Time-Course of Buprenorphine Dose Increase in a Maintenance Program for Heroin Addicts: Retention in Treatment and Clinical Meaning

Buprenorphine is a major therapeutic option in the treatment of opiate addiction. Peculiarly, increasing dosages do not grant higher and higher levels of agonism, but a plateau is soon reached due to it’s the high affinity to the μ-receptor (ceiling effect). In terms of anticraving action, the ceiling level of agonism seemsto be equivalent to that provided by 80 mg of methadone. Differently from methadone, subjects with residual craving are challenged with strong opiate blockade, due to buprenorphine’s slow dissociation from receptors at high dosages, which may either cause treatment dropout or stabilisation, according to the strength of residual craving. 

In fact, early attrition in buprenorphine programs seems to be related to withdrawal buffering, and does not vary according to dosage, due to limited agonist potency. On the other hand, for those who stay in treatment at anti-withdrawal dosages, higher dosages grant with better outcomes in fixed dose comparison studies. However, it is notsharply clear whether the gap of effectiveness is mainly related to a higherlevel of agonism or the opioid blockade: In fact, some patients do respond to 2-4-6 mg regimens by a significant rate.

Phytotherapy of High Blood Pressure in Three Phytogeographic Regions of Cameroon

High blood pressure is a multifactor disease, provoked by the association of the genetic predisposition and certain phenotypes like the sensitivity of the arterial blood pressure with sodium concentration, hypocalcaemia and a stronginfluence of the environment, according to the W.H.O. High blood pressure is manifested when the blood pressure values, measured many times in the occasion of at least two different consultations in four months are superior or equal to 140 mmHg for systolic and superior or equal to 90 mmHg for diastolic. 

These parameters used to diagnose high blood pressure in occidental medicine are unknown in socio-cultural medicine. Traditional healers, mostly from the hinterland will indirectly control this disease by treating rather theirobserved and recognized symptoms and/or complications including nose bleeding, filling of the flies before the eyes, dizziness, insomnia, muscular and sexual weakness, edema, etc. The cost of the monthly treatment of non-complicated high blood pressure is 92.24€ per patient.

Fabrication of Surgical Sutures Coated with Curcumin Loaded Gold Nanoparticles

Sutures are biomaterials regarded as a major cause of Surgical Site Infections (SSIs). Present work aims at a novel strategy to reduce nosocomial infections by coating sutures with antimicrobial drugs. Gold Nanoparticles (GNPs) coated with antimicrobial drugs are well known for their antimicrobial activity. Hence, synthesis of gold nanoparticles by chemical reduction method followed by preparation of curcumin pegylated GNPs (CPGNPs) were carried out. 

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