Efficacy and safety of erdosteine in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis - a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Erdosteine was originally developed as a mucolytic agent. It is a multimechanism substance with anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, and most importantly anti-inflammatory effects. Given similar mechanisms of action (suppression of cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor α), it could become a reasonable alternative to currently used treatments with macrolides or steroids. OBJECTIVE: To assess efficacy and safety of erdosteine in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP). METHODOLOGY: A prospective non-interventional post-authorisation study comparing patients treated with erdosteine only or the combination of erdosteine and nasal corticosteroid spray for CRSwNP. The end-points were pre- and post-treatment changes in endoscopic score and subjective evaluation of CRSwNP related symptoms using a 22-item Sinonasal Outcome Test questionnaire. Patients underwent nasal endoscopy and filled the questionnaire before and after the treatment. RESULTS: No patient experienced any adverse effect during the study. A comparison of pre- and post-treatment endoscopic findings and questionnaire values revealed significant reduction in both patient groups, with a significantly better response in the erdosteine only group. CONCLUSION: Based on this pilot study, erdosteine seems effective in the treatment of CRSwNP and might become a reasonable alternative to currently used medication. The therapeutical role of erdosteine needs to be further assessed.

Numerical simulation on pollutant dispersion from vehicle exhaust in street configurations.

The impact of the street configurations on pollutants dispersion from vehicles exhausts within urban canyons was numerically investigated using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. Three-dimensional flow and dispersion of gaseous pollutants were modeled using standard kappa - epsilon turbulence model, which was numerically solved based on Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations by the commercial CFD code FLUENT. The concentration fields in the urban canyons were examined in three cases of street configurations: (1) a regular-shaped intersection, (2) a T-shaped intersection and (3) a Skew-shaped crossing intersection. Vehicle emissions were simulated as double line sources along the street. The numerical model was validated against wind tunnel results in order to optimize the turbulence model. Numerical predictions agreed reasonably well with wind tunnel results. The results obtained indicate that the mean horizontal velocity was very small in the center near the lower region of street canyon. The lowest turbulent kinetic energy was found at the separation and reattachment points associated with the corner of the down part of the upwind and downwind buildings in the street canyon. The pollutant concentration at the upwind side in the regular-shaped street intersection was higher than that in the T-shaped and Skew-shaped street intersections. Moreover, the results reveal that the street intersections are important factors to predict the flow patterns and pollutant dispersion in street canyon.

Fusion-induced malignancy? A preliminary study. (a challenge to today's common wisdom).

Five fusions between mouse embryonic cells and syngeneic adult peritoneal macrophages were performed. The resulting hybrids as well as both parental cells (6 cultures of embryonal cells and 6 cultures of adult macrophages) were grown in vitro under the same culture conditions. All populations of explanted macrophages died during the second month in primary culture and five populations of cultured embryonic cells were lost within six months under in vitro conditions as well. One embryonic cell line survived and acquired transformed and/or malignant phenotype: When inoculated into either newborn or adult syngeneic mice, progressive growth of tumors with 100% take (6/6), histologically classified as poorly differentiated fibrosarcoma with areas of metaplastic bone and osteoid, was observed. Two out of five wild hybrid strains died within six months of cell culture. The resulting three hybrid cultures adapted themselves to in vitro conditions and finally permanent lines were established with all features of transformed phenotype in vitro and with the capacity to grow as undifferentiated fibrosarcomas with 100% take (6/6) when inoculated into syngeneic mice either s.c. or i.p. Cytogenetic studies were performed and phenotypic characteristics of these lines were explored as well. Biological assays performed for the presence of oncogenic viruses were negative and none of the malignant cell lines showed positive staining with the monoclonal antibody specific for large T-antigen. It is suggested that cell fusion of two normal partners may switch on the cascade of abnormal processes which may culminate in neoplastic conversion. Cell fusion might play also a significant role in the so called "spontaneous" transformation.