This prospective study determined the rate of abandonment of sildenafil therapy and assessed the reasons for abandonment. Between January 2001 and December 2002, 234 patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) at three independent centers successfully began therapy with sildenafil 50 or 100 mg. The rate of noncompliance was 31%. A telephone survey of these patients was conducted to determine the reasons for abandonment. The majority reported that they had had no opportunity or desire for sexual intercourse or that their partners had shown no sexual interest. Few patients stated that the high cost of the medication or that adverse events were the cause.

Data Collection↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Intracellular accumulation and cytotoxic effect of (8-thiotheophyllinate) (triphenylphosphine) gold(I) in Friend leukemia cells.

Following continuous exposure to tTAuP in medium containing 10% fetal calf serum (FCS), cells resistant to doxorubicin (DOX-RFLC) were 3 fold more resistant to tTAuP than its sensitive counterpart (FLC). Moreover, FLC were 100 fold more sensitive to tTAuP when the cells were grown in the absence of FCS but in the presence of synthetic medium (BMS). When the cytotoxic effect was measured after short-term exposure (60 min) followed by 72 hr incubation in drug-free medium, unexpectedly, DOX-RFLC were 8 fold more sensitive [ID50 = 1.5 microM] than FLC [ID50 = 12 microM] to tTAuP. When FLC were exposed 60 min at different temperatures (4, 25 or 37 degrees C) to tTAuP prior to 72 hr incubation in drug free medium, the ID50 was achieved at 20, 13 and 3 microM respectively). In contrast, when DOX-RFLC were treated in similar conditions, the cytotoxic activity of tTAuP did not vary following exposure at 4, 25 or 37 degrees C. Although the mechanism of action of gold compounds is still unknown we have assumed that tTAuP cytotoxicity is related to the ease with which it is accumulated. This assumption was supported by the analysis of tTAuP incorporation by SXRF. The results reported here show that tTAuP accumulates rapidly in the cell and is distributed in the cytoplasmic and the nuclear fractions. It is suggested that accumulation is mediated by passive diffusion. However, the detection of gold binding to DNA in complexes resistant to solvent treatments suggests that interaction with macromolecules can be mediated by the formation of covalently bound complexes.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Nutritional and metabolic consequences of basal hyperinsulinemia in alcoholic liver cirrhosis: relationship with postprandial changes in erythrocyte insulin-receptor affinity.

The nutritional and metabolic consequences of basal hyperinsulinemia were investigated in a group of 13 alcoholic cirrhotic patients; 7 healthy subjects were studied as a control group. Two groups of patients were defined on the basis of fasting insulin level: group 1 (n = 7) displayed acute hyperinsulinemia (> mean of control group + 2SD), and group 2 (n = 6) had lower insulin levels. Nutrition status was assessed by means of anthropometric parameters; the rates of nutrient oxidation were measured after an overnight fast and 2 h after a standard meal intake. Group 1 had better nutrition status in terms of fat mass than group 2 (p < 0.05). Although the basal rates of nutrient oxidation were in the same range in the three groups, postprandially, the rate of lipid oxidation was significantly different (p < 0.01). Moreover, group 1 showed greater inhibition of postprandial lipid oxidation than the control group (p < 0.05), whereas there was no difference between group 2 and the control group. In the postprandial phase, erythrocyte insulin-receptor binding and affinity increased paradoxically in group 1, whereas they decreased in group 2 and healthy subjects (changes in binding, p < 0.025; changes in affinity, p < 0.01). In conclusion, basal hyperinsulinemia in alcoholic liver cirrhosis is related to more marked inhibition of postprandial lipid oxidation and better-preserved nutrition status and may lead to a paradoxical postprandial increase in insulin-receptor affinity.

Adult↗