Pharmacokinetics of mycophenolate mofetil in stable pediatric liver transplant recipients receiving mycophenolate mofetil and cyclosporine.

There are few pharmacokinetic data for mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) when used in combination with cyclosporine (CsA) in pediatric liver transplant recipients. The aim of this study was to assess the pharmacokinetics of MMF in stable pediatric liver transplant patients and estimate the dose of MMF required to provide a mycophenolic acid (MPA) exposure similar to that observed in adult liver transplant recipients receiving the recommended dose of MMF (target area under the plasma concentration-time curve from 0 to 12 hours [AUC(0-12)] for MPA of 29 mug.hour/mL in the immediate posttransplantation period and 58 microg x hour/mL after 6 months). A 12-hour pharmacokinetic profile was collected for 8 pediatric patients (mean age 20.9 months) on stable doses of MMF and CsA who had received a liver transplant > or = 6 months prior to entry and who had started on MMF within 2 weeks of transplantation. Mean MMF dosage was 285 mg/m(2) (range, 200-424 mg/m(2)). Of 8 patients, 7 had a MPA AUC(0-12) (range, 11.0-37.2 microg x hour/mL) well below the target. One patient had an AUC(0-12) > or = 58 microg x hour/mL but was considered an outlier and was excluded from analyses. Mean MPA AUC(0-12) and maximum plasma concentration values were 22.7 +/- 10.5 microg x hour/mL and 7.23 +/- 3.27 microg/mL, respectively; values normalized to 600 mg/m(2) (the approved pediatric dose in renal transplantation) were 47.0 +/- 21.8 microg x hour/mL and 14.5 +/- 4.21 microg/mL. In conclusion, assuming that MPA exhibits linear pharmacokinetics, when used in combination with CsA, a MMF dose of 740 mg/m(2) twice daily would be recommended in pediatric liver transplant recipients to achieve MPA exposures similar to those observed in adult liver transplant recipients. This finding should be confirmed by a prospective trial.     

The development of food allergy after liver transplantation.

The acquisition of new food allergy after orthotopic liver transplantation is now a well described phenomenon, mainly reported in children. The etiology of this phenomenon is at present unclear, but has been ascribed by some to tacrolimus treatment. Here we report a case of liver transplant acquired food allergy (LTAFA) in a child who received a split liver graft. The case is remarkable for the absence of new food allergy in the adult recipient of the same graft. This suggests that host-specific factors play an important role in the development of food allergy after liver transplantation, and emphasizes the predisposition that children have toward this phenomenon. Possible mechanisms underlying the development of food allergy after liver transplantation are discussed. In conclusion, tacrolimus treatment alone cannot account for LTAFA. Host factors such as the maturity of immune regulatory mechanisms are likely to play a critical role in the development of new food allergy after a liver transplant.     

Focus groups: their role in developing calcium-related education materials

Because attitudes concerning a topic can diminish the effectiveness of educational materials, previously identified attitudes concerning calcium intake were explored through focus group interviews during the developmental stages of calcium education materials. Although four focus groups of six to seven participants were planned, each of the four groups consisted of two to six women. All focus groups followed the same format, lasting for 60–90 min; questions progressed from the general to more specific. The focus groups revealed several attitudinal barriers toward dietary behavioural change, including lack of prior interest in the topic and lack of time. Attitudes about dairy calcium included the belief that dairy foods were high in fat and should be avoided, and the belief that dairy foods would cause stomach upsets. Also, neither younger nor older women felt that osteoporosis was a problem their age group needed to address. Readability scales were not necessarily predictive of preference. This study shows that focus group interviews make a valuable contribution to planning and evaluating nutrition education materials.     

Trehalose protects against ocular surface disorders in experimental murine dry eye through suppression of apoptosis

The disaccharide trehalose is a key element involved in anhydrobiosis (the capability of surviving almost complete dehydration) in many organisms. Its presence also confers resistance to desiccation and high osmolarity in bacterial and human cells by protecting proteins and membranes from denaturation. The present study used a novel murine dry eye model induced by controlled low-humidity air velocity to determine whether topically applied trehalose could heal ocular surface epithelial disorders caused by ocular surface desiccation. In addition, the efficacy of 87.6 mM trehalose eyedrops was compared with that of 20% serum, the efficacy of which has been well documented. Mice ocular surface epithelial disorders were induced by exposure of murine eyes to continuous controlled low-humidity air velocity in an intelligently controlled environmental system (ICES) for 21 days, which accelerated the tear evaporation. The mice were then randomized into three groups: the control group received PBS (0.01M) treatment; a second group received 87.6 mM trehalose eyedrops treatment; and the third group received mice serum eyedrops treatment. Each treatment was administered as a 10 μl dose every 6 h for 14 days. The resultant changes in corneal barrier function and histopathologic examination of cornea and conjunctiva were analyzed and the level of apoptosis on the ocular surface was assessed using active caspase-3. After 14 days of treatment, the corneal fluorescein staining area, the ruffling and desquamating cells on the apical corneal epithelium, as well as the apoptotic cells on ocular surface epithelium had significantly reduced in eyes treated with trehalose compared with those treated with serum and PBS. In contrast, after 14 days of treatment, improvements in the thickness of the corneal epithelium, the squamous metaplasia in conjunctival epithelium and the number of goblet cells of the conjunctiva were less marked in eyes treated with trehalose compared with serum. These results demonstrated that trehalose could improve the appearance of ocular surface epithelial disorders due to desiccation through suppression of apoptosis. Trehalose produces some of the same responses as serum upon topical application and can maintain corneal health.     

Doctor – How do I use my EpiPen?

Parents and children who have been prescribed an Epipen are often unable to demonstrate its correct administration. One contributory factor may be that doctors are unfamiliar with the EpiPen and are unable to demonstrate the correct administration of the pen to the family. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of correct EpiPen demonstration by junior and Senior Medical Staff at a major tertiary paediatric Hospital. Junior and Senior medical staff were scored on their ability to correctly use the EpiPen trainer. A 6 step scoring system was used. One-hundred doctors were recruited (Residents n = 31, Senior Residents n = 39, Fellow/Consultants n = 30). Junior and Senior Medical staff had similar scores for EpiPen demonstration, the number that needed to read the EpiPen instructions prior to use and the frequancy of accidental self-injection into the thumb. Only two doctors (2%) demonstrated all 6 administration steps correctly. The most frequent errors made were not holding the pen in place for >5 seconds (57%), failure to apply pressure to activate (21%), and self-injection into the thumb (16%). Ninety five doctors needed to read the instructions, and of these, only 39 (41%) then proceeded to correctly demonstrate the remaining 5 steps. Forty-five doctors had previously dispensed an EpiPen, but only three demonstrated its use to parents/children with a trainer. The majority of doctors do not know how to use an Epipen and are unable to provide appropriate education to parents/children. In 37% of cases, the demonstration would not have delivered adrenaline to a patient.     

The role of intrahepatic lymphocytes in mediating protective immunity induced by attenuated Plasmodium berghei sporozoites

Summary: Exposure to irradiated Plasmodium sporozoites (g‐spz) results in protection against malaria. Like infectious spz, g‐spz colonize hepatocytes to undergo maturation. Disruption of liver stage development prevents the generation of protection, which appears, therefore, to depend on liver stage antigens. Although some mechanisms of protection have been identified, they do not include a role for intrahepatic mononuclear cells (IHMC). We demonstrated that P. berghei g‐spz‐immune murine IHMC adoptively transfer protection to naive recipients. Characterization of intrahepatic CD4+ T cells revealed an immediate, albeit transient, response to g‐spz, while the response of CD8+ T cells is delayed until acquisition of protection. It is presumed that activated CD8+ T cells home to the liver to die; g‐spz‐induced CD8+CD45RBloCD44hi T cells, however, persist in the liver, but not the spleen, during protracted protection. The association between CD8+CD45RBloCD44hi T cells and protection has been verified using MHC class I and CD1 knockout mice and mice with disrupted liver stage parasites. Based on kinetic studies, we propose that interferon‐g, presumably released by intrahepatic effector CD8+ T cells, mediates protection; the persistence of CD8+ T cells is, in turn, linked to Plasmodium antigen depots and cytokines released by CD4+ T cells and/or NK T cells.     

Chemoarchitecture and afferent connections of the "olfactostriatum": a specialized vomeronasal structure within the basal ganglia of snakes

The olfactostriatum, a portion of the striatal complex of snakes, is the major tertiary vomeronasal structure in the ophidian brain, receiving substantial afferents from the nucleus sphericus, the primary target of accessory olfactory bulb efferents. In the present study, we have characterized the olfactostriatum of garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) on the basis of chemoarchitecture (distribution of serotonin, neuropeptide Y and tyrosine hydroxylase) and hodology (afferent connections). The olfactostriatum is densely immunoreactive for serotonin and neuropeptide Y and shows moderate-to-weak immunoreactivity for tyrosine hydroxylase. In addition to afferents from the nucleus sphericus, the olfactostriatum receives inputs from the dorsal and lateral cortices, nucleus of the accessory olfactory tract, external and dorsolateral amygdalae, dorsomedial thalamic nucleus, ventral tegmental area and raphe nuclei. Double labeling experiments demonstrated that the distribution of serotonin and neuropeptide Y in this area almost completely overlaps the terminal field of projections from the nucleus sphericus. Also, serotonergic and dopaminergic innervation of the olfactostriatum likely arise, respectively, from the raphe nuclei and the ventral tegmental area, whereas local circuit neurons originate the neuropeptide Y immunoreactivity. These results indicate that the olfactostriatum of snakes could be a portion of the nucleus accumbens, with features characteristic of the accumbens shell, devoted to processing vomeronasal information. Comparative data suggest that a similar structure is present in the ventral striatum of amphibians and mammals.     

Modification of odor investigation and discrimination in female opossums (Monodelphis domestica) following the ablation of the accessory olfactory bulbs

To determine whether the vomeronasal system of the Brazilian short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) is important to the response to conspecific chemical signals, the authors tested female opossums with conspecific odors, before and after ablation of their accessory olfactory bulbs (AOBs). Anesthesia and sham treatments did not modify females' discrimination of conspecific odors when tested against water, between male and female odors, or between different odors from the same male donors. Odor investigation was partially diminished following partial ablation of the AOB, and complete ablation of the AOBs further impaired the ability of females to discriminate between certain odors. These findings provide the first evidence for the importance of the vomeronasal system in the detection of chemosignals of known origin in opossums.