[Optimal use of proton pump inhibitors in primary care].

Acid peptic diseases such as peptic ulcer and gastrointestinal reflux disease have a high prevalence; they can have an important impact on the patient's quality of life and generate a considerable health care cost. Proton pump inhibitors are the most potent pharmacological inhibitors of gastric acid secretion currently available and are the mainstay medical therapy for acid peptic diseases. This review provides primary care clinicians with best practice guidelines for optimal use of these drugs.

Optimal use of proton pump inhibitors for treating acid peptic diseases in primary care.

Heartburn, reflux and epigastric pain are frequently encountered symptoms in primary care medicine. Acid peptic diseases such as peptic ulcer and gastrointestinal reflux disease have a high prevalence, can have important impact on patient quality of life and represent a considerable health care cost. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are the most potent pharmacological inhibitors of gastric acid secretion currently available and are the mainstay medical therapy for acid peptic diseases.

Vascular calcification is associated with cortical bone loss in chronic renal failure rats with and without ovariectomy: the calcification paradox.

Background: Increased bone loss has been associated with the development of vascular calcification in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). In this study, the effect of impaired bone metabolism on aortic calcifications was investigated in uremic rats with or without ovariectomy.

Methods: CRF was induced by administration of a 0.

Prevention of vascular calcification: is pyrophosphate therapy a solution?

Pyrophosphate, a ubiquitous small-molecule inhibitor of mineralization abundantly present in the extracellular environment, binds to calcium and mineral surfaces to inhibit crystal growth. O'Neill and colleagues show in uremic rats that systemic administration of pyrophosphate prevents or reduces uremia-related vascular calcification, without overt negative consequences for bone and without calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease. These findings prompt further research into the potential of pyrophosphate as treatment for vascular calcification in chronic kidney disease patients.

Chondrocyte rather than osteoblast conversion of vascular cells underlies medial calcification in uremic rats.

Objective: To investigate cell biological changes in calcified aortas of rats that experienced chronic renal failure.

Methods And Results: Vascular smooth muscle cells have the potential to transdifferentiate to either chondrocytes or osteoblasts, depending on the molecular pathways that are stimulated. Uremia-related medial calcification was induced by feeding rats an adenine low-protein diet for 4 weeks.