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Intestinal nematodes remain a world health issue. Their ubiquitous nature makes them difficult to control, and treatment is ineffective when the source of the infection can not be eradicated. International travel and immigration from developing countries have effectively increased the numbers of people infected in the US, especially in the northeast and southern coastal areas. It is important to provide sensitive and accurate methods to diagnose these parasites. Additionally, the WHO and other agencies must remain vigilant and continue their efforts to improve the health of vulnerable populations throughout the world.

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OBJECTIVE: The objective of this double-blind, placebo-controlled urodynamic pressure/flow study was to assess the efficacy of short-term treatment with the alpha 1-blocker alfuzosin in outflow obstruction of patients with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Urodynamic pressure/flow parameters were assessed after 2 weeks of placebo run-in, 4 weeks of placebo (47 patients) or 2.5 mg t.i.d. alfuzosin treatment (47 patients), followed by an 8-week extension period with alfuzosin (single-blind). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Four weeks of alfuzosin treatment significantly increased maximum flow (+29.0%) and decreased detrusor pressure at maximum flow (-30.2%), detrusor opening pressure (-39.4%) and maximum detrusor pressure (-28.7%). Short-term alfuzosin treatment improved outflow conditions in BPH by reducing prostatic urethral obstruction.

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The authors evaluated the efficacy and tolerance of low dose lymphoblastoid alpha interferon in 14 i.v. drug addicts with histologically confirmed chronic active hepatitis C. Patients were treated for 12 months; all completed the whole treatment without complaining of significant side effects. Four months after withdrawal of treatment, 13 patients were found to be in clinical and biohumoral remission with serum transaminases within the normal range already after 12 weeks.

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Recently urologists have focused their attention not only on classical evaluation parameters for patients suffering from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), such as symptoms and uroflowmetry, but also on the impact of therapy on the patients' quality of life. An observational, open-label, uncontrolled trial was designed to evaluate the impact of a 3-month therapy with alfuzosin (2.5 mg t.i.d.) on the quality of life of patients complaining of BPH-related symptoms for at least 6 months. Nine hundred and ninety patients were enrolled in 86 Italian centers of urology. At baseline and after 84 days of treatment the following assessments were performed: the Maine Medical Assessment Program Symptom Score, a quality of life questionnaire, and at selected centers, uroflowmetry and residual volume measurement. Preliminary results on 498 evaluable patients (who completed the study by March 1992), showed the ability of alfuzosin to improve BPH symptoms significantly (total mean score from 12.02 +/- 0.17 to 7.27 +/- 0.12, -39.5%), mostly in patients with severe symptoms at baseline (-46.8%). All the three indices describing patients' quality of life improved significantly: mental health +2.3% (p < 0.01); general health +4.3% (p < 0.01), and especially, activity +12.9% (p < 0.01). A marked improvement was observed in patients with severe symptoms (activity index +23.8%). Uroflowmetric data obtained from 255 patients showed a significant increase in peak (+4.14 ml/s) and mean (+2.58 ml/s) flows, associated with a marked decrease in residual volume (-34.1 ml, -52.6%). Thirty-three patients experienced one or more adverse medical events, mainly within the first 4 weeks of treatment (20 patients).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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A large body of evidences has suggested the role of adrenergic, opioidergic and other peptidergic receptors in the mediation of animal vas deferens motility. Different animal species showed different neurochemical patterns, so it is to be expected that human vas deferens has its own specific response to several substances, in relation to its peculiar function. In this study we report on the effects of monoaminergic (norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, isoproterenol, cholinomimetic drugs) and opioidergic (morphine, buprenorphin, beta-endorphin, met-enkephalin and dynorphin) agonists on isolated human vas deferens motility. Norepinephrine and dopamine provoked complex patterns of motility while opioids did not affect the field electroinduced contractions. The implications of this finding are discussed in relation to human vas deferens function.

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