caco-2 (wild type) colon cancer cell lines exposed to 120-h treatments of 5-FU, TAS-102 and their different combination schedules (simultaneous, sequential and reverse) at equimolar and non-equimolar ratios. The synergistic, additive and antagonistic effects of 5-FU and TAS-102 were determined by the combination index (CI) and dose reduction index (DRI).

Chemotherapeutic and antiangiogenic drugs beyond tumor progression in colon cancer: Evaluation of the effects of switched schedules and related pharmacodynamics.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects and the related pharmacological mechanisms of switched schedules of antiangiogenic and chemotherapeutic drugs beyond progression after a first-line treatment in a colorectal cancer preclinical model. In vivo studies were performed in nude mice subcutaneously transplanted with colon cancer cells. The treatments included drug combinations with a switch between chemotherapeutic (i.

Pathophysiology of NSAID-Associated Intestinal Lesions in the Rat: Luminal Bacteria and Mucosal Inflammation as Targets for Prevention.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can damage the small intestine, mainly through an involvement of enteric bacteria. This study examined the pathophysiology of NSAID-associated intestinal lesions in a rat model of diclofenac-enteropathy and evaluated the effect of rifaximin on small bowel damage. Enteropathy was induced in 40-week old male rats by intragastric diclofenac (4 mg/kg BID, 14 days).

Luteolin Prevents Cardiometabolic Alterations and Vascular Dysfunction in Mice With HFD-Induced Obesity.

Luteolin exerts beneficial effects against obesity-associated comorbidities, although its influence on vascular dysfunction remains undetermined. We examined the effects of luteolin on endothelial dysfunction in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity. Standard diet (SD) or high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice were treated daily with luteolin intragastrically.

Interplay between colonic inflammation and tachykininergic pathways in the onset of colonic dysmotility in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity.

Background: The murine model of high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity is characterized by an increment of intestinal permeability, secondary to an impairment of mucosal epithelial barrier and enteric inflammation, followed by morphofunctional rearrangement of the enteric nervous system. The present study investigated the involvement of abdominal macrophages in the mechanisms underlying the development of enteric dysmotility associated with obesity.

Methods: Wild type C57BL/6J mice were fed with HFD (60% kcal from fat) or normocaloric diet (NCD, 18% kcal from fat) for 8 weeks.

Dietary flavonoids as a potential intervention to improve redox balance in obesity and related co-morbidities: a review.

Obesity represents one of major health problems strongly linked to other co-morbidities, such as type 2 diabetes, CVD, gastrointestinal disorders and cognitive impairment. In this context, nutritional stress, such as an excess of fat intake, promotes a systemic oxidative stress, characterised by hyperproduction of reactive oxygen species, leading to cellular alterations that include impaired energy metabolism, altered cell signalling and cell cycle control, impaired cell transport mechanisms and overall dysfunctional biological activity. Flavonoids, dietary components of plant foods, are endowed with a wide spectrum of biological activities, including antioxidant activity, and have been proposed to reduce the risk of major chronic diseases.

The flavonoid compound apigenin prevents colonic inflammation and motor dysfunctions associated with high fat diet-induced obesity.

Background And Purpose: Apigenin can exert beneficial actions in the prevention of obesity. However, its putative action on obesity-associated bowel motor dysfunctions is unknown. This study examined the effects of apigenin on colonic inflammatory and motor abnormalities in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity.

The involvement of purinergic signalling in obesity.

Obesity is a growing worldwide health problem, with an alarming increasing prevalence in developed countries, caused by a dysregulation of energy balance. Currently, no wholly successful pharmacological treatments are available for obesity and related adverse consequences. In recent years, hints obtained from several experimental animal models support the notion that purinergic signalling, acting through ATP-gated ion channels (P2X), G protein-coupled receptors (P2Y) and adenosine receptors (P1), is involved in obesity, both at peripheral and central levels.

Assessing alliance ruptures and resolutions: Reliability and validity of the Collaborative Interactions Scale-revised version.

Objective: This study presents the revised version of the Collaborative Interactions Scale (CIS) [Colli, A., & Lingiardi, V. (2009).

Searching Novel Therapeutic Targets for Scleroderma: P2X7-Receptor Is Up-regulated and Promotes a Fibrogenic Phenotype in Systemic Sclerosis Fibroblasts.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disorder presenting fibrosis of the skin and internal organs, for which no effective treatments are currently available. Increasing evidence indicates that the P2X7 receptor (P2X7R), a nucleotide-gated ionotropic channel primarily involved in the inflammatory response, may also have a key role in the development of tissue fibrosis in different body districts. This study was aimed at investigating P2X7R expression and function in promoting a fibrogenic phenotype in dermal fibroblasts from SSc patients, also analyzing putative underlying mechanistic pathways.

Colonic motor dysfunctions in a mouse model of high-fat diet-induced obesity: an involvement of A adenosine receptors.

Adenosine A receptors (AR) regulate several enteric functions. However, their implication in the pathophysiology of intestinal dysmotility associated with high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity has not been elucidated. We investigated the expression of AR in mouse colon and their role in the mechanisms underlying the development of enteric dysmotility associated with obesity.

Therapeutic interventions in the treatment of eating disorders: A naturalistic study.

This study used naturalistic data from psychodynamic (PD) and cognitive-behavioral (CB) clinicians in the community to offer a portrait of treatments for eating disorder (ED) patients as provided in everyday clinical practice. The research aims were (1) to examine the therapeutic interventions reported by PD and CB clinicians working with ED patients; and (2) to assess the impact of different variables (such as patient personality styles, ED symptomatology, and therapists' theoretical orientation and experience) on the technique use reported by clinicians. A national sample of PD and CB clinicians (N = 105) completed the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-200 (SWAP-200; Westen & Shedler, 1999a, 1999b) to assess personality disorders of a female patient with EDs in their care, as well as the Comparative Psychotherapy Process Scale-Bulimia Nervosa (CPPS-BN; Thompson-Brenner & Westen, 2005) to describe the characteristic interventions used in their treatments.

Eating Disorders and Therapist Emotional Responses.

The aims of this study were to identify (a) patterns of clinicians' emotional responses to patients with eating disorders (ED); (b) patient, clinician, and treatment variables associated with therapist emotional responses; and (c) the influence of patient personality on therapist emotional responses. A random national sample of psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapists (N = 149) was asked to examine one patient (>18 years old) with an ED. Clinicians completed the SWAP-200, the Therapist Response Questionnaire, and the Clinical Questionnaire-Eating Disorder Form to provide general information about themselves, patients, and therapies.

The role of P2X7 receptors in tissue fibrosis: a brief review.

Many previous studies have demonstrated that P2X(7) receptors (P2X(7)Rs) have a pleiotropic function in different pathological conditions and could represent a novel target for the treatment of a range of diseases. In particular, recent studies have explored the role of P2X(7)R in fibrosis, the pathological outcome of most chronic inflammatory diseases. The aim of this review is to discuss the biological features of P2X(7)R and summarize the current knowledge about the putative role of the P2X(7)R in triggering fibrosis in a wide spectrum of organs such as the lung, kidney, liver, pancreas, and heart.

Antiarrhythmic potential of anticytokine therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: tocilizumab reduces corrected QT interval by controlling systemic inflammation.

Objective: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are twice as likely to experience sudden cardiac death compared with individuals without RA. Although the underlying mechanisms of this have not been clarified, evidence points to the effects of systemic inflammation on ventricular repolarization. Accordingly, prolongation of the corrected QT (QTc) interval is more frequent in patients with RA compared with individuals without RA also correlating with C-reactive protein (CRP) and predicting all-cause mortality.

A comparative in vitro kinetic study of [14C]-eugenol and [14C]-methyleugenol activation and detoxification in human, mouse, and rat liver and lung fractions.

Eugenol is a natural alkenylbenzene compound used in a variety of consumer products. There is limited evidence for the carcinogenicity of eugenol to experimental animals. However, in vitro tests for the genotoxic potential of eugenol have on occasion reported a positive result.