Immunoglobulins and other modalities for the prevention and treatment of enteric viral infections

Viral infections of the gastrointestinal tract constitute a major health problem during the first years of life. In addition to causing acute diarrhea, rotaviruses and other enteric viruses may be involved in the pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis and other neonatal enteric diseases. There are several potential methods for the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal viral infections. Antiviral immune globulins, administered by the parenteral or oral route, might prove useful for the inhibition of intestinal viral replication. Alternatively, specific glycoprotein inhibitors of viral-cell binding might be used to prevent the productive infection of intestinal epithelial cells. In addition, since many enteric viruses require proteolytic enzymes for protein cleavage, protease inhibitors may prove to be effective agents for the inhibition of intestinal viral replication. At this point in time, these methods have proven useful for the inhibition of rotavirus infection in experimental animals. The successful application of these and other methods for the prevention of enteric infections in humans might substantially reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with enteric diseases.

A double-blind crossover trial of CMC- and mucin-containing saliva substitutes

The aim of this investigation was to describe and to compare the effectiveness of a CMC- and a mucin-containing saliva substitute. 22 post-radiation patients, 17 Sjögren's Syndrome patients and 3 patients with xerostomia of unknown origin used a CMC- and a mucin-containing saliva substitute, each for 1 week in an arbitrary sequence. Neither the patient, the assistant, nor the physician were aware of the substitute being used. Each patient had to complete a questionnaire at 3 different intervals during the trial. One of the conclusions of this study is that mucin-containing substitutes are preferred by patients when compared to CMC-containing substitutes.

Dry coating of intraocular lenses with bovine submaxillary mucin

Uncoated intraocular lenses caused extensive corneal endothelial cell damage after in vitro contact (mean, 30.9% cell loss), whereas lenses coated with bovine submaxillary mucin type 1 caused minimal cell loss (mean 4.3%). No observable in vivo toxicity in the eye occurred when 0.1 ml of 3, 6, or 9% solution was injected into the anterior chamber. Mucin-coated lenses can be sterilized by ethylene oxide with no measurable adsorbence into the coating. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed the results from vital staining.

[Tardyferon-depot in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia]

Tardyferon was administered to 51 patients with iron deficiency anaemia. The drug was very well tolerated and even after administration to fasting patients it was tolerated well by 92% of patients. The iron absorption curve was on the average twice as high after 1 hour and increased up to 3 hours. A significant therapeutic effect with raised haemoglobin level by 10--27% was obtained after 4--6 weeks of treatment in 44 patients (86%). In the remaining cases the improvement was less pronounced.