Thrombopoietic factors potentially useful in the treatment of acute leukemia

Thrombocytopenia is a major cause of morbidity following intensive chemotherapy for acute leukemia. Over recent years, there has been an increasing use of platelet transfusions which, although generally efficacious to prevent severe hemorrhage, have associated risks of transmitting blood-borne disease and of alloimmunization. Therefore, there is a clinical requirement for a drug that will reliably alleviate the thrombocytopenia associated with leukemia therapy. The c-mpl ligand thrombopoietin is the most interesting factor for the treatment of thrombocytopenia because of its lineage specificity. Phase I and II studies confirm its biological efficacy to induce rise in platelet count in patients with solid tumors and acute leukemia. Several other pleiotropic hematopoietic growth factors are also currently in clinical trials. These include interleukin-6, interleukin-3, interleukin-11, PIXY321 and stem cell factor. The effects of these cytokines appear to be modest at most and, with the exception of interleukin-11, their side effects are likely to limit their clinical application. Combinations of factors may prove more efficacious approaches to enhance platelet recovery.     

肾上腺Cushing综合征病因学上的进展

由中华医学会内分泌学分会主办，国际内分泌学会参加的2006年内分泌代谢性疾病系列研讨会——全脚内分泌肿瘤基础和临床研究专题研讨会，于7月7～9日在西南省昆明市举办。此次大会是中华医学会内分泌学分会与国际内分泌学会首次联合举办的大会。国际内分泌学会山执行委员，负责学术会议的主席、肾上腺疾病研究方面的专家法国Xavier Bertagna教授带队，由国际内分泌学会邀请了分别在神经内分泌和甲状腺疾病领域深有研究的著名专家英旧Ashley Grossman教授和美国James A Fagha教授，……     

Increased carotid intima–media thickness in the absence of atherosclerotic plaques in an adult population with Fabry disease

Aim: Fabry disease is considered primarily as a progressive small vessel disease, with ischaemic degenerative lesions involving the kidneys, brain and heart. Macrovascular involvement in male patients includes an accelerated wall hypertrophy of the radial artery and a thickening of the intima–media of the common carotid artery. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and severity of carotid artery atherosclerosis in hemizygous and heterozygous patients with Fabry disease, compared with a matched control population.
Methods: The common carotid artery intima–media thickness (IMT) of 53 patients with Fabry disease (24 men, 29 women) was measured by high-definition ultrasonography, and the presence or absence of atherosclerotic plaques reported. Results were compared with those of 120 age-matched healthy individuals (83 men, 37 women).
Results: The common carotid artery IMT was increased to the same extent in male and female patients with Fabry disease (706±211 µm and 749±395 µm, respectively) compared with that of the control population (614±113 µm). In the Fabry population, IMT did not correlate with either systolic blood pressure or with renal function (plasma creatinine). In the control population, only systolic blood pressure was positively and significantly correlated with IMT. Atherosclerotic plaques in the common carotid artery were not observed in any patient with Fabry disease, whereas 34% of the control population had carotid artery plaques, as evidenced by focal non-homogeneous intima–media thickening greater than 1.2 mm.
Conclusion: This study presents evidence of a major increase in common carotid artery IMT, both in hemizygous and heterozygous patients with Fabry disease, in the absence of focal atherosclerotic plaques. These results suggest that the conduit arteries may be protected from atherosclerosis in Fabry disease.     

Family burden and coping strategies in schizophrenia: 1-year follow-up data from the BIOMED I study

Background: To date, only few data are available on how family burden in schizophrenia changes over time. In addition, no study has explored how such factors as coping styles and social support influence burden over time. This paper presents the 1-year follow-up data from the BIOMED I study on family burden and coping strategies in schizophrenia. Methods: A sample of 159 relatives of patients with schizophrenia living in five European countries was followed up prospectively for 1 year with regard to burden and coping strategies, using validated questionnaires. Results: In the sample as a whole, the burden was stable. A reduction of family burden over time was found among relatives who adopted less emotion-focused coping strategies and received more practical support from their social network. In addition, family burden decreased in relation to the improvement of patient's social functioning. Conclusions: When relatives of patients with schizophrenia are able to improve their coping strategies, it is possible for burden to be reduced even after several years. This points to the necessity to provide families of chronic psychotic patients with psychoeducational interventions emphasising the adoption of an effective coping style. Accepted: 22 November 1999     

Methylamine but not mafenide mimics insulin-like activity of the semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase-substrate benzylamine on glucose tolerance and on human adipocyte metabolism

It has been reported that benzylamine reduces blood glucose in rabbits, stimulates hexose uptake, and inhibits lipolysis in mouse, rabbit, and human adipocytes. In the presence of vanadate, benzylamine is also able to improve glucose disposal in normoglycaemic and diabetic rats. Such insulin-mimicking properties are the consequence of hydrogen peroxide production during benzylamine oxidation by semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO). The aim of the study was to determine whether other SSAO-substrates could share such potential antidiabetic properties. Thus, mafenide, a synthetic antimicrobial sulfonamide structurally related to benzylamine, and which has been recently reported to interact with SSAO, was tested in the above mentioned models, in parallel with methylamine, a proposed endogenous SSAO-substrate. All tested amines stimulated glucose uptake and inhibited lipolysis in rat and mouse fat cells. Methylamine and benzylamine, but not mafenide, reduced the hyperglycaemic response during a glucose tolerance test in rabbits while the three amines tested were devoid of insulin-releasing activity under both in vivo and in vitro conditions. In human adipocytes, mafenide did not stimulate glucose transport since it was not a high-affinity substrate for SSAO and generated less hydrogen peroxide than benzylamine or methylamine. Therefore, mafenide could not be considered as an antidiabetic drug despite being oxidized and exhibiting insulin-mimicking effects in rat and mouse adipocytes. By contrast, the endogenous substrate methylamine improved glucose utilization in all in vitro and in vivo models, leading to consider novel SSAO substrates as drugs with potential anti-hyperglycaemic properties.     

Total soluble HLA class I and soluble HLA-G in multiple myeloma and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance.

Serum beta2-microglobulin, the light chain of the HLA class I molecular complex, remains one of the best survival prognostic factors in multiple myeloma, but other HLA class I molecules might be of interest in monoclonal gammopathies. In this study, we evaluate total soluble HLA class I (HLA-Is) and soluble HLA-G (HLA-Gs) in 103 patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, 30 patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), and 30 healthy subjects, studying their prognostic value in multiple myeloma. In multiple myeloma patients, HLA-Is and HLA-Gs median values were 0.8 microg/mL and 28 ng/mL, respectively. Median HLA-Is concentration was higher in stage II and III multiple myeloma patients than in stage I multiple myeloma, MGUS, and control patients. Median HLA-Gs was significantly lower in healthy controls than in MGUS and multiple myeloma patients. A high level of HLA-Is (> or =2.1 microg/mL) was predictive of short survival (P = 0.017). For each given level of beta2-microglobulin, the relative risk of death was higher for patients with HLA-Is > or = 2.1 microg/mL than in patients with a lower level (P = 0.047). HLA-Gs, a marker of monoclonal gammopathy, was of no prognostic value, but the addition of HLA-Is to beta2-microglobulin produced an efficient prognostic score (P < 0.0001). HLA-Is is a new marker of multiple myeloma tumor load and provides additional survival prognostic information to beta2-microglobulin.     

New optimized piperamide analogues with potent in vivo hypotensive properties

We describe herein the structural optimization of new piperamide analogues, designed from two natural prototypes, piperine 1 and piperdardine 2, obtained from Piper tuberculatum Jacq. (Piperaceae). Molecular modeling studies using semiempirical AM1 method were made in order to establish rational modifications to optimize them by molecular simplification. The targeted compounds (10) and (11) were respectively obtained using benzaldehyde (12) and para-anisaldehyde (13) as starting materials. ¹H NMR spectra showed that the target compounds were diastereoselectively obtained as the (E)-isomer, the same geometry of the natural prototypes. These new synthetic amides presented significant hypotensive effects in cardiovascular essays using in vivo methodologies. Compound 11 (N-[5-(4′-methoxyphenyl)-2(E)-pentenoyl]thiomorpholine) showed a potency 10,000 times greater than its prototype 5, evidencing an optimization of the molecular architecture for this class of hypotensive drug candidates.     

Significance of High Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol in Cardiovascular Risk Prevention

In the approach to lipid-related risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, serum high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels bear a particular significance as this lipoprotein is considered to be an antiatherogenic factor mainly, but not only, because of its influence and impact on reverse cholesterol transport. Hence the need and requirement to consider serum HDL-C levels for both primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. A particularly important aspect is the association of the 'low HDL syndrome' with the metabolic syndrome. These factors force us to consider serum HDL-C level as a therapeutic target by itself, or even in association with low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels when the latter are increased. This review stresses the aspects connecting serum HDL-C levels and cardiovascular risk, and looks at the populations that should be considered amenable to therapeutic management because of low serum HDL-C levels. We review therapeutic strategies, both pharmacological and nonpharmacological. The aim of this review is to present therapeutic management recommendations for correcting the proportion of cardiovascular risk that is attributable to changes in HDL-C. Serum HDL-C levels of >40 mg/dL must be a therapeutic target in primary and secondary prevention. This goal is particularly important in patients with low serum HDL-C levels and ischemic heart disease (IHD) or its equivalents, even if the therapeutic target for serum LDL-C levels (<100 mg/dL) has been achieved. The first choice for this clinical condition is fibric acid derivates. The same therapeutic option should be considered in patients without IHD with low serum HDL-C levels and high cardiovascular risk (>20%), hypertriglyceridemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, or metabolic syndrome.