Clinical effect of vitamin D supplementation on patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and its influence on the expression of immune cells and inflammatory factors.

Tuberculosis is highly infectious and has a high incidence worldwide. Therefore, effective treatment is essential for the disease. The immune function and inflammatory factors can reflect the therapeutic effect of pulmonary tuberculosis to some extent. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical effect of vitamin D supplementation on pulmonary tuberculosis patients and its influence on the expression of immune cells and inflammatory factors in patients. A total of 256 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis who were admitted to our hospital were collected as research participants; 120 patients who were treated with conventional antituberculosis drugs were taken as a control group (CG) and 136 patients who were treated with vitamin D-assisted antituberculosis drugs were taken as the research group (RG). The levels of inflammatory factors (IL-6, MMP-9, IL-4, TNF-α) and T lymphocyte subgroup of patients were measured in both groups before and after treatment. The efficacy was compared in both groups. The disappearance time of wheezing and cough in RG was shorter than that in CG (P<0.001). There was no difference in X-ray chest plain film, sputum examination results and efficacy of patients in both groups (P>0.05). After treatment, CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD8+ were upregulated in both groups (P<0.05), while CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD8+ in RG were higher than those in CG (P<0.05). After treatment, inflammatory factors in both groups improved compared with those before treatment. Serum inflammatory factors in RG were significantly lower than those in CG (P<0.05). After treatment, surfactant protein in the two groups was lower than that before treatment, while that in RG was significantly lower than that in CG (P<0.05). After treatment, soluble selectins in both groups improved significantly. The level of soluble selectins in RG was slightly lower than that in CG. The incidence of adverse reactions in RG was lower than that in CG. The life quality scores of patients in RG were slightly higher than those in CG (P<0.05). In conclusion, vitamin D-assisted antituberculosis drugs can effectively improve the immune function and expression level of inflammatory factors in pulmonary tuberculosis patients and reduce adverse reactions.

A 4-week oral toxicity study of an antiviral drug combination consisting of arbidol and acetaminophen in rats.

The antiviral drug combination consisting of arbidol and acetaminophen was investigated for its 4-week repeated oral administration in Sprague-Dawley rats. Groups of rats (10/sex in low-dose group, 15/sex in other three groups) were given at doses of 0, 200, 400, and 800 mg/kg/day. Clinical signs, mortality, body weight, food consumption, hematology, clinical biochemistry, macroscopic findings, organ weights, and histopathology were examined. The administration resulted in increased incidence of piloerection in most of the high-dose females and in some of the high-dose males and mid-dose females. Histopathological examinations revealed minor treatment-related change in the stomach of the high-dose animals. A decrease in body-weight gains and an increase in liver weight were observed in the mid- and high-dose groups. These treatment-related effects were reversible at the 2-week recovery period. A number of other clinical and pathological findings were not considered to be treatment related, since these changes occurred only in one sex were among the normal historical ranges, which were not supported by histopathological findings. Under the conditions of the present study, the no-observed-adverse-effect-level for 4-week oral administration to rats was considered 200 mg/kg/day, based on clinical observations, pathological findings, body-weight losses, and liver-weight changes.

A subchronic intravenous toxicity study of magnesium fructose-1,6-diphosphate in beagle dogs.

Magnesium fructose-1,6-diphosphate is a novel agent of antimyocardial ischaemia. In the present study, the subchronic toxicity of magnesium fructose-1,6-diphosphate was investigated after 13-week repeated intravenous administration in beagle dogs. The animals received doses of 0, 75, 150 and 300 mg/kg/day (three males and three females for each dose). During the study period, clinical signs, mortality, body weights, food consumption, electrocardiogram, urinalysis, haematology, clinical biochemistry, macroscopic findings, organ weights and histopathology were examined. The administration of magnesium fructose-1,6-diphosphate resulted in increased incidence of clinical signs, including salivation and emesis. These effects were transient and were noted in almost all dogs given 300 mg/kg/day and occasionally noted in the 150 mg/kg/day dose-treated animals. Serum magnesium in the 150 mg/kg/day and 300 mg/kg/day dose-treated animals was significantly increased after 6- and 13-week administration, but recovered at the end of a 2-week recovery period. At 6 weeks, a statistically significant decrease in serum electrolytes, including sodium and potassium, was observed in the treatment groups. There were no other treatment-related findings. Under the conditions of the present study, magnesium fructose-1,6-diphosphate did not show any evidence of target organ toxicity. The no-observed-adverse-effect level for 13-week intravenous administration of magnesium fructose-1,6-diphosphate to beagle dogs was considered 75 mg/kg/day based on observations of clinical signs and serum electrolytes.