Acetylcysteine ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental ; drug therapy ; Magnesium Compounds ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical efficacy of tetrandrine combined with acetylcysteine effervescent tablets in the treatment of silicosis.

METHODSA total of 96 patients with silicosis were randomly divided into treatment group (49 cases) and control group (47 cases). Both groups were given routine therapy including anti-inflammatory, antitussive, and antiasthmatic drugs, and the patients in treatment group were given tetrandrine combined with acetylcysteine effervescent tablets at the same time. Tetrandrine (100 mg) was orally administrated twice a day, and there was a one-day interval between every 6 days' continuous administration; totally, there were four courses of treatment, with 3 months for each course, and there was a one-month break between each course. Acetylcysteine effervescent tablets (600 mg) were taken twice a day; each course of treatment was 12 days, and there were four courses; for the first two months, there was one course per month, and then one course every other two months for the rest of time. Clinical symptoms, pulmonary ventilation function, serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) and changes in X-ray findings were observed.

RESULTSAfter treatment, the treatment group had significantly increased rates of improvements in cough, expectoration, chest congestion and pain, and dyspnea compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group (serum SOD level: 70.466±20.261 U/ml) and the treatment group before therapy (serum SOD level: 68.182±21.414 U/ml), the treatment group after therapy had significantly increased serum SOD level (77.389±21.315 U/ml?, forced vital capacity, and forced expiratory volume in one second (P < 0.05). Eight patients in treatment group showed improvement in the chest X-ray findings of silicosis.

CONCLUSIONThe combination of tetrandrine and acetylcysteine effervescent tablets show some effect in the treatment of silicosis. It can be an effective option for treating silicosis as there are no other specific remedies.

Acetylcysteine ; therapeutic use ; Aged ; Benzylisoquinolines ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Silicosis ; drug therapy ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Treatment Outcome

Acetylcysteine ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Pneumoconiosis ; drug therapy ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; complications ; Treatment Outcome

Acetaminophen ; poisoning ; Acetylcysteine ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; toxicity ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; drug therapy

Acetaminophen ; administration & dosage ; poisoning ; Acetylcysteine ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Brunei ; Drug Overdose ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Humans

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the protective effects of oral administration of N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) on noise-induced hearing loss. METHOD: Three hundred sixty three volunteers were recruited and randomly divided into two groups: experimental group (n=223) and control group (n=140). The subjects had received oral administration of NAC in the experimental group and placebo in the control group before noise exposure. The routine audiometric evaluation and ABR testing were performed and recorded pre- and post-noise exposure. The statistical analysis was carried out on the data obtained from two groups with SPSS 11.0. RESULT: The hearings of all the participatory were changed after noise exposure, but there were statistically significant differences between two groups. CONCLUSION The protective effects of NAC were prominent on the noise-induced hearing loss.
Acetylcysteine ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Adult ; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Male ; Military Personnel ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safety of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and glutathione (GSH) in treating chronic hepatitis B patients.

METHODSSeventy-five patients with chronic hepatitis B were treated daily with an injection containing the same basic therapeutic drugs and randomly divided into a NAC group (50 patients) and a GSH group (25 patients). A daily dose of 8 grams of NAC and 1.2 grams of GSH was added to the injections of the two groups respectively. The trial lasted 28 days. Hepatic function and other biochemistry parameters (TBil, PTA, ALB et al) were tested on experimental day 0 and on days 7, 14, 21 and 28. The evaluation on the total effective rates of the NAC and GSH groups was based on the decreases of serum TBil and the increases of PTA.

RESULTSBoth NAC and GSH have therapeutic effects. The total effective rate was 84% in the NAC group and 72% in the GSH group. The rate of side effects was 13% in the NAC group.

CONCLUSIONNAC and GSH can decrease the level of serum TBil and increase PTA, but NAC was more effective in decreasing TBil than GSH. Serious adverse effects of NAC were not observed during the period of our treatment.

Acetylcysteine ; therapeutic use ; Adult ; Bilirubin ; blood ; Female ; Glutathione ; therapeutic use ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; blood ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVESTo evaluate the effectiveness and safety of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in treating chronic hepatitis B patients.

METHODS144 patients with chronic hepatitis B (total bilirubin, TBil>170 mmol/L) from several centers were chosen for a randomized and double blind clinical trial. The patients were divided into a NAC group and a placebo group and all of them were treated with an injection containing the same standardized therapeutic drugs. A daily dose of 8 microgram NAC was added to the injection of the NAC group. The trial lasted 45 days. Hepatic function and other biochemistry parameters were checked at the experimental day 0 and days 15, 30, 45.

RESULTSEach group consisted of 72 patients of similar demology and disease characteristics. During the trial, 28 cases of the 144 patients dropped out. In the NAC group, at day 0 and day 30, the TBil were 401.7 vs. 149.2 and 160.1+/-160.6. In the placebo group, the TBil on the corresponding days were 384.1+/-134.0 and 216.3+/-199.9. Its decrease in the NAC group was 62% and 42% in the placebo group. At day 0 and day 45 of treatment, the effective PTa increase rate was 72% in the NAC group and 54% in the placebo group. The total effective rate (TBil + PTa) was 90% in the NAC group and 69% in the placebo group. The parameters of the two groups showed a remarkable difference. The rate of side effects was 14% in the NAC and 5% in the placebo groups.

CONCLUSIONNAC can decrease the level of serum TBil, increase the PTa and reduce the time of hospitalization. NAC showed no serious adverse effects during the period of our treatment. We find that NCA is effective and secure in treating chronic hepatitis B patients.

Acetylcysteine ; therapeutic use ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Double-Blind Method ; Female ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

The inhibition of protein degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway is a recently developed approach to cancer treatment which extends the range of cellular target for chemotherapy. This therapeutic strategy is very interesting since the proteasomes carry out the regulated degradation of unnecessary or damaged cellular proteins, a process that is dysregulated in many cancer cells. Based on this hypothesis, the proteasome complex inhibitor Bortezomib was approved for use in multiple myeloma patients by FDA in 2003. Drug discovery programs in academy and the pharmaceutical industry have developed a range of synthetic and natural inhibitors of the 20S proteasome core particle that have entered human clinical trials as significant anti-cancer leads. The main results from the use of proteasome inhibition in cancer chemotherapy, the structure of several proteasome inhibitors and their synthesis is going to be reviewed in this paper.
Acetylcysteine ; analogs & derivatives ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; Antineoplastic Agents ; chemical synthesis ; classification ; therapeutic use ; Boronic Acids ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; Bortezomib ; Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors ; chemical synthesis ; classification ; Dipeptides ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; Humans ; Multiple Myeloma ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; Peptides, Cyclic ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex ; metabolism ; Proteasome Inhibitors ; Pyrazines ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; Ubiquitin ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism

PURPOSE: Hyperglycemia increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the resulting oxidative stress plays a key role in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. Nicotinamide dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase is one of the major sources of ROS production in diabetes. We, therefore, examined the possibility that NADPH oxidase activation is increased in various tissues, and that the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) may have tissue specific effects on NADPH oxidase and tissue antioxidant status in diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Control (C) and streptozotocin-induced diabetic (D) rats were treated either with NAC (1.5 g/kg/day) orally or placebo for 4 weeks. The plasma, heart, lung, liver, kidney were harvested immediately and stored for biochemical or immunoblot analysis. RESULTS: levels of free 15-F2t-isoprostane were increased in plasma, heart, lung, liver and kidney tissues in diabetic rats, accompanied with significantly increased membrane translocation of the NADPH oxidase subunit p67phox in all tissues and increased expression of the membrane-bound subunit p22phox in heart, lung and kidney. The tissue antioxidant activity in lung, liver and kidney was decreased in diabetic rats, while it was increased in heart tissue. NAC reduced the expression of p22phox and p67phox, suppressed p67phox membrane translocation, and reduced free 15-F(2t)-isoprostane levels in all tissues. NAC increased antioxidant activity in liver and lung, but did not significantly affect antioxidant activity in heart and kidney. CONCLUSION: The current study shows that NAC inhibits NADPH oxidase activation in diabetes and attenuates tissue oxidative damage in all organs, even though its effects on antioxidant activity are tissue specific.
Acetylcysteine/*therapeutic use ; Animals ; Antioxidants/*metabolism ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/*drug therapy/*metabolism ; Heart/drug effects ; Kidney/drug effects/metabolism ; Liver/drug effects/metabolism ; Lung/drug effects/metabolism ; Male ; NADPH Oxidase/*metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley