Biomedical subjects

D Evrard

Publications and source records attributed to D Evrard.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

A new colorimetric assay for studying and rapid screening of membrane penetration enhancers.

PURPOSE: This work aims to demonstrate a novel chemical assay for rapid screening and analysis of the mode of action of membrane interaction by penetration enhancers. METHODS: The new bio-mimetic membrane assembly, consisting of supramolecular aggregates of lipids and conjugated polydiacetylene, undergoes visible and quantifiable blue-red color transitions upon interaction with penetration enhancers. RESULTS: The new colorimetric model has been employed to examine various classes of penetration enhancers, including 1-dodecylhexahydro-2H-azepin-2-one (Azone), oleic acid, propylene-glycol, menthol, ethoxyglycol-diethyleneglycol-monoethyl-ether (Transcutol), polysorbate-polyethylenesorbitan-monolaurate (Tween-20), and the drug 7-chloro-1-methyl-5-phenyl-3H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one (Diazepam). The assay enables to evaluate the validity of various observations and hypotheses proposed in previous studies regarding permeation enhancement activities. Our results suggest, for example. that propylene glycol (PG) by itself does not interfere with membranes, but rather exhibits synergistic effect in combination with other penetration enhancers. Similarly, our data demonstrate that Transcutol does not independently interact with membranes. The colorimetric system also indicates that interaction of penetration enhancers with membranes depend upon the lipid phase, as well as the self-assembly properties of the enhancer molecules. CONCLUSIONS: The new biomimetic model membrane system can be applied for rapid screening of the activities of penetration enhancers, and provides insight into the mechanisms of permeability of membrane-active compounds.

Acetylene↗

PubMed1992

Epirubicin in previously untreated patients with small cell lung cancer: a phase II study by the EORTC Lung Cancer Cooperative Group.

Epirubicin 110 mg/m2 was administered intravenously every 3 weeks to 41 elderly and/or unfit, previously untreated patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). There were three complete responses, 16 partial responses and 14 treatment failures, with a response rate of 57% in 33 evaluable patients. The main toxicity was haematological, characterised by leukopenia and, less frequently, thrombocytopenia and anaemia. There were three toxic deaths due to infection occurring during leukopenia. Non-haematological side effects were alopecia, nausea, stomatitis and diarrhoea. WHO grade 2 cardiac toxicity was seen in 3 patients after a cumulative dose of more than 740 mg/m2. In conclusion epirubicin is an active agent in untreated SCLC.

Aged↗

PubMed1992

Epirubicin in malignant mesothelioma: a phase II study of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Lung Cancer Cooperative Group.

PURPOSE: The doxorubicin analog, epirubicin (EPI), was tested in patients with malignant mesothelioma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty-three patients with malignant mesothelioma were given EPI 110 mg/m2 every 3 weeks. Histology was reviewed and confirmed by a pathology panel. On the basis of unconvincing or wrong histology, insufficient material or cytology only, nine cases were considered ineligible for the study. None of the patients had received prior chemotherapy. RESULTS: The main side effects were myelosuppression, alopecia, and gastrointestinal toxicity. Tumor response, assessed by computed tomographic (CT) scans, was assessable in 48 patients. Seven patients (15%) achieved a partial response that lasted a median of 37 weeks; 19 patients had stable disease, and 22 patients progressed on treatment. Median survival time was 40 weeks from the start of chemotherapy, and the median survival of responding patients was 87 weeks. One responding patient is still alive and free of relapse 4 years from the start of chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: We conclude that further testing of EPI in malignant mesothelioma is warranted.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Climatologic parameters and myocardial infarction].

535 patients admitted to hospital with myocardium infarct which was confirmed in a determined period and within a 80 kilometers radius from a city of the East of France were compared to the meteorological parameters of the day when the infarct occurred and of the day preceding its occurrence. On one hand, climatic parameters were selected: atmospheric pressure, temperature of the air under shelter, relative humidity, wind speed and wind direction, hydrometeors and electrometeors; on the other hand, parameters of solar and planetary activity: daily flare index, AA index, Ap index or daily planetary index, phases of the moon. The analytic study concerning all acute vascular accidents (infarcts and cerebral accidents all together) enabled to us to notice a higher frequency of vascular accidents in various meteorological circumstances: atmospheric pressure lower than 990 mb, temperature lower than 12 degrees, wind of sector North to South-South West, hoar-frost with fog, rain, snow, first quarter of the moon, daily flare index lower than 530, magnetic activity lower than 6. A factorial analysis of correspondence enabled to us to understand the problem better and to determine "an infarct area" in which main meteorological factors appeared: low or decreasing atmospheric pressure, relative or increasing humidity, clear or increasing solar activity, steady magnetic activity; other factors could play an apparently less important role: low temperature, snow, decrease of wind speed, full moon, wind of sector East to North-East, South-South West. Consequently it appeared in that study that the occurrence of myocardium infarct corresponded to a climatic tendency corresponding to cold, bad or deteriorating weather.

Atmospheric Pressure↗