Review of Mesna (Mistabron) as a Mucolytic for Preventing Plumonary complications in Intensive Care Setting.

Impaired mucus clearance or mucus hypersecretion are important feature of many pathological respiratory conditions and in ICU patients. Mesna is a potent mucolytic available as 200 mg/ml solution for neublization and endotracheopulmonary instillation. As effective “mucus clearance” is critical in managing post-operative and other ICU conditions to prevent complications like atelectasis and hypoxia, there is a need to review the clinical results of mucolytic agent Mesna, and its role in mucociliary clearance in critical care patients and in other respiratory conditions.

Pharmacological and histopathological study of cyclophosphamide-induced hemorrhagic cystitis - comparison of the effects of dexamethasone and Mesna

Chemotherapy with oxazaphosphorines, such as cyclophosphamide (CYP), is often limited by unacceptable urotoxicity. Without uroprotection, hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) becomes dose-limiting. To compare the uroprotective efficacy of classical 2-mercaptoethanesulfonic acid (Mesna) treatment with dexamethasone in CYP-induced HC, male Wistar rats (150-200 g; N = 6 in each group) were treated with saline or Mesna (40 mg/kg, ip) immediately and 4 and 8 h after ip administration of CYP (200 mg/kg). One, 2 or 3 doses of Mesna were replaced with dexamethasone (1 mg/kg, ip). The animals were sacrificed 24 h later. Cystitis was evaluated by determining the changes in bladder wet weight (BWW) and by macroscopic and microscopic analysis. CYP treatment induced a marked increased in BWW 162 percent 0.05, which was significantly inhibited by treatment with 3 doses of Mesna 0.05; 80 percent. The replacement of 1 or 2 doses of Mesna with dexamethasone reduced the increase in BWW by 83.3 and 95 percent, respectively. Macroscopic analysis of the bladder of rats with CYP-induced HC showed severe edema and hemorrhage, confirmed by microscopic analysis, that also showed mucosal erosion, inflammatory cell infiltration and ulcerations. The replacement of 1 or 2 doses of Mesna with dexamethasone inhibited the CYP-induced increase in BWW and almost abolished the macroscopic and microscopic alterations, with no significant difference between the effects of Mesna and dexamethasone, indicating that both drugs were efficient in blocking HC. However, although the replacement of all Mesna doses with dexamethasone reduced the edema, it did not prevent HC, suggesting that Mesna is necessary for the initial uroprotection

Current role of chemotherapy protectors in cancer treatment

The administration of full doses of chemotherapy according to an established schedule improves the response rate and duration of response in cancer patients. However, frequently there are delays in therapy due to dose-limiting side effects and chemotherapy could affect permanently normal tissues. This has led to the development of chemotherapy protectors and of rescue agents in the past years. We will discuss some of these new agents and their use in cancer treatment. Some of these agents include amifostine (Ethyol), dexrazoxane (Zinecard), mesna (Mesnex), leucovorin, G-CSF, GM CSF, recombinant erythropoietin and thrombopoietin. Oncologists must learn the adequate use of different strategies in reducing chemotherapy toxicity in order to improve both the quality and quantity of life of cancer patients

Linfoma cutáneo de células T, "no micosis fungoide" / Cutaneous T cell lymphoma \"no mycosis fungoides\"

Se estudia un linfoma cutáneo de células T que desarrolla lesiones tumorales ulceradas y lesiones atróficas poco notables. El informe histopatológico de las lesiones no tumorales es de micosis fungoide estadio en parche. En los tumores se observa un linfoma pleomorfo de células grandes y medianas de alto grado de malignidad. La inmunomarcación es positiva para pan T y macrófagos y la serología para retrovirus negativa. En ausencia de manifestaciones extracutáneas la paciente es tratada con poliquimioterapia con buena respuesta. Se efectúan consideraciones acerca del significado actual de la micosis fungoide y la conveniencia de llamar así sólo su forma clásica. La ausencia de etapa previa maculosa prolongada y la presencia de tipos histológicos de alto grado (pleomorfo, anaplásico, inmunoblástico) permiten separar un grupo de linfomas cutáneos de células T cuyo significado y definición aún no se ha completado

Simposio. Avances recientes con ifosfamida/mesna en el tratamiento de tumores sólidos malignos: etopósido, platino, ifosfamida y dexametasona como tratamiento de rescate en los linfomas no Hodgkin / Symposium on recent advances with ifosfamide/Mesna in the treatment of malignant solid tumors

Existen grandes avances en el manejo de los linfomas; desafortunadamente un porcentaje variable de casos recaerán a regímenes de primera línea. Se informan los resultados preliminares de 17 pacientes con diagnóstico de linfoma de Hodgkin refractarios a manejo de primera línea o refractarios. El esquema utilizado fue cada 3-4 semanas: combinación de etopósido 100 mg/m² por tres días, platino 100 mg/m² e ifosfamida 5g/m² fraccionados en tres días, mesna al 20 por ciento de la dosis diaria de ifosfamida por tres dosis; y dexametasona de 20 a 40 mg cada 24 horas por tres días. Trece de los 17 pacientes fueron evaluables para eficacia (dos aún en tratamiento; los otros dos abandonaron la terapia) y 16 fueron evaluables para toxicidad en 74 ciclos administrados. Se obtuvieron 11 respuestas totales (84 por ciento): seis respuestas (46 por ciento) Äcon supervivencia libre de enfermedad mínima de dos meses y máxima de 11 mesesÄ y cinco respuestas parciales (38 por ciento). La toxicidad más frecuente y grave fue neutropenia grado 4 (20 por ciento) con dos muertos por septicemia y plaquetopenia grado 4 (7 por ciento). El resto de los efectos tóxicos fueron leves y reversibles. No se observó toxicidad vasical. Concluimos que el esquema utilizado es efectivo, pero conlleva toxicidad grave en una cuarta parte de los ciclos. Consideramos que es conveniente incluir factores estimulantes de colonias en este tratamiento