Tomas Fazekas

Low Plasma Cholinesterase Activities are Associated with Deficits in Spatial Orientation, Reduced Ability to Perform Basic Activities of Daily Living, and Low Body Mass Index in Patients with Progressed Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimers disease (AD) is a progressive and irreversible neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a central cholinergic deficit. Non-neuronal cholinergic changes are, however, described as well. Here we focused on possible changes in the activity of the plasma cholinesterases, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), in hospitalized AD patients. We analyzed plasma AChE and BChE activities with regards to age, gender, body mass index (BMI), cognitive functions, and ability to perform activities of daily living in AD patients in comparison to healthy subjects. We observed lower AChE activity and trend toward lower BChE activity in AD patients, which both correlated with low BMI. AD patients unable to perform basic activities of daily living (feeding, bathing, dressing, and grooming) showed reduced plasma AChE activities, while worse spatial orientation was linked to lower BChE activities. Three out of four AD patients with the lowest BChE activities died within one year. In conclusion, progressed AD was accompanied by lower plasma AChE activity and trend toward lower BChE activity, which correlated with BMI and deficits in different components of the AD.

The UV Spectroscopic Determination of Two Critical Micelle Concentrations of Domiphen Bromide in Solutions with KBr and Calculations of the Packing Parameter

Abstract Three different forms of the surface-active domiphen cations were detected by the UV spectroscopy in aqueous solutions of domiphen bromide, eventually with KBr additive. In sufficiently dilute solutions there are free domiphen cations, which aggregate into two types of micelles at two distinct concentrations, interpreted as the first and second critical micelle concentration, cmc and cmc2. From the logarithmic dependences of cmc and cmc2 on the bromide concentrations the corresponding degrees of counterion binding were estimated. Conformation analysis of the domiphen cation was performed and the packing parameters of the lowest energy conformers were calculated. The observed spectral shifts and the calculated packing parameters suggest that two conformers of domiphen cation with different arrangement of the phenoxyethyl group are responsible for the respective formation of two types of micelles.

Adolescents’ knowledge and perception of medicine risk

Adolescents often start to use medicines independently without having sufficient knowledge or previous experience, which can lead to the inappropriate use of medicines.

Caustic Ingestion in the Elderly: Influence of Age on Clinical Outcome

Caustic poisonings are still associated with many fatalities. Studies focusing on the elderly are rare. The purpose of the present study was to compare the clinical outcomes of caustic ingestion injury in elderly and non-elderly adults with regard to gender, intent of exposure, substance ingested, severity of mucosal injury, complications, and mortality. Caustic substance exposures reported to the National Toxicological Information Centre in Slovakia during 1998–2015 were reviewed retrospectively. The patients were divided into two groups: the non-elderly (<60 years) and elderly adults (≥60 years). The mortality rate in the elderly was significantly higher (elderly 23.0% vs. non-elderly 11.3%; p = 0.041). The risk of fatal outcome in the elderly was increased by acid ingestion (OR = 7.822; p = 0.002), particularly hydrochloric acid (OR = 5.714, p = 0.006). The incidence of respiratory complications was almost two times higher in the elderly was 31.1% vs. 17.4% for the non-elderly (p = 0.037). Respiratory complications significantly correlated with an increased mortality rate (p = 0.001) in the elderly whereas there was no association between GI complications and mortality in the elderly (p = 0.480). Elderly patients with respiratory complications had the poorest clinical outcomes. The highest risk of complications and fatalities was observed in patients after hydrochloric acid ingestion.