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Biomedical subjects

L Villegas

Publications and source records attributed to L Villegas.

39 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Artemether-lumefantrine for the treatment of multidrug-resistant falciparum malaria.

The efficacy and safety of the 6-dose regimen of artemether-lumefantrine were assessed in an open randomized trial in children and adults presenting with acute, uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Thailand between November 1997 and March 1998. 200 patients were enrolled in 2 centres: 150 received artemether-lumefantrine (i.e., a median total dose of 9.6 mg/kg [interquartile range 8.7-10.7] and 57.9 mg/kg of lumefantrine [52.4-64.0]) and 50 the standard combination of artesunate (12 mg/kg over 3 d) and mefloquine (25 mg/kg). All patients had rapid initial clinical and parasitological responses. The 28 d cure rates were high: 97.7% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 93.5-99.5%) for artemether-lumefantrine and 100% (95% CI 92.5-100%) for artesunate-mefloquine. The 6-dose regimen of artemether-lumefantrine was better tolerated than, and as effective as, artesunate-mefloquine, the current standard treatment in this area of multidrug-resistant P. falciparum malaria.

Adolescent↗

Randomized comparison of quinine-clindamycin versus artesunate in the treatment of falciparum malaria in pregnancy.

In areas where multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum (MDR-Pf) is prevalent, only quinine is known to be safe and effective in pregnant women. On the western border of Thailand, 7 days of supervised quinine (30 mg/kg daily) cures two-thirds of P. falciparum-infected women in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy. Artesunate is effective against MDR-Pf and the limited data on its use in pregnancy suggest it is safe. An open randomized comparison of supervised quinine (10 mg salt/kg every 8 h) in combination with clindamycin (5 mg/kg every 8 h) for 7 days (QC7) versus artesunate 2 mg/kg per day for 7 days (A7) was conducted in 1997-2000 in 129 Karen women with acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria in the 2nd or 3rd trimesters of pregnancy. There was no difference in the day-42 cure rates between the QC7 (n = 65) and A7 (n = 64) regimens with an efficacy of 100% in both, confirmed by parasite genotyping. The A7 regimen was also associated with less gametocyte carriage; the average person-gametocyte-weeks for A7 was 3 (95% CI 0-19) and for QC7 was 39 (95% CI 21-66) per 1000 person-weeks, respectively (P < 0.01). There was no difference in gastrointestinal symptoms between the groups but there was significantly more tinnitus in the QC7 group compared to the A7 group (44.9% vs 8.9%; RR 5.1; 95% CI 1.9-13.5; P < 0.001). The favourable results with quinine-clindamycin mean that there is a useful back-up treatment for women with falciparum malaria who experience quinine and artesunate failures in pregnancy. Adherence to the 7-day regimen and cost (US$18.50 per treatment) are likely to be the main obstacles to this regimen.

Adolescent↗

[Cicatrization effect of Jatropha curcas latex (Angiospermae: Euforbiaceae)].

The wound healing effects of Jathopha curcas latex upon surgical wound produced in Balb/c mice skin, were studied with a modification of the Hoowes-Sooy-Harvey method. The effects of topical treatment using single 50 ul doses of latex at different dilutions (10% to 100%) was compared with a multiple dose treatment (four 25 ul/dose q12h, latex 5% to 100%). The single dose treatment with 10%, 50% or 100% latex and the multiple dose treatment with dilutions between 5% and 10%, have a healing effect but only on males. The multiple dose treatment with 50% or pure undiluted latex produced caustic lesions to treated skin.

Administration, Topical↗