ABSTRACT
Cycloprodigiosin hydrochloride (cPrG*HCl) is a stable fluorescent red pigment obtained from the marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas denitrificans. It was found that the compound was incorporated into Plasmodium falciparum cells upon incubation and exhibited a potent antimalarial activity with the concentration required for 50% of the activity being 11 nM, which is stronger than that of chloroquine, a well-known antimalarial agent. The compound did not affect growth rate of mammalian cells. Antimalarial activity of cPrG*HCl was also observed in vivo. These results indicate that cPrG*HCl is a potent antimalarial drug.
Subject(s)
Antimalarials/pharmacology , Gram-Negative Aerobic Bacteria/chemistry , Indoles/pharmacology , Malaria/drug therapy , Plasmodium falciparum/drug effects , Pyrroles/pharmacology , Animals , Antimalarials/isolation & purification , Disease Models, Animal , Drug Evaluation, Preclinical , Humans , In Vitro Techniques , Indoles/isolation & purification , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred ICR , Pyrroles/isolation & purificationABSTRACT
Conventional blood conservation techniques have been insufficient to decrease blood transfusion requirement in open-heart surgery. Blood conservation and erythropoietin administration were performed to avoid homologous blood transfusion. Intraoperative autotransfusion has been routinely used in cardiac operations with cardiopulmonary bypass in our hospital. To evaluate the effect of conservation techniques, 286 patients were divided into four groups. In group I (23 patients), autologous whole blood was drawn and saved one to two weeks before operation. In group II (50 patients), erythropoietin preparation was given subcutaneously once a week and autologous blood conservation was also performed in the same manner as group I. In group III (48 patients), intra-operative hemodilutional autologous blood transfusion was performed. In group IV, as a control group (165 patients), only intra-operative autotransfusion was used. Homologous blood transfusion was avoided in 83% of group I patients, in 90% of group II, in 82% of group III, and 29% of group IV. In addition, in group II the hemoglobin value at the time of discharge was significantly higher than those of other groups (p < 0.05-0.01). Thus, conventional blood conservation techniques plus subcutaneous administration of erythropoietin was very effective to increase the rate of "non-blood" open-heart surgery.
Subject(s)
Blood Loss, Surgical/prevention & control , Blood Transfusion, Autologous , Cardiac Surgical Procedures/methods , Aged , Erythropoietin/therapeutic use , HumansABSTRACT
A clinical study on a new carbapenem antibiotic, meropenem (MEPM), was carried out in acute pediatric infections. MEPM was administered to 8 patients including 3 patients with acute pneumonia, 2 with cervical lymphadenitis, 1 with acute tonsillitis, and 1 with cellulitis and 1 with sepsis. The overall efficacy rate was 100%. As an adverse reaction, diarrhea was observed in 1 patient. In clinical laboratory tests 1 patient was found to have S-GPT elevation which normalized after discontinuation of MEPM. MEPM appears to be effective and safe drug for pediatric acute infections.