Treatment of children and adolescents with hemangioma using propranolol: preliminary results from a retrospective study.

Context And Objective: Hemangiomas are the commonest vascular tumors during childhood. In 2008, the effect of propranolol for treating capillary hemangiomas was demonstrated. Other similar results followed, showing that it rapidly reduces lesion volume.

Retrospective evaluation of the outcomes of children with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma treated with radiochemotherapy and valproic acid in a single center.

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma is a pediatric oncologic disease with dismal prognosis and no effective treatment. Since 2007, our patients have been using valproic acid as prophylactic anticonvulsant. We have undertaken a retrospective study in order to evaluate the influence of valproate in the outcomes of children with this disease in our center.

The Operculina macrocarpa (l.) urb. (jalapa) tincture modulates human blood platelet aggregation.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Operculina macrocarpa is an ornamental climbing plant of the Northeastern Brazil extensively used in traditional medicine as depurative of the blood and for the treatment of thrombosis. To investigate the antiplatelet and anticoagulant potential of Operculina macrocarpa and to determine the possible mechanisms of action.

Material And Methods: The Operculina macrocarpa tincture (OMT) was characterized by the polyphenol content and chromatographic profile established by HPLC with detection and quantification of three phenol acids (caffeic, clorogenic and gallic acids).

Cyclosporin safety in a simplified rat brain tumor implantation model.

Brain cancer is the second neurological cause of death. A simplified animal brain tumor model using W256 (carcinoma 256, Walker) cell line was developed to permit the testing of novel treatment modalities. Wistar rats had a cell tumor solution inoculated stereotactically in the basal ganglia (right subfrontal caudate).

Analysis of survival and prognostic factors of pediatric patients with brain tumor.

Objectives: To estimate survival and evaluate prognostic factors of pediatric patients with central nervous system (CNS) tumors treated in a single center.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of survival of 103 children with primary brain tumors diagnosed consecutively from January 2000 to December 2006. Cox regression was used for multivariate analysis of factors that affect overall survival to define possible prognostic factors.

Potential role for valproate in the treatment of high--risk brain tumors of childhood-results from a retrospective observational cohort study.

Although substantial progress has been made in pediatric brain tumor management, patients with brainstem tumors and high-grade gliomas, as well as patients less than 3 years of age with high-risk malignant tumors, have a poorer prognosis. The authors have been treating these patients with radiotherapy and standard carboplatin and vincristine chemotherapy. Since January 2007 the authors have been using valproate as anticonvulsant for prophylaxis.

Doxycycline protects against pilocarpine-induced convulsions in rats, through its antioxidant effect and modulation of brain amino acids.

This work evaluated doxycycline (2nd generation tetracycline) protection against pilocarpine-induced convulsions in rats. The animals were treated with doxycycline (Dox: 10 to100 mg/kg, i.p.

Antiplatelet effects of piplartine, an alkamide isolated from Piper tuberculatum: possible involvement of cyclooxygenase blockade and antioxidant activity.

Objectives: Piplartine (piperlongumine; 5,6-dihydro-1-[1-oxo-3-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl]-2(1H) pyridinone) is an alkaloid amide isolated from Piper species (Piperaceae). It has been reported to show multiple pharmacological activities in vitro and in vivo.

Methods: We evaluated the in-vitro antiplatelet effect of piplartine isolated from the roots of P.

Cloak and dagger: the case for adult onset still disease and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

Adult onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a rare systemic inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology. Systemic onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SoJIA) is the preferred nomenclature of Still's disease. Strong association with so-called macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) may provide a clue to the understanding of the distinctive pathogenetic features of SoJIA.

Effects of amburoside A and isokaempferide, polyphenols from Amburana cearensis, on rodent inflammatory processes and myeloperoxidase activity in human neutrophils.

The present study evaluated the anti-inflammatory activity of amburoside A (a phenol glucoside) and isokaempferide (a flavonol) isolated from the trunk bark of Amburana cearensis, a medicinal plant used in northeast Brazil for the treatment of asthma. Animals (male Wistar rats or Swiss mice) pre-treated with amburoside A (25 and 50 mg/kg) or isokaempferide (12.5, 25 and 50 mg/kg), orally or intraperitoneally, showed a significant inhibition of the paw oedema induced by carrageenan (1%), prostaglandin E(2) (30 nmol/paw), histamine (200 microg/paw) or serotonin (200 microg/paw).

Protective effects of amburoside A, a phenol glucoside from Amburana cearensis, against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in rats.

The aim of this study was to investigate the possible beneficial effects of amburoside A, AMB [4-(O-beta- D-glycopyranosyl)benzyl protocatechoate], against carbon tetrachloride (CCl (4)) toxicity in rats. AMB is a phenol glucoside from the Brazilian medicinal plant Amburana cearensis, popularly used for the treatment of respiratory tract affections. Acute AMB (25 and 50 mg/kg, I.

Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of a fraction rich in oncocalyxone A isolated from Auxemma oncocalyx.

In the present work we studied the antinociceptive and antiedematogenic effects of a quinone fraction (QF) isolated from the heartwood of Auxemma oncocalyx Taub. The major constituent of QF, which represented around 80% of this fraction, was a terpenoid quinone named oncocalyxone A (1). Results show that QF (10 and 30 mg/kg body wt.

Cytotoxic activity of chalcones isolated from lonchocarpus sericeus (pocr.) kunth.

In the present study, it was demonstrated that the hexanic extract obtained from the roots of Lonchocarpus sericeus and one of its major components, derricin, but not lonchocarpin, show cytotoxic activity to fertilized sea urchin eggs. Both inhibited the first cleavage of sea urchin eggs in a dose-dependent manner with an IC(50) of 30.4 (26.