The object of this study was to investigate the binding affinity of a newly synthesized 5-HT2 antagonist, (N-[2-[4-(5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5-ylidene)-piperidino]ethyl]-1-formyl-4-piperidinecarboxamide monohydrochloride monohydrate) (AT-1015), in the rabbit platelet membrane using [3H]-ketanserin by radioligand binding assay method and to compare the results with other selective 5-HT2 antago...

Local inflammation is a prominent characteristic of snakebite wound, and snake-venom phospholipase A2s (PLA2s) are some of the main component that contribute to accumulation of inflammatory cells. However, the action of an R49 PLA2s, promutoxin from Protobothrops mucrosquamatus venom, on mast-cell accumulation has not been previously examined. Using a mouse peritoneal model, we found that promu...

Reported cases of cyclical Cushing's syndrome are rare. Of 14 successive patients with Cushing's syndrome nine collected sequential urine samples for the estimation of cortisol:creatinine ratio. Five had cyclical Cushing's syndrome while two had considerable variation in urinary cortisol excretion without a cyclical pattern being established. Two of the five patients with a cyclical syndrome ha...

Stereotaxic microinjection of veratrine (50 micrograms in 1 microliter of saline) into the preoptic anterior hypothalamus of rats which were intraperitoneally pretreated with haloperidol (1 mg/kg), significantly elevated body temperature (1.4 degrees C above normal body temperature) and produced abnormal behaviors. This microinjection also facilitated turnover of dopamine and serotonin in the r...

We report two cases of unintentional poisoning with anticholinergic agents. The first patient, a 7-year-old girl, was prescribed four different medications by a general practitioner for treatment of abdominal colic and diarrhoea. All drugs had anticholinergic properties. The second patient, a 16-month-old boy, ingested his mother's cyproheptadine tablets. Both children presented with central an...

Niacin lowers serum cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and triglycerides, and it raises high-density lipoprotein. However, most patients experience cutaneous warmth and vasodilation (flush). Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) can reduce this flush, presumably by decreasing prostaglandin D(2) (PGD(2)) release from macrophages. Here, we show that methylnicotinate induces significant PGD(2) release fro...

Several serotonin inhibitors have been shown to reduce neurologic deficits in experimental CNS ischemia. Using biochemical and histological methods we tested the effects of the serotonin inhibitors cyproheptadine and brom-LSD in a highly reproducible rabbit spinal cord ischemia model. Detailed mapping of regional spinal cord blood flow was used to guide sampling for the biochemical studies. We ...