The investigation of antidepressant and anxiolytic effects of pregabalin and its mechanisms of action in rats.

OBJECTIVES: Pregabalin (PGB) is used in drug-resistant epilepsy. Also, it has analgesic effects in painful syndromes. Depression and anxiety are commonly seen in epilepsy and neuropathic pain patients. PGB is often combined with anxiolytics and antidepressants. We aimed to investigate the antidepressant and anxiolytic effects of PGB and compare its effects with those of antidepressant and anxiolytic drugs and their combined use. METHODS: Wistar Albino rats were used, and PGB (5, 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg), amitriptylin (AMT), fluoxetine (FLX), ketamine (KET), and diazepam (DZM), as well as combinations of PGB (20 mg/kg) with AMT, FLX, KET, and DZM, were administered. Elevated plus maze, forced swimming, and locomotor activity tests were performed. RESULTS: In the elevated plus maze, PGB10, 20, 40, AMT, FLX, and DZM increased open arm time. The PGB20+FLX combination increased compared to PGB20. In forced swimming, PGB doses increased immobility time. AMT, FLX, DZM, and KET decreased compared to control and PGB doses. Other combinations of PGB20 reversed immobility time, except FLX. In locomotor activity, PGB20, AMT, KET, and DZM decreased distance. CONCLUSION: PGB had a depressant effect in all doses and a dose-dependently anxiolytic effect. In combinations of PGB with AMT, KET, and DZM, it reversed their antidepressant effects. We assumed FLX could be preferred instead of AMT in patients using PGB. When PGB is used in combination, drug interactions should be considered. These results are also very remarkable in terms of pharmacoeconomics.

Evaluation of the modified MEDS, MEWS score and Charlson comorbidity index in patients with community acquired sepsis in the emergency department.

Sepsis is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in patients presenting to the emergency department. SIRS criteria that define sepsis are not specific and do not reflect the severity of infection. We aimed to evaluate the ability of the modified mortality in emergency department sepsis (MEDS) score, the modified early warning score (MEWS) and the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) to predict prognosis in patients who are diagnosed in sepsis. We prospectively investigated the value of the CCI, MEWS and modified MEDS Score in the prediction of 28-day mortality in patients presenting to the emergency department who were diagnosed with sepsis. 230 patients were enrolled in the study. In these patients, the 5-day mortality was 17 % (n = 40) and the 28-day mortality was 32.2 % (n = 74). A significant difference was found between surviving patients and those who died in terms of their modified MEDS, MEWS and Charlson scores for both 5-day mortality (p < 0.001, p = 0.013 and p = 0.006, respectively) and 28-day mortality (p < 0.001, p = 0.008 and p < 0.001, respectively). The area under the curve (AUC) for the modified MEDS score in terms of 28-day mortality was 0.77. The MEDS score had a greater prognostic value compared to the MEWS and CCI scores. The performance of modified MEDS score was better than that of other scoring systems, in our study. Therefore, we believe that the modified MEDS score can be reliably used for the prediction of mortality in sepsis.