(C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Methyldopa is used for treatment of hypertension in pregnancy. Side effects of methyldopa include AG-014699 mouse anemia, which could result from decreased formation or accelerated death of circulating erythrocytes. Several drugs cause anemia by triggering of suicidal erythrocyte death or eryptosis, which is characterized by cell shrinkage and cell membrane scrambling, the latter leading to phosphatidylserine exposure at the erythrocyte surface. Stimulators of erythrocyte membrane scrambling include increased cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration

([Ca(2+)](i)) and ceramide. Phosphatidylserine-exposing cells are rapidly cleared from circulating blood. The present study explored whether eryptosis could be triggered by methyldopa. Erythrocytes from healthy volunteers were exposed to methyldopa, and phosphatidylserine exposure (annexin A5 binding), cell volume (forward scatter), [Ca(2+)](i) (Fluo3-dependent fluorescence), and ceramide formation (anti-ceramide-fluorescein isothiocyanate antibody) were determined by flow cytometry. Methyldopa (6 mu g/ml) did not increase [Ca(2+)](i) but led to stimulation of ceramide formation resulting in significant phosphatidylserine exposure and, at higher concentrations, to cell shrinkage. Methyldopa further decreased

the GSH/GSSG ratio, pointing to oxidative stress. The scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine significantly blunted methyldopa-induced eryptosis. Clearance of erythrocytes Fedratinib in vivo from circulating blood was significantly accelerated by treatment with methyldopa. The present observations disclose a novel action of methyldopa, which may well contribute to drug-induced anemia. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel”
“The primate cortex represents and produces events in a distributed way, which calls for a mechanism that integrates their features into coherent structures. Visuomotor integration seems to be driven by dopaminergic (DA) pathways but which subsystems are involved is currently unknown. The present study compared the impact of the recreational use of two drugs on visuomotor integration: cannabis, which primarily

targets dopaminergic D1 receptors, and cocaine, which mainly targets D2 receptors. Our findings show that C1GALT1 cannabis but not cocaine use affects the strength of the binding between task-relevant stimulus features and the accompanying response. In contrast, cocaine but not cannabis use eliminates the inhibition of return. The observed pattern suggests that visuomotor integration is driven by DA/D1, but not DA/D2 receptor systems. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Background: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between kidney dimensions and creatinine clearance (Ccr) in patients with Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN), nephrosclerosis (NSc), glomerulonephritis (GN), diabetic nephropathy (DN) and in healthy persons.