Bronchodilator efficacy of single doses of indacaterol in Japanese patients with COPD: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Indacaterol is an investigational, novel, inhaled once-daily ultra-long-acting beta-2 agonist for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study evaluated the 24-h bronchodilatory efficacy and safety of indacaterol in Japanese patients with COPD. METHODS: This Phase-II, randomised, placebo-controlled, crossover study comprised four double-blind, single-dose treatment periods (washout between periods: 14-28 days). Japanese patients aged 40-75 years with moderate-to-severe COPD were randomised to receive single doses of indacaterol (150, 300, or 600 microg) or placebo via a single-dose dry-powder inhaler. Efficacy (primary endpoint: standardised FEV(1)AUC(22-24h)) and safety were assessed for 24 h post-dose in each treatment period. RESULTS: Of the 50 patients randomised (92% male; mean age, 67.2 years), 45 completed the study. Standardised FEV(1)AUC(22-24h) was significantly higher for all indacaterol doses as compared with placebo, with clinically relevant differences of 130, 160, and 170 mL for 150, 300, and 600 microg, respectively (P < 0.001). The improvement in FEV(1) was seen as early as 5 min post-dose with indacaterol and sustained for 24 h (P < 0.001 vs placebo at all time points). All indacaterol doses were well tolerated and showed no clinically meaningful effect on pulse rate, blood pressure, QTc interval, and laboratory parameters when compared with placebo. CONCLUSIONS: In the Japanese COPD population studied, single doses of indacaterol (150, 300, and 600 microg) provided sustained 24-h bronchodilation, with onset of action within 5 min post-dose. All doses were well tolerated. These results are consistent with data from Caucasian populations.

Optimizing T2-weighted magnetic resonance sequences for surface coil microimaging of the eye with regard to lid, eyeball and head moving artifacts.

PURPOSE: To acquire high-resolution magnetic resonance (MR) images, we developed a new blinking artifact reduced pulse (BARP) sequence with a surface coil specialized for microscopic imaging (47 mm in diameter). MATERIALS AND METHODS: To reduce eye movement, we ascertained that the subjects' eyes were kept open and fixated to the target in the 1.5-T MR gantry. To reduce motion artifacts from blinking, we inserted rest periods for blinking (1.5 s within every 5 s) during MR scanning (T2-weighted fast spin echo; repetition time, 5 s; echo time, 100 ms; echo train, 11; matrix, 256 x 128; field of view, 5 cm; 1-mm thickness x 30 slices). Three scans (100 s x 3) were performed for each normal subject, and they were added together after automatic adjustment for location to reduce quality loss caused by head motion. RESULTS: T2-weighted MR images were acquired with a high resolution and a high signal-to-noise ratio. Motion artifacts were reduced with BARP, as compared with those with random blinking. Intraocular structures such as the iris and ciliary muscles were clearly visualized. Because the whole eye can be covered with a 1-mm thickness by this method, three-dimensional maps can easily be generated from the obtained images. CONCLUSION: The application of BARP with a surface coil of the human eye might become a useful and widely adopted procedure for MR microimaging.

Nucleophilic Vinylic Substitutions of (Z)-(beta-Haloalkenyl)phenyliodonium Salts with Sodium Benzenesulfinate: First Evidence of a Michael Addition of Nucleophiles to Alkenyliodonium Salts at the C(beta) Atom.

Evidence for a Michael addition of a nucleophile to alkenyl(phenyl)iodonium salts at the C(beta) atom is reported here for the first time. Nucleophilic vinylic substitutions of (Z)-(beta-chloroalkenyl)- 2b and (Z)-(beta-bromoalkenyl)iodonium tetrafluoroborates 3b with sodium benzenesulfinate in THF afforded stereoselectively (Z)-1,2-bis(benzenesulfonyl)alkene 5b with retention of configuration. Intermediate formation of (Z)-(beta-(benzenesulfonyl)alkenyl)iodonium salt 9b in these reactions was established by (1)H NMR experiments in CDCl(3). The formation of (Z)-9b involves a hitherto unobserved Michael addition of benzenesulfinate anion to the alkenyliodonium salts at the C(beta) atom, followed by halogen extrusion. The formation of a stereoisomeric mixture of (Z)- and (E)-bis-sulfones 5b, and 1-(benzenesulfonyl)cyclopentene 11 that was observed in the reaction of (Z)-(beta-fluoroalkenyl)iodonium salt 4b in CDCl(3), strongly suggests the intermediacy of 9b in this nucleophilic vinylic substitution.