Effects of adrenergic agents on rat peritoneal macrophages activated in vitro by acetylated low-density lipoprotein

Macrophages interact with modified lipoproteins and alter their functional status. In this study, the effects of the adrenergic agents adrenaline, isoproterenol, and dobutamine on macrophages activated with acetylated low-density lipoprotein were tested. The aim of this investigation was to determine whether adrenergic agents influence biologically significant functions of these cells in an in vitro model of macrophage-lipoprotein acute interaction. Rat peritoneal macrophages were incubated with acetylated low-density lipoprotein for 16 h, with or without adrenergic agents. Hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide production and acid phosphatase activities in the supernatant and cell lysate were assayed. Adrenaline and isoproterenol inhibited the production of hydrogen peroxide, stimulated the production of nitric oxide, and increased the extracellular activity of acid phosphatase in the lipoprotein-activated cells. Dobutamine increased the extracellular, but decreased the intracellular acid phosphatase activity. Adrenaline and dobutamine also produced changes in the cell size and nuclear morphology of the macrophages. Macrophages are activated in vitro by acetylated low-density lipoprotein, and their functions and morphology are modified under the influence of adrenergic agents. Certain effects could be attributed to changes in cyclic AMP levels.     

Intrapericardial drug delivery: pharmacologic properties and long-term safety in swine

BACKGROUND: Intrapericardial drug delivery is a promising new technique, but the pharmacologic properties of various agents delivered via this route are not known. Furthermore, the long-term safety of intrapericardial catheters has not been previously examined. METHODS: Using a pericardial access device, a catheter connected to a drug-delivery system was implanted in five pigs. Plasma levels and electrocardiographic measurements were obtained after intravenous and intrapericardial administration of digoxin and procainamide. Histological examination was performed after the device had been implanted for a total of 6 months. RESULTS: The QTc interval did not change significantly after digoxin or procainamide intravenous administration. QTc decreased by 47+/-23 ms (p=0.046) 8 h after digoxin intrapericardial administration and increased by 128+/-60 ms (p=0.002) 1 h after procainamide intrapericardial administration. The QRS duration did not change significantly after intravenous administration of either agent, but it increased by 17+/-9 ms (p=0.004) 1 h and by 15+/-4 ms (p=0.01) 8 h after procainamide intrapericardial administration. After intravenous procainamide the RR interval decreased, but it did not change significantly after intrapericardial administration of either agent. Histology showed moderate inflammatory infiltration and fibrosis adjacent to the catheter. CONCLUSIONS: Intrapericardial delivery of digitalis and procainamide produces unique electrophysiological properties. In contrast to satisfactory success of the implantation technique, long-term dwell of the catheter in the pericardium induces moderate, albeit probably clinically significant, fibrosis.     

Use of ceftriaxone in patients with severe leptospirosis

The optimal treatment of severe and late leptospirosis, and even the need for antibiotic treatment in such clinical settings, remains a subject of debate. Twenty-two patients with severe late leptospirosis were treated with intravenous ceftriaxone 2g daily. Twenty-one patients recovered and one patient passed away due to respiratory complications of the disease. The adverse effect profile and the convenience of the regimen were superior to penicillin regimens reported in other clinical trials. Ceftriaxone may be a reasonable alternative in severe leptospirosis as an efficient, convenient and safe regimen. Large multicentre studies may further define the optimal interventions in severe leptospirosis as well as possible variations in the pathogenic and clinical parameters of respiratory leptospirosis.     

Dermatitis during radiation for vulvar carcinoma: prevention and treatment with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor impregnated gauze

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) impregnated gauze in preventing or healing radiation-induced dermatitis. Sixty-one patients were irradiated for vulvar carcinoma. Thirty-seven applied steroid cream at irradiated areas throughout radiotherapy (Group A) and 24 patients applied additionally GM-CSF impregnated gauze (40 micrcog/cm2 of skin-irradiated area, twice per day) in addition to the steroid cream, after 20 Gy of irradiation (Group B). The score of skin reactions (P=0.008, chi2 test) and the time interval of radiotherapy interruption (P=0.037, Mann-Whitney U test) were statistically significantly reduced in Group B patients. Multivariate analysis of variance showed for this group not only a significant reduction in the Sum of Gross Dermatitis Scoring (P<0.001, adjusted for Duration of Dermatitis) but also a significant reduction of the healing time (P=0.02, adjusted for Sum of Gross Dermatitis Scoring). The pain grading was less (P=0.014, chi2 test) and pain reduction was noticed sooner after the application of GM-CSF impregnated gauze (P=0.0017, Mann-Whitney U test). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the only significant effect on dermatitis score is due to Body Mass Index (P=0.034) and the application of GM-CSF (P=0.008). GM-CSF impregnated gauze can be effective in preventing and healing radiation-induced dermatitis and in reducing the interruption intervals of radiotherapy for vulvar carcinomas.     

Mining sequential patterns for protein fold recognition

Protein data contain discriminative patterns that can be used in many beneficial applications if they are defined correctly. In this work sequential pattern mining (SPM) is utilized for sequence-based fold recognition. Protein classification in terms of fold recognition plays an important role in computational protein analysis, since it can contribute to the determination of the function of a protein whose structure is unknown. Specifically, one of the most efficient SPM algorithms, cSPADE, is employed for the analysis of protein sequence. A classifier uses the extracted sequential patterns to classify proteins in the appropriate fold category. For training and evaluating the proposed method we used the protein sequences from the Protein Data Bank and the annotation of the SCOP database. The method exhibited an overall accuracy of 25% in a classification problem with 36 candidate categories. The classification performance reaches up to 56% when the five most probable protein folds are considered.     

Investigating evaluation frameworks for health information systems

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Evaluation of health information systems (HIS) enables the assessment of the extent to which HIS are fulfilling their objectives in supporting the services of healthcare delivery. This paper presents an overview of evaluation in health informatics and information systems. METHODS: Literature review on discourses, dimensions and methods of HIS and IS evaluation. A critical appraisal of selected HIS and IS evaluation frameworks is undertaken in order to identify HIS evaluation dimensions and measures. The frameworks are compared based on their inclusion of human, organizational and technological factors. RESULTS: We found that an increasing number of evaluation studies deal with two distinct trends of HIS: one considers human and organizational issues and the other is concerned with the employment of a subjectivist approach. Our review indicates that current evaluation methods complement each other in that they evaluate different aspects of HIS and they can be improved upon. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation is complex; it is easy to measure many things but not necessarily the right ones. Nevertheless, it is possible to consider, a HIS evaluation framework with more comprehensive and specific measures that would incorporate technological, human and organizational issues to facilitate HIS evaluation.