Safety and pharmacokinetics of urtoxazumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody, against Shiga-like toxin 2 in healthy adults and in pediatric patients infected with Shiga-like toxin-producing Escherichia coli.

Shiga-like toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infection causes diarrhea, which is often bloody and which can result in potentially life-threatening hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). Urtoxazumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against the Shiga-like toxin 2 (Stx2) produced by STEC, has been developed as a promising agent for the prevention of HUS. Single randomized, intravenous, double-blind, placebo-controlled doses of urtoxazumab were administered to assess its safety and pharmacokinetics in healthy adults (0.

Pharmacological profiles of high-concentration (20 microg/g) tacalcitol ointment: effects on cutaneous inflammation, epidermal proliferation, and differentiation in mice.

This study focused on the effects of tacalcitol (1,24 (R) (OH)2D3, TV-02) ointment (20 micro g/g) on cutaneous inflammation, epidermal proliferation, and differentiation and compared them with tacalcitol ointment (2 micro g/g) and other anti-psoriatic ointments using hairless mice. Tacalcitol ointment (0, 2 and 20 micro g/g) significantly inhibited 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-induced cutaneous inflammation, histopathologically. The effect of tacalcitol ointment (20 micro g/g) on cutaneous inflammation was much stronger than that of tacalcitol ointment (0, 2 micro g/g), and as effective as calcipotriol ointment (50 micro g/g) or betamethasone valerate ointment (1.

Human neutrophils express messenger RNA of vitamin D receptor and respond to 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.

1Alpha,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) has been shown to modulate the production of various cytokines or the expression of certain differentiation markers in human T cells or monocytes. Its effects on neutrophils, however, are poorly understood. In this paper, we show several lines of evidence indicating that neutrophils express functional vitamin D receptors (VDR).

Curative effect of combined treatment with alendronate and 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 on bone loss by ovariectomy in aged rats.

We investigated the combined effects of alendronate and 1alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 (1alpha(OH)D3) on the bone mass and strength in aged ovariectomized rats and compared them with those of single treatments. Forty-week-old female rats underwent ovariectomy or sham operation, and after 15 weeks, ovariectomized rats were daily administered vehicle alone, alendronate (0.2 or 1.

1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 suppresses interleukin-1beta-induced interleukin-8 production in human whole blood: an involvement of erythrocytes in the inhibition.

Interleukin (IL)-8, which is involved in inflammatory responses, is produced by a variety of cell types, monocytes/macrophages and neutrophils, in response to inflammatory stimuli including lipopolysaccharide, IL-1, and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Here we report the inhibitory effects of 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) on IL-8 production in human whole blood culture. 1,25(OH)2D3 inhibited only the late phase of the biphasic IL-8 production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated human whole blood.