Study of Cytotoxic and Photodynamic Activities of Dyads Composed of a Zinc Phthalocyanine Appended to an Organotin.

The combination of photodynamic therapy and chemotherapy is a promising strategy to enhance cancer therapeutic efficacy and reduce drug resistance. In this study two zinc(II) phthalocyanine-tin(IV) conjugates linked by a triethylene glycol chain were synthesized and characterized. In these complexes, the zinc(II) phthalocyanine was used as a potential photosensitizer for PDT and the tin complex was selected as cytostatic moiety.

Initial increase of plasma serotonin: a biological predictor for the antidepressant response to clomipramine?

Hypofunction of the serotonin (5-HT) system might be involved in depression. Initial effects of the 5-HT reuptake inhibitor clomipramine (CMI) on plasma 5-HT have never been assessed. On Day 1, 27 depressed patients received either a 25-mg CMI slow infusion or a 25-mg CMI tablet in a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy design.

A comparison of plasma homovanillic acid in the deficit and nondeficit subtypes of schizophrenia.

Plasma homovanillic acid (pHVA) was measured over a 13 hr-period in 16 DMS-III-R schizophrenic patients, all treated with neuroleptic drugs and in a stable clinical and therapeutic status for the preceeding 12 months. Patients were categorized into deficit (n = 9) and nondeficit (n = 7) forms of schizophrenia according to the Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome (SDS) criteria. As compared to the nondeficit group, deficit patients display significantly lower mean pHVA concentrations from 9 AM to 12 AM and a lack of diurnal variations.

Effects of okadaic acid on the human isolated bronchus.

The effects of okadaic acid, a polyether derivative of a 38-carbon monocarboxylic fatty acid obtained from a culture of the marine dinoflagellate, Prorocentrum lima, were studied on the human isolated bronchus. In low concentrations (0.01 and 0.

Isolation and purification of three glucuronides of antipyrine. Proposal for an original analytical method for quantitation of sulpho- and glucuroconjugated metabolites.

The determination of the concentrations of antipyrine metabolites in biological fluids is hampered by the difficulty in obtaining pure conjugated compounds to be used as standards. Most authors have proposed determination of total forms by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after deconjugation of these metabolites using chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis. Up to now there is no satisfactory hydrolysis method for the study of all antipyrine metabolites.