scholarly journals Combination therapy with fluconazole and flucytosine in the murine model of cryptococcal meningitis.

1997 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 1120-1123 ◽  
Author(s):  
M H Nguyen ◽  
L K Najvar ◽  
C Y Yu ◽  
J R Graybill

This study elucidates the role of combined fluconazole and flucytosine as therapy for cryptococcosis in the murine model of meningitis. Three strains of Cryptococcus neoformans for which the range of fluconazole MICs was wide--2 microg/ml (susceptible strain), 8 microg/ml (moderately susceptible strain), and 32 microg/ml (resistant strain)--were used for infection. One day postinfection, the mice were randomized into eight treatment groups: placebo; flucytosine (40 mg/kg of body weight/day); fluconazole at 3 mg/kg/day (low dosage), 10 mg/kg/day (moderate dosage), or 20 mg/kg/day (high dosage); and combined flucytosine and fluconazole at low, moderate, or high doses of fluconazole. Three major findings were demonstrated: (i) correlation between the MICs for the isolates and the in vivo effectiveness of fluconazole as assessed by the reduction in cryptococcal brain burden, (ii) a dose-response curve (a higher dose of fluconazole was significantly more efficacious than a lower dose [P < 0.001]), and (iii) synergism between fluconazole and flucytosine (therapy with a combination of fluconazole and flucytosine was superior to therapy with either agent alone [P < 0.01]).

2010 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 4471-4473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry S. Heine ◽  
Jennifer Bassett ◽  
Lynda Miller ◽  
Bret K. Purcell ◽  
W. Russell Byrne

ABSTRACT Daptomycin demonstrated in vitro (MIC90, 4 μg/ml) and in vivo activities against Bacillus anthracis. Twice-daily treatment with a dose of 50 mg/kg of body weight was begun 24 h after challenge and continued for 14 or 21 days; results were compared to those for controls treated with phosphate-buffered saline or ciprofloxacin. Day 43 survival rates were 6/10 mice for the 14-day and 9/10 mice for the 21-day treatment groups, compared to survival with ciprofloxacin: 8/10 and 9/10 mice, respectively. Culture results from tissues removed at the termination of the experiment were negative.


1998 ◽  
Vol 187 (9) ◽  
pp. 1427-1438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hidehiro Kishimoto ◽  
Charles D. Surh ◽  
Jonathan Sprent

To seek information on the role of Fas in negative selection, we examined subsets of thymocytes from normal neonatal mice versus Fas-deficient lpr/lpr mice injected with graded doses of antigen. In normal mice, injection of 1–100 μg of staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) induced clonal elimination of SEB-reactive Vβ8+ cells at the level of the semi-mature population of HSAhi CD4+ 8− cells found in the thymic medulla; deletion of CD4+ 8+ cells was minimal. SEB injection also caused marked elimination of Vβ8+ HSAhi CD4+ 8− thymocytes in lpr/lpr mice. Paradoxically, however, elimination of these cells in lpr/lpr mice was induced by low-to-moderate doses of SEB (≤1 μg) but not by high doses (100 μg). Similar findings applied when T cell receptor transgenic mice were injected with specific peptide. These findings suggest that clonal elimination of semi-mature medullary T cells is Fas independent at low doses of antigen but Fas dependent at high doses. Previous reports documenting that negative selection is not obviously impaired in lpr/lpr mice could thus reflect that the antigens studied were expressed at only a low level.


1998 ◽  
Vol 275 (2) ◽  
pp. R357-R362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten R. Poore ◽  
I. Ross Young ◽  
Benedict J. Canny ◽  
Geoffrey D. Thorburn

Maturation of the fetal adrenal gland is critical for the onset of ovine parturition. It has long been proposed that the fetal adrenal gland may be under inhibitory influences during late gestation. In vitro evidence has suggested that angiotensin II may be such an inhibitory factor and may help to prevent a premature increase in cortisol concentrations. The aim of this study was to test the effect of angiotensin II infusion in vivo on basal cortisol concentrations and fetal adrenal responsiveness to an ACTH-(1—24) challenge. Fetuses received a continuous infusion of either angiotensin II (100 ng ⋅ min−1 ⋅ kg−1; n = 7) or saline (2 ml/h; n = 4), which commenced at 140 days of gestation (GA) and continued for a total of 50 h. Adrenal responsiveness to the administration of ACTH-(1—24) (5 μg/kg) was determined during angiotensin II or saline infusions at both 2 and 48 h after infusion onset. Angiotensin II had no significant effect on adrenal responsiveness after acute (2 h) or chronic (48 h) infusion. There was no effect of saline or angiotensin II infusion on basal immunoreactive ACTH or cortisol concentrations after 2 h, but there was a significant increase in basal cortisol concentrations in both treatment groups by 48 h, probably reflecting the normal rise in cortisol concentrations at this GA. Mean arterial blood pressure was significantly increased in angiotensin II-infused fetuses only. This study has therefore found no evidence to suggest that angiotensin II infusion in vivo modulates fetal basal cortisol concentrations or adrenal responsiveness in the last week of gestation, in contrast with previous in vitro studies. These results throw into question the proposed role of angiotensin II as a negative modulator of adrenal function in the ovine fetus.


Author(s):  
SAPTARSHI PANIGRAHI ◽  
SOMNATH SURAI ◽  
HAO HONG

Objective: The experiment aimed to find out the effectiveness of Zileuton, a 5-LOX inhibitor on depressive behavior and neuroinflammation in vivo. Method: Male ICR mice (25-30g) randomly distributed Veh+Veh, CRS+Vehicle, CRS+ZIL50, and CRS+ZIL100. Zileuton was orally given in the treatment groups for 21 days after 3 weeks of stress induce CRS model. Starting from the day 1, in CRS model, mice were immobilized 8 hr/day for consecutive 21 days to induce stress. After completing the drug administration, subjected the mice for behavioral tests, and then performed histopathological & Western Blotting. Result: Stress induces CRS model guide to the significant depressive-like behavior of the mice in behavioral tests which was united by adverse changes at the cellular/molecular level responsible for regulation of inflammatory and apoptotic processes. CRS triggered Microglial over activation in the DG of the hippocampus, which was successfully inhibited by Zileuton post-treatment at the dose of 100mg/kg than 50mg/kg. Level of TNF-α, IL- 1β, nuclear NF-κB p65, Bax, and cleaved Caspase-3 was high and Bcl-2 expression was low in the stress induce CRS -treated mice which were found to be opposite in the Zileuton (100mg/kg). However, the dose of 50mg/kg less to mimic the effects as exhibited more by the 100mg/kg dose of Zileuton. Conclusion: It can be concluded that selective 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor Zileuton can efficiently inhibit the depressive-like behavior/activity in CRS-induced depressive mouse model. The study is the first to show the role of 5-lipoxygenase enzyme in and Chronic Restraint Stress (CRS)-induced mice models of stress, anxiety or depression.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Lanzolla ◽  
Claudio Marcocci ◽  
Michele Marinò

The balance of the cell redox state is a key point for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation leads to oxidative damage of tissues, which is involved in the development of several diseases, including autoimmune diseases. Graves’ Orbitopathy (GO) is a disfiguring autoimmune-related condition associated with Graves’ Disease (GD). Patients with active, moderate-to-severe GO, are generally treated with high doses intravenous glucocorticoids (ivGCs) and/or orbital radiotherapy. On the contrary, up to recently, local ointments were the treatment most frequently offered to patients with mild GO, because the risks related to ivGCs does not justify the relatively poor benefits expected in mild GO. However, a medical treatment for these patients is heavily wanted, considering that GO can progress into more severe forms and also patients with mild GO complain with an impairment in their quality of life. Thus, based on the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of GO, a therapy with antioxidant agents has been proposed and a number of studies have been performed, both in vitro and in vivo, which is reviewed here.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 1540-1540
Author(s):  
Yoshiyuki Yamada ◽  
Jose A. Cancelas ◽  
Eric B. Brandt ◽  
Abel Sanchez-Aguilera ◽  
Melissa McBride ◽  
...  

Abstract Systemic mastocytosis (SM) associated with chronic eosinophilic leukemia (CEL)/hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) is a result of expression of the Fip1-like1 (FIP1L1)/platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRa) (F/P) fusion gene. We have previously described a murine CEL/HES model (CEL-like mice) induced by F/P fusion gene transduction and T-cell overexpression of IL-5 (Yamada Y et al., Blood 2006). We have now validated a preclinical murine model of F/P-induced SM/CEL and analyzed the pathogenesis of SM in this model. F/P+ mast cells (MC, defined as EGFP+/c-kit+/FceRI+) were significantly increased in the small intestine, bone marrow (BM) and spleen of CEL-like mice compared to wild-type mice (Table). CEL-like mice also developed cutaneous MC infiltration. In addition, mMCP-1 serum levels, which correlate well with MC expansion and activation in vivo, were significantly higher in CEL-like mice than in wild-type mice (64,000 ± 23,800 and 38 ± 41.4 pg/ml, respectively). F/P induces increased expansion of BM-derived MC in vitro (∼2,000-fold) and F/P+ BM-derived MC survive longer than wild-type MC in cytokine-deprived medium (28.0 ± 2.3% vs. 8.7 ± 3.1% 7AAD−/Annexin V− cells after 48 hours). This correlated with increased Akt phosphorylation in the F/P+ MC. Since c-kit mutations are the most frequent cause of SM, we analyzed the possible synergistic role of SCF and F/P signaling. F/P and SCF/c-kit signaling indeed synergize in the development of BM-derived MC (16-fold greater expansion than in the absence of SCF) and F/P+ BM-derived MC showed a 3.7-fold greater migratory response to SCF than wild-type BM-derived MC. In order to determine the role of SCF/c-kit signaling in F/P+ MC development, activation and tissue infiltration in vivo,these responses were evaluated in mice that were treated with a blocking anti-c-kit blocking antibody, ACK-2, or an isotype-matched control antibody. ACK-2 treatment suppressed intestinal MC infiltration and elevated plasma levels of mMCP-1 induced by F/P expression by 95 ± 6.0% and 98 ± 0.76%, respectively, whereas MC and plasma mMCP-1 were completely undetectable in wild-type mice treated with ACK2. This suggests that SCF/c-kit interactions may synergize with F/P to induce SM. In summary, mice with CEL-like disease also develop SM. F/P-induced SM is a result of increased in vivo MC proliferation, survival, activation and tissue infiltration. SCF/c-kit signaling synergizes with F/P in vivo and in vitro to promote mast cell development, activation and survival. EGFP+/c-kit+/FcεRI+ cell frequency in tissues of control and CEL-like mice (%) Control mice CEL-like mice Small intestine 1.0±0.95 47±21.4* Bone marrow 0.2±0.14 3±1.9* Spleen 0.05±0.01 3±0.8*


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peace Mayen Edwin Ubulom ◽  
Chinweizu Ejikeme Udobi ◽  
Mark Iheukwumere Madu

Objective. The study was designed to determine the efficacy of combined Amodiaquine and Ciprofloxacin in plasmodiasis therapy.Method. The in vivo antiplasmodial effect of different dosage levels of Amodiaquine, Ciprofloxacin, and their combinations againstPlasmodium berghei bergheiwas evaluated using Swiss albino mice.Results. Amodiaquine (a known antiplasmodial agent) had a fairly significant antiplasmodial effect reducing the parasites for every 100 red blood cells (RBC) from 66 to 16 (75.75%) at the tolerable dosage level of 7.5 mg/kg body weight while Ciprofloxacin (an antibiotic known to have antimalarial effect) showed an insignificant antiplasmodial effect reducing the parasites for every 100 RBC from 65 to 64 (1.53%) at the tolerable dosage level of 10.7 mg/kg body weight. Conversely, the combination therapy of Amodiaquine and Ciprofloxacin had a significant antiplasmodial effect at all the doses administered. The combination of 7.5 mg/kg of Amodiaquine and 12.8 mg/kg of Ciprofloxacin, however, showed the most significant antiplasmodial effect of the doses used reducing the number of parasites per 100 RBC from 60 to 10 (83.33%).Conclusions. Appropriate Amodiaquine and Ciprofloxacin combination will be effective for the treatment of malaria and better than either Amodiaquine or Ciprofloxacin singly at their recommended dosage levels.


2009 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Westphal ◽  
Michael F. M. James ◽  
Sibylle Kozek-Langenecker ◽  
Reto Stocker ◽  
Bertrand Guidet ◽  
...  

With the development of a new generation of hydroxyethyl starches (HES), there has been renewed interest in their clinical potential. High doses of first- and second-generation HES were associated with adverse effects on renal function, coagulation, and tissue storage, thereby limiting their clinical applicability. Newer HES products have lower molar substitution and in vivo molecular weight, resulting in more rapid metabolism and clearance. In this review article, the differences between HES generations are highlighted, with particular emphasis on the improved safety profile of the third generation products. These improvements have been achieved with no loss of efficacy, and they contradict the assumption that efficacy of HES solutions is directly linked to plasma concentration. The impact of source material on structure and pharmacokinetics is highlighted, and the role of the carrier solution is critically assessed.


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