Publications by authors named "L A Brunner"
Background: The administration of drugs in pediatric emergency care is a time-consuming process and is associated with a higher occurrence of medication errors compared with adult care. This is attributed to the intricacies of administration, which involve calculating doses based on the child's weight or age. To mitigate the occurrence of adverse drug events (ADEs), the PedAMINES (Pediatric Accurate Medication in Emergency Situations; Geneva University Hospitals) mobile app has been developed.
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- Physicians find it challenging to determine if older patients are on statins for primary or secondary prevention due to limited evidence, complicating decisions about continuing or stopping the medication.
- There are concerns about potential negative effects from discontinuing statins, including fear of rebound symptoms and the impact on the patient-physician relationship.
- The study emphasizes the importance of shared decision-making in primary care settings, where PCPs can leverage their long-term relationships with patients to navigate medication management effectively.
Neurosteroids and translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO) ligands as novel treatment options in depression.
Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci
July 2024
Article Synopsis
- The GABA system, specifically 3α-reduced steroids like allopregnanolone, has gained attention for treating anxiety and depression, particularly postpartum depression, with recent FDA approvals marking significant progress.
- Brexanolone, an intravenous form of allopregnanolone, and zuranolone, an oral option, are both FDA-approved for postpartum depression, although zuranolone's approval for major depressive disorder is still pending due to insufficient efficacy data.
- Side effects of these treatments include somnolence, dizziness, and headache, and current research is exploring alternatives like etifoxine, a TSPO ligand, which is already available in France for anxiety and may have potential antidepressant properties.
TSPO ligands are promising alternatives to benzodiazepines in the treatment of anxiety, as they display less pronounced side effects such as sedation, cognitive impairment, tolerance development and abuse potential. In a randomized double-blind repeated-measures study we compare a benzodiazepine (alprazolam) to a TSPO ligand (etifoxine) by assessing side effects and acquiring resting-state fMRI data from 34 healthy participants after 5 days of taking alprazolam, etifoxine or a placebo. To study the effects of the pharmacological interventions in fMRI in detail and across different scales, we combine in our study complementary analysis strategies related to whole-brain functional network connectivity, local connectivity analysis expressed in regional homogeneity, fluctuations in low-frequency BOLD amplitudes and coherency of independent resting-state networks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Recent developments suggest that neurosteroids may achieve rapid antidepressant effects. As such, neurosteroidogenesis mediated by the translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO) might constitute a promising option for the treatment of depression. Therefore, the current clinical trial aims to get the first evidence of whether TPSO ligands promote rapid antidepressant effects.
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