Effects of Cerastes cerastes (Egyptian sand viper) and Cerastes vipera (Sahara sand viper) snake venoms on blood coagulation: Separation of coagulant and anticoagulant factors and their correlation with arginine esterase and protease activities

Cerastes cerastes and Cerastes vipera venoms were anticoagulant at high concentrations and procoagulant at low concentrations. Ëach venom was fractionated by Sephadex G-100 gel filtration into 8 fractions. Arginine esterase activity in C. cerastes venom was found in three overlapping peaks of mol. wts 70,000, 54,000 and 39,000 and in two peaks of mol. wts 62,000 and 37,000 in the corresponding fractions of C. vipera venom. Two fractions were anticoagulant whereas three fractions were procoagulant in both species. The procoagulant fractions coincided with the arginine esterase activity, while the anticoagulant fractions had proteolytic activity. The anticoagulant activity, in both fractions, is due mainly to direct and/or indirect fibrinogenolysis. The procoagulant activity is probably due to activation at multiple sites in the blood coagulation cascade.     

Rapid maxillary expansion in mouth breathers: a short-term skeletal and soft-tissue effect on the nose

Introduction

Rapid maxillary expansion can change the form and function of the nose. The skeletal and soft tissue changes can influence the esthetics and the stability of the results obtained by the procedure.

Sustained administration of bupropion alters the neuronal activity of serotonin, norepinephrine but not dopamine neurons in the rat brain

Bupropion is widely used in the treatment of depression. There are, however, limited data on its long-term effects on monoaminergic neurons and therefore the mechanism of its delayed onset of action is at present not well understood. The present study was conducted to examine the effects of prolonged bupropion administration on the firing activity of dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), locus coeruleus (LC), and ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons. Spontaneously firing neurons were recorded extracellularly in rats anesthetized with chloral hydrate. Bupropion (30 mg/kg/day) was administered using subcutaneously implanted minipumps. In the DRN, the firing rate of serotonin (5-HT) neurons was significantly increased after 2, 7 and 14 days of administration. The suppressant effect of LSD was significantly diminished after the two-day regimen, indicating a desensitization of 5-HT_1A autoreceptors. In the LC, the firing rate of norepinephrine (NE) neurons was significantly attenuated after a 2-day regimen, but recovered progressively over 14 days of administration. The suppressant effect of clonidine on NE neuronal firing was significantly attenuated in rats treated with bupropion for 14 days, indicating a desensitization of α₂-adrenoceptors. In the VTA, neither 2 nor 14 days of bupropion administration altered the firing and burst activity of dopamine neurons. These results indicate that bupropion, unlike 5-HT reuptake inhibitors, promptly increased 5-HT neuronal activity, due to early desensitization of the 5-HT_1A autoreceptor. The gradual recovery of neuronal firing of NE neurons, due to the desensitization of α₂-adrenoceptors, in the presence of the sustained increase in 5-HT neuronal firing, may explain in part the delayed onset of action of bupropion in major depression.     

Design,synthesis and biological evaluation of novel thiophene and theinopyrimidine derivatives as anticancer agents

Some novel thiophene and theinopyrimidine derivatives have been synthesized. Their structures were confirmed by elemental analyses, infrared, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and mass spectral data. All the target compounds were screened against liver adenocarcinoma (HepG2) cell line. Compounds 9c, 9b, 10b, and 7c in a sequent were the most potent compounds between all the test compounds with IC₅₀ values [0.01063, 0.01158, 0.01729, 0.01957?µM], respectively. Compounds 13b, 7b, 5d, 9a, 8a, and 11b showed higher activity with IC₅₀ values ranged from 0.02231 to 0.03673?µM when compared with 5-flurouracil (A) as a reference drug (IC₅₀?=?0.0384?µM).     

Flow diversion in the treatment of carotid injury and carotid-cavernous fistula after transsphenoidal surgery

We describe a case of iatrogenic carotid injury with secondary carotid-cavernous fistula (CCF) treated with a silk flow diverter stent placed within the injured internal carotid artery and coils placed within the cavernous sinus. Flow diverters may offer a simple and potentially safe vessel-sparing option in this rare complication of transsphenoidal surgery. The management options are discussed and the relevant literature is reviewed.     

Oral cocaine produces dose-related hepatotoxicity in male mice.

Cocaine remains a widely abused substance. While most addicts take cocaine intranasally, a considerable number abuse cocaine by mouth. It has been assumed that after oral exposure cocaine is hydrolyzed in the stomach rendering it ineffective. This study investigated the effect of orally administered cocaine on liver function and integrity as well as its effect on liver and blood antioxidative enzymes. Male CF-1 mice were orally administered either 0, 5, 10 or 20 mg cocaine/kg body weight and sacrificed 24 h after the last treatment. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured as markers of liver injury. Blood and liver glutathione (GSH) levels were determined as well as the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT). In addition, the activity of liver glutathione reductase (GRx) was also measured. The results demonstrated that oral cocaine caused hepatotoxicity in a dose dependent manner. Serum ALT and AST were elevated while blood GSH concentration decreased in all cocaine treated animals. In addition, there was a significant dose dependent decrease in the activities of GPx and CAT in blood and liver of cocaine treated animals. However, hepatic GSH content and GRx activity manifested a significant increase, particularly in the group, which received 20 mg/kg cocaine. This study is the first to demonstrate that cocaine-induced hepatotoxicity results following the oral route of administration.     

Clinical and dosimetric analysis of 469 prostate cancer patients treated in France in 2005 by permanent implant brachytherapy using the Iodin 125 seeds IsoSeed Bebig: report to the French Economic committee of health products (CEPS)]

A French decree of February 3rd 2005, allowed the Iodin 125 seeds from several companies to be reimbursed after a permanent implantation brachytherapy for a prostate cancer. Within this frame, the French "Comité économique des produits de santé" (CEPS; Economic committee for health products) made mandatory the annual writing and publication of a follow-up study with three main aims; make sure that the seeds were used for prostate cancer patients with criterias corresponding to the national recommendations, analyze the quality of the dosimetric data, and report all side effects, complications and possible accidents. We therefore report here a clinical and dosimetric analysis of 469 patient cases treated in France in nine centers in 2005 with the Iodin 125 IsoSeed Bebig. This analysis shows that: 1) The national recommendations for selecting patients for exclusive prostate brachytherapy have been taken into account in 97% of the cases; 2) The dosimetric quality criterias totally fulfilled the recommendations in a large majority of cases; the intra-operative D90 was found to be superior to 145 Gy in 98% of the patients, and the intra-operative V100 was superior to 95% in 96% of the cases; 3) The early toxicity (mainly urinary) was found to be at the lower range of what is reported in the literature, with in particular a retention rate of 2.4%.