The emerging role of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1r) in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs)

Recent years have seen a growing interest in insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) in medical oncology. Interesting data have been reported also on IGF1r in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) especially in children and in young adult patients whose disease does not harbour mutations on KIT and PDGFRA and are poorly responsive to conventional therapies. However, it is too early to reach conclusions on IGF1R as a novel therapeutic target in GIST because the receptor's biological role is still to be defined and the clinical significance in patients needs to be studied in larger studies. We update and comment the current literature on IGF1R in GISTs and discuss the future perspectives in this promising field

Embedment of Chlorpheniramine Maleate in Directly Compressed Matrix Tablets of Compritol and Kollidone SR

Purpose: To study the effect of compritol ATO888 and kollidon SR blend on the release of chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM) from its matrix tablets prepared by direct compression.Methods: Different ratios of compritol and kollidon SR (containing 50 % matrix component) in 1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 3:1 ratios were formulated using direct compression. The formulations were organoleptically tested and investigated for CPM release.Results: The release kinetics showed Fickian diffusion mode for kollidone and anomalous release mechanism for compritol matrices. Combining compritol as a lipophilic material and kollidone produced a matrix with controlled drug release. Retardation of drug release rate depended on the ratio of compritol to kollidon. The lower the compritol component, the slower the drug release rate. CPM in matrix tablets containing compritol:kollidone SR in a ratio of 1: 3 achieved optimized sustained release, where 44 % of the drug was released within 8 h (versus 94.5 % for compritol and 54.2 % for kollidon matrix systems). The kinetics of drug release followed Fickian diffusion at low compritol concentration in the blend, reflecting the importance of pore formation. However, when compritol proportion was increased, drug release followed non-Fickian anomalous kinetics due to the water-repelling effect of compritol.Conclusion: Compritol content of CPM matrix tablets can be used to modulate drug release rate as well as release kinetics.Keywords: Chlorpheniramine maleate, Matrix tablets, Compritol, Kollidon, Drug release, Release kinetic

Door-to-door survey of major neurological disorders (project) in Al Quseir City, Red Sea Governorate, Egypt

Hamdy NA El Tallawy,1 Wafaa MA Farghaly,1 Tarek A Rageh,1 Ghaydaa A Shehata,1 Reda Badry,1 Nabil A Metwally,2 Esam A El Moselhy,2 Mahmoud Hassan,2 Mohamed A Sayed,3 Ahmed A Waris,1 Yaser Hamed,2 Islam Shaaban,2 Mohamed A Hamed,1 Mahmoud Raafat Kandil11Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt; 2Department of Neurology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University (Assiut branch), Assiut, Egypt; 3Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag, EgyptAbstract: A door-to-door survey, including every household, was conducted for all inhabitants of Al Quseir City (33,283), Red Sea Governorate, Egypt by three specialists of neurology as well as nine senior staff members of neurology and 15 female social workers to assess the epidemiology of major neurological disorders. Over six phases, from July 1, 2009 to January 31, 2012, screening of all eligible people in the population was carried out, by which case ascertainment of all major neurological disorders included in the study was done according to the accepted definitions and diagnostic criteria of the World Health Organization. The order of frequency of prevalence of the studied neurological disorders was dementia (3.83% for those aged > 60 years), migraine (2.8% for those aged > 8 years), stroke (6.2/1000 for those aged > 20 years), epilepsy (5.5/1000), Parkinson’s disease (452.1/100,000 for those aged > 40 years), cerebral palsy (3.6/1000 among children 37 years), chorea (21.03/100,000), athetosis (15/100,000), and multiple sclerosis (13.74/100,000). The incidence rates of stroke, epilepsy, and Bell’s palsy were 181/100,000, 48/100,000, and 98.9/100,000 per year, respectively.Keywords: prevalence, incidence, neurological disorder