Benzodiazepines protect against ethanol-induced gastric mucosal damage in vitro.

The protective effects of drugs acting at the benzodiazepine receptors against ethanol-induced gastric damage were investigated using a newly developed in vitro model of the ethanol-induced gastric damage. The rat stomachs were isolated from the whole animal and kept in Kreb's solution at 37 degrees C. Gastric damage was induced by administration of 1 mL of 50% V/V ethanol into the isolated rat stomach. Administration of the benzodiazepine agonist, clonazepam (25, 50, 100 microg), or the partial benzodiazepine inverse agonist Ro15-4513 (50 or 100 microg), significantly protected against ethanol-induced gastric damage when these agents were administered 15 min before ethanol. The protective effects of these drugs were blocked by the benzodiazepine receptor antagonist flumazenil (200-400 microg). Flumazenil alone was found to aggravate ethanol-induced gastric damage (200-400 microg). The results of this study give evidence for the involvement of central-type benzodiazepine receptors located in the stomach in the protective action of benzodiazepines against ethanol-induced gastric damage.

Oral zinc sulphate in the treatment of acute cutaneous leishmaniasis.

A clinical trial to evaluate the efficiency of oral zinc sulphate in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis was conducted. One-hundred and four patients with parasitologically proven cutaneous leishmaniasis were included in the trial. Patients were assigned randomly to receive 2.5, 5 or 10 mg/kg of zinc sulphate orally, and a control group of patients did not receive any treatment. All patients were followed up for 45 days. At the end of the follow-up period, lesions were assessed and parasitological proof of cure or otherwise was sought. Results showed that the cure rate for the 2.5 mg/kg group was 83.9%, for the 5 mg/kg treatment group it was 93.1% and for the 10 mg/kg treatment group it was 96.9%. No lesions in the control group showed any sign of healing during the follow-up period. Therefore, oral zinc sulphate can be recommended as a very safe therapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis.

A new in vitro model for ethanol-induced gastric mucosal damage.

A new in vitro model for ethanol-induced gastric damage is described. The stomach was dissected from the rat, a polyethylene cannula introduced into the remnants of the esophagus, and the pyloric end tied off. With the cardiac and pyloric regions of the stomach secured by thread to a vertical glass rod or tube, the whole was suspended in an organ bath containing aerated Krebs solution. Fifteen minutes later, ethanol was introduced via the esophageal cannula. After an additional 60 min, the stomach was removed from the Krebs solution, opened along the mid line, and the lesions studied. Comparisons were made with a conventional in vivo model. Results show that the lesion number, length, and total lesion area obtained by the in vitro model were comparable to those obtained in the older in vivo model. Histopathologically, lesions induced by both models were also comparable. Clonazepam, a drug previously used in the in vivo model, was tested in this model. Results indicate that clonazpam protected against ethanol-induced gastric damage in vitro. The new model provides a method to study the action of drugs on the stomach alone and to exclude in indirect actions of drugs via other sites in the body.

Zinc sulphate in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis: an in vitro and animal study.

This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of zinc sulphate both in vitro and in an animal model against both strains of old world cutaneous leishmaniasis. The in vitro sensitivities of promastigotes and axenic amastigotes of both Leishmania major and L. tropica to zinc sulphate was determined, the LD50 calculated and compared to the standard treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis pentavalent antimony compounds. The results show that the two forms of both strains were sensitive to zinc sulphate and their respective LD50 were lower compared to the pentavalent antimony compound. Furthermore the sensitivities of the forms of both strains were tested using a simple slide method and compared to results of the standard method. To confirm this result, zinc sulphate was administered orally to mice infected with cutaneous leishmaniasis both therapeutically and prophylactically. Results showed that oral zinc sulphate was effective in both treatment and prophylaxis for cutaneous leishmaniasis. These results encourage the use of oral zinc sulphate in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis clinically.

A comparative controlled trial of intralesionally-administered zinc sulphate, hypertonic sodium chloride and pentavalent antimony compound against acute cutaneous leishmaniasis.

A comparative clinical trial between two newly introduced intralesional treatments for acute leishmaniasis and the established treatment of intralesionally-administered pentavalent antimony compounds was performed. Treatments were allocated randomly to a total of 63 patients who received 2% zinc sulphate, 7% sodium chloride solutions or sodium stibogluconate intralesionally. A number of patients were left without treatment as controls. Patients were followed-up for 45 days, the results showing that the three treatments gave comparable cure rates by the end of the follow-up period. However, zinc sulphate gave a high cure rate (94.8%) usually with a single injection.