Serum Concentration of Erlotinib and its Correlation with Outcome and Toxicity in Patients with Advanced-stage NSCLC.

Background: Erlotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR); it is used in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We focused on the role of serum concentration of erlotinib and its association with outcome and toxicity in patients with advanced NSCLC harbouring the wild-type EGFR gene or squamous histology.

Patients And Methods: Clinical data of 122 patients were analyzed.

Effect of Folic Acid, Betaine, Vitamin B₆, and Vitamin B12 on Homocysteine and Dimethylglycine Levels in Middle-Aged Men Drinking White Wine.

Unlabelled: Moderate regular consumption of alcoholic beverages is believed to protect against atherosclerosis but can also increase homocysteine or dimethylglycine, which are putative risk factors for atherosclerosis. We aimed (1) to investigate the effect of alcohol consumption on vitamins and several metabolites involved in one-carbon metabolism; and (2) to find the most effective way of decreasing homocysteine during moderate alcohol consumption.

Methods: Male volunteers (n = 117) were randomly divided into five groups: the wine-only group (control, 375 mL of white wine daily for one month) and four groups combining wine consumption with one of the supplemented substances (folic acid, betaine, and vitamins B12 or B₆).

Pharmacokinetic evaluation of voriconazole treatment in critically ill patients undergoing continuous venovenous hemofiltration.

Introduction: Voriconazole represents an essential part of antimicrobial therapy in critically ill patients. The aim of this study was to exclude a significant alteration in voriconazole pharmacokinetics in critically ill patients undergoing continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH).

Methods: Six patients dependent on CVVH with evidence of an invasive mycotic infection treated with intravenous voriconazole at the standard dosing regimen were investigated.

The effect of intravenous iron on oxidative stress in hemodialysis patients at various levels of vitamin C.

Background/aims: Vitamin C levels decrease during hemodialysis (HD), which deteriorates antioxidant defense. Vitamin C may also act pro-oxidatively, via reduction in Fe(III). We sought to determine whether intravenous iron (Fe(iv))-induced oxidative stress differs in HD patients with low and physiological vitamin C levels and whether intravenous vitamin C (C(iv)) administration during HD would change the response to Fe(iv).

Treatment of hyperhomocysteinemia with folic acid: effects on homocysteine levels, coagulation status, and oxidative stress markers.

The aim of the study was to determine whether folic acid treatment in subjects with homocysteinemia would change their coagulation and oxidative status. Thirty-three patients with peripheral vascular disease and 26 elderly subjects with no symptoms of atherosclerosis, all of whom had total homocysteine >20 microM, were treated with folic acid (5 or 10 mg) for 3 months. In the 33 patients with peripheral vascular disease, homocysteine levels decreased from a median of 26.