[4-Arylpiperazine derivatives: a seedbed of drugs for various therapeutic indications].

The main focus of this review is the pharmacology and the therapeutic use of chemical related agents, the arylpiperazine derivatives. These compounds produce a variety of behavioural responses and pharmacological effects which directly and principally result from activation of serotonin systems. However, minor modifications in the chemical structure of these products involve important changes in affinity and selectivity for 5-HT receptors since it can also display significant affinity for dopaminergic, adrenergic or histaminergic receptors.

Prospective survey of colonization and infection caused by expanded-spectrum-beta-lactamase-producing members of the family Enterobacteriaceae in an intensive care unit.

The occurrence of expanded-spectrum-beta-lactamase-producing strains was prospectively studied in 56 patients in an intensive care unit. Ten patients were infected or colonized; some of these patients had asymptomatic intestinal colonization. Four different expanded-spectrum beta-lactamases were identified and used as epidemiological markers to survey nosocomial infections.