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The Concept of Biocompatibility
Published in Antonietta Morena Gatti, Stefano Montanari, Advances in Nanopathology From Vaccines to Food, 2021
Antonietta Morena Gatti, Stefano Montanari
The limits of the two parameters are self-evident. Among others, a given substance can be toxic for a certain tissue or organ without affecting others. An organ can be affected by a substance without it causing death. Another problem hard to solve is the comparison between different kinds of damage: How can one determine objectively whether a damage is more or less serious than another? What with a substance which is objectively noxious but does not cause death? How can one scientifically cope with the obvious difference existing among different test animals, and how can one scientifically translate the results to humans without being ready to accept a huge margin of error? Answers are not lacking, but understandably, none of them is totally reliable.
Chemical injuries
Published in Jan de Boer, Marcel Dubouloz, Handbook of Disaster Medicine, 2020
The medical field management starts with technical actions to fight or neutralise the cause and/or consequences of the hazardous materials incident. These technical actions must sometimes be carried out before search and rescue of the victims or can be carried out simultaneously with the rescue operations. Since specific therapeutic measures do not exist for many toxic exposures, removal from the toxic agent(s) to prevent further local damage or systemic toxicity is essential in the initial management of the casualties on the scene of a chemical disaster. Additional hazards from fire and explosion of combustible products must be assessed2,27.
Therapeutic Monitoring of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs)
Published in Frank A. Barile, Barile’s Clinical Toxicology, 2019
Physical examination involves identification of a constellation of clinical signs and symptoms that, together, are likely associated with exposure to certain classes of toxic agents. Also known as the identification of the toxic syndrome or toxidrome, this compilation of observations allows the initiation of treatment and progress toward follow-up care and support. Table 3.8 describes five of the most common toxidromes and their clinical signs and symptoms that suggest a particular toxic agent, or category of agents, is responsible. Commonly observed features are listed first, followed by peripheral or more severe signs and symptoms. The agents and the mechanisms responsible for the toxidromes are discussed in subsequent chapters. It is important to note that the clinical picture becomes complicated when multiple drugs or chemicals are involved. The manifestations of one drug may mask or prevent the identification of other chemicals.
Aloe vera and artemisia vulgaris hydrogels: exploring the toxic effects of structural transformation of the biocompatible materials
Published in Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 2021
Taskeen Frasat, Ume Ruqia Tulain, Alia Erum, Uzma Saleem, Muhammad Farhan Sohail, Rizwana Kausar
The advancement in drug delivery sciences has introduced many materials with biomedical applications. Hydrogels are one of such dosage forms based on polymers that contain active drugs entrapped in a water-swollen cross-linked network made up of hydrophilic homopolymers or copolymers [26]. Several new natural polymers are reported for hydrogels synthesis. Herein, we report two of the natural polymers of Aloe vera and Artemisia vulgaris for toxicological evaluation as no previous such type of work has been reported yet [27]. Thus it was mandatory to check the toxicity of these polymers and find out the dose range that can be safely administered and figure out the clinical signs and symptoms associated with these polymers when used as hydrogels [28]. In drug studies there is a saying that all the chemicals or drugs are toxic, it is the dose that makes them safe for use. So, to assess the safety of the above-mentioned natural polymers, stable hydrogels of these polymers were formulated by free-radical copolymerization. These hydrogels were analyzed for toxicity of polymers both by in vivo and in vitro methods [10]. The Aloe vera and Artemisia vulgaris hydrogels were successfully synthesized and dried as a solid mass. The solid mass was then carefully triturated using mortar and pestle to obtain a finely divided powder of polymers. These powdered polymers were further used in all in vitro and in vivo evaluations.
Research progress on radioprotective effects of bee products
Published in International Journal of Radiation Biology, 2021
Xin Zhang, Huali Song, Xiangyou Tang, Shuang Wang, Juan Li, Yuhui Hao
Radiation is still a high-profile safety problem in military, medical, and public health fields (Singh et al. 2012). Firstly, nuclear weapons may threaten civilian safety seriously in military incidents, such as military incidents such as the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Further more, tumor radiotherapy can cause some radiotherapy complications (such as inflammation or tissue fibrosis) and reduce the treatment effect and the patient’s quality of life (Prasanna et al. 2015). Most importantly, the development of nuclear technology has brought new potential safety hazards to radiation exposure, such as the Chernobyl nuclear accident and the Fukushima nuclear leak. Exposure to high-dose ionizing radiation leads to acute radiation injuries. For instance, when the radiation dose reaches 1–8 Gy human hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow will undergo irreversible damage for the hematopoietic system is highly sensitive to radiation (Dörr and Meineke 2011); when human are exposed to more than 10 Gy of radiation can cause intestinal injuries, which can’t be effective treated (Taniguchi et al. 2014). Only a small number of drugs have been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for the treatment of radiation injuries (such as amifostine and glucocorticoids). However, most of them have toxic side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension and nephrotoxicity (Kalman et al. 2017). Therefore due to the nature of side effects its important to find a more effective and safe treatment.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in poorly resourced settings: better to pre-empt than to wait until it is too late
Published in Paediatrics and International Child Health, 2020
There are always some exceptions to rules and likelihoods and one is drug overdose. If a child has taken a toxic dose of, for example, an opiate, anxiolytic or anti-epileptic, every attempt should be made to continue resuscitation until the drug effect has passed. Some drugs have an antidote which will hasten recovery and reverse some of the toxic effects of drugs. Another exception is drowning in very cold water. This is unlikely in hot climates but, should such an accident occur, slow warming and continued resuscitation over time are appropriate. However, in a study of 160 Dutch children <16 years old with cardiac arrest and hypothermia after drowning during 1993–2012, 98 (61%) required >30 min of CPR and 87 (89%) died. The 11 survivors were all neurologically damaged whereas, of the 62 (39%) who required CPR for <30 min, 17 survived, 10 were neurologically normal, 5 had mild disabilities and 2 had moderate disabilities [32].