Effects of paroxetine on cardiovascular response to mental stress in subjects with a history of coronary artery disease and no psychiatric diagnoses.

Rationale: Paroxetine may decrease mental stress-induced cardiovascular responses and so benefit individuals with heart disease, even those with no psychiatric illness.

Objectives: The effects of paroxetine on cardiovascular measures during a speech task were evaluated in psychiatrically healthy subjects with a history of coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: Eight subjects completed this double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study in which each subject took 1 month of paroxetine and 4 weeks of placebo in random order.

Advanced presentation of melanoma in African Americans.

Background: Melanoma in African Americans is rare, and the diagnosis is often delayed, leading to advanced presentation and poor prognosis.

Objective: The purpose of this retrospective study is to determine whether African American patients diagnosed with melanoma at the Washington Hospital Center were initially seen with more advanced disease than white patients.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed on 36 African American patients who were diagnosed and/or treated for melanoma at the Washington Hospital Center between 1981 and 2000.

Lamotrigine versus valproate monotherapy-associated weight change in adolescents with epilepsy: results from a post hoc analysis of a randomized, double-blind clinical trial.

Recent trends toward obesity and associated health risks in children highlight the significance of weight gain as a side effect with certain antiepilepsy drugs. No previous study has prospectively compared, in adolescents, weight effects for two commonly used antiepilepsy drugs. We report results from a post hoc subanalysis of adolescent data from a randomized, double-blind study comparing weight effects of lamotrigine and valproate.

Emerging significance of P-glycoprotein in understanding drug disposition and drug interactions in psychopharmacology.

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a member of the superfamily of energy-dependent efflux protein pumps involved in the transport of a wide variety of endogenous and exogenous substrates. The role of P-gp has been extensively studied in the development of multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer cells during chemotherapy. However, recent data suggest that P-gp is also present in normal tissue, such as the gut, blood-brain barrier, lymphocytes, liver, kidney, and other organs, where it plays a role in the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination of a multitude of drugs.

Eikenella corrodens: an unusual cause of severe parapneumonic infection and empyema in immunocompetent patients.

Over the past 25 years, Eikenella corrodens has increasingly been recognized for its pathogenic potential. Previously identified as an organism most likely to cause opportunistic infection in the immunocompromised host, Eikenella more recently has been implicated in a number of clinical infections in non-immunocompromised patients. We report a case of community-acquired pneumonia, caused by Eikenella, in a patient with diabetes mellitus and a past history of testicular cancer.