Tratamiento farmacológico de la litiasis renal: medicamentos actuales y monitorización del pH urinario / Pharmacologic treatment of kidney stones: Current medication and pH monitoring

La nefrolitiasis es una enfermedad urológica de prevalencia mundial asociada a una importante morbilidad y malestar para el paciente. El tratamiento actual de los cálculos renales se basa en intervenciones quirúrgicas y farmacológicas. Aunque la cirugía puede ser necesaria en casos determinados, el tratamiento farmacológico es una opción más asequible, fácilmente disponible y menos invasiva para el paciente. Se realizó una revisión exhaustiva para resumir la bibliografía disponible sobre las estrategias de manejo farmacológico de los principales tipos de litiasis: oxalato cálcico, fosfato cálcico, ácido úrico, estruvita y cistina. La regulación de factores como el pH urinario, la cristalización de los cálculos y los trastornos metabólicos del paciente que precipitan el desarrollo y el crecimiento de los cálculos es fundamental para estos enfoques terapéuticos. Esta revisión hace hincapié en las opciones farmacológicas disponibles para el tratamiento según el tipo de litiasis y destaca la importancia de un tratamiento médico personalizado para cada paciente, aspecto que debe ser tenido en cuenta por todos los médicos. (AU)

Nephrolithiasis is a globally prevalent urologic condition associated with significant morbidity and patient discomfort. Current management of kidney stones includes both surgical and pharmacologic interventions. Though surgery may be necessary under certain circumstances, pharmacologic treatment is a more affordable, readily available, and a less invasive option for patients. A comprehensive scoping review was conducted to summarize the available literature on the pharmacologic strategies for managing the predominant stone types including calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, uric acid, struvite, and cystine stones. Central to these therapeutic approaches is the regulation of factors such as urine pH, stone crystallization, and patient metabolics that precipitate stone development and growth. This review highlights the pharmacological options available for treating each kidney stone type, emphasizing the importance of patient tailored medical management that should be considered by every physician. (AU)

Pharmacologic treatment of kidney stones: Current medication and pH monitoring.

Nephrolithiasis is a globally prevalent urologic condition associated with significant morbidity and patient discomfort. Current management of kidney stones includes both surgical and pharmacologic interventions. Though surgery may be necessary under certain circumstances, pharmacologic treatment is a more affordable, readily available, and a less invasive option for patients. A comprehensive scoping review was conducted to summarize the available literature on the pharmacologic strategies for managing the predominant stone types including calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, uric acid, struvite, and cystine stones. Central to these therapeutic approaches is the regulation of factors such as urine pH, stone crystallization, and patient metabolics that precipitate stone development and growth. This review highlights the pharmacological options available for treating each kidney stone type, emphasizing the importance of patient tailored medical management that should be considered by every physician.

Uncoupling of growth inhibition and differentiation in dexamethasone-treated human rhabdomyosarcoma cells.

The effects of dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid, and of N,N-dimethylformamide on in vitro growth and differentiation and on proto-oncogene expression of human rhabdomyosarcoma cells were studied. RD/18 clone cells (derived from the embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma cell line RD) treated with 100 nM dexamethasone showed an almost complete block of differentiation: about 5% myosin-positive cells were observed after 2 weeks of culture in dexamethasone-supplemented differentiation medium, compared to 20% of untreated cultures. Dexamethasone also induced a 20-30% growth inhibition and a more flattened morphology. The treatment with N,N-dimethylformamide induced a significantly increased proportion of myosin-positive cells (reaching about 30%) and a 40% growth inhibition. Induction of differentiation inversely correlated with the levels of c-myc proto-oncogene expression: after a 2 week culture dexamethasone-treated cells showed the highest c-myc expression and N,N-dimethylformamide-treated cells the lowest. Culture conditions per se down-modulated c-erbB1 and up-regulated c-jun expression, with no relationship to the differentiation pattern. Other proto-oncogenes were not expressed (c-sis, N-myc, c-mos, c-myb) or were not modulated (c-fos, c-raf). Therefore dexamethasone and N,N-dimethylformamide, both causing a decreased growth rate, showed opposing actions on myogenic differentiation and on c-myc proto-oncogene expression of human rhabdomyosarcoma cells.

Ticks on livestock in St. Lucia.

Cattle, sheep, goats and horses were examined for ticks. Over 95% of Holstein cross-breeds, 28% of sheep (local mixed breeds) and 18% of goats (local mixed breeds) examined from 18 August to 4 September 1983 were infested with the southern cattle tick, Boophilus microplus Canestrini. About 90 and 17% of the horses examined were infested with the tropical horse tick, Anocentor nitens Neumann, and the tropical bont tick, Amblyomma variegatum Fabricius, respectively. The tropical bont tick was found infesting 10% of cattle in the Gros Islet area of St. Lucia. The tropical bont tick was also found associated with a severe skin disease, dermatophilosis, caused by the bacterium Dermatophilus congolensis, in 54% of the cattle infested by A. variegatum in the Gros Islet and Dauphin areas of St. Lucia.