Preliminary Evidence for Cell Membrane Amelioration in Children with Cystic Fibrosis by 5-MTHF and Vitamin B12 Supplementation: A Single Arm Trial

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common fatal autosomal recessive disorders in the Caucasian population caused by mutations of gene for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). New experimental therapeutic strategies for CF propose a diet supplementation to affect the plasma membrane fluidity and to modulate amplified inflammatory response. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) and vitamin B12 supplementation for ameliorating cell plasma membrane features in pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis.A single arm trial was conducted from April 2004 to March 2006 in an Italian CF care centre. 31 children with CF aged from 3 to 8 years old were enrolled. Exclusion criteria were diabetes, chronic infections of the airways and regular antibiotics intake. Children with CF were supplemented for 24 weeks with 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF, 7.5 mg /day) and vitamin B12 (0.5 mg/day). Red blood cells (RBCs) were used to investigate plasma membrane, since RBCs share lipid, protein composition and organization with other cell types. We evaluated RBCs membrane lipid composition, membrane protein oxidative damage, cation content, cation transport pathways, plasma and RBCs folate levels and plasma homocysteine levels at baseline and after 24 weeks of 5-MTHF and vitamin B12 supplementation. In CF children, 5-MTHF and vitamin B12 supplementation (i) increased plasma and RBC folate levels; (ii) decreased plasma homocysteine levels; (iii) modified RBC membrane phospholipid fatty acid composition; (iv) increased RBC K(+) content; (v) reduced RBC membrane oxidative damage and HSP70 membrane association.5-MTHF and vitamin B12 supplementation might ameliorate RBC membrane features of children with CF.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00730509

Positive Psychology: Positive Psychology

يمثل علم النفس الايجابي أحد التيارات الايجابية الحديثة جدا في علم النفس، فهو مدخل لاستعادة التوازن وتصحيح المسار ومنهج في الوقاية والعلاج، فهو المنهج الوقائي والعلاجي لاكتشاف مكامن القوة الإنسانية وتنميتها وتعظيمها، فيساعد في عملية العلاج ويبني جدران الوقاية من المرض، فهو يمثل نموذج الصحة و السواء فيركز على أوجه القوة عند الإنسان وعلى تعزيز الإمكانيات. ويحاول هذا المقال إعطاء طرح علمي نظري موجز لعلم النفس الايجابي من خلال توضيح البدايات الأولى لهذا العلم، تعريفه، أهميته، مجالات البحث فيه.Positive psychology represents one of the modern positive trends in psychological science, because this later is a preface to retrieval the balance, correct the path and a method in prevention and therapy. So, it is a prevention and therapeutic method to discover human sources then develop them and glorify them .As a result, positive psychology helps therapy process and builds the wall of disease prevention. Also, it represents a model of health and wellness and focuses on the strength faces of human then reinforce then possibilities or potential. This article is trying to represent a scientific research and theoretical summary of positive psychology science though, its importance, and other fields of research

Pharmacokinetic interactions between ivacaftor and cytochrome P450 3A4 inhibitors in people with cystic fibrosis and healthy controls

BACKGROUND: Ivacaftor is currently the only CFTR potentiator approved and is increasingly used since the development of CFTR correctors. Ivacaftor is metabolized by CYP3A4 and therefore dose reduction is required when treating patients on ivacaftor with CYP3A4 inhibiting drugs. As this advice is based on studies in healthy volunteers and not in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, we need to investigate this in both groups to be able to extrapolate these data to CF. METHODS: A cohort of CF patients and healthy subjects were exposed to a single dose of ivacaftor in combination with a strong (ritonavir), moderate (clarithromycin) and mild (azithromycin) CYP3A4 inhibitor. Ivacaftor concentrations were measured in all blood samples in order to calculate the pharmacokinetic parameters for ivacaftor. RESULTS: We found that exposure to ivacaftor was higher in healthy volunteers than in subjects with CF. However this difference was not statistically significant. No differences were observed in the interaction potential of CYP3A4 inhibitors between both study groups. The strong CYP3A4 inhibitor ritonavir, increased exposure to ivacaftor 7 times. CONCLUSION: Our data support current recommendations for dose adjustment of ivacaftor in case of co-treatment with CYP3A4 inhibitors in people with CF. However, exposure to ivacaftor was higher in healthy subjects than in CF patients. Further study is needed to investigate the cause and implication of this difference