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Biomedical subjects

L Steru

Publications and source records attributed to L Steru.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Double-blind randomized multicentre trial of acamprosate in maintaining abstinence from alcohol.

A prospective placebo-controlled, randomized double-blind study of Acamprosate at two dose levels in alcohol-dependent patients followed up for 12 months was performed. After detoxification, each of the 538 patients included was randomly assigned to one of three groups: 177 patients received placebo, 188 received Acamprosate at 1.3 g/day (low dose group) and 173 received 2.0 g/day (high dose group) for 12 months. This was followed by a single blind 6 month period on placebo. The patients' mean age was 43.2 +/- 8.6 years. Their mean daily alcohol intake was high (nearly 200 g/day) and of long duration (9.5 +/- 7.1 years). Abstinence figures followed the order high dose > low dose > placebo. The difference was significant at 6 months (P < or = 0.02) but not at 12 months (P = 0.096). The number of days of continuous abstinence after detoxification was 153 +/- 197 for the high-dose group versus 102 +/- 165 for the placebo group (P = 0.005), with the lose-dose group reporting 135 +/- 189 days. Clinic attendance was significantly better in the Acamprosate groups than in the placebo group at 6 months (P = 0.002) and 12 months (P = 0.005). During the 6-month post-treatment period, no increased relapse rate or residual drug effect was observed. The side effect profile for Acamprosate was good compared with controls with only diarrhoea being reported more frequently (P < 0.01). This study confirms the pharmacological efficacy of Acamprosate and its good acceptability. As an adjunct to psychotherapy, this study supports the inclusion of Acamprosate in a strategy for treating alcoholism.

Acamprosate↗
PubMed1991

Use of biometry and keratometry for determining optimal power for intraocular lens implants in dogs.

Axial length and corneal curvature were determined by use of A-scan ultrasonography and keratometry on both eyes of dogs of various breeds, sizes, and ages. Mean axial length was 20.43 +/- 1.48 mm; axial length was not related to age or sex, but was significantly greater (P = 0.047) in dogs of larger breeds. Mean corneal curvature was 39.94 +/- 2.61 diopters. Dogs of large breeds had significantly (P less than 0.001) flatter corneas. Mild, roughly symmetric astigmatism was detected in a majority of dogs. Use of mean values in a theoretic artificial intraocular lens power equation suggests that aphakic dogs require an implant of approximately 40 diopters to achieve emmetropia.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Acamprosate appears to decrease alcohol intake in weaned alcoholics.

Five hundred and sixty-nine alcoholics were included in a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized multicenter study of the effects of Acamprosate (calcium acetylhomotaurinate (CA), 1.3 g/day) on indicators of alcoholic relapse after withdrawal. One hundred and eighty-one patients in the CA group versus 175 in the placebo group completed the three-month study. The major efficacy criterion was plasma gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), as an indicator of recent alcohol ingestion. This analysis was completed by criteria concordance analysis on a number of indicators of alcohol intake. Patients in both groups were similar initially. After 3 months of treatment, the patients in the CA group had significantly lower GGT (1.4 +/- 1.56 versus 2.0 +/- 3.19 times normal, P = 0.016). All significant differences (P less than 0.05) or trends (0.10 greater than P greater than 0.05) were in favor of a superior effect of CA over placebo. The major side-effect of CA was diarrhea (present in 13% of CA patients versus 7% of placebo, P = 0.04). CA proved superior to placebo on the evolution of markers of alcohol ingestion at three months, in this large-scale multicenter study. It could be a new modality in the drug therapy of alcoholism, not involving an antabuse effect, an antidepressant action, or conditioning.

Acamprosate↗
PubMed1987

The automated Tail Suspension Test: a computerized device which differentiates psychotropic drugs.

1. Mice when suspended by the tail will alternate between active attempts to escape and immobility. Immobility like that measured in the behavioral despair test is reduced by a wide variety of antidepressant agents. 2. The present paper describes a computerized version of this test (ITEMATIC-TST) which in addition to recording immobility measures the power of the movements. 3. Various tricyclic (amitriptyline, desipramine, imipramine), MAOI (clorgyline, moclobemide, nialamide, pargyline, toloxatone) and atypical antidepressants (bupropion, citalopram, indalpine, mianserin, nomifensine, viloxazine) were tested and compared with psychostimulants (d-amphetamine, caffeine), neuroleptics (chlorpromazine, haloperidol, sulpiride), anxiolytics (clobazam, diazepam) and agents acting on the cholinergic system (atropine, oxotremorine). 4. All antidepressants decreased the duration of immobility and most increased the power of movements. 5. The psychostimulants also decreased immobility but only amphetamine increased the power of movements. 6. Neuroleptics increased immobility without affecting the power of movements, whereas anxiolytics increased immobility but decreased the power of movements. 7. Atropine had a profile similar to antidepressants whereas oxotremorine tended to have opposite effects. 8. The results suggest that the automated test system with its two parameters is not only sensitive to antidepressants but could also be useful for generating activity profiles for different kinds of psychotropic agent.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

The tail suspension test: a new method for screening antidepressants in mice.

A novel test procedure for antidepressants was designed in which a mouse is suspended by the tail from a lever, the movements of the animal being recorded. The total duration of the test (6 min) can be divided into periods of agitation and immobility. Several psychotropic drugs were studied: amphetamine, amitriptyline, atropine, desipramine, mianserin, nomifensine and viloxazine. Antidepressant drugs decrease the duration of immobility, as do psychostimulants and atropine. If coupled with measurement of locomotor activity in different conditions, the test can separate the locomotor stimulant doses from antidepressant doses. Diazepam increases the duration of immobility. The main advantages of this procedure are the use of a simple, objective test situation, the concordance of the results with the validated "behavioral despair" test from Porsolt and the sensitivity to a wide range of drug doses.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Searching-waiting strategy: a candidate for an evolutionary model of depression?

The model proposed here assumes that depressive disorders could reflect an extreme state of a current behavioral strategy. According to this model, a subject facing a problem of survival without apparent solution may choose between two behavioral patterns: searching for a solution or waiting for that solution to occur. This choice can be made after one or several estimations of the cost and benefit attached to each of these alternatives. Two of the main behavioral models of depression are interpreted according to this model: namely, infant response to maternal separation in monkeys and "behavioral despair" in rodents. Practical and theoretical consequences of this model are discussed.

Adaptation, Biological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Adaptation of the tail suspension test to the rat.

In the tail suspension test (TST), the rat is suspended by the tail for 6 min during which the animal shows periods of agitation and immobility. The duration of the immobility is measured. Desipramine decreased the duration of immobility. The main advantages of this procedure are: the use of a simple, objective test situation; the concordance of the results (for desipramine) with the "behavioral despair" test described by Porsolt; the avoidance of the hypothermia induced by immersion in the Porsolt test.

Animals↗