Carcinoid szívbetegség.

Carcinoids are rare tumors originating from neuroendocrine cells. A large proportion of these tumors produce serotonin and other biologically active hormones which may produce carcinoid syndrome characterized by flushing, diarrhoea and bronchospasm. Carcinoid heart disease, a rare complication of carcinoid syndrome, may itself have a great impact on life expectancy of patients with carcinoid syndrome. The authors present a case history of a patients with carcinoid heart disease and they review the symptoms, diagnosis and therapeutic options of this rare complication of carcinoid syndrome. Orv. Hetil., 2013, 154, 546-550

Differential adaptation of REM sleep latency, intermediate stage and theta power effects of escitalopram after chronic treatment.

The effects of the widely used selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants on sleep have been intensively investigated. However, only a few animal studies examined the effect of escitalopram, the more potent S-enantiomer of citalopram, and conclusions of these studies on sleep architecture are limited due to the experimental design. Here, we investigate the acute (2 and 10 mg/kg, i.p. injected at the beginning of the passive phase) or chronic (10 mg/kg/day for 21 days, by osmotic minipumps) effects of escitalopram on the sleep and quantitative electroencephalogram (EEG) of Wistar rats. The first 3 h of EEG recording was analyzed at the beginning of passive phase, immediately after injections. The acutely injected 2 and 10 mg/kg and the chronically administered 10 mg/kg/day escitalopram caused an approximately three, six and twofold increases in rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) latency, respectively. Acute 2-mg/kg escitalopram reduced REMS, but increased intermediate stage of sleep (IS) while the 10 mg/kg reduced both. We also observed some increase in light slow wave sleep and passive wake parallel with a decrease in deep slow wave sleep and theta power in both active wake and REMS after acute dosing. Following chronic treatment, only the increase in REMS latency remained significant compared to control animals. In conclusion, adaptive changes in the effects of escitalopram, which occur after 3 weeks of treatment, suggest desensitization in the function of 5-HT(1A) and 5-HT(1B) receptors

Daganatellenes kezelesben reszesult gyermekek kesoi pulmonalis toxicitasanak vizsgalata.

Introduction: The present investigation was based on a survey in 2005, in which the authors found pulmonary function abnormalities in survivors of childhood cancer, who were treated with anticancer therapy. Aim: The purpose of the present study was to follow-up childhood cancer survivors and detect late pulmonary toxicity. Patients and methods: Lung function test was performed with spirometry in 26 survivors participated in this study (10 females and 16 males; mean age, 19.4 years at the time of the second follow-up evaluation). The average time periods from treatment until the first and second follow-up evaluation were 4.5 and 10 years, respectively. Results: The authors found 14 patients with pathological pulmonary function tests results at the time of the first follow-up evaluation, from which 7 patients had obstructive, 5 patients had mixed and 2 patients had restrictive abnormalities. However, there were only 6 patients who had abnormal pulmonary function at the time of the second follow-up evaluation (2 patients with obstructive and 4 patients with restrictive pulmonary function tests (p<0.05). Conclusion: Restrictive pulmonary disorder was detected in only small part of the treated patients. The obsructive pulmonary abnormalities caused by the treatment showed an improving tendency over time. Orv. Hetil., 2013, 154, 345-350

Supercritical fluid extraction and convergence chromatographic determination of parthenolide in Tanacetum parthenium L.: Experimental design, modeling and optimization

Abstract Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium L., Asteraceae) is a perennial medicinal plant which has been used to alleviate the symptoms of migraines, headaches and rheumatoid arthritis. The herb contains various potentially active constituents such as sesquiterpene-γ-lactones, flavonoids and volatile oil. The main sesquiterpene-lactone in feverfew is parthenolide which is considered to be responsible for the therapeutical effects. Supercritical CO2 extraction was carried out at different pressures (10–30 MPa), temperatures (40–80 °C) and co-solvent contents (0–10% ethanol) in order to study the extraction yield and the parthenolide recovery of the extracts. Leaves collected before and during flowering and flower heads were investigated. A factorial experiment using a full 33 design was followed during the experiments and response surface methodology was implemented to analyze the influence of the variables and optimize the extraction. The critical values of parthenolide content were found to be 7% EtOH, 22 MPa and 64 °C in case of all three samples. It was determined, that the optimal conditions of the extraction, where the maximum parthenolide content and extract yield can be reached, do not coincide. The highest yield of parthenolide was obtained in the flower heads (0.604 wt.%)