Acute vestibular neuritis: A rare complication after the adenoviral vector-based COVID-19 vaccine

Journal of NeuroVirology - Vestibular neuritis was first reported in 1952 by Dix and Hallpike, and 30% of patients reporting a flu-like symptom before acquiring the disorder. The most common causes...     

Evaluation of Intradermal Injection of Botulinum Toxin A for Facial Lifting

BACKGROUND: Intradermal botolinum toxin A (BTXA) is an advanced technique that emerged in response to the increased demand for noninvasive facial lifting and skin rejuvenation. OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intradermal injections of BTXA for facial lifting. METHODS: Twenty-five female patients with mild symmetrical facial skin laxity were enrolled in this study. All patients were treated with BTXA in one side of the face while the other side was injected with normal saline. The response to treatment was assessed by two dermatologists who evaluated global photographs using a quartile grading scale (QGS). The patient self-assessment and satisfaction questionnaires were recorded. RESULTS: A highly significant difference was found between the side injected with BTXA and the saline injected side (control) (p<0.001). Facial lifting was achieved in 58.66 percent of the sides injected with BTXA. Forty-four percent of patients were very satisfied. Older patients showed better improvement than younger patients (p=<0.001). The results persisted for 16 weeks. No adverse effects were observed. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that intradermal injection of BTXA could be a safe and effective therapeutic option for face lifting.     

Synthesis of thioether derivatives of quinazoline-4-one-2-thione and evaluation of their antiplatelet aggregation activity

A series of 2-(arylmethylthio)-3-phenylquinazolin-4-one derivatives have been synthesized and their antiplatelet aggregation activities were assessed against ADP and arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation in human plasma. Among the tested thioethers, derivative 2, 3, 5 and 16 were the most potent compounds with satisfactory IC₅₀ for inhibition of platelet aggregation induced by ADP. Analysis of global physicochemical parameters shows some correlations between activities and molecular volume and also surface area of the studied derivatives.     

Tramadol and the occurrence of seizures: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Tramadol is a synthetic opioid which is commonly used around the world to relieve moderate to severe pain. One of the serious possible complications of its use is seizures. The present study aims to investigate and summarize the studies related to tramadol and occurrences of seizures after tramadol use and factors influencing these seizures.

Methodology: Our systematic review is compliant with PRISMA guidelines. Two researchers systematically searched PubMed/Medline, Web of Sciences, and Scopus. Cohort, case-control, cross-sectional studies, and clinical trials. The risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale After article quality assessment, a fixed or random model, as appropriate, was used to pool the results in a meta-analysis. Heterogeneity between the studies was assessed with using I-square and Q-test. Forest plots demonstrating the point and pooled estimates were drawn.

Results: A total of 51 articles with total sample size of 101 770 patients were included. The results showed that seizure event rate in the subgroups of tramadol poisoning, therapeutic dosage of tramadol, and tramadol abusers was 38% (95% CI: 27–49%), 3% (95% CI: 2–3%), 37% (95% CI: 12–62%), respectively. Tramadol dose was significantly higher in the patients with seizures than those without (mean differences: 0.82, CI 95%: 0.17–1.46). The odds for occurrence of seizures were significantly associated with male gender (pooled OR: 2.24, CI 95%: 1.80–2.77). Naloxone administration was not associated to the occurrence of seizures (pooled OR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.15–1.49).

Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that the occurrence of seizures in patients exposed to tramadol are dose-dependent and related to male gender, but not related to naloxone administration. Given that, most of the evidence derives from studies utilizing a cross-sectional design, the association of tramadol with seizures should not be considered to be definitively established     

Clinical outcome of HCV-positive patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with rituximab-based chemotherapy

The influence of rituximab therapy on prognosis and hepatic toxicity (HT) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is unclear. Thus, we assessed HT and clinical outcome in patients with DLBCL and HCV infection who received rituximab-containing immunochemotherapy. We carried out a prospective analysis on a total of 280 HCV-positive patients with DLBCL, 200 of whom received chemotherapy plus rituximab (R-CHT), 80 received chemotherapy (CHT)-only. Survival outcomes and HT were compared according to rituximab administration. The median follow-up was 41 months. Addition of rituximab did not significantly affect prognosis (median progression-free survival, 40 vs 35 months, P?=?0.26; median overall survival, 51 vs 43 months P?=?0.09). Of 200 patients who received rituximab, 53 (26.5 %) had severe HT (grade 3–4), compared with 11 of 80 (13.75 %) patients who received rituximab-free regimens (P?=?0.033). Among patients treated with rituximab, 50 patients (25 %) did not complete planned course of therapy, 14 patients because of hepatic toxicity and 36 patients because of progressive disease. Pretreatment liver function impairment was predictive of severe HT. These results raise concerns regarding the routine use of rituximab with chemotherapy in individuals with HCV-positive DLBCL. However, more studies are warranted before a definitive conclusion can be made.     

Nanoparticles in orthodontics,a review of antimicrobial and anti-caries applications

Nanoparticles (NPs) are insoluble particles smaller than 100 nm in size. In order to prevent microbial adhesion or enamel demineralization in orthodontic therapy, two broad strategies have been used. These are incorporating certain NPs into orthodontic adhesives/cements or acrylic resins (nanofillers, silver, TiO₂, SiO₂, hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite, fluorohydroxyapatite) and coating surfaces of orthodontic appliances with NPs (i.e. coating bracket surfaces with a thin film of nitrogen-doped TiO₂). Although the use of NPs in orthodontics can offer new possibilities, previous studies investigated the antimicrobial or physical characteristic over a short time span, i.e. 24 hours to a few weeks, and the limitations of in vitro studies should be recognized. Information on the long-term performance of orthodontic material using nanotechnology is lacking and necessitates further investigation and so do possible safety issues (toxicity), which can be related to the NP sizes.     

Contribution of Fc fragment of monoclonal antibodies to tetanus toxin neutralization

Neurotoxicity Research - Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against neurotoxin of Clostridium tetani are considered as a novel source of immunoglobulins for passive immunotherapy of tetanus. Toxin...     

Ontogenesis of quisqualate-associated phosphoinositide metabolism in various regions of the rat nervous system

The effect of postnatal age on phosphoinositide metabolism per se and on quisqualate-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism was characterized in synaptoneurosomes prepared from nine different regions of the rat nervous system, namely the brainstem, cerebellum, cerebral cortex, colliculi, hippocampus, hypothalamus, olfactory bulb, spinal cord and striatum. In the hippocampus, striatum, cerebellum, cerebral cortex, brainstem, colliculus and spinal cord, the basal levels of inositol phosphate (inositol-1-phosphate+inositol-4,5-bisphosphate) formation were maximal two days after birth and declined steeply to steady-state levels from the age of 10 postnatal days. Similarly, in the olfactory bulb, basal inositol phosphate synthesis did not significantly change when measured during the period from postnatal day 10 to 42. The extent of [³H]-inositol labelling of phosphoinositides as a function of age presented similar profiles when measured in hippocampal, striatal, cerebellar and cerebral cortical synaptoneurosomes, i.e. maximal at perinatal ages and minimal at adult ages. In the hypothalamus, [³H]-inositol labelling of phosphoinositides showed an increase from postnatal day 12 to higher levels from postnatal days 14 to 18 subsequently followed by a dramatic increase from postnatal day 21 to 42. A similar developmental trend was also obtained for basal inositol phosphate synthesis.On the whole, four types of developmental profiles for quisqualate-stimulated inositol phosphate formation (expressed as the percentage of the basal level and as the difference between stimulated and basal levels of radioactive inositol phosphates) were obtained depending on the nervous system region studied. In the early, prenatally developed nervous system regions, namely the brainstem and the spinal cord, no postnatal stimulation peaks of quisqualate-induced inositol phosphate formation were recorded. This was also the case for the colliculi when the stimulation of IP formation was expressed as the difference in basal and stimulated levels of inositol phosphates. Secondly, in the olfactory bulb a region known to possess a continuous capacity for developmental plasticity both structurally and functionally during the first three weeks of postnatal development, a simultaneous sustained high level of quisqualate stimulation of phosphoinositide metabolism (fluctuating around 200% of the basal level) during the early postnatal period was evident. Thirdly, in regions of the central nervous system like the cerebellum, cerebral cortex, hippocampus and the striatum known to undergo intense developmental activity during the first two postnatal weeks, peaks of quisqualate-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism were initially detected around the first week after birth in each of these brain areas. Finally, in the hypothalamus where structurally unique postnatal developmental processes are known to take place, quisqualate-induced inositol phosphate formation progressively increases with age to reach maxima at postnatal day 18. The transient increases in quisqualate responses in the cerebellum, hippocampus and striatum are probably specific to quisqualate since carbachol-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism yielded different age-associated response patterns. Similar increases of carbachol- and quisqualate-mediated phosphoinositide hydrolysis were on the other hand assayed in cerebral cortical and hypothalamic synaptoneurosomes. EC₅₀, values for quisqualate (the quisqualate concentration required to produce 50% of the maximal effect) at postnatal days 6 and 10 were not significantly different in each of four types of synaptoneurosomes: cerebellar, cerebral cortical, hippocampal and striatal. On the basis of these latter results, it was deduced that the peak of quisqualate-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism does not materialize on the basis of changes in quisqualate metabotropic receptor affinity. In conclusion, the measurement of inositol phosphate formation in synaptoneurosomes prepared from different regions of the postnatally developing nervous system indicate that there is a temporal correlation between the increased activity of quisqualate-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism mediated by specific metabotropic glutamate receptors and region-specific developmental events. This could suggest a key role for certain metabotropic glutamate receptors in the developmental plasticity of the nervous system.