Therapeutic inhibition of the renin angiotensin aldosterone system.

Background: Inhibitors of the renin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS) represent some of the most widely prescribed, successful and well-tolerated therapeutics of recent times and are of proven worth in the management/prevention of cardiovascular disease and diabetic nephropathy. However, as knowledge has grown about the RAAS and its manifold alternate pathways, loci of action and dynamic response to inhibition, so has the clinical debate as how to best use existing therapeutics as well as how best to conceptualise and design RAAS inhibitors of the future.

Objective: To provide an overview of the several points of therapeutic anti-RAAS intervention, many of which have already been exploited from 'upstream' renin inhibition to 'midstream' ACE inhibition to 'downstream' angiotensin AT1 receptor blockade.

Azo compounds in colon-specific drug delivery.

Azo compounds have the potential to act as drug carriers that facilitate the selective release of therapeutic agents to the colon, and also to effect the oral administration of those macromolecular drugs that require colon-specific drug delivery. With some further research-driven refinements, these materials may lead to more efficient treatments for local conditions, such as colonic cancer or inflammatory bowel disease. This article provides an overview of the azo-based systems developed to date, identifies the requirements for an ideal carrier, and highlights the directions for further developments in the field of azo group-facilitated colonic delivery.

Orally administered, colon-specific mucoadhesive azopolymer particles for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease: An in vivo study.

Radiolabeled congeners of a series of azopolymers have been synthesized and characterized. The in vivo (rat) gastrointestinal transit profile of millimeter-sized particles of these azopolymers has been determined and used to facilitate the selection of a candidate material for therapeutic applications. The efficacy of the selected material as a protective coating for the colonic mucosa has been tested in a hapten-reactivated, in vivo model of inflammatory bowel disease: 7 days after reactivation of the condition, the myeloperoxidase activity of animals that had received doses of the selected azopolymer was determined to be at the same level as that of healthy animals or that of the negative control group, highlighting the therapeutic promise of this material.

Attitudes to concept maps as a teaching/learning activity in undergraduate health professional education: influence of preferred approach to learning.

Pre-prepared concept maps that organise knowledge in a non-linear fashion appeal to a variety of cognitive learning styles and may thus represent an educational tool that supports 'teaching to all types'. However, another central cognitive factor, learning approach, may have a bearing on student take-up of this learning resource. Student attitudes to pre-prepared concept maps introduced in Stage 2 MPharm and BSc Pharmacology lectures were therefore examined in relation to the principal learning orientations according to Duff's 30-item revised approaches to study inventory (RASI).

Attitudes to concept maps as a teaching/learning activity in undergraduate health professional education: influence of preferred learning style.

Concept maps that integrate and relate concepts in a nonlinear fashion are widely accepted as an educational tool that can underpin meaningful learning in medical education. However, student take-up may be affected by a number of cognitive and non-cognitive influences. In the present study, student attitudes to pre-prepared concept maps introduced in Stage 2 conjoint MPharm and BSc Pharmacology lectures were examined in relation to preferred learning styles according to the Felder-Silverman model.

Nitrate tolerance and the links with endothelial dysfunction and oxidative stress.

Identification of nitric oxide as the molecule responsible for endothelial dependant vasodilatation has led to an explosion of interest in endothelial function. Oxidative stress has been identified as an important factor in the development of tolerance to organic nitrates. This review examines the evidence supporting this recently developed theory and how mechanisms of nitrate tolerance may link with the wider picture of primary nitric oxide resistance.