Imipenem/cilastatin therapy of infections in cancer patients

Imipenem/cilastatin was administered during 153 febrile episodes occurring in cancer patients and the response rate was 68%. Considering only documented infections the response rate was 71%. Patients who received imipenem as initial therapy had a higher response rate than patients who received it after failing other antibiotics (77% versus 68%). The overall response rates for septicemias and pneumonias were 75% and 58%. Among the 57 gram-negative infections 77% responded, but the response rate was substantially higher if imipenem was used as initial therapy (94% versus 69%). The poorest response rate was observed when imipenem was given as secondary therapy for Pseudomonas infections (50%), but most of these patients had failed to respond to other appropriate antibiotics. The only serious side effect was seizures which occurred in ten patients, although eight of them had other predisposing factors. Imipenem appears to be a useful antibiotic for treatment of infections, even in neutropenic cancer patients.     

Crown augmentation using modified bilayered restoration for anchorage: A case report

An ankylosed tooth can be suitable for obtaining orthodontic anchorage. However, if such a tooth lacks adequate clinical crown height, the anchorage will not be effective. In those situations surgical luxation or restorative crown augmentation is suggested. This case report is about the restorative treatment of an ankylosed, infraoccluded tooth to enhance the anchorage for forced orthodontic eruption of impacted maxillary canines. A crown augmentation in the form of a modified bilayered (sandwich) restoration using GIC, Composite resin and Silver amalgam on left maxillary first molar (26) was successful in sustaining the anchorage for forced eruption and alignment of impacted canines.     

Interleukin 1 mediated acceleration of type II collagen-induced arthritis: effects of anti-inflammatory or anti-arthritic drugs

We previously demonstrated that treatments with rIL-1 beta accelerated the onset and progression of CIA in mice. In the present study, it was observed that IL-1 also enhanced the development of CIA in rats. Like the mouse model, maximal incidence (80-100%) of arthritis occurred within 7 days after the first treatment with IL-1 in rats. Thus, the acceleration of CIA by IL-1 (IL-1 CIA) may be an improved model for the rapid screening of anti-inflammatory and/or anti-arthritic drugs. As a first step to determining the utility of the IL-1 CIA model as a drug screen, we examined the ability of various known anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic drugs to modify the IL-1 mediated enhancement of CIA in both rats and mice. The results of these studies showed that when analyzed in the IL-1 CIA model, rats and mice exhibited differences in their responses to several of these drugs. For example, dexamethasone, cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, various non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as well as methotrexate were found active in the IL-1 CIA of rats. By contrast, the NSAIDs were found to be less effective in suppressing the IL-1 accelerated disease in mice. In both rats and mice, cyclosporine A and several disease modifying anti-arthritic drugs failed to the prevent the development of CIA that was potentiated by IL-1. Thus, in the IL-1 CIA model NSAIDs appeared to be less active in mice than rats. In conclusion, because of the shorter latent period required for the development of arthritis in the IL-1 treated animals, the IL-1 accelerated CIA model in both mice and rats may be useful for screening anti-inflammatory or anti-arthritic compounds.     

Treatment of Paget's disease of bone with intravenous 4-amino-1-hydroxybutylidene-1,1-bisphosphonate

Summary 4-amino-1-hydroxybutylidene-1,1-bis-phosphonate (AHButBP) was given intravenously (2.5–25 mg/day for 4 days) to 14 patients with Paget's disease of bone, five of whom had been treated with dichloromethylidene bisphosphonate (Cl₂MBP) 32 months earlier. In the nine patients who had not been treated previously with bisphosphonates, the short course of AHButBP induced a suppression of serum alkaline phosphatase and urinary hydroxyproline values down to 30% of initial values. The biochemical suppression of the disease was sustained for 2–18 months and the time to relapse did correlate to the logarithm of the dose (P<0.001). In the five patients previously treated for Paget's disease, an apparent resistence to treatment with AHButBP was observed. However, in these patients both serum alkaline phosphatase and urinary hydroxyproline fell to or even below the nadir values which had previously been achieved with Cl₂MBP, irrespective of the degree of relapse. Thus the degree of suppression of Paget's disease of bone, achievable after treatment with bisphosphonates, seems to be constant for each patient, such that normal levels of serum alkaline phosphatase and urinary hydroxyproline cannot usually be attained in patients with extremely active disease.     

Susceptibility of clinical isolates to cephalexin, cefazolin and cefotaxime

Three hundred and seventeen recent clinical isolates were tested for in vitro susceptibility to the three cephalosporins available in India--cephalexin, cefazolin and cefotaxime by the Kirby--Bauer disc diffusion method. Cefazolin was the most effective cephalosporin against Gram positive cocci (71.8% sensitive) followed by cefotaxime (62.7%) and cephalexin (52.7%). Cefotaxime was very effective against commonly isolated Gram negative bacilli with only 10 (8.8%) isolates being resistant to it while 44 (39%) and 65 (57.5%) were resistant to cefazolin and cephalexin, respectively. All isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were resistant to cephalexin and cefazolin and only 29 (32.6%) were sensitive to cefotaxime.