Meta-analysis of trials evaluating parenteral antimicrobial therapy for skin and soft tissue infections.

Background: Many trials have been carried out to determine the effectiveness of antimicrobial agents in treating skin and soft tissue infections. The results of these studies are often utilized to make determinations about the use of these antimicrobials against other types of infections. Despite the importance of these trials in determining clinical care, we hypothesized that many of these studies failed to include a variety of infections of significant enough severity to effectively draw objective conclusions about antimicrobial efficacy.

The role of cytokines in pharmacological modulation of hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury is a complication of liver resection surgery, transplantation and hypovolemic shock, leading to local and remote cellular damage and organ dysfunction. This injury is largely a result of an acute inflammatory response characterized by the induction of a cascade of proinflammatory mediators that culminates in the recruitment of leukocytes to the post-ischemic tissue leading to parenchymal cell injury. Endogenous regulatory mechanisms exist to attempt to control this inflammatory response.

A delta2-opioid agonist inhibits p38 MAPK and suppresses activation of murine macrophages.

Background: delta-Opioid agonists have been shown to attenuate ischemic organ injury in multiple models. The purpose of the present study was to determine if delta-opioid agonists could inhibit proinflammatory cytokine production by macrophages.

Material And Methods: Murine macrophages (RAW 264.

Anti-inflammatory approaches to the prevention of ischemia/reperfusion injury in solid organ transplantation.

Ischemia/reperfusion injury can contribute to organ dysfunction and failure after transplantation. Reperfusion injury is often associated with an acute inflammatory response, involving transcriptional activation and expression of pro-inflammatory mediators, and culminates in the recruitment of leukocytes to the post-ischemic tissue. In this concise review, we will address the current knowledge of acute inflammation relevant to ischemia/reperfusion injury and solid organ transplantation, and discuss current treatment options that may have application in this regard, as well as new areas that may be ripe for therapeutic drug design.