Human apolipoprotein A-I Gly26Arg stimulation of inflammatory responses via NF-kB activation: Potential roles in amyloidosis?

The cascade of molecular events leading to Human apolipoprotein A–I (apoA–I) amyloidosis is not completely understood, not even the pathways that determine clinical manifestations associated to systemic protein deposition in organs such as liver, kidney and heart. About twenty natural variants of apoA–I were described as inducing amyloidosis, but the mechanisms driving their aggregation and deposition are still unclear. We previously identified that the mutant Gly26Arg but not Lys107-0 induced the release of cytokines and reactive oxygen species from cultured RAW 264.7 murine macrophages, suggesting that part of the pathogenic pathway could elicit of an inflammatory signal. In this work we gained deep insight into this mechanism and determined that Gly26Arg induced a specific pro-inflammatory cascade involving activation of NF-κB and its translocation into the nucleus. These findings suggest that some but not all apoA–I natural variants might promote a pro-oxidant microenvironment which could in turn result in oxidative processing of the variants into a misfolded conformation.     

双氯芬酸钠滴眼液抑菌剂剂量筛选及抑菌效力考察

目的研究双氯芬酸納滴眼液的抑菌效力,探索抑菌剂的合理添加量。方法按《中国药典》2015年版四部,以大肠埃希菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、铜绿假单胞菌、白色念珠菌和黑曲霉为实验菌株,测定10家企业双氯芬酸钠滴眼液的抑菌效力,并对硫柳汞、羟苯乙酯和苯扎氯铵3种抑菌剂的最低有效量进行研究。结果10家企业中没有一家抑菌效力达到A级,有3家企业:达到B级,另外7家均未达到B级。抑菌剂剂量筛选实验中,当双氯芬酸钠滴眼液含硫柳汞质量农度达到0.01 mg·mL^-1,羟苯乙酯质量浪浓度达到0.3 mg·mL^-1时,抑菌效力可达到B级,苯扎氯铵质量农浓度达到0.01 mg·mL^-1时,抑菌效力即可达到A级。结论市售双氯芬酸钠滴眼液的抑菌效力不容乐观,建议企业合理添加抑菌剂,对抑菌剂的理化指标和生物指标一同评价保证药品质量安全可靠。     

Hsp70 vaccination-induced primary immune responses in efferent lymph of the draining lymph node

Bovine paratuberculosis is a highly prevalent chronic infection of the small intestine in cattle, caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). In earlier studies we showed the protective effect of Hsp70/DDA subunit vaccination against paratuberculosis. In the current study we set out to measure primary immune responses generated at the site of Hsp70 vaccination. Lymph vessel cannulation was performed to obtain efferent lymph from the prescapular lymph node draining the neck area where the vaccine was applied. Hsp70 vaccination induced a significant increase of CD21⁺ B cells in efferent lymph, accounting for up to 40% of efferent cells post-vaccination. Proliferation (Ki67⁺) within the CD21⁺ B cell and CD4⁺ T cell populations peaked between day 3 and day 5 post-vaccination. From day 7, Hsp70-specific antibody secreting cells (ASCs) could be detected in efferent lymph. Hsp70-specific antibodies, mainly of the IgG1 isotype, were also detected from this time point onwards. However, post-vaccination IFN-γ production in efferent lymph was non-sustained. In conclusion, Hsp70-vaccination induces only limited Th1 type immune responsiveness as reflected in efferent lymph draining the vaccination site. This is in line with our previous observations in peripheral blood. The main primary immunological outcome of the Hsp70/DDA subunit vaccination is B cell activation and abundant Hsp70-specific IgG1 production. This warrants the question whether Hsp70-specific antibodies contribute to the observed protective effect of Hsp70 vaccination in calves.     

Tolerability of fentonium bromide in Indonesian volunteers

Summary

A double-blind crossover trial was carried out in 24 healthy Indonesian volunteers to assess the incidence of atropine-like side-effects after a single oral 80?mg dose of fentonium bromide compared with that after a single oral 80?mg dose of hyoscine-N-butyl bromide, and of placebo. Assessments of side-effects were made on subjective responses and objective measurements taken before, 2 hours, and 4 hours after administration of the drugs. The results showed that fentonium bromide did not produce significant atropine-like side-effects. Uyoscine-N-butyl bromide, however, did have a slight effect on pulse rate, although not of significance clinically, and produced a statistically significant, transient decrease in salivation.     

Bronchodilation and safety of supratherapeutic doses of salbutamol or ipratropium bromide added to single dose GSK961081 in patients with moderate to severe COPD

BackgroundThere are few data on the bronchodilatory effects of adding short-acting bronchodilators (SABA) to maintenance, long-acting bronchodilator therapy. This study assessed the additional bronchodilation and safety of adding supratherapeutic doses of salbutamol (SALB) or ipratropium bromide (IPR) to the novel bi-functional molecule (or dual pharmacophore) GSK961081 400 μg (MABA 400) or 1200 μg (MABA 1200).MethodsThis randomised, double-blind, complete, crossover study in 44 patients with moderate to severe COPD, evaluated 6 treatments with a washout of at least 7 days between treatments: single doses of MABA 400 or MABA 1200 followed by cumulative doses of either SALB (3× 200 μg at 20 min intervals), IPR (20 μg, 20 μg and 40 μg at 20 min intervals) or placebo (PLA) (three doses at 20 min intervals) at 1 h, 12 h and 24 h post-MABA dose. The primary endpoint was maximal increase in FEV₁, from pre-dose bronchodilator (SABA/PLA), measured 15 min after each cumulative dose of SALB, IPR or PLA. Systemic pharmacodynamics (potassium, heart rate, glucose and QTc), adverse events and systemic pharmacokinetics were also assessed.ResultsThe additional bronchodilatory effects at 12 h and 24 h for both SALB and IPR were of a similar magnitude and statistically significant relative to PLA; mean differences (SE) (L) following MABA 400 dosing: 0.139 (0.023) after SALB at 12 h; 0.123 (0.022) after SALB at 24 h; 0.124 (0.023) after IPR at 12 h; 0.141 (0.021) after IPR at 24 h; and after MABA 1200 dosing: 0.091 (0.023) after SALB at 12 h; 0.126 (0.022) after SALB at 24 h; 0.055 (0.023) after IPR at 12 h; 0.122 (0.022) after IPR at 24 h. Any additional bronchodilator effects at 1 h were small and not clinically significantly different from PLA. There were small, non-clinically significant increases in mean heart rate after both MABA doses plus SALB, and decreased potassium levels in four patients after MABA 1200 plus SALB (×3) or PLA (×1) were observed but overall all treatments were well tolerated and raised no significant safety signals.ConclusionThe additional bronchodilation achieved following supratherapeutic doses of SALB and IPR on top of single doses of MABA 400 or 1200 was comparable for the two agents and neither were associated with any clinically relevant systemic pharmacodynamic effects other than the small transient hypokalemic effect in a 3 out of 41 patients receiving additional high dose salbutamol and MABA 1200. Either short-acting bronchodilator could potentially be used as rescue medication on top of MABA therapy.     

Improvement of Oral Bioavailability and Anti-Tumor Effect of Zingerone Self-Microemulsion Drug Delivery System

This study sought to prepare a self-microemulsion drug delivery system containing zingerone (Z-SMEDDS) to improve the low oral bioavailability of zingerone and anti-tumor effect. Z-SMEDDS was characterized by particle size, zeta potential and encapsulation efficiency, while its pharmacokinetics and anti-tumor effects were also evaluated. Z-SMEDDS had stable physicochemical properties, including average particle size of 17.29 ± 0.07 nm, the zeta potential of -22.81 ± 0.29 mV, and the encapsulation efficiency of 97.96% ± 0.02%. In vitro release studies have shown the release of zingerone released by Z-SMEDDS was significantly higher than free zingerone in different release media. The relative oral bioavailability of Z-SMEDDS was 7.63 times compared with free drug. Meanwhile, the half inhibitory concentration （IC50）of Z-SMEDDS and free zingerone was 8.45 μg/mL and 13.30 μg/mL, respectively on HepG2. This study may provide a preliminary basis for further clinical research and application of Z-SMEDDS.     

Mapping of the hepatitis B virus attachment site by use of infection-inhibiting preS1 lipopeptides and tupaia hepatocytes

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Studies on the early steps in the life cycle of hepatitis B virus have been hampered by the lack of readily available target cells. In this study, we mapped a defined virus attachment site to primary hepatocytes that is essential for infection. METHODS: We used purified virus particles from human carrier plasma as an inoculum and primary cultures of tupaia hepatocytes as susceptible target cells and studied the inhibitory effect of amino-terminally acylated preS1-derived lipopeptides on infection interference. RESULTS: Infectivity of virus could be blocked efficiently in this system by amino-terminally acylated peptides containing amino acids 2-18 from the preS1 domain. The addition of amino acids 28-48 enhanced the inhibitory capacity, whereas amino acids 49-78 did not contribute to inhibition. Myristoylated preS1 peptides 2-48 bound strongly to tupaia hepatocytes but not to nonhepatic cells or rodent hepatocytes and thereby inhibited infection even at concentrations of 1 nmol/L completely. Particles consisting only of the small hepatitis B surface protein-the active component of current hepatitis B vaccines-did not bind at all to tupaia hepatocytes, but the addition of the preS1 domain to the particles allowed binding. CONCLUSIONS: The preS1 sequence 2-48 mediates attachment of the virus to its target cells, whereas the small surface protein seems to be involved in other steps. These findings indicate that the current subunit hepatitis B vaccines may be improved by the addition of distinct preS1 epitopes. Moreover, preS1 lipopeptides are promising candidates for specific antiviral therapy against hepatitis B infections.     

苯扎溴铵酊处方改进及苯扎溴铵的含量测定

目的：改进苯扎溴铵酊处方,并建立容量分析法测定苯扎溴铵醇溶液（苯扎溴铵酊去除曙红成分）中苯扎溴铵的含量。方法在建立容量分析法测定苯扎溴铵的含量时,发现曙红在不同程度上均能影响含量测定结果,故将曙红成分从处方中删去。采用四苯硼钠（0.02 mol/L）为滴定液,滴定苯扎溴铵醇溶液中苯扎溴铵的含量。结果苯扎溴铵酊制剂更改为苯扎溴铵醇溶液,在含量测定中,滴定终点变化明显,易于判断。苯扎溴铵在浓度0.4~1.4 mg/mL的范围内与消耗四苯硼钠滴定液体积呈良好线性关系,r=0.9995,回归方程为V=18.3C-0.32。高、中、低3种剂量苯扎溴铵的平均回收率为99.12%,R SD为0.84%。结论本实验方法简便、快捷、准确,可作为苯扎溴铵醇溶液的质量控制标准。