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Cyclosporine, an immunosuppressant drug often administered to organ transplant recipients, is also effective against some forms of psoriasis (a chronic skin disease involving plaques and scales). To learn more concerning the optimal dose of cyclosporine for treating this disorder, a 16-week controlled study of 85 patients was carried out. The patients had at least one fourth of their body surface covered by plaque-type psoriasis, or severe psoriasis that was disabling, and an unsatisfactory response to standard treatments for the disease (ultraviolet light or psoralen). Patients were randomly assigned to receive daily doses of 7.5 milligrams (15 patients), 5 milligrams (20 patients), or 3 milligrams (25 patients) of oral cyclosporine per kilogram of body weight. Twenty-five patients received an inactive drug (the control group). After the first eight weeks, patients who did not improve (including controls) were adjusted to the next higher dose (those at 7.5 mg/kg went up to 10 mg/kg). Three specific lesions on each patient were rated at regular intervals during the study for scaling, redness, plaque thickness, and overall severity. In addition, overall severity and extent of involvement of the body were rated. Kidney function (which is affected by cyclosporine in many people), blood pressure, white blood cell count, and other physiological variables were also evaluated. All patients who received cyclosporine improved more than patients who received the vehicle; for the three dose levels (from lowest to highest), the decrease in the psoriasis global scores was 39, 58, and 71 percent, respectively. The best effect was in the highest-dose group (80 percent clear or almost clear of lesions). Adjustments to higher doses were required for the largest proportion of patients in the lowest-dose group (65 percent). Four patients left the study because of side effects, and four required dose reduction. Effects on renal and neurologic function were noted. The results indicate that the best initial cyclosporine dose for treating plaque-type psoriasis is 5 milligrams per kilogram per day. Additional long-term studies are needed to evaluate the drug's safety and effectiveness. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Perioperative treatment of several rats in our facility with ketoprofen (5 mg/kg SC) resulted in blood loss, peritonitis, and death within a day to a little more than a week after surgery that was not related to the gastrointestinal tract. Published reports have established the 5-mg/kg dose as safe and effective for rats. Because ketoprofen is a nonselective nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug that can damage the gastrointestinal tract, the putative diagnosis for these morbidities and mortalities was gastrointestinal toxicity caused by ketoprofen (5 mg/kg). We conducted a prospective study evaluating the effect of this therapeutic dose of ketoprofen on the rat gastrointestinal tract within 24 h. Ketoprofen (5 mg/kg SC) was administered to one group of rats that then received gas anesthesia for 30 min and to another group without subsequent anesthesia. A third group was injected with saline followed by 30 min of gas anesthesia. Our primary hypothesis was that noteworthy gastrointestinal bleeding and lesions would occur in both groups treated with ketoprofen but not in rats that received saline and anesthesia. Our results showed marked gastrointestinal bleeding, erosions, and small intestinal ulcers in the ketoprofen-treated rats and minimal damages in the saline-treated group. The combination of ketoprofen and anesthesia resulted in worse clinical signs than did ketoprofen alone. We conclude that a single 5-mg/kg dose of ketoprofen causes acute mucosal damage to the rat small intestine.

Bilateral temporomandibular joint (TMJ) luxation was diagnosed postmortem in a female, 6-mo-old CD rat (Rattus norvegicus) after probable head entrapment and subsequent disentanglement from a protective jacket. Clinical antemortem signs included inability to close her mouth, prehend food and drink water, anxiety, and linear skin erosions extending down the right and left commissures of the mouth. Radiography revealed rostral displacement of the mandible with concomitant malocclusion. The combination of clinical signs, acute nature of the presentation, and torn appearance of the protective jacket were strongly indicative of a traumatic etiology. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of TMJ luxation in a rat.