Pharmacology

A Pilot Study of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral for Treatment (SBIRT) in Non-Treatment Seeking Smokers with HIV
PLHIV have higher rates of smoking and lower motivation to quit smoking; thus to impact smoking rates, cessation interventions need to be acceptable to a wider range of PLHIV smokers as well as feasible to implement in a busy clinical setting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accepta...


Chloroquine Inhibits HMGB1 Inflammatory Signaling and Protects Mice from Lethal Sepsis
Sepsis is caused by an overwhelming immune response to bacterial infection. The discovery of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) as a late mediator of lethal sepsis has prompted investigation into the development of new therapeutics which specifically target this protein. Here, we show that chloroq...
Extract from the Zooxanthellate Jellyfish Cotylorhiza tuberculata Modulates Gap Junction Intercellular Communication in Human Cell Cultures
On a global scale, jellyfish populations in coastal marine ecosystems exhibit increasing trends of abundance. High-density outbreaks may directly or indirectly affect human economical and recreational activities, as well as public health. As the interest in biology of marine jellyfish grows, a nu...
Developments in the field of antidepressants, where do we go now?
Major depression is a severe psychiatric syndrome with very high prevalence and socio-economic impact. Its pathophysiology is poorly known, yet several neurotransmitter systems and brain areas have been implicated. Selective serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and ser...
Carbon monoxide feedback in a motivational decision support system for nicotine dependence among smokers with severe mental illnesses
Health concerns are common reasons for wanting to quit smoking among smokers with mental illnesses. Motivational interventions have used feedback from a carbon monoxide monitor to increase awareness of health concerns, but this device is not commonly available. Whether brief motivational interven...
A latent class approach to treatment readiness corresponds to a transtheoretical (“Stages of Change”) model
Motivation for treatment among people with substance use problems is an important aspect of treatment success. Models for treatment motivation are widely debated. Latent Class Analysis can help to demonstrate the appropriateness of available models. The current study utilizes Latent Class Analysi...


Growth hormone-independent suppression of growth hormone-dependent female isoforms of cytochrome P450 by the somatostatin analog octreotide
Octreotide is a potent somatostatin analog therapeutically used to treat several conditions including hyper growth hormone secretion in patients with acromegaly. We infused octreotide into female Sprague Dawley rats every 12h for 6 days at levels considerably greater than typical human therapeuti...
Recent pharmacological developments in β-carboline alkaloid “Harmaline
Peganum harmala (L) is a perennial plant which is native of eastern Iranian and west of India but also found in different regions of western USA. A number of β-carboline compounds with therapeutic importance and different pharmacological effects, are present in this plant. Among other alkaloids,...
Bladder contractility is modulated by Kv7 channels in pig detrusor
Kv7 channels are involved in smooth muscle relaxation, and accordingly we believe that they constitute potential targets for the treatment of overactive bladder syndrome. We have therefore used myography to examine the function of Kv7 channels in detrusor, i.e. pig bladder, with a view to determi...
Transient increase in alcohol self-administration following a period of chronic exposure to corticosterone
Stressful life events and chronic stressors have been associated with escalations in alcohol drinking. Stress exposure leads to the secretion of glucocorticoids (cortisol in the human; corticosterone (CORT) in the rodent). To model a period of heightened elevations in CORT, the present work asses...
Design and Exploratory Neuropharmacological Evaluation of Novel Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone Analogs and Their Brain-Targeting Bioprecursor Prodrugs
Efforts to take advantage of the beneficial activities of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) in the brain are hampered by its poor metabolic stability and lack of adequate central nervous system bioavailability. We report here novel and metabolically stable analogs that we derived from TRH by re...


Understanding the Diagnosis and Treatment of COPD and Asthma to Better Inform Site Selection and Patient Recruitment Planning
There is an increasing worldwide population of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Mortality from COPD is expected to double over the next 3 decades, making it the third leading cause of death worldwide. It is estimated that as many as 300 million people of all ag...
Elevation of Plasma Milrinone Concentrations in Stage D Heart Failure Associated With Renal Dysfunction
To determine steady state milrinone concentrations in patients with stage D heart failure (HF) with and without renal dysfunction>We retrospectively identified patients with stage D HF at a single medical center on continuous milrinone infusion at the time of plasma collection for entry into a re...
Effects of Direct Renin Inhibition on Atherosclerotic Biomarkers in Patients With Stable Coronary Artery Disease and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
To evaluate whether the direct renin inhibitor, aliskiren, has a more favorable effect compared to amlodipine on atherosclerotic biomarkers in patients with stable coronary artery disease and diabetes currently receiving standard secondary prevention therapy.>A total of 38 patients were randomly ...
Dapagliflozin: a guide to its use in type 2 diabetes mellitus
Dapagliflozin (Forxiga®), the first available renal sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitor, is a glucose-lowering agent with a unique insulin-independent mechanism of action. Relative to placebo, oral dapagliflozin significantly reduced glycated haemoglobin and fasting plasma glucose values w...