Search

During the last decade topical glucocorlicoids have been established as the first hand choice for the treatment of allergic rhinitis. Although they are clinically effective, their precise mode of action has not been sufficiently clarified. In order to evaluate whether the clinical effect is dependent on the topical administration a randomized. double- blind, double-dummy study was performed. Ninety-eight patients with allergic rhinitis due to birch pollen were recruited at two centres in southern Sweden. The patients received one of the following three treatment alternatives: 200 μg of nasally applied budesonide twice daily. 250 μg of budesonide given orally twice daily or a placebo. The selection of the doses was based on previous pharmacokinetic studies giving almost equal plasma levels of the nasally and orally administered hudesonide. To evaluate the possible clinical efficacy of the treatment, the patients kept a diary in order to register symptoms according to a 0 4 scale. After a run-in week with no treatment the patients entered the treatment period which lasted for 3 weeks. A total of 96 patients completed the study. The symptom data showed that topically applied hudesonide was clinically effective with a pronounced reduction in all the nasal symptoms registered and compared with placebo treatment there was a statistically significant difference in favour of the budesonide treatment (P<0.001). The nasal symptoms of the patients receiving oral budesonide did not differ from those receiving placebo. lntranasally administered budesonide proved to be significantly more effective than orally applied hudesonide (P < 001). Thus. this study clearly demonstrates that the clinical effect of budesonide in racommended doses for hay fever treatment is dependent on the nasal application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A long-term safety study of intranasally administrated budesonide, a topical glucocorticoid, has been performed, 104 patients with perennial rhinitis, allergic or non-allergic, participated in a multicentre study in seven ENT-clinics utilising an identical protocol. A budesonide dosage of 400 μg/day was used as starting dose, but the patients were at liberty to reduce the daily dose to 200 μg. The patients were observed at intervals up to 12 months. At the entry and follow-up visits the following parameters were recorded, rhinoscopic findings, nasal symptom scores, blood chemistry, hematology, urinalysis and determination of plasma cortisol level before and after stimulation with ACTH (Synacthen®), Nasal biopsies taken from 50 of the patients at the beginning and completion of the study were examined in a blinded way by an independent pathologist. The analysis revealed no histopathological changes of the nasal mucosa. At rhinoscopy no signs of atrophy or candida were reported. Lividity of the nasal inncosa was secretion. All nasal symptom parameters assessed by the patients were significantly reduced from baseline during the fellow-up period. No clinically significant changes in the hematological and blood chemistry parameters were observed. Plasma cortisol analysis before and after challenge with ACTH revealed no influence on the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. No clinically significant changes in the hematological and blood chemistry parameters were observed. Plasma cortisol analysis before and after challenge with ACTH revealed no influence on the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. No Tachyphylaxis was observed; on the contrary, there was a clear tendency for reduction of the daily dose of budesonide necessary to keep the patients symptom-free. The present study suggests that intranasal budesonide in the dose of 400 μ/day is a safe and valuable addition to our therapeutic armory for perennial rhinitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-nine patients with seasonal rhinitis completed a double-blind study comparing budesonide nasal spray 200 μg b.i.d. with placebo. The patients were randomly assigned into two parallel groups. Symptoms were assessed over a treatment period of 3 weeks. There were statistically significant differences in favour of budesonide on all measurements. Side effects were mild and the incidence was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value of three objective tests of the nasal mucosa in 22 patients with perennial non-allergic rhinitis treated with a topical corticosteroid has been investigated. Placebo and three different dosages of a new steroid, budesonide, were administered intranasally using a double-blind, cross-over technique. Nasal airway resistance was not reduced by the steroid treatment as compared with the placebo treatment. Eosinophilia in nasal smears was reduced by budesonide. However, the value of this test was decreased by the fact that eosinophilia was found in less than 50% of the patients at the beginning of the trial. Metacholine-induced nasal secretion was significantly reduced by the budesonide treatment. Symptom scores for nasal obstruction, secretion and sneezing attacks were also significantly reduced by the steroid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clinical effects of intranasal budesonide (16α, 17α (22 R,S) propylmethylenedioxypregana-1-4-diene-11β 21 diol-3, 20 dione)) -- a new non-halogenated glucocorticoid -- were evaluated in a double-blind comparison with placebo, in patients with pronounced hay fever. Aerosolized budesonide, using a daily dosage of either 400 μg or 200 μg, showed a highly significant reduction in the nasal symptoms as compared with placebo. No significant difference could be demonstrated between the effects of 400 μg and 200 μg per day, suggesting that the lower dosage is adequate. No significant effect on the eye symptoms and no fall in plasma cortisol values were observed with either dosage. Only mild side effects were reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Thermal power plants produce SO2 during combustion of fuel containing sulfur. One way to decrease the SO2 emission from power plants is to introduce a sensor as part of the control system of the desulphurization unit. In this study, SiC–FET sensors were studied as one alternative sensor to replace the expensive FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) instrument or the inconvenient wet chemical methods. The gas response for the SiC–FET sensors comes from the interaction between the test gas and the catalytic gate metal, which changes the electrical characteristics of the devices. The performance of the sensors depends on the ability of the test gas to be adsorbed, decomposed, and desorbed at the sensor surface. The feature of SO2, that it is difficult to desorb from the catalyst surface, makes it known as catalyst poison. It is difficult to quantify the SO2 with static operation, even at the optimum operation temperature of the sensor due to low response levels and saturation already at low concentration of SO2. The challenge of SO2 desorption can be reduced by introducing dynamic operation in a designed temperature cycle operation (TCO). The intermittent exposure to high temperature can help to desorb SO2. Simultaneously, additional features extracted from the sensor data can be used to reduce the influence of sensor drift. The TCO operation, together with pattern recognition, may also reduce the baseline and response variation due to changing concentration of background gases (4–10% O2 and 0–70% RH), and thus it may improve the overall sensor performance. In addition to the laboratory experiment, testing in the desulphurization pilot unit was performed. Desulphurization pilot unit has less controlled environment compared to the laboratory conditions. Therefore, the risk of influence from the changing concentration of background gas is higher. In this study, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and partial least square (PLS) were employed as pattern recognition methods. It was demonstrated that using LDA quantification of SO2 into several groups of concentrations up to 2000ppm was possible. Additionally, PLS analysis indicated a good agreement between the predicted value from the model and the SO2 concentration from the reference instrument of the pilot plant. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The effects of prolonged treatment with intranasally applied budesonide was studied in twenty-four patients with perennial allergic or non-allergic rhinitis. Patients on continuous treatment were followed up for 5.5 years. At entry and follow-up visits, rhinoscopie findings, nasal symptom scores, blood chemistry, haematology. urine analysis and determination of plasma cortisol levels, before and after stimulation with ACTH (Synaethen®, Ciba-Geigy AG, Basel, Switzerland), were registered. Biopsies of the nasal mucosa were taken before entry into the study, after 1 year of treatment, and after varying time intervals ranging from 2.5 to 5.5 years during the treatment. The biopsy specimens were examined blindly by an independent pathologist. The analyses revealed no histopathological changes in the nasal mucosa. All nasal symptom parameters assessed by the patients were significantly reduced from the baseline during the entire follow-up period. No clinically significant changes in the haematological and blood chemistry parameters were observed. Plasma cortisol analyses before and after challenge with ACTH revealed no influence on the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. The present study suggests that intranasal budesonide in the dose of 200-400 µg/day is also a safe treatment for prolonged treatment of perennial rhinitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Alpha2-adrenergic receptor agonists are used in glaucoma treatment and have been shown to have some neuroprotective effects. We performed this study to test the hypothesis that epidermal growth factor receptors on chicken Müller cells are transactivated by α2-adrenergic receptors and we focused on the extracellular signal-activated kinases 1/2 (ERK) pathway., Methods: Embryonic chicken retina and cultures of primary Müller cells were stimulated by α2-adrenergic receptor agonist brimonidine. Immunostaining, quantitative RT-PCR, and Western blot techniques, in combination with Src, epidermal growth factor receptor kinase, and matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors, were used for analysis of the cellular responses., Results: Our results showed that Müller cells express α2A-adrenergic receptors in vivo and in vitro and that brimonidine triggered a robust and transient phosphorylation of ERK1/2. This ERK-response was Src-kinase dependent, associated with tyrosine phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptors (phospho-Y1068, Y1173) and was mediated by matrix metalloproteinase activity on the Müller cells., Conclusions: Müller cells express the α2A-adrenergic receptor, and brimonidine triggers both Src-kinase- and matrix metalloproteinase-mediated autocrine ligand-dependent activation of epidermal growth factor receptors on Müller cells. This response is consistent with transactivation of epidermal growth factor receptors by stimulation of α2-adrenergic receptors., (Copyright 2014 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.)

Purpose: To test whether Müller glial cells sense, and respond to, mechanical tension in the retina., Methods: A device was designed to stretch the retina at right angles to its surface, across retinal layers. Pieces of retina were mounted between two hollow tubes, and uniaxial force was applied to the tissue using a micrometer-stepping motor. Müller cells were selectively stained with the fluorescent, calcium-sensitive dye X-Rhod-1 and were monitored in real time during retinal stretch in vitro. Immunohistochemistry was used to study protein levels and activation of intracellular pathways in stretched retinas., Results: Müller cells responded acutely with transient increases in fluorescence during stretch, indicative of increased intracellular calcium levels. All the Müller cells elongated uniformly, and there was no apparent difference between retinal layers in resistance against mechanical deformation. After stretch, Müller cells showed fast activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (after 15 minutes), upregulation of transcription factor c-Fos (after 1 hour), and basic fibroblast growth factor (after 3 hours). No changes in intermediate filament protein expression were observed in Müller cells up to 3 hours after stretch., Conclusions: A novel technique was developed for real-time monitoring of Müller cells during retinal stretch, which allowed the identification of Müller cells as a mechanoresponsive cell type. Mechanical stress triggers molecular responses in Müller cells that could prevent retinal damage.