Allosteric modulators of α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: a new direction for antidepressant drug discovery.

Allosteric modulation of ligand-gated ion channels has been intensively studied in the past three decades and is now an established strategy to control receptor function in numerous disease states. Allosteric sites on the GABA(A) receptor are targets for widely prescribed drugs that are used for a variety of pathophysiological states including insomnia and epilepsy. Modulators might be especially valuable to control receptors for which the design of selective orthosteric drugs has proven difficult due to safety issues (e.

Implementation and outcomes of a transfusion-related acute lung injury surveillance programme and study of HLA/HNA alloimmunisation in blood donors.

Background: Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is the leading cause of transfusion-associated mortality. Antibodies against human leucocyte antigens (HLA) and human neutrophil antigens (HNA) are often detected in the implicated donors. We investigated the incidence and aetiology of TRALI in Lombardy.