Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 16, Issue 31, 2010

In the last decade, a number of new antithrombotic therapies as well as new approaches have been appearing for the management of patients with or at risk for arterial and venous thrombosis. Considering new drugs, direct thrombin inhibitors (dabigatran etixilate) or Factor Xa inhibitors (rivaroxaban and apixaban) are now available for the prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism (VTE) during orthopedic procedures. Ho Read More

The past decade has witnessed an explosion in the clinical development of new orally-administered anticoagulant drugs aimed at complementing vitamin K antagonists and heparins for the prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism, for the prevention of stroke in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation, and for treatment of acute coronary syndromes. This review will focus on those new oral anticoagulants that ar Read More

The endothelium is a thin monocellular layer lining the entire human vascular system, separating blood from interstitium. It plays a core role in the vascular tone by releasing a variety of vasoactive substances, such as nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin. In addition to regulating vasomotion, the healthy endothelium also has anti-thrombotic (through prostacyclins), anti-inflammatory (through developmental endothelial locus-1{De Read More

Arterial thromboembolism is a sudden obstruction of arterial blood flow caused by dislodgment of a blood clot from the site of its formation. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and a major risk factor for arterial thromboembolism in clinical practice. Most of AF-related arterial thromboembolic events affect the cerebral circulation, leading to increased mortality or longterm disability from stroke. In the s Read More

The traditional agents used for thromboprophylaxis are effective and safe but have limitations particularly related to ease of administration. Newer agents targeting single coagulation factors such as the direct thrombin inhibitor dabigatran and the factor Xa inhibitors rivaroxaban and apixaban have demonstrated efficacy and safety for thromboembolism prophylaxis in the orthopedic population and have the additional benefit o Read More

Pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) are widely regarded as manifestations of a single disease, venous thromboembolism (VTE). An evidence-based approach to the treatment of acute VTE will be reviewed here. Currently available therapeutic options will be emphasized; possible future treatment approaches will be discussed briefly. The chronic management of VTE involves assessment of the Read More

An increasing number of patients receive anticoagulant therapy to prevent and treat arterial or venous thromboembolism. The major complication of anticoagulant therapy is the increase of the individual bleeding risk. All anticoagulant drugs can cause haemorrhages, that can sometimes be life-threatening. Although heparins and the vitamin K antagonists have been the most widely used anticoagulants for decades, the corre Read More

Long-term anticoagulant treatment is highly effective in preventing recurrent Venous Thrombo-Embolism (VTE) in patients with idiopathic Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) of the lower limbs, though associated with an increased risk for major bleeding that may offset the benefits of anticoagulation. Accordingly to recent guidelines, patients with idiopathic DVT should be treated for at least 3 months and then should b Read More

In recent years new oral anticoagulants have been evaluated in the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after elective hip or knee arthroplasty, atrial fibrillation to prevent ischemic stroke and in the treatment of acute VTE. While two oral anticoagulants, dabigatran and rivaroxaban, have become available for the prevention of VTE in orthopaedic surgery, other indications still are under evaluation or awa Read More

The use of oral contraceptives first became widespread some 40 years ago, and reports of an excess risk of cardiovascular disease among women who used these agents soon followed. Few drugs have been the object of such intensive epidemiological research, the outcome of which has provided clinicians with detailed information about risks not only of specific thrombotic diseases but also important non-contraceptive be Read More

The foramen ovale, an atrial septal defect, which is essential in the fetal circulation, remains patent through adulthood in approximately 25% of the general population and therefore it represents the most common persistent abnormality of fetal origin. Patent foramen ovale (PFO) allows interatrial right-to-left blood shunting during those periods of the cardiac cycle in which the right atrial pressure exceeds the left one. An Read More

The genus Marrubium (Lamiaceae) is comprised of about forty species, distributed in Europe, Asia and Brazil. Some species are traditionally used to treat various diseases, including asthma, pulmonary infections, inflammation and hypotension, as cholagogues and sedative agents, and for pain relief. A literature review on the chemical and biological aspects of these plants indicates antimicrobial activity against gram positive bac Read More

Sigma receptors (subtypes sigma-1 and sigma-2) are a unique class of binding sites expressed throughout the mammalian body. The endogenous ligand for these sites has not been identified, but steroid hormones (particularly progesterone), sphingolipidderived amines and N,N-dimethyltryptamine can bind with fairly high affinity. Sigma receptors are overexpressed in rapidly proliferating cells, like cancer cells. Pa Read More