Drug Week articles from June 2009

Drug Week archives from June 2009

Trace elements unbalanced in dialysis patients.
June 5, 2009... Abnormal levels of trace elements may explain dialysis morbidity. A systematic review published in the open access journal BMC Medicine has shown that, compared to healthy controls, dialysis patients have significantly different blood...

Blood tests and better communication skills could cut over-prescribing of antibiotics.
June 5, 2009... Improving communications skills and the use of a simple blood test could help cut the growing number of inappropriate prescriptions of antibiotics, a joint Cardiff University trial has discovered (see also Cardiff University). In a major...

Cognitive behavior therapy appears beneficial for long-term treatment of insomnia.
June 5, 2009... This release is available in Chinese (see also JAMA and Archives Journals). For patients with persistent insomnia, a combination of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and the medication zolpidem for 6 weeks was associated with improvement in...

Drug for urination difficulties linked with complications after cataract surgery.
June 5, 2009... Use of the medication tamsulosin to treat male urination difficulties within two weeks of cataract surgery is associated with an increased risk of serious postoperative ophthalmic adverse events such as retinal detachment or lost lens,...

Cocaine: Perceived as a reward by the brain?
June 5, 2009... This release is available in French (see also McGill University Health Centre). Montreal, May 19th 2009 - Cocaine is one of the oldest drugs known to humans, and its abuse has become widespread since the end of the 19th century. At the...

Recent findings from U. Matzner and co-authors highlight research in metachromatic leukodystrophy.
June 5, 2009... According to a study from Bonn, Germany, "Arylsulfatase A (ASA) catalyzes the intralysosomal desulfation of 3-O-sulfogalactosylceramide (sulfatide) to galactosylceramide. The reaction requires saposin B (Sap B), a non-enzymatic protein-aceous...

Data on clinical medicine described by researchers at General Hospital.
June 5, 2009... According to recent research published in the journal Clinical Medicine, "Despite a sustained and massive increase in spending with the NHS, the evidence that care has improved, other than in areas of performance that have been intensively...

Findings from P. Anderson et al in clinical medicine reported.(Clinical report)
June 5, 2009... According to a study from Spain, "Children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of alcohol, with heavy drinking risking impaired brain development and future alcohol dependence. Advertisements increase expectancies...

Recent findings in clinical medicine described by H. Mitchison and colleagues.
June 5, 2009... According to a study from Sunderland, the United Kingdom, "In 2007, an assessment centre approach (a structured interview, a case-based discussion and a communication exercise) was' implemented to replace the: traditional interview for entry to...

Research from A.G. Rudd and co-authors in the area of clinical medicine published.(Report)
June 5, 2009... According to recent research from London, the United Kingdom, "Little research has been performed to determine how a stroke unit should be staffed and what the links are between patient dependency and staffing. For this study, 140 stroke units...

Research from L. Mcgill and co-researchers provides new data on clinical medicine.
June 5, 2009... According to recent research from Brussels, Belgium, "Every year in the 27 member states of the European Union, patients are harmed when receiving healthcare. Sometimes this is the fault of individual or multiple healthcare workers but more...

Researchers from University of Bristol report on findings in clinical medicine.(Clinical report)
June 5, 2009... "Studies have shown that end-of-life care within the UK hospital setting is variable, and care pathways are now being advocated in the UK. This report presents results from an audit revealing that it is possible to anticipate a large proportion...

Scientists at University of Bradford target clinical medicine.
June 5, 2009... "Climate change was originally expected to have its main impact on countries in temperate latitudes which, because of their relative wealth, would be best able to cope. It is now far more likely that much poorer states in the tropics and...

New pharmaceutical research findings from University of Delhi described.
June 5, 2009... "Various aqueous and oily diclofenac ophthalmic formulations were subjected to accelerated and long term stability studies. Degradation of diclofenac was found to follow first-order kinetics," scientists in New Delhi, India report (see also...

Research findings from X.D. Zhang et al update understanding of pharmaceutical research.
June 5, 2009... In this recently published study, investigators in the United States conducted a study "To develop a new analytical method to address the issues of traditional contrast analysis for comparing gene effects in RNAi and expression-profiling...

Scientists at Selcuk University describe research in pharmaceutical research.(Report)
June 5, 2009... According to a study from Konya, Turkey, "The aim of this study was to document the effect of tramadol as an opioid on individual fibers of rat sciatic nerve. To accomplish this objective, compound action potentials (CAPs) were recorded from...

Findings from University of Sao Paulo provide new insights into pharmacology.
June 5, 2009... "Protein kinase (PK) A and the epsilon isoform of PKC (PKC epsilon) are involved in the development of hypernociception (increased sensitivity to noxious or innocuous stimuli) in several animal models of acute and persistent inflammatory pain....

New pharmacology data have been reported by scientists at University of Halle-Wittenberg.
June 5, 2009... According to recent research from Halle, Germany, "In order to use the transient response to an antagonist (prazosin) to evaluate properties of agonist interactions with the alpha(1)-adrenoceptor system, an integrative mechanistic model of...

New pharmacology research from University of Sydney described.
June 5, 2009... "N-arachidonoyl dopamine (NADA) has complex effects on nociception mediated via cannabinoid CB1 receptors and the transient receptor potential vanilloid receptor 1 (TRPV1). Anandamide, the prototypic CB1/TRPV1 agonist, also inhibits T-type...

Study results from La Sapienza University broaden understanding of pharmacology.
June 5, 2009... "Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are often associated with extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs), which occur in approximately one third of patients. There is only few published data on the occurrence of these manifestations in children and...

New findings in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics described from Toyama University.
June 5, 2009... "The purpose of the present study was to characterize rat organic anion transporter (Oat) 3 (Oat3, Slc22a8) in the efflux transport at the inner blood-retinal barrier (BRB). Reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction analysis showed that...

New findings in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics described from University of Michigan, Medical Department.
June 5, 2009... According to recent research from the United States, "Dopamine D-2-like agonists induce penile erection (PE) and yawning in a variety of species, effects that have been suggested recently to be specifically mediated by the D-4 and D-3...

Report summarizes pharmacology and experimental therapeutics study findings from Ankara University, Medical Department.
June 5, 2009... According to recent research from Ankara, Turkey, "G alpha(s) and extra-large G alpha(s) (XL alpha(s)) can both transduce receptor activation into intracellular cAMP generation. It is unknown, however, whether these two GNAS-locus products...

Reports from Indiana University describe recent advances in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.(Report)
June 5, 2009... According to recent research from the United States, "We tested the hypothesis that the stable isotope [C-13]pantoprazole is O-demethylated by cytochrome P450 CYP2C19 and that the (CO2)-C-13 produced and exhaled in breath as a result can serve...

Reports summarize pharmacology and experimental therapeutics research from University of California.
June 5, 2009... "The organic cation/ergothioneine transporter OCTN1 (SLC22A4) and the high-affinity carnitine transporter OCTN2 (SLC22A5), play an important role in the disposition of xenobiotics and endogenous compounds. Here, we analyzed the sequence of the...

Research from Temple University, Medical Department provide new insights into pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
June 5, 2009... According to recent research from the United States, "Although muscarinic receptors are known to mediate tonic contraction of human gastrointestinal tract smooth muscle, the receptor subtypes that mediate the tonic contractions are not entirely...

Research from University of Michigan broadens understanding of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
June 5, 2009... According to a study from the United States, "Mifepristone [RU486; 17 beta-hydroxy-11 beta-(4-dimethylaminophenyl)-17 alpha-(1-propynyl)-estra-4,9-dien-3-one] inactivates CYP2B6 in the reconstituted system in a mechanism-based manner. The loss...

Research on pharmacology and experimental therapeutics reported by M. Ericson et al.
June 5, 2009... "Varenicline was recently approved as an aid for smoking cessation. Patients treated with varenicline have reported a concomitant reduction in their alcohol consumption," scientists writing in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental...

Research on ultramicroscopy detailed by scientists at Mie University.
June 5, 2009... "We measured spin polarization of electrons field-emitted from half-metallic Co2MnSi thin film grown on a W(0 0 1) facet via chromium buffer layer using Mott scattering," investigators in Tsu, Japan report (see also Pharmacology and...

Researchers from University of Texas detail new studies and findings in the area of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
June 5, 2009... "Elevated sensitivity to the euphoric or stimulant effects of ethanol is associated with higher levels of alcohol use in some human populations. Midbrain dopamine neurons are thought to be important mediators of both ethanol reward and...

Studies from National Institutes of Health have provided new data on pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
June 5, 2009... "` Retinoid-related orphan nuclear receptors (RORs) alpha and gamma (NR1F1, -3) are highly expressed in liver, adipose tissue, thymus, and brain and are involved in many physiological processes, such as circadian rhythm and immune function....

Studies from University of Utah further understanding of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
June 5, 2009... According to a study from the United States, "Repeated, high-dose methamphetamine (METH) administrations cause persistent dopaminergic deficits in rodents, nonhuman primates, and humans. In rats, this treatment also causes the formation of...

Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University in the area of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics published.
June 5, 2009... According to recent research from the United States, "Monoamine releasers constitute one class of drugs currently under investigation as potential agonist medications for the treatment of cocaine dependence. The efficacy and safety of monoamine...

New pharmacotherapy study findings have been reported from University of Leeds.
June 5, 2009... According to a study from Leeds, the United Kingdom, "Effective written consumer medicines information is essential to support safe and effective medicine taking, but the wording and layout of currently provided materials do not meet patients'...

Data on radiopharmaceuticals reported by W. Hatton and co-researchers.
June 5, 2009... "Four racemic nicotine isotopomers, doubly labelled with stable isotope, were prepared for use in studies of plant metabolism. First, starting from halogeno nicotinates, one deuterium was introduced into the pyridine moiety by reductive...

New data from Johnson & Johnson illuminate research in radiopharmaceuticals.
June 5, 2009... According to a study from the United States, "5-(Hydroxymethyl)thiazole is a versatile building block for many biologically active compounds. A rapid and efficient four-step synthesis of its stable isotope labeled counterpart with four C-13 and...

Reports summarize radiopharmaceuticals research from Beijing Normal University.
June 5, 2009... According to a study from Beijing, People's Republic of China, "Nitrido technetium(V)-mixed ligand complex of (TcN)-Tc-99m-DBODC-DMSEt [DMSEt: Monoethyl ester of (meso) 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid, DBODC: bis(2-ethoxyethyl)carbamodithioate]...

Research from O.A. Elkawy and co-authors provides new data about radiopharmaceuticals.(Report)
June 5, 2009... According to recent research published in the Journal of Labelled Compounds & Radiopharmaceuticals, "In this study, the optimization of gemcitabine labeling with iodine-125 and its biological evaluation are described. Gemcitabine was labeled...

People with parents who fight are more likely to have mental health problems in later life.
June 12, 2009... People with parents who were violent to each other are more likely to have mental health problems when they grow up, reveals research published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (see also BMJ-British Medical Journal). ...

Intervention helps reduce pain and depression.
June 12, 2009... This release is available in Chinese (see also JAMA and Archives Journals). For patients who experience pain and depression, common co-existing conditions, an intervention that included individually tailored antidepressant therapy and a...

Bacteria play role in preventing spread of malaria.
June 12, 2009... Bacteria in the gut of the Anopheles gambiae mosquito inhibit infection of the insect with Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria in humans, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health....

APS issues new guideline for low-back pain interventions, surgery.
June 12, 2009... The American Pain Society (APS) has issued a new clinical practice guideline for low back pain that emphasizes the use of noninvasive treatments over interventional procedures, as well as shared decision making between provider and patient. The...

New mouse model of depression/anxiety enhances understanding of antidepressant drugs.
June 12, 2009... A recent study finds that the antidepressant effects of drugs like Prozac involve both neurogenesis-dependent and -independent mechanisms, a finding that may lead to development of better treatments for depression and anxiety. The research,...

Research from L. Turunen and co-researchers in the area of biomolecular screening described.
June 12, 2009... According to a study from Espoo, Finland, "Antibody phage display technology is well established and widely used for selecting specific antibodies against desired targets. Using conventional manual methods, it is laborious to perform multiple...

New clinical pharmacology study results reported from Central South University.(Clinical report)
June 12, 2009... According to a study from Changsha, People's Republic of China, "Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, can induce the adhesiveness of monocytes to vascular endothelium, and chemokines play an...

New findings from A. Clavenna and co-researchers in the area of clinical pharmacology described.
June 12, 2009... "WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT center dot Drug utilization studies performed in the Italian paediatric population have found a prescription profile that appears to be specific to Italy. center dot Quantitative and qualitative...

Research in the area of clinical pharmacology reported from U. Hedegaard and colleagues.(Report)
June 12, 2009... According to recent research from Odense, Denmark, "Problem-oriented drug information (POD) is a service in which health professionals provide evidence-based answers to clinical questions posed by physicians. The objective of this study was to...

Reports summarize complementary and alternative medicine research from College of Medicine.(Report)
June 12, 2009... "Osteopathic physicians believe that the birthing process causes cranial dysfunction that may be manifested in somatic symptoms, one of which is excessive crying of infancy. Cranial dysfunction can be determined by assessing the cranial...

Research data from Chinese University of Hong Kong update understanding of complementary and alternative medicine.
June 12, 2009... "Danshen and gegen (D&G) have long been used in treatment of angina and other cardiac symptoms in Chinese materia medica. Recent pharmacological studies suggest their therapeutic values," researchers in Hong Kong, People's Republic of China...

Researchers from Wake Forest University discuss findings in complementary and alternative medicine.
June 12, 2009... According to recent research published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, "Existing studies on the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) have produced diverse results regarding the types and prevalence of...

Studies from J. Mikolai et al have provided new data on complementary and alternative medicine.(Report)
June 12, 2009... According to recent research from the United States, "This study investigated the immunologic effects of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) on four types of immune cells in a human sample to determine the immunologic mechanism. Five (5)...

Studies from K. Puttler and co-authors have provided new information about complementary and alternative medicine.(Report)
June 12, 2009... According to recent research from the United States, "This study investigated the possibility that olfactory stimulation would decrease sedation needed for colonoscopy and therefore decrease the recovery time needed after conscious sedation....

Research on drug discovery and design detailed by J.C. Davis and co-authors.
June 12, 2009... "Personalized medicine' promises to increase the quality of clinical care and, in some cases, decrease health-care costs. Despite this, only a handful of diagnostic tests have made it to market, with mixed success," researchers in the United...

Investigators at University of Mississippi have published new data on pharmaceutical research.(Report)
June 12, 2009... According to a study from the United States, "The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of amino acid transporters in the transcorneal permeation of the aspartate (Asp) ester acyclovir (ACV) prodrug. Physicochemical...

New data from E.H.J. Vandenbogaard et al illuminate research in pharmaceutical research.
June 12, 2009... According to recent research from London, the United Kingdom, "To evaluate the inflammatory response and barrier formation of a new alveolar type 1-like (transformed type I; TT1) cell line to establish its suitability for toxicity and drug...

Recent findings from A. Takada and co-authors highlight research in pharmaceutical research.(Report)
June 12, 2009... "The purpose of this study is to characterize freeze-dried mannitol prepared from an ethanol-containing solution as a function of the ethanol ratio, mannitol concentration, and annealing in the freeze-drying cycle. The characteristics of the...

Research results from Medical College of Georgia, Medical College update understanding of pharmaceutical research.
June 12, 2009... "To investigate whether conjunctival epithelial cells express transport processes for opioid peptides. We monitored the uptake of [H-3]deltorphin II and [H-3]DADLE, two hydrolysis-resistant synthetic opioid peptides, in the rabbit conjunctival...

Research results from University of Minnesota update understanding of pharmaceutical research.
June 12, 2009... "To investigate the local and global mobility in amorphous sucrose and trehalose and their potential implications on physical stability. Amorphous sucrose was prepared by lyophilization while amorphous trehalose was prepared by dehydration of...

Studies conducted at University of the Pacific on pharmaceutical research recently published.
June 12, 2009... According to recent research published in the journal Pharmaceutical Research, "To develop and validate a computational model capable of predicting buccal permeability based on various structural and physicochemical descriptors. Apparent...

Data on pharmacology reported by researchers at Oxford Brookes University.(Report)
June 12, 2009... "alpha 4 and beta 2 nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptor subunits expressed heterologously in Xenopus oocytes assemble into a mixed population of (alpha 4)(2)(beta 2)(3) and (alpha 4)(3)(beta 2)(2) receptors. In order to express these...

Findings from University of Manchester in pharmacology reported.
June 12, 2009... According to a study from Manchester, the United Kingdom, "The inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) has profound actions in the brain, causing neuronal cell death and exacerbating brain damage. While circulating levels are normally low,...

Findings in pharmacology reported from Monash University.
June 12, 2009... "Changes in smooth muscle tone of the prostate gland are involved in aetiology of symptomatic prostatic hyperplasia, however the control mechanisms of prostatic smooth muscle are not well understood. Here, we have examined the role of internal...

Investigators at Seoul National University publish new data on pharmacology.
June 12, 2009... "Traditionally, the stem and root bark of Ulmus davidiana var. japonica (Ulmaceae) have been known to be anti-inflammatory in Korea. Anti-inflammatory effects of torilin, isolated from this plant and the underlying mechanisms were examined by...

New pharmacology study findings recently were reported by researchers at University of Sydney.
June 12, 2009... "Constitutively active mu-opioid receptors (mu* receptors) are reported to be formed following prolonged agonist treatment of cells or whole animals. mu* receptors signal in the absence of activating ligand and a blockade of mu* activation of...

Reports on pharmacology findings from Ewha Womans University provide new insights.(Report)
June 12, 2009... "p-Coumaryl alcohol-gamma-O-methyl ether (CAME) was isolated from Alpinia galanga and shown to contain a phenylpropanoid structure similar to p-coumaryl diacetate (CDA). CDA is known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, but the...

Research results from University of Shizuoka update knowledge of pharmacology.
June 12, 2009... "To compare loss in binding to muscarinic receptor (mAChR) subtypes with their known functions, the total density of muscarinic receptors was measured in peripheral tissues from wild type (WT) and mAChR knockout (KO) mice. Binding parameters of...

Semen quality depends upon antioxidants.(Report)
June 19, 2009... Low antioxidant intake is associated with low reproductive capacity in semen. This is the finding of a new study carried out in two infertility centres in Alicante and Murcia, and which has been published online in the journal Fertility and...

Scientists explain how 'death receptors' designed to kill our cells may make them stronger.
June 19, 2009... It turns out that from the perspective of cell biology, Nietzsche may have been right after all: that which does not kill us does make us stronger. In a review article published in the June 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal...

Cruel and inhuman treatment causes more mental damage than physical torture.(Report)
June 19, 2009... New research findings published by Dr Metin Başoğlu, Head of Section of Trauma Studies at King's College London and the Istanbul Centre for Behaviour Research and Therapy, examines the psychological impact of war captivity, 'cruel,...

NEJM study finds radiofrequency ablation can reverse Barrett's esophagus, reduce cancer risk.(Report)
June 19, 2009... Patients who have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) for a prolonged period have an increased risk of developing Barrett's esophagus, a pre-cancerous condition where the tissue lining the esophagus becomes damaged by stomach acid and...

Study finds unexpected bacterial diversity on human skin.
June 19, 2009... The health of our skin -- one of the body's first lines of defense against illness and injury -- depends upon the delicate balance between our own cells and the millions of bacteria and other one-celled microbes that live on its surface. To...

Reports from Turku University highlight recent research in clinical pharmacology.
June 19, 2009... "Inhibition of monoamine oxidase type B (MAO-B) activity in the brain is a putative strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We performed a dose-selection and validation study of a novel, reversible MAO-B inhibitor, EVT 301,"...

Researchers' work from Cincinnati Children's Hospital focuses on clinical pharmacology.
June 19, 2009... According to a study from the United States, "Leukopenia and diarrhea are the predominant adverse events associated with mycophenolate mofetil ( MM F), leading to dose reduction or discontinuation in children. Polymorphisms of the drug's main...

Investigators at Meijo University target drug delivery science and technology.
June 19, 2009... According to recent research published in the Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology, "We prepared solid dispersions (SDs) of ibuprofen (IBU) with Kollicoat IR as the carrier using a newly developed pulse combustion dryer...

Researchers from University of Szeged describe findings in drug delivery science and technology.
June 19, 2009... "The aim of our work was to study the applicability of solid matrix systems for the formulation of long-acting intravaginal tablets containing lactic acid. These systems were compressed from matrix granules containing hydroxypropylmethyl...

Researchers from University of Zagreb publish new studies and findings in the area of drug delivery science and technology.(Report)
June 19, 2009... "The objective of this study was to prepare, characterize and test at different cell lines new polymers which could be used as coating materials for nanoparticles," scientists in Zagreb, Croatia report (see also Drug Delivery Science and...

Data on ocular pharmacology and therapeutics discussed by S.P. Epstein and colleagues.
June 19, 2009... "Nearly all eye drops contain preservatives to decrease contamination. Nonpreservatives such as disodium-ethylene diamine tetra-acetate (EDTA) and phosphate-buffered saline are also regularly added as buffering agents," scientists in the United...

Investigators at Baylor College of Medicine, College of Medicine have published new data on ocular pharmacology and therapeutics.
June 19, 2009... In this recent article published in the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, scientists in the United States conducted a study "To evaluate intraocular pressure (IOP) control and the ocular adverse effects resulting from a...

Research on ocular pharmacology and therapeutics described by M.S. Zinkernagel and colleagues.
June 19, 2009... In this recently published article, scientists in Nedlands, Australia conducted a study "To investigate the effect of systemic acetazolamide on ocular pulse amplitude (OPA) and on intraocular pressure (IOP). We determined OPA, IOP, mean...

Findings from J. Deglon et al in pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis reported.
June 19, 2009... According to a study from Geneva, Switzerland, "The aim of this work is to present a new concept, called on-line desorption of dried blood spots (online DBS), allowing the direct analysis of a dried blood spot coupled to liquid chromatography...

New findings reported from University of Barcelona describe advances in pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis.
June 19, 2009... "The acidic dissociation enthalpies and constants of anilinium, protonated tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (HTris*), benzoic and acetic acids, have been determined at several temperatures in pure water and in methanol/water mixtures by...

New pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis findings from H. Ali and co-authors described.
June 19, 2009... According to a study from the United States, "A RP-HPLC method for the simultaneous analysis of tocotrienol isoforms (TRF) and simvastatin (SIM) in SIM-TRF nanoparticles (NPs) was developed. Analytes were monitored by UV detection at 238 and...

New pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis research from P. Macauley and colleagues discussed.
June 19, 2009... According to recent research from the United States, "1,1'-Methylenebis(4-[(hydroxyimino)methyl]pyridinium) dichloride (MMB-4), a promising antidote for organophosphate poisoning, has been shown by chromatography and NMR to be a mixture of...

New pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis study findings recently were published by researchers at Oragenics, Inc.(Report)
June 19, 2009... According to recent research from the United States, "This study reports the first ever development and validation of a quantification method for a lantibiotic in plasma. This method was developed for the quantification of total MU1140 in...