Oral formulation of tissue kallikrein consists primarily of porcine pancreatic kallikrein (PPK) and is used to improve peripheral circulation, menopausal symptoms, and impaired chorioretinal circulation. Although gastrointestinal absorption of tissue kallikrein after oral administration has been reported in nonclinical and clinical studies, the increase in the concentration of pharmacologically...

Modified placental human glucocerebrosidase (alglucerase) and recombinant glucocerebrosidase (imiglucerase) are effective means of treating Type 1 Gaucher's disease. Amelioration of hepatosplenomegaly and of haematological manifestations is usually apparent within 6 months. Bone disease responds more slowly but within several years improvement is evident in most patients. Analysis of a large bo...

Excessive sodium gain is a major hindrance of sodium profiling hemodialysis (HD) that offsets the benefit in reducing intradialytic hypotension-related discomforts (IHD). Patients who showed frequent IHD (>30% of the sessions; n = 11) were enrolled in a prospective study that consisted of two phases. In the phase 1 study, eight treatment modalities were evaluated: Conventional HD (control), sod...

Administration of thromboxane A2/prostaglandin H2(TxA2/PGH2)-receptor agonist U-46619 (2.86 nmol/kg iv) to conscious rats increased mean arterial pressure (MAP) by 17 ± 2 mmHg ( n = 6; P < 0.001) and plasma arginine vasopressin (AVP) by 3.5 ± 1.1 IU/ml ( n = 6; P < 0.001). Ifetroban (TxA2/PGH2antagonist; intracerebroventricularly) prevented both responses. Intracerebroventricular U-46619 increa...

Preclinical and clinical studies demonstrated that the inhibition of cholinergic supersensitivity through nicotinic antagonists and partial agonists can be used successfully to treat depressed patients, especially those who are poor responders to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). In our effort to develop novel antidepressant drugs, LF-3-88 was identified as a potent nicotinic ace...

BACKGROUND Cu,Zn-superoxide-dismutase, Cu,Zn-SOD, can be obtained from different sources with different anti-inflammatory activities. In this study we compared the anti-inflammatory capacity of the marine yeast Debaryomyces hanseii Cu,Zn-SOD (Dh-SOD) with that of bovine erythrocytes (Be-SOD) in a preventive and a therapeutic fashion. METHODS Edema was induced by carrageenan injection into the...

Anemia is one of the most serious complications in patients on dialysis. Erythropoietin improves the anemia. However, erythropoietin resistance is sometimes encountered from causes such as functional iron deficiency, secondary hyperparathyroidism, blood loss, or interaction with other drugs. To clarify the interaction between erythropoietin and the renin-angiotensin system, we studied the maint...

This study evaluated the effect of eye muscle area (EMA), ossification, carcass weight, marbling and rib fat depth on the incidence of dark cutting (pH(u)>5.7) using routinely collected Meat Standards Australia (MSA) data. Data was obtained from 204,072 carcasses at a Western Australian processor between 2002 and 2008. Binomial data of pH(u) compliance was analysed using a logit model in a Baye...

Lazaroids are a group of 21-aminosteroids that lack steroid action but have a potent cytoprotective effect by inhibiting iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. However, there have been conflicting reports on the effectiveness and potency of the various lazaroid compounds. In this study, we compared the effectiveness of three major lazaroids on warm liver ischemia in dogs using a 2-hr hepatic vascul...