An open multicentre study of the efficacy and safety of a single dose of fluconazole 150 mg in the treatment of vaginal candidiasis in general practice.

The efficacy and tolerability of fluconazole given as a single oral dose of 150 mg were assessed in 1,017 patients in general practice presenting with signs and symptoms of vaginal candidiasis. At the review visit 7-14 days after treatment, about 95 per cent of patients reported being either cured or improved. High vaginal swabs taken from 43 patients out of 50 who failed following treatment revealed Candida albicans in 17 (1.8 per cent). Efficacy in patients with predisposing factors (oral contraceptives, antibiotics and recurrent vaginal candidiasis - four episodes or more in previous year) was not significantly different from that in those without these factors. Of patients who had received previous intravaginal therapy for vaginal candidiasis, 88 per cent preferred fluconazole, 10 per cent previous therapy and two per cent had no preference. Investigators assessed efficacy after fluconazole as excellent or good in 91 per cent and tolerability as excellent or good in 91 per cent of patients. Significant adverse effects were reported in less than one per cent of patients.

Inhibition of electrically induced twitch responses of the guinea-pig ileum by histamine.

Inhibition of twitch responses of the guinea-pig isolated ileum to low frequency electric stimulation (0.2 Hz) followed the interpolation of a dose of histamine left in contact for 30 sec. This post-histamine inhibition, which was dose related, was not affected by mepyramine or cimetidine and thus was not brought about by an action on known histamine receptors. Histamine also reduced the height of contractions caused by exogenous acetylcholine (ACh) and this inhibition was quantitatively similar to the degree of post-histamine inhibition of twitch recorded at corresponding times following the removal of histamine by overflow. It therefore seems likely that histamine-induced inhibition of twitch is caused by desensitisation of the postsynaptic membrane to endogenous ACh released during transmural stimulation.