Treatment of hepatic and pulmonary hydatidosis with albendazole and praziquantel

Conservative treatment of human hydatidosis (cystic echinococcosis) with albendazole has improved significantly the prognosis of the disease. But its therapeutic effectiveness is 30 - 70 %. There is some evidence that the effectiveness of albendazole can be enhanced by praziquantel but there is no strict recommendation for the use of praziquantel as part of long-term drug therapy for hydatidosis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the combination of albendazole and praziquantel in patients with hepatic and/or pulmonary hydatidosis. A total of 20 patients (aged 12 - 70 years old) were included in the study for a 5-year period. Fourteen patients (70 %) were with hepatic hydatidosis, 4 (20 %) with pulmonary and 2 (10 %) with hepatic and pulmonary hydatidosis. They were treated with albendazole (15 mg/kg/day) and praziquantel (40 mg/kg/weekly) for 2 - 9 one-month courses. The result of the therapy was followed using imaging (abdominal ultrasound, lung radiography, computed tomography) and serology. Seventeen (85 %) out of 20 patients showed evidence of response on imaging defined as improvement or cure of hydatid cysts. Seven (35 %) of the patients with multiple cystic echinococcosis took praziquantel once a week for 6 months. Only 3 patients (15 %) with multiple hydatidosis (2 with liver and 1 with pulmonary hydatidosis) failed to respond to the therapy with both drugs. No side effects have been reported by the patients. The combination of albendazole and praziquantel seems to be an option to improve the therapeutic effectiveness of the conservative treatment of cystic echinococcosis.

Exploitation of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) and p53 activation as therapeutic targets: A case study in polypharmacology

The tenovins are a frequently studied class of compounds capable of inhibiting sirtuin activity, which is thought to result in increased acetylation and protection of the tumor suppressor p53 from degradation. However, as we and other laboratories have shown previously, certain tenovins are also capable of inhibiting autophagic flux, demonstrating the ability of these compounds to engage with more than one target. In this study, we present two additional mechanisms by which tenovins are able to activate p53 and kill tumor cells in culture. These mechanisms are the inhibition of a key enzyme of the de novo pyrimidine synthesis pathway, dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), and the blockage of uridine transport into cells. These findings hold a 3-fold significance: first, we demonstrate that tenovins, and perhaps other compounds that activate p53, may activate p53 by more than one mechanism; second, that work previously conducted with certain tenovins as SirT1 inhibitors should additionally be viewed through the lens of DHODH inhibition as this is a major contributor to the mechanism of action of the most widely used tenovins; and finally, that small changes in the structure of a small molecule can lead to a dramatic change in the target profile of the molecule even when the phenotypic readout remains static.

Optimization of Tetrahydroindazoles as Inhibitors of Human Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase and Evaluation of Their Activity and In Vitro Metabolic Stability

Human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), an enzyme in the de novo pyrimidine synthesis pathway, is a target for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis and is re-emerging as an attractive target for cancer therapy. Here we describe the optimization of recently identified tetrahydroindazoles (HZ) as DHODH inhibitors. Several of the HZ analogues synthesized in this study are highly potent inhibitors of DHODH in an enzymatic assay, while also inhibiting cancer cell growth and viability and activating p53-dependent transcription factor activity in a reporter cell assay. Furthermore, we demonstrate the specificity of the compounds toward the de novo pyrimidine synthesis pathway through supplementation with an excess of uridine. We also show that induction of the DNA damage marker γ-H2AX after DHODH inhibition is preventable by cotreatment with the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK. Additional solubility and in vitro metabolic stability profiling revealed compound 51 as a favorable candidate for preclinical efficacy studies.

Autophagic flux blockage by accumulation of weakly basic tenovins leads to elimination of B-Raf mutant tumour cells that survive vemurafenib

Tenovin-6 is the most studied member of a family of small molecules with antitumour activity in vivo. Previously, it has been determined that part of the effects of tenovin-6 associate with its ability to inhibit SirT1 and activate p53. However, tenovin-6 has also been shown to modulate autophagic flux. Here we show that blockage of autophagic flux occurs in a variety of cell lines in response to certain tenovins, that autophagy blockage occurs regardless of the effect of tenovins on SirT1 or p53, and that this blockage is dependent on the aliphatic tertiary amine side chain of these molecules. Additionally, we evaluate the contribution of this tertiary amine to the elimination of proliferating melanoma cells in culture. We also demonstrate that the presence of the tertiary amine is sufficient to lead to death of tumour cells arrested in G1 phase following vemurafenib treatment. We conclude that blockage of autophagic flux by tenovins is necessary to eliminate melanoma cells that survive B-Raf inhibition and achieve total tumour cell kill and that autophagy blockage can be achieved at a lower concentration than by chloroquine. This observation is of great relevance as relapse and resistance are frequently observed in cancer patients treated with B-Raf inhibitors.

A DHODH inhibitor increases p53 synthesis and enhances tumor cell killing by p53 degradation blockage

The development of non-genotoxic therapies that activate wild-type p53 in tumors is of great interest since the discovery of p53 as a tumor suppressor. Here we report the identification of over 100 small-molecules activating p53 in cells. We elucidate the mechanism of action of a chiral tetrahydroindazole (HZ00), and through target deconvolution, we deduce that its active enantiomer (R)-HZ00, inhibits dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH). The chiral specificity of HZ05, a more potent analog, is revealed by the crystal structure of the (R)-HZ05/DHODH complex. Twelve other DHODH inhibitor chemotypes are detailed among the p53 activators, which identifies DHODH as a frequent target for structurally diverse compounds. We observe that HZ compounds accumulate cancer cells in S-phase, increase p53 synthesis, and synergize with an inhibitor of p53 degradation to reduce tumor growth in vivo. We, therefore, propose a strategy to promote cancer cell killing by p53 instead of its reversible cell cycle arresting effect.

Clinical and laboratory characteristics of type I (insulin dependent) diabetes mellitus at presentation among Bulgarian children

Clinical and laboratory data of 1248 newly diagnosed diabetic children at the time of diagnosis were analysed. All children were admitted to the University Children's Hospital in Sofia, 45.9% before first their insulin injection. Symptoms preceding the diagnosis and laboratory data (plasma glucose and ketonuria) were analysed, respectively for 1100 and 1022 children. Blood pH (mainly arterialized) was available in 558 ketonuria positive children and in other 82 acidotic breathing was reported. Mother's education was noted in the 1226 hospital records. Among the children with known urinanalysis 13.5% were without ketonuria (148 patients), 12 of them with fasting blood glucose < or = 6.4 mmol/1 (115 mg/dl). Eighteen-point-two percent of all children were hospitalized in a state of severe ketoacidosis (blood pH < or = 7.2 or reported acidotic breathing). The average duration of thirst and polyuria was 28 +/- 33 days. Ketonuria negative children with plasma glucose < or = 6.4 mmol/l showed a significantly shorter period of symptoms, compared to those with plasma glucose > 6.4 mmol/1 (17 +/- 25 vs. 25 +/- 31 days; P = 0.0991). The cases with severe ketoacidosis, compared to those with mild ketoacidosis (blood pH 7.21 - 7.34) showed shorter period of symptoms too (P = 0.0658). Moderate positive relation existed between the age at diagnosis and duration of symptoms (chi 2 = 43.28, D.F. = 8, P = 0.0000). The percentage of severe ketoacidosis is higher in the younger age groups. Febrile illness, preceding the start of the symptoms was more common in the groups with shorter duration of symptoms (up to 1 month), but did not change the proportion of severe ketoacidosis. No significant difference was found between the level of mother's education and duration of the symptoms before diagnosis (P = 0.9782). We conclude that the level of metabolic disturbances at the diagnosis of IDDM among children was not influenced by the duration of the preceding symptoms. The severity of clinical picture was possibly dependent on the degree of insulinopenia, i.e. the rate of beta-cell destruction. Clinical heterogeneity was possibly dependent on genetical heterogeneity related to HLA class II genes.

[Experience in treating episiotomies after labor with ice]

It is known from literature influence on cryotherapy on the tissue structures. It's application cause vessel constriction factor for decrease exudative inflammations and edema), save enzyme and immune activity at the cells levels and increases regenerative processes in tissues On the 324 young mothers we fix ice over episiotomies from 1st puerperal day for 3 days. As a control group were episiotomies on the 254 young mothers one cryoprophylaxis. Complications (oedema, inflammatio, or suppuratio) at the 1st group was 5.55% and in the 2nd (control) group was 9.45%. These results give us reason to suppose, that cryoprophylaxis have even non essential effect on the processes on recovery on episiotomies after delivery.