A novel neutrophil chemoattractant derived from collagen, proline-glycine-proline (PGP), has been recently characterized in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This peptide is derived via the proteolytic activity of matrix metalloproteases (MMP's)-8/9 and PE, enzymes produced by neutrophils and present in COPD serum and sputum. Valproic acid (VPA) is an inhibitor of PE and could possi...

Valproic acid (VPA) is a widely prescribed anticonvulsant for the treatment of epilepsy. Here we demonstrate that VPA is a novel activator of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a key regulator of cellular metabolism, using primary mouse and human hepatocytes. Incubation of primary mouse hepatocytes with VPA resulted in increased levels of phosphorylated AMPK and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). ...

Epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes has been established as an important process of carcinogenesis. The retinoic acid (RA) receptor beta2 (RARbeta2) gene is one such tumor suppressor gene often silenced during carcinogenesis. The combined use of histone deacetylase and DNA methyltransferase inhibitors has been shown to reverse the epigenetic silencing of numerous growth regulatory ge...

Valproic acid (VPA) is a well-tolerated drug that is used to treat seizure disorders and that has recently been shown to inhibit histone deacetylase. The present study investigated the effects of VPA on the radiosensitization of the rat C6 glioma cell line in vitro. To select an appropriate treatment concentration and time, MTT and flow cytometry assays were performed to measure the inhibitory ...

Hyperammonemia has been reported to be associated with patients who receive valproic acid (VPA) therapy. This study aimed to determine the risk factors for hyperammonemia in patients with epilepsy treated with VPA. One hundred and fifty-eight adult patients with epilepsy aged older than 17 years who received VPA therapy were enrolled into this study. Blood samples were taken during the interict...

Valproic acid (VPA ) is a well-known antiepileptic drug with a significant teratogenic effect when administered during pregnancy. To investigate the transplacental transport of VPA, we used an in vitro experiment of dual perfusion of a human placental cotyledon. Eighteen normal placentas at term were investigated; ten were treated with a therapeutic dose of VPA (initial level at maternal circul...

AIM: Epilepsy is a socially significant neurological disease spread all over the world. Valproic acid (VPA) one of most used antiepileptic drug (AED) for treatment which has some side effects on hematology field. A nowadays update to adult safety information needed. The current aim conduct cross-sectional study and describe profile adults with epilepsy treated by VPA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dat...

Objective(s) The purpose of this study was assessment of the influence of acute manic phase on the steady state pharmacokinetics of valproic acid (VPA) in bipolar patients in comparison with those of epileptic patients. Materials and Methods Ninteen acutely manic and 25 epileptic patients who fulfilled inclusion and exclusion criteria were entered in this prospective study. Blood samples were...

BACKGROUND Valproic acid (VPA) is a potent anticonvulsant that inhibits histone deacetylases. Because of this inhibitory action, we investigated whether VPA would affect chromatin supraorganization, mitotic indices and the frequency of chromosome abnormalities and cell death in HeLa cells. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Image analysis was performed by scanning microspectrophotometry for cells...