C-reactive protein is the prototypic acute phase reactant. A self-complexed form (H-CRP) can induce isolated platelets to undergo aggregation, secretion of dense and alpha-granule constituents, and generation of thromboxane A2, but fails to function in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as a direct agonist. In contrast, when PRP was activated with an amount of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) that produced ...

Levamisole is estimated by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to be present in about 80% of cocaine seized in the United States and linked to debilitating, and sometimes fatal, immunologic effects in cocaine abusers. One explanation for the addition of levamisole to cocaine is that it increases the amount of product and enhances profits. An alternative possibility, and one investigated here, is ...

The phosphodiesterase (PDE) enzyme family hydrolyzes cAMP and cGMP, second messengers that regulate a variety of cellular processes, including airway smooth muscle (ASM) relaxation and the inhibition of inflammatory cells. We investigated the activity of RPL554 [9,10-dimethoxy-2(2,4,6-trimethylphenylimino)-3-(n-carbamoyl-2-aminoethyl)-3,4,6,7-tetrahydro-2H-pyrimido[6,1-a]isoquinolin-4-one], a d...

Analgesics can be administered in combination with caffeine for improved analgesic effectiveness in a process known as synergism. The mechanisms by which these combinations produce synergism are not yet fully understood. The aim of this study was to analyze whether the administration of diclofenac combined with caffeine produced antinociceptive synergism and whether opioid mechanisms played a r...

Models for mixtures of ingredients are typically tted by Schee e's canonical model forms. An alternative representation is discussed which ooers attractive symmetries, compact notation and homogeneous model functions. It is based on the Kronecker algebra of vectors and matrices, used successfully in previous response surface work. These alternative polynomials are contrasted with those of Schee...

The toxic effects of the combinations of amphotericin B (AmB) and actinomycin D or AmB and 1-(2-chloroethyl)-3-cyclohexyl-1-nitrosourea were measured against the human promyelocytic leukemia cells HL-60. The toxicities of both drug combinations were greater than the additive toxicity of each of the drugs used singly, but the exact conditions under which synergism was achieved differed for each ...