Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation: Cardiovascular Toxicity of Citrus Aurantium in Exercised Rats.

Cardiovascular Toxicity of Citrus aurantium in Exercised Rats.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Cardiovasc Toxicol. 2013 Feb 9;
Hansen DK, George NI, White GE, Abdel-Rahman A, Pellicore LS, Fabricant D

When safety concerns forced the removal of ephedra from the market, other botanicals, including Citrus aurantium or bitter orange (BO) were used as replacements. A major component of the BO extract is synephrine, a chemical that is structurally similar to ephedrine. Because ephedrine has cardiovascular effects that may be exacerbated during physical exercise, the purpose of this study was to determine whether extracts containing synephrine produced adverse effects on the cardiovascular system in exercising rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were dosed daily by gavage for 28 days with 10 or 50 mg of synephrine/kg body weight from one of two different extracts; caffeine was added to some doses. The rats ran on a treadmill for 30 min/day, 3 days/week. Heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and QT interval were monitored. Both doses of both extracts significantly increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure for up to 8 h after dosing. Effects on heart rate and body temperature appeared to be due primarily to the effects of caffeine. These data suggest that the combination of synephrine, caffeine, and exercise can have significant effects on blood pressure and do not appear to be effective in decreasing food consumption or body weight.
HubMed – drug

 

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Belarus: the size of the problem and associated risk factors.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Bull World Health Organ. 2013 Jan 1; 91(1): 36-45
Skrahina A, Hurevich H, Zalutskaya A, Sahalchyk E, Astrauko A, Hoffner S, Rusovich V, Dadu A, de Colombani P, Dara M, van Gemert W, Zignol M

To assess the problem of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) throughout Belarus and investigate the associated risk factors.In a nationwide survey in 2010-2011, 1420 tuberculosis (TB) patients were screened and 934 new and 410 previously treated cases of TB were found to meet the inclusion criteria. Isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from each eligible patient were tested for susceptibility to anti-TB drugs. Sociobehavioural information was gathered in interviews based on a structured questionnaire.MDR-TB was found in 32.3% and 75.6% of the new and previously treated patients, respectively, and, 11.9% of the 612 patients found to have MDR-TB had extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). A history of previous treatment for TB was the strongest independent risk factor for MDR-TB (odds ratio, OR: 6.1; 95% confidence interval, CI: 4.8-7.7). The other independent risk factors were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (OR: 2.2; 95% CI: 1.4-3.5), age HubMed – drug

 

Slide drug susceptibility test for the detection of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Bangladesh.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

J Infect Chemother. 2013 Feb 9;
Noor R, Hossain A, Munshi SK, Rahman F, Kamal SM

The present study attempted to comparatively assess and establish a suitable detection method of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) from previously treated TB cases in Bangladesh. Of 130 Zeihl-Neelsen smear-positive fresh sputum specimens, 112 samples were found to contain viable bacilli as visualized under the light-emitting diode fluorescence microscope after fluorescein di-acetate staining, and 109 positive cases were detected through Löwenstein-Jensen culture. The samples were further tested to survey the drug resistance both by slide drug susceptibility test (DST) and by conventional DST: 94 MDR-TB cases were detected within 10 days through the slide DST, whereas 82 cases were observed through the conventional DST, requiring about 3 months. Because the rapidity, sensitivity and accuracy of the slide DST method were found to be comparatively satisfactory when compared to the conventional DST method; we recommend the slide DST method as the standard diagnostic tool in perspective of Bangladesh for the detection of MDR-TB.
HubMed – drug

 

Is Pain After TKA Better with Periarticular Injection or Intrathecal Morphine?

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2013 Feb 9;
Tammachote N, Kanitnate S, Manuwong S, Yakumpor T, Panichkul P

BACKGROUND: Postoperative pain after TKA is a major concern to patients. The best technique to control pain is still controversial. Intrathecal morphine or periarticular multimodal drug injection are both commonly used and both appear to provide better pain control than placebo, but it is unclear whether one or the other provides better pain control. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We asked whether intrathecal morphine or periarticular multimodal drug injection provides better pain control with fewer adverse events. METHODS: In a prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial we randomized 57 patients with osteoarthritic knees who underwent TKAs into two groups. Group M (n = 28) received 0.2 mg intrathecal morphine while Group I (n = 29) received periarticular multimodal drug injection. Postoperative pain was managed with patient-controlled analgesia using ketorolac. The outcomes were pain levels, the amount of analgesic drug used, and drug-related side effects. Patients and evaluators were blinded. All patients were followed up to 3 months. RESULTS: We found no difference in postoperative pain level, analgesia drug consumption, blood loss in drain, and knee function. More patients in Group M required antiemetic (19 [69%] versus 10 [34%]) and antipruritic drugs (10 [36%] versus three [10%]) than patients in Group I. CONCLUSIONS: The two techniques provide no different pain control capacity. The periarticular multimodal drug injection was associated with lower rates of vomiting and pruritus. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level I, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
HubMed – drug

 

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