LADA type diabetes, celiac diasease, cerebellar ataxia and stiff person syndrome. A rare association of autoimmune disorders.

Celiac disease--in its typical form--is a chronic immune-mediated enteropathy with typical clinical symptoms that develops against gliadin content of cereal grains, and is often associated with other autoimmune diseases. In cases of atypical manifestation classic symptoms may be absent or mild, and extra-intestinal symptoms or associated syndromes dominate clinical picture. The authors present a longitudinal follow-up of such a case. A 63-years old woman was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 19, and with progressive limb ataxia at the age of 36, which was initially thought to be caused by cerebellar atrophy, later probably by stiff person syndrome. At the age 59, her diabetes mellitus manifested with type 2 diabetic phenotype, but based on GAD positivity later was reclassified as type 1 diabetes. Only the last check-up discovered the celiac disease, retrospectively explaining the entire disease course and neurological symptoms. By presenting this case, the authors would like to draw attention to the fact that one should think of the possibility of celiac disease when cerebellar ataxia, progressive neurological symptoms and diabetes are present at the same time. An early diagnosis may help to delay the progression of disease and help better treatment.

Optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopic techniques for investigating membrane-bound ion channel activities.

Optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopic (OWLS) techniques were probed for monitoring ion permeation through channels incorporated into artificial lipid environment. A novel sensor set-up was developed by depositing liposomes or cell-derived membrane fragments onto hydrophilic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane. The fibrous material of PTFE membrane could entrap lipoid vesicles and the water-filled pores provided environment for the hydrophilic domains of lipid-embedded proteins. The sensor surface was kept clean from the lipid holder PTFE membrane by a water- and ion-permeable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) mesh. The sensor set-up was tested with egg yolk lecithin liposomes containing gramicidin ion channels and with cell-derived membrane fragments enriched in GABA-gated anion channels. The method allowed monitoring the move of Na(+) and organic cations through gramicidin channels and detecting the Cl(-)-channel functions of the (α5ß2γ2) GABAA receptor in the presence or absence of GABA and the competitive GABA-blocker bicuculline.

Liposomes for topical use: a physico-chemical comparison of vesicles prepared from egg or soy lecithin.

Developments in nanotechnology and in the formulation of liposomal systems provide the opportunity for cosmetic dermatology to design novel delivery systems. Determination of their physico-chemical parameters has importance when developing a nano-delivery system. The present study highlights some technological aspects/characteristics of liposomes formulated from egg or soy lecithins for topical use. Alterations in the pH, viscosity, surface tension, and microscopic/macroscopic appearance of these vesicular systems were investigated. The chemical composition of the two types of lecithin was checked by mass spectrometry. Caffeine, as a model molecule, was encapsulated into multilamellar vesicles prepared from the two types of lecithin: then zeta potential, membrane fluidity, and encapsulation efficiency were compared. According to our observations, samples prepared from the two lecithins altered the pH in opposite directions: egg lecithin increased it while soy lecithin decreased it with increased lipid concentration. Our EPR spectroscopic results showed that the binding of caffeine did not change the membrane fluidity in the temperature range of possible topical use (measured between 2 and 50 °C). Combining our results on encapsulation efficiency for caffeine (about 30% for both lecithins) with those on membrane fluidity data, we concluded that the interaction of caffeine with the liposomal membrane does not change the rotational motion of the lipid molecules close to the head group region. In conclusion, topical use of egg lecithin for liposomal formulations can be preferred if there are no differences in the physico-chemical properties due to the encapsulated drugs, because the physiological effects of egg lecithin vesicles on skin are significantly better than that of soy lecithin liposomes.

Ciprofloxacin encapsulation into giant unilamellar vesicles: membrane binding and release.

This study aimed at investigating some respects of binding and interaction between water-soluble drugs and liposomal carrier systems depending on their size and lamellarity. As model substance, ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CPFX) was incorporated into giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) to study their CPFX encapsulation/binding capacity. To characterize molecular interactions of various CPFX microspecies with lipid bilayer, zeta potential and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy measurements were performed. The increase of the zeta potential at pH 5.4 but no change at pH 7.2 was interpreted in terms of the CPFX microspecies' distribution at the two pH values. EPR observations showed an increased fluidity because of CPFX binding to GUVs. We worked out and applied a three-compartment dialysis model to separately determine the rate of drug diffusion through the liposomal membrane. Equilibrium dialysis showed (a) different permeation of CPFX through the membranes of GUVs and multilamellar vesicles (MLVs), with characteristic half-lives of 54.4 and 18.1 h, respectively; and (b) increased retention of CPFX in case of GUVs with released amounts of 70% compared with about 97% in case of MLVs. Our results may provide further details for efficient design of liposomal formulations incorporating water-soluble drugs.

[Methods to increase the encapsulation efficiency for liposomal drugs]. / A bezárási hatásfok növelésének lehetoségei liposzómába zárt lomefloxacinnál.

Liposomes as drug delivery systems--in comparison to the traditional dosage forms--offer the advantage of the targeted drug delivery and as a consequence, reduction of the side effects. In case of fluoroquinolone antibiotics, such as lomefloxacin, the liposomal encapsulation of the active ingredient can result in an enhancement of its therapeutic efficacy against intracellular bacteria. The aim to improve the liposomal encapsulation efficiency of drugs--which is one of the main factors influencing the therapeutic effect of vesicular dosage forms--is one of the important challenges in the field of pharmaceutical technology. In our experiments we prepared lomefloxacin containing multilamellar vesicles from various lipids using different hydrating solutions. We intended to study the effect of lipid composition, cholesterol content and surface charge of liposomes on the encapsulation efficiency of lomefloxacin. Our results can contribute to the rational design of fluoroquinolone containing liposomal drugs.