PubMed searches were conducted on English-language articles published until May 2010 using the search terms “”bipolar disorder,”" “” mania,”" selleck screening library “” mixed episode,”" or “” bipolar depression,”" cross-referenced with trial characteristic search phrases and generic names of medications. The search

was supplemented by manually reviewing reference lists from identified publications.

Results In 15 studies, aripiprazole, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone long-acting injection, lithium, lamotrigine, and divalproex proved effectiveness in terms of NNTs (>= 10% advantage over placebo) for prevention of relapse into any mood episode. Quetiapine, lithium, risperidone long-acting injection, aripiprazole,

and olanzapine are effective in manic recurrence prevention. Lamotrigine, quetiapine, and lithium present AZD2281 molecular weight significant NNTs for prevention of depressive relapses.

Conclusions All of the pharmacological agents assessed were effective in the prevention of any kind of mood episode; however, different efficacy profiles were found for prevention of manic and/or depressive relapses. The comparison of NNT values of the available agents may represent a useful tool in clinical settings, in order to facilitate implementation of long-term pharmacological interventions in patients with BD.”
“Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a major cause of acute viral hepatitis in many parts of the developing world. It is responsible for both sporadic infections and large scale epidemics and may be associated with significant mortality during pregnancy. Over the past two decades many serological and nucleic acid based diagnostic tests for HEV have been developed, including several reverse transcription

real-time polymerase chain reaction assays (RT-qPCR). One of the most widely used of these RT-qPCRs is that developed by Jothikumar and colleagues (Journal of Virological Methods 2006, 131, 65-71). Whilst reviewing this assay we calculated the predicted melting temperature of its TaqMan probe and consequently synthesised a minor groove binder (MGB) version in order to increase its hybridisation stability. In this report the performance of the original find more unmodified probe is compared with that of the MGB-modified version. We demonstrate that the MGB-modified probe detected HEV RNA in plasma samples from six patients with serologically confirmed hepatitis E in whom the unmodified probe had failed to detect HEV RNA. Sequence analysis of the ORF3 segment targeted by the RT-qPCR was possible in 4 of the 6 patients and revealed an identical C -> T single nucleotide mutation in the probe binding region in each case. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.