These data suggest that factors other than evidence-based medicine have a dominant effect on the use of NSAIDs in Serbia. Targeted education from independent sources in the prescribing, dispensing, and use of drugs is important to improve the quality of the prescribing behavior and the use of NSAIDs.
Treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcoma usually includes dacarbazine (DTIC), an alkylating agent that methylates DNA and is active during all phases of the cell cycle. Common side effects of DTIC include nausea, vomiting, impaired liver and kidney function, myelosuppression, and pneumonia. There are no accounts, however, of histological and hematological changes caused by DTIC. We investigated acute hematological and morphological changes in different organs and in tumors that were caused by a single dose of DTIC. Adult Syrian golden hamsters were inoculated with a suspension of tumorigenic baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells by subcutaneous injection. On day 14 after inoculation, doses of 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 or 2.0 g/m(2) DTIC were injected intraperitoneally into the hamsters. Hamsters in the control group were injected with physiological saline in the same way. Seven days after drug or saline injection the animals were sacrificed and samples of blood, heart, kidney, liver, lungs, spleen, small intestine and tumor were excised, processed and analyzed. Mitoses were counted using an ocular extension with engraved frame. Anemia, thrombocytopenia and leukocytosis were found in the control group of hamsters with fibrosarcoma, whereas animals with fibrosarcoma treated with DTIC developed anemia, thrombocytopenia and leukopenia. Severe pneumonia and moderate hepatitis were detected in all DTIC treated groups. Effects of DTIC on tumor cells included rounding and enlargement of nuclei and rarefaction of chromatin. The number of mitoses was reduced with increasing doses of DTIC. Hepatitis, myelosuppression, pneumonia, and dose-related inhibition of tumor cell proliferation were observed after a single dose of DTIC.
Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death both in Serbia and in the rest of the world. It has been shown that as many as 80% of them are preventable. Control of serum lipid levels is one of the most important tasks of cardiovascular diseases prevention. Aim: The aim of the study was to analyze the use of serum lipid-modifying drugs in Serbia, Norway and Finland in the period 2015-2017. Methods: Data on drugs use during 2015, 2016 and 2017 were taken from the official websites of national drug regulatory authorities: the Serbian Medicines and Medical Devices Agency, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Finnish Medicines Agency. Use was expressed as DDD/1000 inhabitants/day according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification. Results: The share of drugs used for treatment of cardiovascular diseases in total drugs use was the largest in all three countries during the observed period. The use of lipidmodifying agents was 3-4 times lower in Serbia than in Norway or Finland. Of all lipidmodifying drugs, statins are most commonly prescribed in all three countries. Atorvastatin and rosuvastatin are the most widely used in Serbia, and simvastatin and atorvastatin in Norway and Finland. Conclusions: Use of lipid-modifying drugs in Serbia is lower than in Norway and Finland, but it is constantly increasing. This use in Serbia still represents the smallest share of all drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
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