Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2005
Low molecular weight heparin attenuates multiple organ failure in a murine model of disseminated intravascular coagulation.
Bacterial sepsis causes widespread vascular inflammation that frequently leads to disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Although intravascular coagulation contributes to organ failure, it is often debated whether anticoagulant therapy produces any beneficial effects in patients with DIC. The aim of this study was to document potential beneficial effects of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) in a lipopolysaccharide-induced DIC model. ⋯ These results demonstrate the significance of blood coagulation in the progression of DIC and hint at a beneficial role for LMWH anticoagulation in the management of DIC.
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2005
Carvedilol reverses hyperthermia and attenuates rhabdomyolysis induced by 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy) in an animal model.
Hyperthermia is a potentially fatal manifestation of severe 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy) intoxication. No proven effective drug treatment exists to reverse this potentially life-threatening hyperthermia, likely because mechanisms of peripheral thermogenesis are poorly understood. Using a rat model of MDMA hyperthermia, we evaluated the acute drug-induced changes in plasma catecholamines and used these results as a basis for the selection of drugs that could potentially reverse this hyperthermia. ⋯ These data show that alpha1 and beta3-adrenergic receptors may contribute to the mediation of MDMA-induced hyperthermia and that drugs targeting these receptors, such as carvedilol, warrant further investigation as novel therapies for the treatment of psychostimulant-induced hyperthermia and its sequelae.