Effects of statins on nonlipid serum markers associated with cardiovascular disease: a systematic review.

Background: Statins reduce cardiovascular events to a greater extent than can be explained by their effect on lipids. Several studies have attempted to elucidate mechanisms by which statins reduce cardiovascular risk.

Purpose: To summarize the effects of statins on nonlipid serum markers and to correlate statins' effect on serum markers with lipid levels and cardiovascular outcomes.

Medication dependence and anxiety.

Anxiety disorders are common and costly psychiatric illnesses. Pharmacological treatment was enhanced with the introduction of benzodiazepines, which proved safer and more effective than older drugs. The risk of dependence, however, has made clinicians reluctant to use these medications.

The central melanocortin system and fever.

Fever is a phylogenetically ancient response that is mounted upon exposure of the host to pathogens or inflammatory agents. Melanocortin agonists act centrally to inhibit fever by acting at receptors, including the melanocortin-4 receptor, which is prominently expressed in key hypothalamic thermoregulatory centers. Furthermore, endogenous melanocortins act centrally as physiological modulators of fever, recruited during the febrile response to restrain its intensity.

Activation of central melanocortin-4 receptor suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced fever in rats.

Activation of central melanocortin receptors (MCR) inhibits fever, but the identity of the MCR subtype(s) mediating this antipyretic effect is unknown. To determine whether selective central melanocortin receptor-4 (MC4R) activation produces antipyretic effects, the MC4R selective agonist MRLOB-0001 (CO-His-d-Phe-Arg-Trp-Dab-NH(2)) was administered intracerebroventricularly to rats treated with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 30 microg/kg ip). Treatment with MRLOB-0001 (150 ng icv) did not lower core body temperature (T(c)) in afebrile rats but did suppress LPS-induced increases in T(c) and associated decreases in tail skin temperature (T(sk)), an indicator of vasomotor thermoeffector function.

Effect of subpixel magnetic resonance imaging shifts on radiosurgical dosimetry for vestibular schwannoma.

Object: The purpose of this study was to evaluate subpixel magnetic resonance (MR) imaging shifts of intracanalicular vestibular schwannomas (VSs) with respect to the internal auditory canal (IAC) as documented on computerized tomography (CT) scanning and to investigate the source of imaging-related localization errors in radiosurgery as well as the effect of such shifts on the dosimetry for small targets.

Methods: A shift of the stereotactic coordinates of intracanalicular VSs between those determined on MR imaging and those on CT scanning represents an error in localization. A shift vector places the tumor within the IAC and measures the CT scan/MR image discrepancy.

In vitro biotransformation of sildenafil (Viagra) in the male rat: the role of CYP2C11.

To assess the suitability of the male rat model for human studies on sildenafil metabolism, we examined the biotransformation of sildenafil in male rat liver microsomes and identified the role of specific cytochrome P450s (P450) using inhibitory antibodies and cDNA-expressed P450s. Rates of formation of the major circulating metabolite of sildenafil, UK-103,320, were 11-fold greater in the male rat than in human liver microsomes at 36 microM sildenafil, whereas substrate concentration corresponding to 50% V(max) (K(m) values) were 2.9-fold lower in the male rat.

Differential collagen I gene expression in fetal fibroblasts.

Purpose: Fetal wound healing is characterized by the regeneration of normal dermis and the absence of scar. Transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-beta1) is a ubiquitous cytokine with potent fibrogenic effects in both postnatal and fetal wounds. Supplementing fetal wounds with TGF-beta1 results in increased fibrosis consisting primarily of collagen I.