Patterns of Information Behavior and Prostate Cancer Knowledge Among African–American Men

OBJECTIVE: To explore cancer information acquisition patterns among African-American men and to evaluate relationships between information acquisition patterns and prostate cancer prevention and control knowledge. METHODS: A random sample of 268 men participated in a state wide interviewer administered, telephone survey. RESULTS: Men classified as non seekers, non medical source seekers, and medical source seekers of prostate cancer information differed on household income, level of education, and beliefs about personal risk for developing prostate cancer. Results from multiple regression analysis indicated that age, education, and information seeking status were associated with overall levels of prostate cancer knowledge. Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that men who included physicians as one of many information resources (medical source seekers) had superior knowledge over non seekers and non medical source seekers on 33% of individual knowledge details. CONCLUSION: The findings emphasize the need to connect lower income and lower educated African-American men to physicians as a source of prostate cancer control information

Mechanisms of drug-induced liver injury

The idiosyncratic nature and poor prognosis of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) make this type of reaction a major safety issue during drug development, as well as the most common cause for the withdrawal of drugs from the pharmaceutical market. The key to predicting and preventing DILI is understanding the underlying mechanisms. DILI is initiated by direct hepatotoxic effects of a drug, or a reactive metabolite of a drug. Parenchymal cell injury induces activation of innate and/or adaptive immune cells, which, in turn, produce proinflammatory and tissue hepatotoxic mediators, and/or mount immune reactions against drug-associated antigens. Understanding the molecular and cellular elements associated with these pathways can help identify risk factors and may ultimately facilitate the development of strategies to predict and prevent DILI