Pyrimethamine Health Dictionary

A combination of PYRIMETHAMINE and sulfadoxine used in conjunction with other antimalarial drugs to treat falciparum malaria (see MALARIA).... fansidar

An infection caused by the protozoan TOXOPLASMA GONDII that is often caused by eating undercooked meat from infected animals, or by handling faeces from infected cats. In most cases there are no symptoms, but sometimes there may be a feverish illness that resembles infectious mononucleosis. Retinitis (inflammation of the retina) and choroiditis may also develop. In people with an immunodeficiency disorder toxoplasmosis may cause lung and heart damage and severe encephalitis.

Toxoplasmosis contracted by a pregnant woman is transmitted to the fetus in about a third of cases. It may result in miscarriage or stillbirth, or the infant may have an enlarged liver and spleen, blindness, hydrocephalus, learning difficulties, or may die during infancy. Infection in late pregnancy usually has no ill effects.

The diagnosis is made from blood tests. Treatment (with pyrimethamine and a sulphonamide drug) is necessary only in pregnant women, in children with severe symptoms, in people with an immune system deficiency, and in cases of retinitis or choroiditis.... toxoplasmosis

Linn.

Family: Berberidaceae.

Habitat: Distributed in Northwestern Himalayas.

English: Common Barberry, True Barberry.

Ayurvedic: Daruharidraa (var.).

Folk: Chatrod, Kashmal.

Action: Root and bark—used for ailments of gastrointestinal tract, liver, gallbladder, kidney and urinary tract, respiratory tract, also as a febrifuge and blood purifier.

Key application: Listed by German Commission E among unapproved herbs.

An extract with 80% berberine and additional alkaloids stimulated the bile secretion of rats by 72%. (PDR.) As cholagogue. (The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia.)

The main alkaloid is berberine (well tolerated up to 0.5 g). Berries are safe.

Bererine in small doses stimulates the respiratory system; poisonings have been observed from overdoses. Poisonings from the total herb have not been reported. (German Commission E.)

Berberine is bactericidal, amoebici- dal and trypanocidal. Berberine is an- tidiarrhoeal, asitentersinto the cytosol or binds to the cell membrane and inhibits the catalytic unit of andenylate cyclase. It is active in vitro and in animals against cholera.

Berberine stimulates bile secretion and shows sedative, hypotensive, anti- convulsant and uterine stimulant activity in animals. Alkaloid bermarine is also strongly antibacterial. It has been shown to increase white blood cell and platelet counts in animals with iatro- genic leukocytopaenia.

Berberine, berbamine and jatror- rhizine are hypotensive and sedative.

Many of the alkaloids are antineo- plastic.

The alkaloid berbamine (50 mg three times daily for 1-4 weeks) helped reverse leukopaenia induced by benzene, cancer chemotherapy or radiotherapy in a clinical study. (Francis Brinker.)

Berberine, when combined with pyrimethamine, was more effective than combinations with other antibiotics in treating chloroquine-resistant malaria. (Sharon M. Herr.)... berberis vulgaris

A combination of PYRIMETHAMINE and DAPSONE which is used for the prevention of MALARIA in limited circumstances. It has the advantage of only needing to be taken once weekly. It should not be taken by anyone hypersensitive to sulphonamides, and should not be used for the treatment of an acute attack.... maloprim

An antibacterial drug used to treat Hansen’s disease (leprosy) and dermatitis herpetiformis.

Combined with pyrimethamine, dapsone is also used to prevent malaria.

Dapsone may cause nausea, vomiting, and, rarely, damage to the liver, red blood cells, and nerves.... dapsone

any of various drugs that interfere with the conversion of folate to its active form in the body. They include *pyrimethamine, *trimethoprim, and *methotrexate. When such drugs are necessary, folate deficiency is treated with *folinic acid rather than folic acid.... dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor

(sulphadiazine) n. a drug of the *sulphonamide group that is used to prevent the recurrence of rheumatic fever and (in combination with *pyrimethamine) to treat toxoplasmosis. In the form of silver sulfadiazine, it is applied to treat infected burns, leg ulcers, and pressure sores.... sulfadiazine

(ague, marsh fever, periodic fever, paludism) n. an infectious disease due to the presence of parasitic protozoa of the genus *Plasmodium (P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale, or P. vivax) within the red blood cells. The disease is transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito and is confined mainly to tropical and subtropical areas.

Parasites in the blood of an infected person are taken into the stomach of the mosquito as it feeds. Here they multiply and then invade the salivary glands. When the mosquito bites an individual, parasites are injected into the bloodstream and migrate to the liver and other organs, where they multiply. After an incubation period varying from 12 days (P. falciparum) to 10 months (some varieties of P. vivax), parasites return to the bloodstream and invade the red blood cells. Rapid multiplication of the parasites results in destruction of the red cells and the release of more parasites capable of infecting other red cells. This causes a short bout of shivering, fever, and sweating, and the loss of healthy red cells results in anaemia. When the next batch of parasites is released symptoms reappear. The interval between fever attacks varies in different types of malaria: in quartan malaria (or fever), caused by P. malariae, it is three days; in tertian malaria (P. ovale or P. vivax) it is two days (these two types are known as benign malarias). In malignant (or falciparum) malaria (caused by P. falciparum) – the most severe kind – the interval between attacks varies from a few hours to two days (see also blackwater fever). Preventive and curative treatment includes such drugs as *chloroquine, *proguanil, *mefloquine, and *pyrimethamine.... malaria