Assessment of Substrate Status of Drugs Metabolized by Polymorphic Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2 Enzymes: An Analysis of a Large-Scale Dataset.

Background: The analysis of substrates of polymorphic cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes is important information to enable drug-drug interactions (DDIs) analysis and the relevance of pharmacogenetics in this context in large datasets. Our aim was to compare different approaches to assess the substrate properties of drugs for certain polymorphic CYP2 enzymes.

Methods: A standardized manual method and an automatic method were developed and compared to assess the substrate properties for the metabolism of drugs by CYP2D6, 2C9, and 2C19.

Interest in Information about Nightmares in Patients with Sleep Disorders.

Study Objectives: Despite the considerable prevalence of the nightmare disorder and its burden on the patient, nightmares are underdiagnosed and undertreated, even in sleep centers.

Methods: A total of 1,125 patients in a sleep center undergoing routine diagnostic procedures for their sleep disorders completed a questionnaire about nightmares.

Results: About 20% of the sample indicated an interest in more information about nightmare etiology and nightmare therapy-even patients who had never sought professional help previously.

Circadian rhythms in blood pressure, heart rate, hormones, and on polysomnographic parameters in severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome patients: effect of continuous positive airway pressure.

Introduction: Seventeen male patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS; apnea-hypopnea index>30/h) were monitored by polysomnography in the sleep lab before and after about 8 weeks of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Twelve of the patients were hypertensive, but treated by antihypertensive drugs. The circadian rhythms in blood pressure (BP) and heart rate were determined by ambulatory BP monitoring and motor activity was monitored by a motion logger.

Pharmacokinetics of the low molecular weight heparin dalteparin in cats.

Low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) is used as an anticoagulant in cats although only limited pharmacokinetic data are available in this species. The aim of the present study was to establish the pharmacokinetics of dalteparin in cats based on anti-FXa heparin activities. Groups of clinically healthy cats (six animals per treatment) received individual LMWH injections at three different doses intravenously (IV) (25, 50, 100 anti-factor Xa international units [IU anti-FXa]/kg) or subcutaneously (SC) (50, 100, 200 IU anti-FXa/kg).

Sex differences in alpha-adrenergic support of blood pressure.

We tested whether the inter-individual variability in alpha-adrenergic support of blood pressure plays a critical role in the sex differences in tonic support of blood pressure by the autonomic nervous system. Blockade of the alpha-adrenergic receptors was achieved via phentolamine and showed a smaller (P < 0.05) decrease in blood pressure in women compared to men, implying that alpha-adrenergic support of blood pressure is less in women than in men.

Nightmares and oxygen desaturations: is sleep apnea related to heightened nightmare frequency?

In the 19th century, several authors held the view that nightmares are caused by oxygen shortage. The present study was designed to study nightmare frequency in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and its relationship to respiratory parameters. A brief questionnaire was administered to 323 patients with sleep apnea syndrome before their first laboratory night.

Clinical and subclinical reactivation of genital herpes virus.

Reactivations of herpes simplex virus (HSV) either symptomatically (recrudescence) or without symptoms (recurrence) are well documented. As an asymptomatic reactivation may contribute to transmitting HSV to potential acceptors the frequency of reactivations should be evaluated. In order to evaluate the frequency of HSV-2 reactivation 173 genital swabs of a group of women chosen at random were analyzed by nested PCR.