Is a combination of varenicline and nicotine patch more effective in helping smokers quit than varenicline alone? A randomised controlled trial

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Synthesis, docking study and biological evaluation of novel N-(1,3-benzothiazole-2-yl)-2-(pyridine-3-ylformohydrazido) acetamide derivatives

1721-1737A series of N-(1,3-benzothiazole-2-yl)-2(pyridine-3-ylformohydrazido acetamide derivatives have been synthesized by facile and efficient conventional method. The structures of the compounds have been elucidated with the aid of elemental analysis, IR, ESI-MS, and 1H and 13C NMR spectral data. Molecular docking revealed that synthesized derivatives and target proteins are actively involved in the binding pattern and had a significant correlation with biological activity. Molecular dynamics studies have also been performed and ADME parameters for the synthesized compounds determined. Biological evaluation of all synthesized compounds have been carried out in vitro for their antibacterial, antituberculosis and antifungal efficacy against various bacterial and fungal strains and H37Rv. The different studies indicate that newly synthesized compounds possess moderate to good biological activities

Different toll-like receptor stimuli have a profound impact on cytokines required to break tolerance and induce autoimmunity.

Although toll-like receptor (TLR) signals are critical for promoting antigen presenting cell maturation, it remains unclear how stimulation via different TLRs influence dendritic cell (DC) function and the subsequent adaptive response in vivo. Furthermore, the relationship between TLR-induced cytokine production by DCs and the consequences on the induction of a functional immune response is not clear. We have established a murine model to examine whether TLR3 or TLR4 mediated DC maturation has an impact on the cytokines required to break tolerance and induce T-cell-mediated autoimmunity. Our study demonstrates that IL-12 is not absolutely required for the induction of a CD8 T-cell-mediated tissue specific immune response, but rather the requirement for IL-12 is determined by the stimuli used to mature the DCs. Furthermore, we found that IFNα is a critical pathogenic component of the cytokine milieu that circumvents the requirement for IL-12 in the induction of autoimmunity. These studies illustrate how different TLR stimuli have an impact on DC function and the induction of immunity

Aspirin has little additional anti-platelet effect in healthy volunteers receiving prasugrel

Summary. Background: Strong P2Y12 blockade, as can be achieved with novel anti‐platelet agents such as prasugrel, has been shown in vitro to inhibit both ADP and thromboxane A2‐mediated pathways of platelet aggregation, calling into question the need for the concomitant use of aspirin. Objective: The present study investigated the hypothesis that aspirin provides little additional anti‐aggregatory effect in a group of healthy volunteers taking prasugrel. Study participants/methods: In all, 9 males, aged 18 to 40 years, enrolled into the 21‐day study. Prasugrel was loaded at 60 mg on day 1 and maintained at 10 mg until day 21. At day 8, aspirin 75 mg was introduced and the dose increased to 300 mg on day 15. On days 0, 7, 14 and 21, platelet function was assessed by aggregometry, response to treatments was determined by VerifyNow™ and urine samples were collected for quantification of prostanoid metabolites. Results: At day 7, aggregation responses to a range of platelet agonists were reduced and there was only a small further inhibition of aggregation to TRAP‐6, collagen and epinephrine at days 14 and 21, when aspirin was included with prasugrel. Urinary prostanoid metabolites were unaffected by prasugrel, and were reduced by the addition of aspirin, independent of dose. Conclusions: In healthy volunteers, prasugrel produces a strong anti‐aggregatory effect, which is little enhanced by the addition of aspirin. The addition of aspirin as a dual‐therapy with potent P2Y12 receptor inhibitors warrants further investigation