Beta-blockers refer to a mixed group of drugs with diverse pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties. They have shown long-term beneficial effects on mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) when used in people with heart failure or acute myocardial infarction. Beta-blockers were thought to have similar beneficial effects when used as first-line therapy for hypertension. However, the benefit of beta-blockers as first-line therapy for hypertension without compelling indications is controversial. This review is an update of a Cochrane Review initially published in 2007 and updated in 2012.

Beta-blockers are proven to be safe and cost-effective agents in treating multiple dermatological conditions, which is why they are considered as an interesting and good alternative therapeutic agent by dermatologists. To our knowledge, there has been no comprehensive systematic review to date summarizing the role of both systemic and topical beta-blockers in dermatology.

To determine if topical beta-blocker use is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality, particularly among people with self-reported glaucoma.

Excessive sympathoexcitation could lead to stroke associated infection. Inhibiting sympathetic excitation may reduce the infection risk after stroke. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the protective effect of beta blockers on stroke associated infection through systematic review and meta-analysis.

Immunotherapy shows promising therapeutic efficacy against various types of cancer, but most fail to respond. Preclinical studies have suggested that concomitant medications, such as statins, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), aspirin, metformin and beta-blockers, might affect clinical outcomes if used with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), but their clinical roles are conflicting. This meta-analysis investigates the effect of these concomitant medications on outcomes in patients treated with ICIs. A search was conducted for all reports published until 31 March 2021 in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE and conference proceedings. Studies were included if they investigated the association between the concomitant use of these medications and progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival (OS) during ICI treatment. A total of 3331 patients from 13 eligible studies were included. Among them, five articles on statins, six studies evaluating NSAIDs, five studies employing low-dose aspirin, eight studies on metformin and four articles on beta-blockers were included. The concomitant use of statins during ICI treatment was correlated with improved OS and PFS. Low-dose aspirin was associated with better PFS instead of OS. No significant association was demonstrated between the concurrent use of NSAIDs, beta-blockers and metformin and OS or PFS. The concomitant use of statins and low-dose aspirin during ICI treatment showed a positive impact on treatment outcomes. The concurrent use of NSAIDs, beta-blockers and metformin is not significantly associated with clinical benefits. The effect of these medications in different cancer patients treated with ICI is needed to be further validated.

Several antihypertensive drugs, such as diuretics and β-blockers, can negatively affect sexual function, leading to diminished quality of life and often to noncompliance with the therapy. Other drug classes, however, such as angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) are able to improve patients' sexual function. Sufficient knowledge about the effects of these widely used antihypertensive drugs will make it possible for cardiologists and general practitioners to spare and even improve patients' sexual health by switching to different classes of cardiac medication. Nevertheless, previous data (part I) indicate that most cardiologists lack knowledge about the effects cardiovascular agents can have on sexual function and will thus not be able to provide the necessary holistic patient care with regard to prescribing these drugs. To be able to improve healthcare on this point, we aimed to provide a practical overview, for use by cardiologists as well as other healthcare professionals, dealing with sexual dysfunction in their clinical practices. Therefore, a systematic review of the literature was performed. The eight most widely used classes of antihypertensive drugs have been categorised in a clear table, marking whether they have a positive, negative or no effect on sexual function.

To explore the accumulated evidence concerning the effect of intensive blood pressure control on the incidence and progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR), proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and macular edema (ME).

To clarify whether any particular β blocker is superior in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction or whether the benefits of these agents are mainly due to a class effect.

The cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus, is one of the most damaging livestock ectoparasites. Tropical tick infestation limits the introduction of high-yield bovine varieties because they do not have immunity to the diseases transmitted by these ectoparasites. This tick is usually controlled with chemical acaricides but their indiscriminate use has created resistant populations. The discovery of new molecules that can be used for tick control is urgent. Based on the knowledge that octopamine, a biogenic amine analog to epinephrine, is central to the regulation of oviposition in several studied arthropods and that an imbalance in octopamine release causes sterility in a Drosophila model. Tyramine, octopamine and epinastine and 83 adrenergic compounds classified by their effect in the vertebrate systems were screened for their ability to block oviposition in Rhipicephalus microplus. Of these molecules, we found that 10 alpha-agonists, 3 alpha-antagonists, 5 beta-adrenergic agonists, 7 beta-antagonists and Norepinephrine were able to inhibit oviposition in this tick at pharmacological concentrations. Surprisingly, tyramine appears to be more potent than octopamine. The probable physiological causes of this inhibition are discussed. Our results suggest that although there are alpha adrenergic-like receptors in the tick, they do not behave in a manner completely analogous to their vertebrate counterparts.