Current opinion in pharmacology
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Curr Opin Pharmacol · Oct 2016
ReviewAntiviral therapeutics for the treatment of Ebola virus infection.
There have been significant developments in Ebola virus therapeutics. While the efficacy of several products was evaluated in the recent West Africa outbreak, a licensed treatment for EBOV disease remains elusive. Factors that negatively impacted the execution of clinical trials included an overall lack of world readiness to conduct clinical trials in an outbreak setting, ethical concerns limiting implementation of the randomized controlled trials in an outbreak setting, and a decline in case numbers by the time resources were mobilized to conduct clinical trials. We summarize relevant therapeutics that underwent clinical trials during the West Africa outbreak and highlight promising candidates under advanced development.
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Curr Opin Pharmacol · Oct 2015
ReviewAugmented renal clearance in critically ill patients: etiology, definition and implications for beta-lactam dose optimization.
The renal clearance of antibiotics may be elevated in some critically ill patients. This paper reviews this recently described phenomenon, referred to as augmented renal clearance (ARC). ARC is considered to be driven by pathophysiological elevation of glomerular filtration, and is defined as a creatinine clearance >130mL/min/173m(2). ⋯ This effect may lead to adverse clinical outcomes, particularly with beta-lactam antibiotics, as they require prolonged exposure for optimal antibacterial activity. The use of extended or continuous infusions is an effective strategy to improve exposure. However, because the effect of ARC is potentially quite variable, regular therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) may be necessary to ensure all patients achieve effective concentrations.
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Tumors may adopt normal physiologic checkpoints for immunomodulation leading to an imbalance between tumor growth and host surveillance. Antibodies targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint have shown dynamic and durable tumor regressions, suggesting a rebalancing of the host-tumor interaction. ⋯ These agents have been used to treat advanced melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma, bladder cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma, amongst other tumor types. In this article, we review the updated response results for early clinical trials, note recent FDA actions regarding this class of agents, and summarize results across trials looking at PD-L1 status as a predictor of response to anti-PD-1/PD-L1.
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Curr Opin Pharmacol · Feb 2015
Review Comparative StudyRecent insights into the mode of action of memantine and ketamine.
The clinical benefits of the glutamate receptor antagonists memantine and ketamine have helped sustain optimism that glutamate receptors represent viable targets for development of therapeutic drugs. Both memantine and ketamine antagonize N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs), a glutamate receptor subfamily, by blocking the receptor-associated ion channel. ⋯ Some recent research suggests that preferential inhibition by memantine and ketamine of distinct NMDAR subpopulations may contribute to the drugs' differential clinical effects. Here we review studies that shed light on possible explanations for differences between the effects of memantine and ketamine.
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A single sub-psychotomimetic dose of ketamine, an ionotropic glutamatergic n-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, produces a fast-acting antidepressant response in patients suffering from major depressive disorder. Depressed patients report alleviation of core symptoms within 2 h of a single low-dose intravenous infusion of ketamine with effects lasting up to 2 weeks. The rapidity of ketamine action implies that major symptoms of depression can be alleviated without substantial structural plasticity or circuit rewiring. Therefore, the ability of ketamine to exert a rapid effect provides a unique opportunity to elucidate the types of acute synaptic plasticity changes that can be recruited to counter depression symptoms.