Micafungin concentrations in plasma and burn eschar after daily intravenous infusion (1 h) of micafungin (200 to 300 mg) were investigated for six patients with severe burns. Micafungin treatment was initiated more than 72 h after the burn injuries. The peak and trough levels in the plasma after the initial administration and repeated administrations for more than 4 days were comparable with or...

We evaluated the usefulness of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) for gentamicin and the use of a two-point peak and trough pair concentration method to adjust its dose. Of the 194 patients included, initial concentrations were appropriate in only sixty nine. In the seventy one cases of dosage adjustments using this method, those attaining therapeutic levels increased overall from 38% to 67%. It...

Calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) are maintenance immunosuppressive drugs that have been used as the main therapy for organ transplantation for many years. Of the CNIs, cyclosporine (CYA) and tacrolimus (TAC) are used in clinical practice. The CYA binding protein is cyclophilin and that of TAC is FK-binding protein (FKBP), but both drugs have same mechanism of action: the inhibition of interleukin ...

Dr. Miura’s study evaluated the use of zonisamide in children with cryptogenic localization-related epilepsy, as monotherapy in a single daily dose. All patients were naive to anticonvulsant therapy. The study examined both clinical effects and pharmacokinetic effects of zonisamide. Patients ranged in age from infancy (3 months) to 15 years of age, with a mean age of 8 years. All were of normal...

Smooth muscle of strips of rabbit aorta, placed in a state of active tonic contraction by addition of a stimulating drug, relaxes during exposure to light. The relaxation is reversible. The extent of relaxation produced by a standard exposure depends on the preexposure level of active contraction but not on the nature of the stimulating drug used to produce contraction. With strips brought to a...

To test the hypothesis that higher levels of fibrinogen in winter are related to infections via the acute phase response, we assessed seasonal variation in fibrinogen and C-reactive protein, together with three other responses to infection: white cell count, human herpesvirus-6 IgG antibody and interleukin-6. Monthly blood samples from 24 subjects aged 75+ years were assessed for fibrinogen, C-...