Treatment of painful radiculopathies with capsaicin 8% cutaneous patch.

Background And Objective: The treatment of neuropathic pain due to low-back (lumbosacral) radiculopathies, a common source of neuropathic pain, is challenging and often requires a multimodal therapeutic approach. The capsaicin 8% patch is the first topical analgesic licensed for peripheral neuropathic pain. To evaluate this treatment, a subset of patients with painful radiculopathy (lumbar and cervical, including ventral and dorsal rami) enrolled into the multicenter, non-interventional QUEPP study (Qutenza - safety and effectiveness in peripheral neuropathic pain) was analyzed.

Cutaneous drug delivery of capsaicin after in vitro administration of the 8% capsaicin dermal patch system.

Objective: Epicutaneous application of capsaicin causes a long-lasting analgesic effect by binding to the membrane transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) on mechanoheat-sensitive C and Aδ fibres, changing axonal integrity and inhibiting neurogenic inflammatory processes. To date, no information is available regarding the cutaneous drug delivery of capsaicin following patch application.

Methods: Using a Franz diffusion cell, the cutaneous concentration-time profiles 30, 60 and 90 min after application of a patch containing 8% capsaicin (640 µg/cm(2)) on ex vivo thin (mamma) and thick (plantar) human skin were investigated at 32 °C, and additionally at 42 °C for thin skin and 10 °C for thick skin.

[Capsaicin 8 % cutaneous patches for phantom limb pain. Results from everyday practice (non-interventional study)].

Background: Post amputation pain presents a challenge for pain physicians and is often detrimental to the patient's quality of life.

Patients And Methods: A prospective 12-week non-interventional study (NIS) was conducted in Germany to obtain data on the effectiveness and safety of capsaicin 8 % cutaneous patches from real life use in patients with peripheral neuropathic pain. For the first time in a subgroup of amputees data on post amputation pain were collected.

High concentration capsaicin for treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain: effect on somatosensory symptoms and identification of treatment responders.

Background: Pain is usually assessed by spontaneous pain ratings. Time-dependent (brief attacks) or evoked (allodynia) phenomena, common in neuropathic pain, are not captured. To evaluate the overall effectiveness of a treatment, improvement of all sensory symptoms should be measured.

Treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain by topical capsaicin: Impact of pre-existing pain in the QUEPP-study.

Background: This study evaluates the impact of the duration of pre-existing peripheral neuropathic pain on the therapeutic response to the capsaicin 8% cutaneous patch.

Methods: The non-interventional QUEPP (QUTENZA - safety and effectiveness in peripheral neuropathic pain) study evaluated the effectiveness of Qutenza(TM) in 1044 non-diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathic pain, who received a single application. Follow-up visits were scheduled at weeks 1-2, 4, 8 and 12.

Prospective, non-interventional study on the tolerability and analgesic effectiveness over 12 weeks after a single application of capsaicin 8% cutaneous patch in 1044 patients with peripheral neuropathic pain: first results of the QUEPP study.

Background: Reversible defunctionalisation of nociceptors by the TRPV1 agonist capsaicin in high concentration is an emerging new concept for the treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain.

Objectives: The capsaicin 8% cutaneous patch with a long-lasting effect for up to 3 months after a single application is available in Germany by prescription since October 2010. The aim of this study was to monitor its usage and therapeutic performance in clinical practice.

Mechanism- and experience-based strategies to optimize treatment response to the capsaicin 8% cutaneous patch in patients with localized neuropathic pain.

The capsaicin 8% cutaneous patch is an emergent new treatment option for patients with peripheral neuropathic pain. In randomized controlled clinical studies relevant pain relief for 12 weeks was achieved in about one third of patients following a single application. The first part of this paper is a review of the pathophysiology, pharmacology, and published clinical trials with the capsaicin 8% cutaneous patch.

Six-month evaluation of the benefits of the low-dose combined oral contraceptive chlormadinone acetate 2 mg/ethinylestradiol 0.03 mg in young women: results of the prospective, observational, non-interventional, multicentre TeeNIS study.

Background: In clinical trials and non-interventional studies encompassing > 50,000 women, the monophasic, low-dose combined oral contraceptive (OC) chlormadinone acetate 2 mg/ethinylestradiol 0.03 mg (CMA/EE) has been shown to have various non-contraceptive benefits, as well as contraceptive efficacy and good tolerability. However, there is a paucity of data on use of this OC in young women.

Efficacy of the low-dose combined oral contraceptive chlormadinone acetate/ethinylestradiol: physical and emotional benefits.

Background: This study investigated the effects of the low-dose combined oral contraceptive (COC) 2.0 mg chlormadinone acetate (CMA)/0.03 mg ethinylestradiol (EE) (Belara, Balanca) on cycle-related physical and emotional disorders in women >or=25 years of age.

Effect of an oral contraceptive with chlormadinone acetate on depressive mood : analysis of data from four observational studies.

Background And Objective: Many women of reproductive age experience depressive mood symptoms such as sudden mood swings, irritability, nervousness, excitability and anxiety. Although not defined as a disease, these disturbing mental symptoms are associated with a considerable decrease in quality of life. Molecular pharmacology research over the last 20 years has shown that endogenous steroid hormones may interact with the CNS.

Purification and antigenicity of flavone synthase I from irradiated parsley cells.

Flavone synthase I, a soluble 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase catalyzing the oxidation of flavanones to flavones in several Apiaceae species, was induced in parsley cell cultures by continuous irradiation with ultraviolet/blue light for 20 h. The enzyme was extracted from these cells and purified by a revised purification protocol including the fractionation on hydroxyapatite, Fractogel EMD DEAE, and Mono Q anion exchangers, which resulted in an apparently homogeneous flavone synthase at approximately 10-fold higher yield as compared to the previous report. The homogeneous enzyme was employed to raise an antiserum in rabbit for partial immunological characterization.