Single Low-Dose Cyclophosphamide Combined With Interleukin-12 Gene Therapy Is Superior to a Metronomic Schedule in Inducing Immunity Against Colorectal Carcinoma in Mice.

Single low-dose cyclophosphamide combined with interleukin-12 gene therapy is superior to a metronomic schedule in inducing immunity against colorectal carcinoma in mice.

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Oncoimmunology. 2012 Oct 1; 1(7): 1038-1047
Malvicini M, Alaniz L, Bayo J, Garcia M, Piccioni F, Fiore E, Atorrasagasti C, Aquino JB, Matar P, Mazzolini G

The use of conventional cytotoxic agents at metronomic schedules, alone or in combination with targeted agents or immunotherapy, is being explored as a promising anticancer strategy. We previously reported a potent antitumor effect of a single low-dose cyclophosphamide and interleukin-12 (IL-12) gene therapy against advanced gastrointestinal carcinoma, in mice. Here, we assessed whether the delivery of IL-12 by gene therapy together with metronomic cyclophosphamide exerts antitumor effects in a murine model of colorectal carcinoma. This combination therapy was able, at least in part, to reverse immunosuppression, by decreasing the number of regulatory T cells (Tregs) as well as of splenic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). However, metronomic cyclophosphamide plus IL-12 gene therapy failed to increase the number of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes and, more importantly, to induce a specific antitumor immune response. With respect to this, cyclophosphamide at a single low dose displayed a superior anticancer profile than the same drug given at a metronomic schedule. Our results may have important implications in the design of new therapeutic strategies against colorectal carcinoma using cyclophosphamide in combination with immunotherapy.
HubMed – drug

 

Advances in the treatment of malaria.

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Mediterr J Hematol Infect Dis. 2012; 4(1): e2012064
Castelli F, Tomasoni LR, Matteelli A

Malaria still claims a heavy toll of deaths and disabilities even at the beginning of the third millennium. The inappropriate sequential use of drug monotherapy in the past has facilitated the spread of drug-resistant P. falciparum, and to a lesser extend P. vivax, strains in most of the malaria endemic areas, rendering most anti-malarial ineffective. In the last decade, a new combination strategy based on artemisinin derivatives (ACT) has become the standard of treatment for most P. falciparum malaria infections. This strategy could prevent the selection of resistant strains by rapidly decreasing the parasitic burden (by the artemisinin derivative, mostly artesunate) and exposing the residual parasite to effective concentrations of the partner drug. The widespread use of this strategy is somehow constrained by cost and by the inappropriate use of artemisinin, with possible impact on resistance, as already sporadically observed in South East Asia. Parenteral artesunate has now become the standard of care for severe malaria, even if quinine still retains its value in case artesunate is not immediately available. The appropriateness of pre-referral use of suppository artesunate is under close monitoring, while waiting for an effective anti-malarial vaccine to be made available.
HubMed – drug

 

Host cell factors as antiviral targets in arenavirus infection.

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Viruses. 2012 Sep; 4(9): 1569-91
Linero FN, Sepúlveda CS, Giovannoni F, Castilla V, García CC, Scolaro LA, Damonte EB

Among the members of the Arenaviridae family, Lassa virus and Junin virus generate periodic annual outbreaks of severe human hemorrhagic fever (HF) in endemic areas of West Africa and Argentina, respectively. Given the human health threat that arenaviruses represent and the lack of a specific and safe chemotherapy, the search for effective antiviral compounds is a continuous demanding effort. Since diverse host cell pathways and enzymes are used by RNA viruses to fulfill their replicative cycle, the targeting of a host process has turned an attractive antiviral approach in the last years for many unrelated virus types. This strategy has the additional benefit to reduce the serious challenge for therapy of RNA viruses to escape from drug effects through selection of resistant variants triggered by their high mutation rate. This article focuses on novel strategies to identify inhibitors for arenavirus therapy, analyzing the potential for antiviral developments of diverse host factors essential for virus infection.
HubMed – drug

 

Characteristics of hemorrhagic peptic ulcers in patients receiving antithrombotic/nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug therapy.

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Gut Liver. 2012 Oct; 6(4): 423-6
Nakamura K, Akahoshi K, Ochiai T, Komori K, Haraguchi K, Tanaka M, Nakamura N, Tanaka Y, Kakigao K, Ogino H, Ihara E, Akiho H, Motomura Y, Kabemura T, Harada N, Chijiiwa Y, Ito T, Takayanagi R

Antithrombotic/nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) therapies increase the incidence of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The features of hemorrhagic peptic ulcer disease in patients receiving antithrombotic/NSAID therapies were investigated.We investigated the medical records of 485 consecutive patients who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy and were diagnosed with hemorrhagic gastroduodenal ulcers. The patients treated with antithrombotic agents/NSAIDs were categorized as the antithrombotic therapy (AT) group (n=213). The patients who were not treated with antithrombotics/NSAIDs were categorized as the control (C) group (n=263). The clinical characteristics were compared between the groups.The patients in the AT group were significantly older than those in the C group (p<0.0001). The hemoglobin levels before/without transfusion were significantly lower in the AT group (8.24±2.41 g/dL) than in the C group (9.44±2.95 g/dL) (p<0.0001). After adjusting for age, the difference in the hemoglobin levels between the two groups remained significant (p=0.0334). The transfusion rates were significantly higher in the AT group than in the C group (p=0.0002). However, the outcome of endoscopic hemostasis was similar in the AT and C groups.Patients with hemorrhagic peptic ulcers receiving antithrombotic/NSAID therapies were exposed to a greater risk of severe bleeding that required transfusion but were still treatable by endoscopy. HubMed – drug

 

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