Physiochemical properties, safety and pharmacokinetics of bimosiamose disodium after intravenous administration.

OBJECTIVE: Bimosiamose is a novel synthetic panselectin antagonist being developed for the treatment of acute and chronic inflammatory disorders. Therefore, we have studied the pharmacokinetics and tolerability and determined the pharmacokinetically relevant physicochemical characteristics of bimosiamose. METHOD: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled dose-escalation trial in healthy male subjects has been carried out. The subjects received intravenous infusions of 0.5-30 mg/kg bimosiamose disodium. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) was 675 +/- 11 microg/ml with a tmax of 0.36 +/- 0.13 h (mean +/- SD). The elimination half-life t1/2 was 4.1 +/- 1.0 h, and the AUC(o-inf) was 1,360 +/- 393 h microg/ml after the 30 mg/kg dose. The clearance and the apparent volume of distribution decreased with increasing dose to 22 +/- 6 ml/kg/h and 40 +/- 13 ml/kg/h at the highest dose, respectively, and the mean residence time increased to 1.8 +/- 0.35 h. Bimosiamose was safe and well-tolerated.

An open multicenter study to assess the long-term efficacy, tolerance, and safety of the oral angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor ramipril in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension.

Three hundred thirty-one patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension, 182 males and 149 females with a mean age of 54 (range, 17-87 years), were studied for 1 year in a clinical trial with ramipril, an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor. The patients included had completed double-blind trials with ramipril vs. captopril, HCT, atenolol and ramipril plus piretanide. All cases were treated first with 5 mg ramipril and, where appropriate, also with 25 mg HCT. Adjustment of the dose in the range 1.25-20 mg ramipril was left to the investigator. Overall, a consistent reduction in blood pressure was achieved. Only small changes in mean blood pressure were noted during the 12 months (mean diastolic blood pressure 84.3-86.9 mm Hg, mean systolic blood pressure 145.6-148.2 mm Hg). Two hundred sixty-two (82%) of the 331 patients had diastolic values consistently equal to or lower than 95 mm Hg. There was a downward shift in the dosages upon which the investigators finally settled during the 12-month period in the patients receiving ramipril monotherapy. In patients also receiving HCT the initial dose was increased in most cases. Adverse events were observed in 6.7% of patients taking ramipril alone. The most frequent symptoms were dizziness, asthenia, pain in the upper abdomen and headache. Adverse effects occurred more frequently under continuous additional treatment with HCT, the same symptoms being reported. The clinical trial was prematurely terminated in six patients, in only two cases for medical reasons. The analysis of the laboratory findings revealed no general deterioration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Summarized results of clinical phase II and III studies with ofloxacin (HOE 280) in Europe]. / Zusammengefasste Ergebnisse der klinischen Phase II- und III-Studien mit Ofloxacin (HOE 280) in Europa.

Ofloxacin is a new quinolone-carboxylic acid derivative with a broad spectrum of activity, excellent bioavailability after oral administration and insignificant metabolisation. The serum elimination half-life is six to eight hours. 879 patients were treated with ofloxacin in therapeutic comparative studies monitored by the Department of Clinical Research, Hoechst AG. Of the original isolates 91 to 100% were susceptible to ofloxacin, 67 to 84% to co-trimoxazole, 73 to 98% to a fixed combination of amoxycilline plus clavulanic acid (AMC), 74% to nalidixic acid, 77% to nitrofurantoin, and 79% to pipemidic acid in previous in vitro tests. In the therapeutic studies which included only patients with pathogens susceptible to the antimicrobial agent used, the following cure rates (clinical and bacteriological) were obtained for uncomplicated infections of the lower urinary tract: ofloxacin (single dose treatment) 78% and 83%, co-trimoxazole 62%, nalidixic acid 72%. A three-day course with ofloxacin compared to a three to four-day treatment with co-trimoxazole or seven-day treatment with the other comparative compounds resulted for lower urinary tract infections in the following cure rates: ofloxacin 89%, co-trimoxazole 84%; ofloxacin 71%, AMC 33%; ofloxacin 64%, nitrofurantoin 56%; ofloxacin 56%, pipemidic acid 36%. The unfavourable results after treatment with AMC or pipemidic acid were caused by a high rate of superinfections. The combined cure rate in infections of the upper urinary tract was 73% for ofloxacin and 65% for co-trimoxazole or 81% for ofloxacin and 57% for AMC, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Sinusoidal endothelial cells from normal guinea pig liver: isolation, culture and characterization.

Guinea pig nonparenchymal hepatic cells were isolated by enzymatic digestion and subsequent separation on a 17.5% metrizamide gradient. Endothelial cell and Kupffer cell-enriched fractions were separated by centrifugal elutriation. Viability of both cell fractions was approximately 80%. Endothelial cells were cultured on a substratum of guinea pig liver collagen and 1% gelatin (1:1). Freshly isolated and cultured sinusoidal endothelial cells contained Factor VIII R:antigen, angiotensin I converting enzyme activity, and they synthesized prostaglandins characteristic of other endothelial cells. Sieve plates were identified in both freshly isolated and cultured cells. Fresh endothelial cells and Kupffer cells formed Fc receptor-mediated rosettes with IgG-opsonized sheep red blood cells, but cultured endothelial cells did not. Only Kupffer cells demonstrated Fc and C3 receptor-mediated phagocytosis. These methods for isolating and culturing sinusoidal endothelial cells should permit further functional assessment of endothelial cells and their interrelationship with other sinusoidal lining cells.

Isolated Kupffer cells, endothelial cells and hepatocytes as investigative tools for liver research.

The preparation and utilization of purified liver cell subpopulation is becoming an established tool for laboratory research in biological sciences. The various methods employed utilize cell separation based on differential sensitivity to enzymatic digestion, differences in cell size-density characteristics, and differential adherence of the various cell populations to a glass or plastic substrate. As detailed here, the choice of a technique for cell isolation is determined not only by whether parenchymal or nonparenchymal populations are to be used, but also by considerations relevant for the study of specific physiologic parameters. In this paper, techniques for the isolation and enrichment of hepatocytes and Kupffer cells are reviewed, with special attention to the utilization of counterflow elutriation in the preparation of these and other purified nonparenchymal cell populations. As examples of how isolated cells provide useful insights, studies on the properties of hepatocyte and nonparenchymal liver cell glycoprotein receptors, as well as observations on the immunologic functioned capabilities of isolated Kupffer cells, are presented.

Morphological characterization of Kupffer and endothelial cells of rat liver isolated by counterflow elutriation.

Kupffer and endothelial cells of rat liver were purified by recirculating collagenase perfusion, metrizamide gradient, and counterflow elutriation. Every step of the isolation procedure was followed by light microscopy and histochemistry. The final fractions of purified sinusoidal cells were examined in their isolated state by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The scope of this manuscript is the detailed documentation and discussion of all technical aspects and problems of a rather new isolation technique, as well as the detailed description of the purified sinusoidal cells of the liver by scanning electron microscopy. Broader acceptance of this isolation procedure should lead to the specific characterization of biochemical and immunological functions of these cells and elucidate their pathophysiological significance.

Sulfhydryl group quantitation of hepatoma and liver microsomal fractions.

The relationship of sulfhydryl and disulfide groups to protein synthesis in normal and rapidly growing tissues was investigated by quantitation of sulfhydryl groups in endoplasmic reticulum and polyribosomes of normal liver and hepatomas. Stripping by ethylenediaminetetraacetate and potassium chloride of normal liver smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum reduced by 15 percent and increased 30 percent, respectively, the sulfhydryl groups available for carboxamidemethylation by iodoacetamide. This could reflect the removal of ribosomes from rough endoplasmic reticulum with the subsequent exposure of sulfhydryl groups. Exposed sulfhydryl groups of normal mature female rat liver smooth endoplasmic reticulum were decreased to a similar degree by the stripping procedure with ethylenediaminetetra-acetate and potassium chloride when quantitated by either iodoacetamide or 4,4'-dithiodipyridine. This was not the case in young male and female rats, where the stripping procedure failed to decrease the exposed sulfhydryl groups of smooth endoplasmic reticulum. An increase in the quantity of exposed sulfhydryl groups of normal young and mature rat liver rough endoplasmic reticulum after stripping by ethylenediaminetetraacetate and potassium chloride was observed with iodoacetamide. However, when 4,4'-dithiodipyridine was used, no change could be detected. The hypothesis that smooth endoplasmic reticulum arises by degranulation of the rough endoplasmic reticulum in vivo is not supported by our sulfhydryl group quantitation of smooth endoplasmic reticulum and in vitro degranulated rough endoplasmic reticulum. A negative correlation between exposed sulfhydryl groups on the polyribosomes and the rate of growth of normal liver and of Morris hepatomas 6 and 38B suggests that the conformation of the free polyribosomal proteins could be a control factor for the rate of protein synthesis. Faster growing hepatomas also have greater quantities of sulfhydryls and disulfides.