ACUTE ISCHEMIC STROKE IN WOMEN: EFFICACY OF THE FREE RADICAL SCAVENGER EDARAVONE.

OBJECTIVE: The aim: To investigate the effectiveness of usage of the free radical scavenger Edaravone in the therapy of women with AIS. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: A prospective study was conducted of 48 women with AIS, divided into two groups. Patients in the first group (n = 36) were treated with edaravone 30 mg twice a day intravenously. Neuroprotectors were not used in the control group (n = 12). Clinical-instrumental and neurological examination (Glasgow scale (SCG), FOUR, NIHSS, and neuronspecific enolase (NSE) levels) were performed on all patients. RESULTS: Results: The mean FOUR score in the 1th group increased from 11.04±0.85 to 15.47±0.63 points against 11.39±0.56 to 13.46±1.49 in the control group (pp<0.05). The level of NSE in control group patients increased 10-fold (from 9.2 to 96.4 ng/ml, p<0.01). Subsequently, there was a rapid decrease in NSE level in 1th group, and in the control group until 10 days of treatment, the level of NSE did not reach the reference values (p p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The introduction of edaravone in women with AIS results in positive results already in the acute period of the disease. The use of edaravon was significantly effective on the FOUR scale and the dynamics of NSE levels.

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation during Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has become an effective method in the treatment of adults and children with severe cardiac and pulmonary dysfunction that is resistant to conventional therapy. The aim of this article was to summarize an experience of ECMO usage for cardiac dysfunction, which develops in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. The study comprised a retrospective, single-center analysis of 23 patients with CHD (19 men and four women, average age 65.7 ± 12.3 years), who undertook the ECMO technique during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. A total of 13 (56.52%) patients died directly in the hospital, or 30 days after a discharge. Independent predictors of fatal outcomes were diabetes mellitus (odds ratio [OR] = 17.58; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 6.47-47.48; p = .00125), chronic renal failure (CRF) (OR = 20.81; 95% CI = 5.95-72.21; p = .00014), and damage to the right coronary artery (RCA) (OR = 25.51; 95% CI = 8.27-79.12; p = .00013). For deceased patients, the "no reflow" phenomenon was indicated in a larger percentage of cases (23.1% in the group of deceased, vs. 10% in the group of survivors). A routine connection to ECMO before the occurrence of cardiac events was significantly more often used in the group of survived patients (90% of cases) than in the deceased (p = .0000001). Diabetes mellitus, CRF, and damage to the RCA were independent predictors of mortality during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in patients with CHD. The routine use of ECMO in high-risk patients with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty was a positive prognostic factor of patient survival.

Suppression of mICAT in Mouse Small Intestinal Myocytes by General Anaesthetic Ketamine and its Recovery by TRPC4 Agonist (-)-englerin A.

A better understanding of the negative impact of general anesthetics on gastrointestinal motility requires thorough knowledge of their molecular targets. In this respect the muscarinic cationic current (mICAT carried mainly via TRPC4 channels) that initiates cholinergic excitation-contraction coupling in the gut is of special interest. Here we aimed to characterize the effects of one of the most commonly used "dissociative anesthetics", ketamine, on mICAT. Patch-clamp and tensiometry techniques were used to investigate the mechanisms of the inhibitory effects of ketamine on mICAT in single mouse ileal myocytes, as well as on intestinal motility. Ketamine (100 µM) strongly inhibited both carbachol- and GTPγS-induced mICAT. The inhibition was slow (time constant of about 1 min) and practically irreversible. It was associated with altered voltage dependence and kinetics of mICAT. In functional tests, ketamine suppressed both spontaneous and carbachol-induced contractions of small intestine. Importantly, inhibited by ketamine mICAT could be restored by direct TRPC4 agonist (-)-englerin A. We identified mICAT as a novel target for ketamine. Signal transduction leading to TRPC4 channel opening is disrupted by ketamine mainly downstream of muscarinic receptor activation, but does not involve TRPC4 per se. Direct TRPC4 agonists may be used for the correction of gastrointestinal disorders provoked by general anesthesia.