Pyridostigmine bromide (PB) is a reversible cholinesterase inhibitor used routinely in the treatment of myasthenia gravis and recently by the US Army as a prophylactic agent against potential nerve gas attack in the Persian Gulf War. Pyridostigmine has been implicated as one of several possible causative factors associated with Persian Gulf illnesses. To investigate toxic interactions between P...

A 52-year-old man developed diplopia, followed in 3 weeks by ptosis, more pronounced on the right, slight difficulty in talking, chewing, and swallowing, with nasal regurgitation, and mild weakness of the muscles of the neck and limbs. Family and past history were not contributory. There was bilateral ptosis, and the maximum width of the palpebral fissure on upward gaze was 8 mm on the right an...

Objective: To characterise the effects of acetylcholinesterase inhibition with pyridostigmine on parasympathetic tone in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Design: Prospective randomised, double blind crossover trial. Setting: University hospital outpatient heart failure clinic. Patients: 20 ambulatory subjects with stable CHF (mean age 55 years, mean ejection fraction 24%). Interventio...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the long-term (for up to 3 months) efficacy and safety of single or combined therapy with midodrine and pyridostigmine for neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (OH). METHODS This was a randomized, open-label clinical trial. In total, 87 patients with symptomatic neurogenic OH were enrolled and randomized to receive 1 of 3 treatments: midodrine only, pyridostigmine only, or...

AIM The ability of four newly prepared reversible inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (6-chlorotacrine, 7-phenoxytacrine, compounds 1 and 2) and currently used carbamate pyridostigmine to increase the resistance of mice against soman and the efficacy of antidotal treatment of soman-poisoned mice was evaluated. METHODS The evaluation of the effect of pharmacological pretreatment is based on the...

BACKGROUND At least one-fourth of U.S. veterans who served in the 1990-1991 Gulf War are affected by the chronic symptomatic illness known as Gulf War illness (GWI). Clear determination of the causes of GWI has been hindered by many factors, including limitations in how epidemiologic studies have assessed the impact of the complex deployment environment on veterans' health. OBJECTIVE We sough...

Experiments tested the effect of stress coupled with cholinesterase inhibition on blood pressure, heart rate, baroreflex index, and variability in time and frequency domain in conscious mice. The objective was to determine whether cholinergic systems interact with stress to alter cardiovascular responses. Male C57BL/6J mice with arterial catheters were exposed to 3-day treatments: 1) intermitte...

BACKGROUND Treatment of chronic constipation is creating one of the major problems for doctors and patients. Pyridostigmine increases the gastrointestinal motility through the effects on cholinesterase. It seems that this mechanism can reduce chronic constipation. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of pyridostigmine and bisacodyl on chronic constipation. METHODS This study was c...

AIMS The purpose of the present work was to investigate the ability of pyridostigmine encapsulated in long-circulating liposomes, to protect against ECG (electrocardiogram) alterations induced by sympathetic stimulation in rats. MAIN METHODS The encapsulation of pyridostigmine was carried out by freeze-thaw and extrusion. Blood pressure and ECG (limb lead II) were monitored in anaesthetized m...