Acarbose is an effective adjunct to dietary therapy in the treatment of hypertriglyceridaemias. (1/102)

AIMS: In diabetics, acarbose causes a reduction of blood glucose and triglyceride levels. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of this drug in non diabetic subjects with hypertriglyceridaemia. METHODS: Thirty non diabetic patients with hypertriglyceridaemia type IIb or IV (24 males, six females; mean age 51.1+/-10.2 years) were studied. They were stratified into two groups depending on their basal triglyceride concentration (group A: triglyceride values 4.5 mmol l-1 ). Treatment consisted of 4 week courses of diet plus acarbose (50 mg twice daily) alternating with 4 weeks of diet alone for a total period of 16 weeks. RESULTS: Mean triglyceride values decreased significantly during the first and third cycles of therapy, i.e. diet plus acarbose treatment cycles in both patient groups. Group A also had significant reductions in total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol concentrations after completion of the acarbose treatment. Reduction of triglyceride levels was observed after both acarbose courses in patients affected by hypertriglyceridaemia type IIb. A marked reduction of triglyceride concentrations was achieved by patients affected by hypertriglyceridaemia type IV after the second acarbose course only. CONCLUSIONS: Diet alone did not reduce triglyceride concentrations to normal values in our patients. The data suggest that acarbose is a useful adjunct to dietary control in non-diabetic patients affected by severe hypertriglyceridaemia.  (+info)

Resolution of rhinocerebral zygomycosis associated with adjuvant administration of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. (2/102)

We successfully treated 3 consecutive patients who had nonneutropenic rhinocerebral zygomycosis, by use of subcutaneous granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor therapy combined with traditional surgical and medical treatment. All patients are currently free of disease. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor should be considered as adjuvant therapy for rhinocerebral zygomycosis; however, optimum dose and length of therapy are unknown.  (+info)

National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference Statement: adjuvant therapy for breast cancer, November 1-3, 2000. (3/102)

OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to provide health-care providers, patients, and the general public with an assessment of currently available data regarding the use of adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. PARTICIPANTS: The participants included a non-Federal, non-advocate, 14-member panel representing the fields of oncology, radiology, surgery, pathology, statistics, public health, and health policy as well as patient representatives. In addition, 30 experts in medical oncology, radiation oncology, biostatistics, epidemiology, surgical oncology, and clinical trials presented data to the panel and to a conference audience of 1000. EVIDENCE: The literature was searched with the use of MEDLINE(TM) for January 1995 through July 2000, and an extensive bibliography of 2230 references was provided to the panel. Experts prepared abstracts for their conference presentations with relevant citations from the literature. Evidence from randomized clinical trials and evidence from prospective studies were given precedence over clinical anecdotal experience. CONSENSUS PROCESS: The panel, answering predefined questions, developed its conclusions based on the evidence presented in open forum and the scientific literature. The panel composed a draft statement, which was read in its entirety and circulated to the experts and the audience for comment. Thereafter, the panel resolved conflicting recommendations and released a revised statement at the end of the conference. The panel finalized the revisions within a few weeks after the conference. The draft statement was made available on the World Wide Web immediately after its release at the conference and was updated with the panel's final revisions. The statement is available at http://consensus.nih.gov. CONCLUSIONS: The panel concludes that decisions regarding adjuvant hormonal therapy should be based on the presence of hormone receptor protein in tumor tissues. Adjuvant hormonal therapy should be offered only to women whose tumors express hormone receptor protein. Because adjuvant polychemotherapy improves survival, it should be recommended to the majority of women with localized breast cancer regardless of lymph node, menopausal, or hormone receptor status. The inclusion of anthracyclines in adjuvant chemotherapy regimens produces a small but statistically significant improvement in survival over non-anthracycline-containing regimens. Available data are currently inconclusive regarding the use of taxanes in adjuvant treatment of lymph node-positive breast cancer. The use of adjuvant dose-intensive chemotherapy regimens in high-risk breast cancer and of taxanes in lymph node-negative breast cancer should be restricted to randomized trials. Ongoing studies evaluating these treatment strategies should be supported to determine if such strategies have a role in adjuvant treatment. Studies to date have included few patients older than 70 years. There is a critical need for trials to evaluate the role of adjuvant chemotherapy in these women. There is evidence that women with a high risk of locoregional tumor recurrence after mastectomy benefit from postoperative radiotherapy. This high-risk group includes women with four or more positive lymph nodes or an advanced primary cancer. Currently, the role of postmastectomy radiotherapy for patients with one to three positive lymph nodes remains uncertain and should be tested in a randomized controlled trial. Individual patients differ in the importance they place on the risks and benefits of adjuvant treatments. Quality of life needs to be evaluated in selected randomized clinical trials to examine the impact of the major acute and long-term side effects of adjuvant treatments, particularly premature menopause, weight gain, mild memory loss, and fatigue. Methods to support shared decision-making between patients and their physicians have been successful in trials; they need to be tailored for diverse populations and should be tested for broader dissemination.  (+info)

Initial experience of platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibition with abciximab during carotid stenting: a safe and effective adjunctive therapy. (4/102)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Abciximab has been shown to decrease periprocedural ischemic complications after coronary intervention. However, the adjunctive use of abciximab in carotid stenting has not been adequately studied. We sought to determine the efficacy and safety of abciximab in carotid stenting. METHODS: Carotid stenting was performed in 151 consecutive patients determined to be at high surgical risk by a vascular surgeon. Of these, 128 consecutive patients received adjuvant therapy with abciximab (0.25 mg/kg bolus before the lesion was crossed with guidewire and 0.125 micro. kg(-1). min(-1) infusion for 12 hours.). A heparin bolus of 50 U/kg was given, and activated clotting time was maintained between 250 to 300 seconds. All patients received aspirin and thienopyridine. Procedural and 30-day outcomes were compared between the control (n=23) and abciximab (n=128) groups. RESULTS: The 2 groups had similar baseline characteristics. Procedural events were more frequent in the control group (8%; 1 major stroke and 1 neurological death) compared with the abciximab group (1.6%; 1 minor stroke and 1 retinal infarction; P=0.05). On 30-day follow-up, 1 patient presented with delayed intracranial hemorrhage in the abciximab group. There were no other major bleeding complications. CONCLUSIONS: Adjunctive use of abciximab for carotid stenting is safe with no increase in the risk of intracranial hemorrhage. This adjunctive therapy with potent glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibition may help to reduce periprocedural adverse events in patients undergoing carotid stenting.  (+info)

Felbamate, gabapentin and topiramate as adjuvant antiepileptic drugs in experimental models of epilepsy. (5/102)

Newly diagnosed epileptic patients start their medication with monotherapy. Around 30% of epileptic patients require more than one antiepileptic drug. Results from experimental studies provide evidence that administration of two antiepileptic drugs may result in antagonistic, additive, or supra-additive (synergistic) anticonvulsant effects. If adverse effects of a synergistic combination also show supra-additive summation then the protective index may not change. In this context, drug combinations, possessing synergistic anticonvulsant effects and additive (or infra-additive) toxicity, are of clinical interest. Recent experimental data indicate that topiramate and gabapentin generally potentiate the protective activity of conventional antiepileptic drugs against maximal electroshock-induced convulsions in mice. The anticonvulsant action of carbamazepine, diphenylhydantoin, phenobarbital, and valproate was not modified in this test by felbamate at subprotective doses against threshold electroconvulsions. Interestingly, conventional antiepileptics (at subeffective doses) enhanced the protection offered by felbamate. It may indicate that beneficial effects of a drug combination may be observed at only some drug ratios.  (+info)

Adjuvant L-arginine treatment in controlled ovarian hyperstimulation: a double-blind, randomized study. (6/102)

BACKGROUND: Enhanced vascularization appears to be important for follicular selection and maturation in both spontaneous and stimulated IVF cycles. Nitric oxide, formed in vivo from L-arginine, may play a key role in follicular maturation and ovulation. METHODS: To evaluate the role of L-arginine supplementation in controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, 37 IVF patients were divided into two groups according to ovarian stimulation protocols: group I, GnRH agonist plus pure (p)FSH plus oral L-arginine (n = 18); and group II, GnRH agonist plus pFSH plus placebo (n = 19). Hormonal, ultrasonographic and Doppler evaluations were performed, and plasma and follicular fluid nitrite/nitrate concentrations were monitored. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients completed the study. In group I (n = 16), plasma L-arginine concentrations increased from (basal) 87 +/- 12 micromol to 279 +/- 31 micromol (P = 0.002) on the day of beta-HCG administration. In this group, pFSH treatment was shorter (P = 0.039) than in group II (n = 16). The number of the follicles > or =17mm was lower (P = 0.038) in group I than group II. The "good quality" embryos were fewer in number (P = 0.034) and pregnancy rate, both per patient (P = 0.024) and per embryo transfer (P = 0.019), was lower in group I. In the L-arginine group, an increased follicular fluid concentration of nitrite/nitrate was observed. On day 8 of the cycle, elevated plasma estradiol levels were associated with decreased blood flow resistances of perifollicular arteries. Follicular fluid concentrations of nitrite/nitrate were inversely correlated with embryo quality (r = -0.613; P = 0.005) and perifollicular artery pulsatility index (r = -0.609; P = 0.021). CONCLUSIONS: L-Arginine supplementation may be detrimental to embryo quality and pregnancy rate during controlled ovarian hyperstimulation cycles.  (+info)

A pilot study of N-acetylcysteine as adjunctive therapy for severe malaria. (7/102)

BACKGROUND: The case fatality rate of severe malaria remains unacceptably high. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a safe compound that inhibits tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and impedes cytoadherence, both of which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of malaria complications. AIM: To evaluate NAC as adjunctive therapy in severe malaria. DESIGN: A placebo-controlled, double-blind prospective study, with serum lactate level as the principal objective measure of response. METHODS: Thirty adult males with severe, quinine-treated malaria received either 300 mg/kg of NAC or placebo, over 20 h. RESULTS: Serum lactate levels normalized twice as quickly after NAC (median 21 h, 95%CI 12-36 h) as after placebo (median 42 h, 95%CI 30-84 h; p=0.002, Mann-Whitney U test). Twenty-four hours after admission, 10/15 (67%) NAC-group patients but only 3/15 (20%) placebo-group patients had normal lactate concentrations (p=0.01, Fisher exact test). NAC-treated patients could be switched from intravenous to oral therapy earlier than individuals who received placebo (42 h vs. 51 h after admission) but the difference was not significant (p=0.28, Mann-Whitney U test). DISCUSSION: NAC's mechanism of action in malaria is unclear, since it did not markedly alter plasma cytokine profiles. Trials of NAC adjunctive therapy for complicated malaria, with mortality as an endpoint, appear to be warranted.  (+info)

Intestinal absorption enhancement of the ester prodrug tenofovir disoproxil fumarate through modulation of the biochemical barrier by defined ester mixtures. (8/102)

The effect of discrete esters and ester mixtures on the intestinal stability and absorption of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (tenofovir DF, an esterase-sensitive prodrug of the antiviral tenofovir) was compared with the effect of strawberry extract, which has been shown to enhance the absorption of the prodrug across Caco-2 monolayers and in rat ileum. In addition, the mechanism of absorption enhancement was investigated. In rat intestinal homogenates, complete inhibition of the conversion of tenofovir DF (as obtained by strawberry extract) could only be obtained at relatively high concentrations of the discrete esters or by using mixtures of esters (e.g., propyl p-hydroxybenzoate 0.02%, octyl acetate 0.02%, ethyl caprylate 0.01%). Coincubation of tenofovir DF with this mixture also resulted in an enhancement of its absorption in the in vitro Caco-2 system as well as in rat ileum. As tenofovir DF is a substrate for P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-related efflux carriers in the Caco-2 model, the modulatory effect of the ester mixtures was studied on the functionality of P-gp using cyclosporin A (CsA) as a model substrate. Strawberry extract as well as the mixture of three esters interfered with the absorptive transport of CsA across Caco-2 monolayers, illustrating that both mixtures interfere with both esterase-activity and P-gp functionality. This concerted barrier was not observed in rat ileum, suggesting differential functional activities of the biochemical barrier toward tenofovir DF in different absorption systems. Overall, our results illustrate that modulation of the biochemical barrier (metabolism and efflux) of tenofovir DF by ester mixtures can be used to increase the intestinal absorption of tenofovir DF in an in vitro and an in situ absorption model; the mechanism of action appears to be a complex interplay of different systems; the differential expression of carriers and enzymes in different systems illustrates the difficulty of extrapolating observations between different systems/species.  (+info)

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