Current pharmaceutical design
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Opioid medications are increasingly used to treat chronic pain. Opioid-associated respiratory depression, and their potential to cause nocturnal apneas, is increasingly recognized as a major contributor to nocturnal hypoxemia and sleep-disordered breathing. ⋯ This article reviews the salient features of the physiologic control of respiration and sleep, and the role opioids play in altering that regulation. Additionally, we summarize the evidence regarding the association between opioid use and sleep-disordered breathing and explore treatment modalities for opioid-associated nocturnal respiratory depression and apneas.
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After the discovery and characterization of the H(3)R and H(4)R receptors, they have become widely anticipated as potential therapeutic agents in the treatment of sleep disorders. In preliminary studies, histamine H(3) receptor (H(3)R) antagonists and inverse agonists have demonstrated promise in the treatment of sleep disorders associated with excessive daytime sleepiness. This review article summarizes the current research in this area and characteristics of H(3)R and H(3)R antagonists and inverse agonists in development.
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a growing public health hazard fueled by the obesity epidemic and an aging population. Untreated sleep apnea can result in significant consequences both in the short-term and long-term. ⋯ Alternative treatments include an oral appliance or surgical options. This paper discusses the pharmacologic treatment of sleep apnea: goals include medications to address the ventilatory control of breathing, treat co-morbid diseases, treat associated health problems/complaints, address special issues, such as anesthetic precautions, and propose future targets.
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The contemporary American food environment makes energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and beverages the "default" option for most consumers. Economic interventions like taxes can shift the relative prices of unhealthy foods to nudge consumers towards healthier options. Beverages with added sugar are a good starting point for food taxation; they constitute over 10 percent of caloric intake nationwide and provide little or no nutritional value. ⋯ Current estimates predict that a tax that raised the cost of SSBs by 20 percent could lead to an average reduction of 3.8 pounds per year for adults, causing the prevalence of obesity to decline from 33 to 30 percent. SSB taxes would also generate considerable revenue for public health and obesity prevention programs. Although the beverage industry is fighting such taxes with massive lobbying and public relations campaigns, support for the policies is increasing, especially when revenue is earmarked for obesity prevention.
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Review
The natural tumor suppressor protein maspin and potential application in non small cell lung cancer.
The grim prognosis of lung cancer, that has an overall 10-15% survival at 5 years, remains in the US the leading cause of cancer mortality, provides a compelling rationale for studying the molecular basis of this malignancy. Surmising the common, general association with smoking, lung cancers differ at the microscopic, anatomical, epidemiological and clinical level and harbor complex genetic and epigenetic alterations. Currently, lung cancer is divided into small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) and non small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) for the purpose of clinical management. (NSCLC) constitutes 80-85% of lung cancers and is further divided into histological subtypes such as adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma, etc. ⋯ Maspin is an epithelial specific member of the serine protease inhibitor (serpin) superfamily but recently identified as an endogenous inhibitor of histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1). This novel biochemical activity coincides with a consensus emerged recently from the evidence that nuclear maspin confers better differentiated epithelial phenotypes, decreased tumor angiogenesis, increased tumor sensitivity to drug-induced apoptosis, and a more favorable prognosis. In the current review, we discuss the evidence that maspin may be a marker that stratifies the progression and prognosis of different subtypes of NSCLC.