All posts; Tags Include "Pharmacology"
- July 24, 2013
- 08:20 AM
- 1,001 views
Mildew Broke The Mold
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Mold and mildew – the two always seem to go together. Unfortunately, things aren’t so simplistic. Many mildews are molds --- which are fungi. But some common molds are really bacteria, not fungi at all! Pink mold is caused by the bacterium Serratia marcescens, a burgeoning offender in nosocomial infection outbreaks. New research is showing that S. marcescens is an increasing cause of necrotizing fasciitis, and causes many community and hospital acquired respiratory and urinary infect........ Read more »
Elahian, F., Moghimi, B., Dinmohammadi, F., Ghamghami, M., Hamidi, M., & Mirzaei, S. (2013) The Anticancer Agent Prodigiosin Is Not a Multidrug Resistance Protein Substrate. DNA and Cell Biology, 32(3), 90-97. DOI: 10.1089/dna.2012.1902
Rehman, T., Moore, T., & Seoane, L. (2012) Serratia marcescens Necrotizing Fasciitis Presenting as Bilateral Breast Necrosis. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 50(10), 3406-3408. DOI: 10.1128/JCM.00843-12
- July 23, 2013
- 11:35 AM
- 857 views
Alcohol, Drugs and Risk of Death By Drowning
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
It is common knowledge that it is dangerous to drink alcohol before operating a motor vehicle. However, this elevated risk for injury and death with alcohol extends across a variety of situations.Kristin Ahlm and colleagues recently conducted an analysis of the pattern of alcohol and drug use in drowning deaths in Sweden. This analysis was published in the journal BMC Public Health.In their study, they examined a series of drowning deaths that included autopsy. Over the period ........ Read more »
Ahlm K, Saveman BI, & Björnstig U. (2013) Drowning deaths in Sweden with emphasis on the presence of alcohol and drugs - a retrospective study, 1992-2009. BMC public health, 216. PMID: 23497055
- July 22, 2013
- 04:38 PM
- 409 views
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and some open questions for research
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a member of the neurotrophin family and has been found to be related to synaptic regulation in humans. It can be used for the development of disease-modifying drugs for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
This article is gives some ideas for research for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.
Some open questions by researchers related to BDNF are as follows:
First, the vast majority of studies published so far ........ Read more »
BDNF-based synaptic repair as a disease-modifying strategy for neurodegenerative diseases. (2013) Bai Lu, Guhan Nagappan, Xiaoming Guan, Pradeep J. Nathan . Nature Reviews Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1038/nrn3505
- July 22, 2013
- 04:29 PM
- 377 views
Neurodegenerative diseases and some ideas for research
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
In case of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), you may start your work from the study of synapses - gaps between the nerve ends - as synaptic dysfunctions are considered as most important disorders in these diseases.
Although a great deal of work has been done on neurodegenerative diseases but they still lack fully potential “disease-modifying therapies”. Disease-modifying therapy (cures the disease as opposed to the cure of only symptoms in symptoma........ Read more »
BDNF-based synaptic repair as a disease-modifying strategy for neurodegenerative diseases. (2013) Bai Lu, Guhan Nagappan, Xiaoming Guan, Pradeep J. Nathan . Nature Reviews Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1038/nrn3505
- July 16, 2013
- 06:25 PM
- 826 views
It’s official – the animal study literature is biased… but whose fault is it?
by Roli Roberts in PLOS Biologue
Testing a new drug on human subjects is expensive, risky and ethically complex, so the vast majority of potential treatments are first tried out on non-human animals. Unfortunately similar issues also constrain the size of animal studies, meaning that …... Read more »
Konstantinos K. Tsilidis, Orestis A. Panagiotou, Emily S. Sena, Eleni Aretouli, Evangelos Evangelou, David W. Howells, Rustam Al-Shahi Salman, Malcolm R. Macleod, John P. A. Ioannidis. (2013) Evaluation of Excess Significance Bias in Animal Studies of Neurological Diseases. PLoS Biology, 11(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001609
- July 10, 2013
- 08:30 PM
- 1,009 views
This Month In Blastocystis Research (JUL)
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
This Month In Blastocystis Research (JUL 2013) focuses on a symposium on Blastocystis that has been published in the open access journal Tropical Parasitology.... Read more »
Subhash Chandra Parija, & SS Jeremiah. (2013) Blastocystis: Taxonomy, biology and virulence. Tropical Parasitology. DOI: 10.4103/2229-5070.113894
Stensvold CR. (2013) Blastocystis: Genetic diversity and molecular methods for diagnosis and epidemiology . Tropical Parasitology. DOI: 10.4103/2229-5070.113896
Stensvold CR, Nielsen SD, Badsberg JH, Engberg J, Friis-Møller N, Nielsen SS, Nielsen HV, & Friis-Møller A. (2011) The prevalence and clinical significance of intestinal parasites in HIV-infected patients in Denmark. Scandinavian journal of infectious diseases, 43(2), 129-35. PMID: 20936912
Sekar, Uma, & Shanthi, M. (2013) Blastocystis: Consensus of treatment and controversies. Tropical Parasitology. DOI: 10.4103/2229-5070.113901
Tan TC, & Suresh KG. (2006) Predominance of amoeboid forms of Blastocystis hominis in isolates from symptomatic patients. Parasitology research, 98(3), 189-93. PMID: 16323025
- July 8, 2013
- 01:45 AM
- 13,080 views
Do Paralytics Improve Outcomes Following Resuscitation?
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
This study will get some people excited because of an impressive p value for an odds ratio of improved cardiac arrest outcomes - 7.23 (1.56–33.38) p = 0.01.
NMBs (NeuroMuscular Blockers/Blockade) are paralytic drugs that are used to prevent movement by the patient. Does this study truly show that immediate use of NMBs improves neurologically intact survival from cardiac arrest?... Read more »
Salciccioli JD, Cocchi MN, Rittenberger JC, Peberdy MA, Ornato JP, Abella BS, Gaieski DF, Clore J, Gautam S, Giberson T.... (2013) Continuous neuromuscular blockade is associated with decreased mortality in post-cardiac arrest patients. Resuscitation. PMID: 23796602
- June 29, 2013
- 08:00 AM
- 926 views
Lack of Association of Guillain-Barré Syndrome With Vaccinations
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
Don’t expect the self-proclaimed vaccine safety organizations to write about this, unless they are claiming that it is a part of some sort of international conspiracy of governments, universities, private companies, and other research organizations.
They are not interested in safety.
They are interested in creating fear and making money off of the fear they create.... Read more »
Baxter R, Bakshi N, Fireman B, Lewis E, Ray P, Vellozzi C, & Klein NP. (2013) Lack of association of guillain-barre syndrome with vaccinations. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 57(2), 197-204. PMID: 23580737
Salmon DA, Halsey NA. (2013) Editorial commentary: guillain-barre syndrome and vaccinations. Clin Infect Dis., 57(2), 205-207. DOI: 10.1093/cid/cit218
- June 27, 2013
- 02:45 PM
- 832 views
Looks Like Anaphylaxis, But Isn't
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
Half an hour after lunch, a 67 year old man passes out.
He regains consciousness, as often happens with syncope.
He is not quite back to normal, blood pressure is 80/60 mm Hg, heart rate is 110, respiratory rate is 25, oxygen saturation is 99% on room air, with a temperature of 96.8° Fahrenheit.
If we tilt him, we will probably get a worsening of his vital signs, but there is no need to actually obtain the numbers if the assessment is causing deterioration.... Read more »
Bourcier S, Mongardon N, Daviaud F, Moachon L, Arnould MA, Perruche F, Pène F, & Cariou A. (2013) Disulfiram ethanol reaction mimicking anaphylactic, cardiogenic, and septic shock. The American journal of emergency medicine, 31(1), 2700-3. PMID: 22809767
Senthilkumaran S, Menezes RG, Ravindra G, Jena NN, & Thirumalaikolundusubramanian P. (2013) Antabuse reaction due to occupational exposure-an another road on the map?. The American journal of emergency medicine. PMID: 23791458
Ehrlich RI, Woolf DC, Kibel DA. (2012) Disulfiram reaction in an artist exposed to solvents. Occup Med (Lond)., 62(1), 64-66. DOI: 10.1093/occmed/kqr172
- June 19, 2013
- 08:45 PM
- 1,343 views
Epinephrine for V Tach - Instant Death or Effective Treatment?
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
The patient has V Tach (Ventricular Tachycardia) with a pulse. After amiodarone is given the patient's blood pressure drops and the patient becomes unstable. The patient is still awake, so cardioversion would be very painful and these physicians would need to get anesthesia to sedate the patient. I know - that anesthesia requirement is a bad policy and completely unnecessary for the safety of the patient, but it is politics in that facility. However, sedation for emergency cardioversion is ........ Read more »
Bonny, A. (2012) Low doses of intravenous epinephrine for refractory sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. World Journal of Cardiology, 4(10), 296. DOI: 10.4330/wjc.v4.i10.296
- June 17, 2013
- 12:03 PM
- 1,226 views
Brain Insula Signals Response to Depression Treatment
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
In a previous post, I reviewed a research summary of the potential for brain imaging to be a clinical tool in the diagnosis of brain disorders in the mood disorders domain.One of the key points in that review is the value of finding brain biomarkers for response to specific treatments.To follow up on this point, a recent research study has been published that proposes the brain insular cortex region may be key to determining specific treatment response in major depressive disorder.Helen Mayberg ........ Read more »
McGrath CL, Kelley ME, Holtzheimer PE, Dunlop BW, Craighead WE, Franco AR, Craddock RC, & Mayberg HS. (2013) Toward a Neuroimaging Treatment Selection Biomarker for Major Depressive Disorder. JAMA psychiatry (Chicago, Ill.), 1-9. PMID: 23760393
- June 12, 2013
- 11:25 AM
- 727 views
Brain Imaging for Diagnosis of Mood Disorders
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Brain imaging holds promise for improving the accuracy of diagnosis in brain disorders falling under the psychiatric domain.No reliable and valid brain imaging techniques currently exist for the diagnosis of depression or bipolar disorder. However, research progress has been rapid.Jonathan Savitz from the Laureate Institute for Brain Research and colleagues at Harvard University and Johnson and Johnson Research and Development recently summarized the current state of knowledge in........ Read more »
Savitz JB, Rauch SL, & Drevets WC. (2013) Clinical application of brain imaging for the diagnosis of mood disorders: the current state of play. Molecular psychiatry, 18(5), 528-39. PMID: 23546169
- June 11, 2013
- 11:30 PM
- 650 views
Publication Bias - The Lit Whisperers
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
The Lit Whisperers raise an important point about publication bias and the validity of published studies that show benefit from a drug company study of a treatment that still has patent exclusivity.[1]
There are many problems with science. Science will never be perfect, but only people who do not understand science claim that it should be perfect.
One of the problems with science is publication bias. A paper that has a positive results about a brand name drug is twice as likely to be publi........ Read more »
Kudenchuk, P., Cobb, L., Copass, M., Cummins, R., Doherty, A., Fahrenbruch, C., Hallstrom, A., Murray, W., Olsufka, M., & Walsh, T. (1999) Amiodarone for Resuscitation after Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Due to Ventricular Fibrillation. New England Journal of Medicine, 341(12), 871-878. DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199909163411203
- June 11, 2013
- 10:54 AM
- 984 views
Sleep Effects of Orexin Receptor Drugs in Insomnia
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
In a previous post, I reviewed a recently clinical trial studying the effect of an orexin receptor blocking agent in the treatment of insomnia.Orexin appears to be a neurochemical involved in arousability and motor activity. Preliminary studies suggest the orexin receptor may provide a novel target for hypnotics in the treatment of insomnia.An important question in the effects of orexin is whether the hypnotic effect of orexin simulates the same sleep effects as seen by the more studied be........ Read more »
Bettica, P., Squassante, L., Groeger, J., Gennery, B., Winsky-Sommerer, R., & Dijk, D. (2012) Differential Effects of a Dual Orexin Receptor Antagonist (SB-649868) and Zolpidem on Sleep Initiation and Consolidation, SWS, REM Sleep, and EEG Power Spectra in a Model of Situational Insomnia. Neuropsychopharmacology, 37(5), 1224-1233. DOI: 10.1038/npp.2011.310
- June 3, 2013
- 03:48 AM
- 786 views
Cancer Vaccines from a Blue-Blooded Mollusk
by Andrew Porterfield in United Academics
Along about 1,000 miles of coastline between Monterey, California, and Isla Asuncion, Mexico, a large mollusk lives just under the breaking waves of the Pacific Ocean.
Megathura crenulata, or the giant keyhole limpet, runs up to 10 inches in size, and uses an unusual molecule for breathing: hemocyanin. Instead of its red-blooded terrestrial oxygen carrier hemoglobin, hemocyanin is blue in color, carries a copper molecule instead of iron, and is used by marine snails and mollusks for gill-base........ Read more »
Kantele, A., Häkkinen, M., Zivny, J., Elson, C., Mestecky, J., & Kantele, J. (2011) Humoral Immune Response to Keyhole Limpet Haemocyanin, the Protein Carrier in Cancer Vaccines. Clinical and Developmental Immunology, 1-6. DOI: 10.1155/2011/614383
Lieb, B., Gebauer, W., Gatsogiannis, C., Depoix, F., Hellmann, N., Harasewych, M., Strong, E., & Markl, J. (2010) Molluscan mega-hemocyanin: an ancient oxygen carrier tuned by a ~550 kDa polypeptide. Frontiers in Zoology, 7(1), 14. DOI: 10.1186/1742-9994-7-14
- May 29, 2013
- 08:25 AM
- 1,826 views
Gas, Knuckles, And The Little Blue Pill
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Recent studies have shed a little more light on the state of gas in your body. Besides the obvious, gas bubbles play a role in cracking your knuckles and in decompression sickness after scuba diving. A 2013 study indicates that drugs that regulate nitric oxide generation for vasodilation have a tendency to increase the chances of decompression sickness. This means you might want to skip the Viagra if you plan on diving. In terms of joint manipulation, a study shows that despite the annoying soun........ Read more »
Blatteau, J., Brubakk, A., Gempp, E., Castagna, O., Risso, J., & Vallée, N. (2013) Sidenafil Pre-Treatment Promotes Decompression Sickness in Rats. PLoS ONE, 8(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0060639
deWeber, K., Olszewski, M., & Ortolano, R. (2011) Knuckle Cracking and Hand Osteoarthritis. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 24(2), 169-174. DOI: 10.3122/jabfm.2011.02.100156
- May 28, 2013
- 09:30 AM
- 792 views
Examples of Ventricular Tachycardia Caused by Amiodarone - Part I
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
How much worse could the patient get if we give amiodarone?
But amiodarone doesn’t cause V Tach (Ventricular Tachycardia). Amiodarone stops V Tach.
Right?
If amiodarone can cause V Tach, shouldn’t someone have told us?... Read more »
Erdogan, H., Gul, E., Gok, H., & Nikus, K. (2012) Therapy-resistant ventricular tachycardia caused by amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis: a case report of electrical storm. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 30(9), 209200000-2147483647. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2011.12.035
Marill, K., deSouza, I., Nishijima, D., Stair, T., Setnik, G., & Ruskin, J. (2006) Amiodarone Is Poorly Effective for the Acute Termination of Ventricular Tachycardia. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 47(3), 217-224. DOI: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2005.08.022
Marill, K., deSouza, I., Nishijima, D., Senecal, E., Setnik, G., Stair, T., Ruskin, J., & Ellinor, P. (2010) Amiodarone or Procainamide for the Termination of Sustained Stable Ventricular Tachycardia: An Historical Multicenter Comparison. Academic Emergency Medicine, 17(3), 297-306. DOI: 10.1111/j.1553-2712.2010.00680.x
Tomlinson, D., Cherian, P., Betts, T., & Bashir, Y. (2008) Intravenous amiodarone for the pharmacological termination of haemodynamically-tolerated sustained ventricular tachycardia: is bolus dose amiodarone an appropriate first-line treatment?. Emergency Medicine Journal, 25(1), 15-18. DOI: 10.1136/emj.2007.051086
Helmy, I., Herre, J., Gee, G., Sharkey, H., Malone, P., Sauve, M., Griffin, J., & Scheinman, M. (1988) Use of intravenous amiodarone for emergency treatment of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 12(4), 1015-1022. DOI: 10.1016/0735-1097(88)90470-6
- May 27, 2013
- 06:13 PM
- 718 views
Tapeworm genomes guide drug design
by Valerie Ashton in The Molecular Scribe
Thoughts of tapeworms conjure up horror stories. Visions of wriggling worms inching through intestines fill the mind.
Although this may be a disturbing reality in many tropical regions of the world, tapeworm infections are rare in temperate climes. Specifically, tapeworm diseases are prevalent in Africa, central Asia, southern South America, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, but are rare in the UK and the US. They are so uncommon that pharmacies in the UK do not stock anti-tapeworm drugs........ Read more »
Zarowiecki M, & Tsai IJ et al. (2013) The genomes of four tapeworm species reveal adaptations to parasitism. Nature, 496(7443), 57-63. PMID: 23485966
- May 16, 2013
- 02:54 PM
- 577 views
Why not use human material for medical research?
by Professor Gareth Sanger in NC3Rs Blog
Using human tissue in medical research throws up a number of different challenges. In our third 2012 NC3Rs 3Rs Prize post, Professor Gareth Sanger from Queen Mary, University of London, discusses how tissue removed from the stomach and intestine can actually help overcome some of these challenges. Is this a viable alternative to using animals for gastrointestinal research? Professor Sanger’s research suggests it could be.... Read more »
Broad, J., Mukherjee, S., Samadi, M., Martin, J., Dukes, G., & Sanger, G. (2012) Regional- and agonist-dependent facilitation of human neurogastrointestinal functions by motilin receptor agonists. British Journal of Pharmacology, 167(4), 763-774. DOI: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.2012.02009.x
- May 15, 2013
- 04:50 PM
- 601 views
What RDoC Research Might Look Like
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
The month of May is a violent thingIn the city their hearts start to singWell, some people sing, it sounds like they're screamingI used to doubt it, but now I believe itMonth Of May ------The Arcade FireToday is Mental Health Month Blog Day, sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA). It's designed to:...educate the public about mental health, decrease stigma about mental illness, and discuss strategies for making lasting lifestyle and behavior changes that pro........ Read more »
Vaidyanathan, U., Nelson, L., & Patrick, C. (2011) Clarifying domains of internalizing psychopathology using neurophysiology. Psychological Medicine, 42(03), 447-459. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291711001528
Dichter, G., Damiano, C., & Allen, J. (2012) Reward circuitry dysfunction in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders and genetic syndromes: animal models and clinical findings. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 4(1), 19. DOI: 10.1186/1866-1955-4-19
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
Research Blogging is powered by SMG Technology.
To learn more, visit seedmediagroup.com.