Inhalation anthrax is the most severe form of infection, often progressing to fatal conditions if left untreated. While recommended antibiotics can effectively treat anthrax when promptly administered, strains engineered for antibiotic resistance could render these drugs ineffective. Telavancin, a semisynthetic lipoglycopeptide antibiotic, was evaluated in this study as a novel therapeutic against anthrax disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To evaluate the efficacy of intravenous (IV) ibuprofen (Caldolor) administration in the management of acute pain in orthopedic trauma patients and to minimize opioid use.
Design: Randomized controlled trial, double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled.
Setting: Level 1 Trauma Center.
Background Muscular dystrophy (MD) causes a progressive cardiomyopathy characterized by diffuse fibrosis, arrhythmia, heart failure, and early death. Activation of the thromboxane-prostanoid receptor (TPr) increases calcium transients in cardiomyocytes and is proarrhythmic and profibrotic. We hypothesized that TPr activation contributes to the cardiac phenotype of MD, and that TPr antagonism would improve cardiac fibrosis and function in preclinical models of MD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe intravenous (IV) N-acetylcysteine (NAC) regimen used worldwide in paracetamol overdose is complex with three separate weight-based doses and is associated with a high incidence of adverse events including non-allergic anaphylactoid reactions (NAARs). In 2012, Denmark adopted the two-bag IV NAC regimen which combined the first two infusions of the three-bag regimen and kept the third infusion unchanged. We compared the safety and efficacy of the two-bag IV NAC regimen with the traditional Danish three-bag regimen.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Hematol Malig Rep
March 2013
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) remains an incurable B-cell malignancy with many unanswered questions. While the cell of origin and etiology are still unknown, significant scientific progress has revealed numerous molecular targets for novel therapeutic interventions. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3K) regulate key cellular functions, including growth, survival and migration, by integrating and transmitting signals from diverse surface molecules including the B-cell receptor (BCR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFB-cell receptor signaling plays varied and critical roles in B-cell development, homeostasis and disease. The key players of the pathway and its many signaling modulators have been identified as well as some of the mechanisms by which the pathway is regulated. With the increased incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in recent years, there is a clear clinical need for novel agents to offer new options in resistant disease to potentially improve outcomes in curative settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Despite the widespread use of oxaliplatin-based regimens for colorectal and other gastrointestinal cancers, there is surprisingly little information regarding their empiric use for the treatment of carcinoma of unknown primary site (CUP). In the current study, the combination of oxaliplatin and capecitabine in patients with recurrent and refractory CUP was examined.
Methods: Patients with CUP who had received at least 1 previous chemotherapy regimen were treated with oxaliplatin (130 mg/m(2) intravenously on Day 1) and capecitabine (1000 mg/m(2) orally twice daily on Days 1-14).
The collagen IV binding receptor integrin alpha1beta1 has been shown to regulate lung cancer due to its proangiogenic properties; however, it is unclear whether this receptor also plays a direct role in promoting primary lung tumors. To investigate this possibility, integrin alpha1-null mice were crossed with KrasLA2 mice that carry an oncogenic mutation of the Kras gene (G12D) and develop spontaneous primary tumors with features of non-small cell lung cancer. We provide evidence that KrasLA2/alpha1-null mice have a decreased incidence of primary lung tumors and longer survival compared with KrasLA2/alpha1 wild-type controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProstaglandin E(2), which exerts its functions by binding to four G protein-coupled receptors (EP1-4), is implicated in tumorigenesis. Among the four E-prostanoid (EP) receptors, EP3 is unique in that it exists as alternatively spliced variants, characterized by differences in the cytoplasmic C-terminal tail. Although three EP3 variants, alpha, beta, and gamma, have been described in mice, their functional significance in regulating tumorigenesis is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProstaglandin E2 (PGE(2)), a major product of cyclooxygenase, exerts its functions by binding to four G protein-coupled receptors (EP1-4) and has been implicated in modulating angiogenesis. The present study examined the role of the EP4 receptor in regulating endothelial cell proliferation, migration, and tubulogenesis. Primary pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells were isolated from EP4(flox/flox) mice and were rendered null for the EP4 receptor with adenoCre virus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe cytochrome P450 arachidonic acid epoxygenase metabolites, the epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) are powerful, nonregioselective, stimulators of cell proliferation. In this study we compared the ability of the four EETs (5,6-, 8,9-, 11,12-, and 14,15-EETs) to regulate endothelial cell proliferation in vitro and angiogenesis in vivo and determined the molecular mechanism by which EETs control these events. Inhibition of the epoxygenase blocked serum-induced endothelial cell proliferation, and exogenously added EETs rescued cell proliferation from epoxygenase inhibition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCyclooxygenase (COX) and its prostanoid metabolites have been implicated in the control of cell survival; however, their role as mitogens remains undefined. To better understand the role of prostanoids on cell growth, we used mouse colon adenocarcinoma (CT26) cells to investigate the role of prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) in cell proliferation. CT26 cells express both COX1 and COX2 and metabolize arachidonic acid to PGE(2.
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