Ultrasound use in suspected testicular torsion: an association with delay to theatre and increased intraoperative finding of non-viable testicle.

Aim: Testicular torsion is a surgical emergency and delayed operative management can negatively impact fertility. The aims of this study were to establish patterns of ultrasound use, correlate ultrasound and intraoperative findings and determine the impact of ultrasound on admission-to-operation time in patients undergoing scrotal exploration for suspected torsion.

Method: All adult patients who underwent acute scrotal exploration for suspected torsion between 2007 and 2017 at Auckland City Hospital were included (n=316).

Liver-to-plasma vaniprevir (MK-7009) concentration ratios in HCV-infected patients.

Background: Some drugs that are actively taken up into the liver exhibit greater than dose proportional increases in plasma exposure, although human liver-to-plasma concentration ratios have rarely been evaluated. Understanding these relationships has implications for drug concentrations at the target site for certain classes of compounds, such as direct-acting antivirals, targeted towards HCV.

Methods: Treatment-experienced, chronic HCV non-cirrhotic patients (n=3) received vaniprevir (600 mg or 300 mg twice daily) on days 1-3 and (600 mg or 300 mg single dose) on day 4.

Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic studies of the 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 inhibitor MK-0916 in healthy subjects.

Aims: To characterize pharmacokinetic parameters of MK-0916 and its safety and tolerability in lean, healthy male subjects following single and multiple oral doses. To assess (by stable-isotope labelling) the in vivo inhibition of cortisone-to-cortisol conversion following oral MK-0916.

Methods: Data are presented from two randomized, controlled, double-blind, rising-dose phase I studies.

Multiple doses of sitagliptin, a selective DPP-4 inhibitor, do not meaningfully alter pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of warfarin.

Sitagliptin is an orally active, highly selective dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-4) inhibitor for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. This randomized, open-label, 2-part, 2-period crossover study assessed pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of warfarin in the presence/absence of multiple-dose sitagliptin. Twelve participants received treatments A and B separated by >7-day washout: treatment A involved coadministration of sitagliptin 200 mg/d for 11 days (days 1-11) and warfarin 30 mg on day 5, and treatment B involved warfarin 30 mg alone on day 1.

The acyclic CB1R inverse agonist taranabant mediates weight loss by increasing energy expenditure and decreasing caloric intake.

Cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R) inverse agonists are emerging as a potential obesity therapy. However, the physiological mechanisms by which these agents modulate human energy balance are incompletely elucidated. Here, we describe a comprehensive clinical research study of taranabant, a structurally novel acyclic CB1R inverse agonist.

Expression of prostaglandin D synthase and the prostaglandin D2 receptors DP and CRTH2 in human nasal mucosa.

Background: Prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) is released from mast cells during the allergic response.

Objective: Since PGD2 has been shown to induce nasal congestion in humans, we investigated the distribution of hematopoietic prostaglandin D synthase (PGDS) and the two PGD2 receptors, DP and CRTH2 in human nasal mucosa from healthy subjects and subjects suffering from polyposis, a severe form of chronic rhinosinusitis.

Methods: DP mRNA expression was detected by in situ hybridization while PGDS, CRTH2 and various leukocyte markers expression were revealed by immunohistochemistry.