Search

Objective Otaplimastat is a neuroprotectant that inhibits matrix metalloprotease pathway, and reduces edema and intracerebral hemorrhage induced by recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) in animal stroke models. We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of otaplimastat in patients receiving rtPA. Methods This was a phase 2, 2‐part, multicenter trial in stroke patients (19–80 years old) receiving rtPA. Intravenous otaplimastat was administered

Purpose Patterns of prescriptions are markedly influenced by regional disease entities, medical education, culture, economic status, and available pharmaceutical companies. Features of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) may vary in different countries. In this study, we analyzed the causative drugs and clinical manifestations of spontaneously reported ADRs in Korea. Methods Six Korean Regional Pharmacovigilance Centers collected 1418 cases of spontaneously reported adverse drug events (ADEs) by doctors, pharmacists, and nurses, and the clinical features and causative drugs were evaluated. The data were collected from general hospitals (76.5%), primary clinics, and pharmacies (23.5%). Results Based upon the World Health Organization (WHO)-Uppsala Monitoring Center criteria (certain—13.7%, probable—46.1%, possible—32.1%), 91.9% of the collected events were suspected to be ADRs and 15.8% of patients experienced serious ADRs. The most prevalent causative drugs were antibiotics (31.6%), followed by contrast dyes (14.0%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (11.1%), anti-psychotics (5.4%), anti-convulsants (5.2%), cardiovascular agents (4.8%), anti-neoplastics (4.6%), and opiates and non-opiate pain killers (3.5%). Among the antibiotics, cephalosporins (8.1%) were the most common, followed by anti-tuberculosis agents (5.7%), quinolones (4.0%), vancomycin (3.1%), and penicillin (2.8%). The most common side effect was skin manifestations, which were seen in 42% of the patients, followed by neurologic manifestations (14%), gastrointestinal involvements (12.9%), generalized reactions (9.4%), and respiratory involvements (4.5%). Conclusion Antibiotics, contrast dyes, and NSAIDs were the most common causative drugs for ADRs, which reflects the prescription pattern and the prevalence of diseases in Korea. These data may be useful in establishing a Korean pharmacovigilance system. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Uniform-sized semiconducting nanocrystals of binary metal sulfides are synthesized from the thermolysis of metal-oleate complexes in alkanethiol. The size ofthe Cu 2 S nanocrystals can be tuned from 7 to 20 nm by varying the reaction conditions. Various shaped nanocrystals of CdS, ZnS, MnS, and PbS are synthesized from the thermal reaction of metal-oleate complex in alkanethiol.

Background: Behavioral and psychological symptoms (BPSD) are common in dem entia. These may be helpful for clinical differentiation between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and v ascular dementia (VD). Most previous studies have reported the prevalence and severity of BPSD regardless of severity of progression. However, we evaluated the differences of BPSD by grading de mentia progression and including severe cases only. Methods: 141 dementia outpatients from clinics of Busan-Gyeongnam Dementia Association in Korea were analyzed. All patients were administered the Korean version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (K-NPI), the expanded version of Korean Clinic al Dementia Rating Scale (CDR), and the Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE). Results: There were 95 patients with AD and 46 patients with VD. AD patients revealed higher frequency of manifested BPSD symptoms and most of subscales showed higher composite scores also. But apathy was more severely and frequently manifested in VD. AD patients had more frequent night-time behavior and aberrant motor symptoms above 3 point in CDR 0.5 and VD patients had more frequent apathy symptom above 3 point in CDR 1. Conclusions: These results suggest that generally AD patients revealed more frequent and severe BPSDs than VD patients. Apathy was a more dominant symptom in VD. It seemed that some of the symptoms were valuable clues for the differential diagnosis even though a better designed study was required. J Korean Neurol Assoc 24(5):458-464, 2006