Drug Week articles from October 2008

Drug Week archives from October 2008

Newer antipsychotics no better than older drug in treating child and adolescent schizophrenia.
October 3, 2008... Two newer atypical antipsychotic medications were no more effective than an older conventional antipsychotic in treating child and adolescent schizophrenia and may lead to more metabolic side effects, according to a new study funded by the...

Early parenting plays key role in infants' physiological response to stress.
October 3, 2008... In infancy, genes are the key influence on a child's ability to deal with stress. But as early as 6 months of age, parenting plays an important role in changing the impact of genes that may put infants at risk for responding poorly to stress...

Potential remedy for the 'mental fog' in cancer patients.
October 3, 2008... This press release is available in German. Cancer patients have complained for years about the mental fog known as chemobrain. Now in animal studies at West Virginia University (WVU), researchers have discovered that injections of N-acetyl...

How to treat gastroesophageal adenocarcinom patients?(Clinical report)
October 3, 2008... Gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas have a poor prognosis. However, numerous randomized clinical trials (RCT) have evaluated, and continue to evaluate, the survival benefit of various treatment regimens. Surgery remains standard care for early...

Pneumatosis cystoids intestinalis after fluorouracil chemotherapy.
October 3, 2008... The mechanism of pneumatosis cystoids intestinalis (PCI) is unclear. The mechanical and bacterial factors are most predominant causes of PCI. Several chemotherapeutic agents recently have been reported to be associated with PCI....

Report summarizes alimentary pharmacology study findings from Sydney Children's Hospital.
October 3, 2008... According to recent research from Sydney, Australia, " The use of exclusive enteral nutrition to treat paediatric Crohn's disease (CD) is widely accepted, although the precise mechanism(s) of action remains speculative. To investigate the...

Reports summarize alimentary pharmacology research from J.M. Cavazos and co-authors.
October 3, 2008... " Despite wide availability of physician guidelines for safer use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and widespread use of these drugs in the US, NSAID prescribing guidelines have been only modestly effective. To identify and...

Research results from T. Marchbank and colleagues update understanding of alimentary pharmacology.
October 3, 2008... " A partially hydrolysed and dried product of pacific whiting fish is marketed as a health food supplement supporting 'intestinal health'. To examine whether the partially hydrolysed and dried product of pacific whiting fish influenced the...

Scientists at University of Texas publish research in alimentary pharmacology.
October 3, 2008... " Chronic use of NSAIDs is associated with gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity that increases with age. To evaluate the GI safety and therapeutic efficacy of ibuprofen chemically associated with phosphatidylcholine (PC) in osteoarthritic (OA)...

University of Naples reports research in alimentary pharmacology.
October 3, 2008... " Gastrokine 1 (GKN1), one of the most abundant transcripts in normal stomach, is down-regulated by Helicobacter pylori infection. Aspirin (ASA), which is often used for secondary prevention of cardiovascular events, can damage gastric-duodenal...

New clinical pharmacology study findings have been reported by scientists at Northwestern University.(Clinical report)
October 3, 2008... "A prescription is a health-care program implemented by a physician or other qualified practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan of care for an individual patient. Although the algorithmic nature of prescriptions is...

New clinical pharmacology study findings have been reported from R.S. Epstein et al.(Clinical report)
October 3, 2008... "it has long been known that smoking cessation is one of the most cost-effective public health opportunities available," scientists in the United States report (see also Clinical Pharmacology). "The fact that some 22% of americans smoke, 1...

New clinical pharmacology study findings recently were published by P.C. Ng and co-researchers.(Clinical report)
October 3, 2008... "The cost of sequencing and genotyping is aggressively decreasing, enabling pervasive personalized genomic screening for drug reactions. Drug-metabolizing genes have been characterized sufficiently to enable practitioners to go beyond...

Recent studies from University of Pennsylvania, Medical Department add new data to clinical pharmacology.(Report)
October 3, 2008... "The objective of this study was to determine whether warfarin dosing algorithms developed for Caucasians and African Americans on the basis of clinical, environmental, and genetic factors will perform better than an empirical starting dose of...

Research findings from University of Pennsylvania update understanding of clinical pharmacology.(Report)
October 3, 2008... "We examined whether a pretreatment phenotypic marker of nicotine metabolism rate (NMR) predicts successful smoking cessation with bupropion. Smokers (N = 414) were tested for pretreatment NMR, based on the ratio of 3'-hydroxycotinine/cotinine...

Study data from University of Helsinki update knowledge of clinical pharmacology.(Clinical report)
October 3, 2008... According to recent research published in the journal Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, "Repaglinide is metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C8 and 3A4. gemfibrozil has the effect of increasing the area under the concentration-time curve...

Studies from D. Esposito et al in the area of managed care pharmacy described.
October 3, 2008... According to recent research from the United States, "Prescriptions that are ordered by physicians but not picked up by patients represent a potential quality improvement opportunity in health systems. Previous research has demonstrated that...

New research on therapies from University of Tehran summarized.(Report)
October 3, 2008... According to a study from Iran, "Recent investigations have revealed that control of hyperglycaemia with insulin improves outcomes. The cornerstone of hyperglycaemia in critically ill patients is insulin resistance and it remains refractory to...

Low sensitivity of clinical signatures.(Report)
October 10, 2008... Genomic signature sequences used by clinical researchers to detect, quantify and diagnose nucleic acid sequences are not inclusive enough. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Annals of Clinical Microbiology and...

New approach to treating cystic fibrosis lung infection shows promise.
October 10, 2008... Researchers at the University of Calgary have found a new method of fighting severe lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis (CF). These findings are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, this week (see also...

Researchers identify novel mechanism to reduce nervous system inflammation.
October 10, 2008... Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered a new way to limit inflammation caused by the activation of microglia - key immune cells in the brain. Although the role of such cells is to "clean up damage" after injury,...

Study confirms benefit of combination therapy for Alzheimer's disease.(Clinical report)
October 10, 2008... Extended treatment with Alzheimer's disease drugs can significantly slow the rate at which the disorder advances, and combination therapy with two different classes of drugs is even better at helping patients maintain their ability to perform...

Why chemo works for some people and not others.
October 10, 2008... MIT researchers have shown that cells from different people don't all react the same way when exposed to the same DNA-damaging agent u a finding that could help clinicians predict how patients will respond to chemotherapy (see also...

Research from Panjab University reveals new findings on clinical pharmacology.
October 10, 2008... According to recent research published in the journal Fundamental & Clinical Pharmacology, "Sigma receptors particularly, sigma-1 subtype is known to modulate the release of catecholamines in the brain and may participate in the mechanism of...

Studies from J.M. Sankalia and co-authors have provided new information about controlled release.(Report)
October 10, 2008... According to recent research published in the Journal of Controlled Release, "The purpose of this study was to examine a level A in vitro-in vivo correlation (IVIVC) for glipizide hydrophilic sustained-release matrices, with an acceptable...

Study findings from University of California provide new insights into controlled release.
October 10, 2008... "Human interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha), a 19.2 KD protein containing two disulfide bonds (cys1-cys98; cys29-cys138), was reduced and modified with a reversible lipidization agent. The product of the lipidization, PAL-IFN, was homogenous, with four...

Data on drug delivery science and technology described by researchers at University of Tehran.
October 10, 2008... "Different solvents, dichloromethane (DCM) and water (W) were used as vehicles for the production of rifampicin microparticles using the spray drying technique. Two samples were prepared from aqueous solutions by dissolving the commercial...

Findings from University of Nigeria advance knowledge in drug delivery science and technology.
October 10, 2008... According to recent research from Nsukka, Nigeria, "This paper describes the determination of the glass transition temperature and the amorphicity of some natural gums. These two parameters art very important in pharmaceutical material...

Research conducted at King Saud University has updated our knowledge about drug delivery science and technology.
October 10, 2008... According to recent research from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, "The sensitivity of hydrocortisone to gamma radiation in aqueous and organic solvents was investigated to predict the feasibility of sterilizing the topical preparations by radiation. The...

Research from University of Milan broadens understanding of drug delivery science and technology.
October 10, 2008... "Drug/cyclodextrin (CD) interaction compounds are widely used in the design of solid dosage forms for their ability to improve drug bioavailability, especially where poorly soluble active ingredients are concerned. Because of high CD molecular...

Research from University of Montreal provides new data about drug delivery science and technology.(Report)
October 10, 2008... According to a study from Montreal, Canada, "Tributyrin, an oil with anticancer properties, is a good solubilizer for docetaxel, an agent used in the treatment of several cancers. In this paper, the interaction between tributyrin and docetaxel...

Research results from S. Songkro and colleagues update understanding of drug delivery science and technology.
October 10, 2008... "The penetration enhancing effect of essential oils extracted from rhizomes of Zingiber officinale,Zingiber cassumunar and Curcumar zedoaria on the skin permeation of diclofenac sodium was evaluated in vitro using modified Franz diffusion cell...

Research reports from University of Bern provide new insights into pharmacology.(Report)
October 10, 2008... "Anti-inflammatory drugs are used in the treatment of acute renal colic. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of selective COX-2 inhibitors and the non-selective COX inhibitor diclofenac on contractility of human and porcine...

New findings reported from K. Nemec and co-authors describe advances in pharmacy research.
October 10, 2008... "Although critically ill patients usually have various central intravenous (i.v.) lines, numerous drugs have to be infused simultaneously through the same lines. This can result in potentially harmful in-line incompatibility that can cause...

Reports on pharmacy research findings from University of Florida provide new insights.(Report)
October 10, 2008... According to a study from the United States, "The process for developing a good research question is described. Three steps comprise the formulation of a great research question: (1) ask interesting questions, (2) select the best question for...

Research reports on pharmacy research from University of Iowa provide new insights.(Clinical report)
October 10, 2008... According to recent research from the United States, "The background and methods of an ongoing study to determine the effects of hospital pharmacists' enhanced communication with patients and their community providers are described. The Iowa...

Study results from J. Sakowski and colleagues broaden understanding of pharmacy research.
October 10, 2008... "The severity of medication administration errors detected by a bar-code medication administration (BCMA) system was studied. A panel of six health care providers reviewed medication administration error scenarios created from BCMA error logs...

Vitamin C supplements may reduce benefit from wide range of anti-cancer drugs.
October 17, 2008... In pre-clinical studies, vitamin C appears to substantially reduce the effectiveness of anticancer drugs, say researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (see also American Association for Cancer Research). These new findings,...

Society's lack of food allergies impacts those afflicted with food allergies.
October 17, 2008... The level of knowledge and understanding of children with food allergies varies significantly across three key groups: pediatricians and family physicians, the general public and families who have a child with food allergies. The article...

'Hub' of fear memory formation identified in brain cells.
October 17, 2008... A protein required for the earliest steps in embryonic development also plays a key role in solidifying fear memories in the brains of adult animals, scientists have revealed. An apparent "hub" for changes in the connections between brain...

News media often do not report potential sources of bias in medical research.
October 17, 2008... An analysis of news media coverage of medical studies indicates that news articles often fail to report pharmaceutical company funding and frequently refer to medications by their brand names, both potential sources of bias, according to a...

Community-based behavior change management cuts neonatal mortality in half.
October 17, 2008... A community-based program that reinforces basic childbirth and newborn care practices can reduce a baby's risk of death within the first month of life by as much as 54 percent, according to a study in rural India led by researchers at the Johns...

Data on clinical pharmacology reported by researchers at University of Florida.(Report)
October 17, 2008... According to recent research from the United States, "Objectives The objective of this study was to determine the quantitative influence of vitamin K epoxide reductase complex subunit 1 (VKORC1) and cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP 2C9) polymorphisms...

New findings from J.S. Leeder and co-authors in the area of clinical pharmacology published.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research from the United States, "A [C-13]-dextrometh orphan ([C-13]-DM) breath test was evaluated to assess its feasibility as a rapid, phenotypingassay for CYP2D6 activity. [C-13]-DM (0.5 mg/kg) was administered orally...

Recent studies from University of Sao Paulo add new data to clinical pharmacology.(Report)
October 17, 2008... " This study compares midazolam with omeprazole as marker drugs for the evaluation of CYP3A activity in nine healthy self-reported white Brazilian volunteers. Omeprazole was also used to evaluate the CYP2C19 phenotype," researchers in Ribeirao...

New findings from Grinnell College in the area of molecular pharmacology described.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research published in the journal Molecular Pharmacology, "We studied allosteric potentiation of rat alpha 3 beta 2 neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) by the anthelmintic compound morantel. Macroscopic...

New findings from Vanderbilt University in the area of molecular pharmacology published.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research from the United States, "G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest family of signaling proteins and the most common therapeutic targets. In the last 2 decades, impressive progress in the understanding of...

New molecular pharmacology study findings have been reported by researchers at University of Bath.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research from Bath, the United Kingdom, "Nicotine can enhance working memory and attention. Activation of both alpha 7 and beta 2* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been implicated...

New research on molecular pharmacology from University of Magdeburg summarized.
October 17, 2008... "Opiates function as immunomodulators, partly by their effects on T cells. Opioids act via mu-, delta-, and kappa-opioid receptors, among which the mu-type is of particular interest, because morphine-like opioids preferentially bind to it,"...

Reports by Y. Liu and co-researchers describe recent advances in molecular pharmacology.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research from the United States, "S100B is a calcium-binding protein with both extracellular and intracellular regulatory activities in the mammalian brain. We have identified a novel interaction between S100B and the...

Research conducted at University Hospital has provided new information about molecular pharmacology.
October 17, 2008... "Organic anion-transporting polypeptides (OATP) 1B1 and 1B3 are widely acknowledged as important and rate-limiting to the hepatic uptake of many drugs in clinical use. Accordingly, to better understand the in vivo relevance of OATP1B...

Research from E.S. Muise and co-researchers in the area of molecular pharmacology described.
October 17, 2008... "Adipose tissue is a metabolically responsive endocrine organ that secretes a myriad of adipokines. Antidiabetic drugs such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma agonists target adipose tissue gene expression and correct...

Studies from M.L. Blanke and co-researchers update current data on molecular pharmacology.
October 17, 2008... According to a study from Singapore, Singapore, "N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors play a critical role in both development of the central nervous system and adult neuroplasticity. However, although the NMDA receptor presents a valuable...

Study data from M. Gouwy and co-authors update knowledge of molecular pharmacology.
October 17, 2008... "CC and CXC chemokines coinduced in fibroblasts and leukocytes by cytokines and microbial agents determine the number of phagocytes infiltrating into inflamed tissues. Interleukin-8/CXCL8 and stromal cell-derived factor-1/CXCL12 significantly...

Reports from University of Strathclyde advance knowledge in pharmacology.(Report)
October 17, 2008... In this recent article published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, scientists in Scotland conducted a study "Torsade de pointes (TdP) can be induced in several species by a reduction in cardiac repolarizing capacity. The aim of this...

Reports outline pharmacology research from Catholic University.(Report)
October 17, 2008... According to recent research published in the journal European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, "C-13-methionine breath test has been proposed as a non-invasive tool for the assessment of human hepatic mithocondrial function....

Scientists at Johnson & Johnson discuss research in pharmacology.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research from Belgium, "Body core temperature (Tc) changes affect the QT interval, but correction for this has not been systematically investigated. It may be important to correct QT intervals for drug-induced changes in...

Studies from Annamalai University have provided new data on pharmacology.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research published in the journal European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, "Earthworms have been widely used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. However, it is only during the past few decades,...

Hiroshima University publishes research in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.(Report)
October 17, 2008... "Neuropathic pain is refractory against conventional analgesics, and thus novel medicaments are desired for the treatment. Glycinergic neurons are localized in specific brain regions, including the spinal cord, where they play an important role...

New pharmacology and experimental therapeutics research from Creighton University, Medical Department described.
October 17, 2008... "The electrical signals of neurons are fundamentally dependent on voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs), which are responsible for the rising phase of the action potential. An array of naturally occurring and synthetic neurotoxins have been...

New pharmacology and experimental therapeutics research has been reported by scientists at University of Tampere.(Report)
October 17, 2008... "Tristetraprolin (TTP) is a trans-acting factor that can regulate mRNA stability by binding to the cis-acting AU-rich element (ARE) in the 3'-untranslated region in mRNAs of certain transiently expressed genes. The best-studied target of TTP is...

New pharmacology and experimental therapeutics study findings have been reported by S. Colleoni and co-researchers.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research from Milan, Italy, "(+/-)-3-hydroxy-4,5,6,6a-tetrahydro-3aH- pyrrolo[3,4-d]-isoxazole-4-carboxylic acid (HIP-A) and (+/-)-3-hydroxy-4,5,6,6a-tetrahydro-3aH-pyrrolo[3,4-d]isoxazole-6-carboxylic acid (HIP-B) are...

New pharmacology and experimental therapeutics study results from GlaxoSmithKline described.(Report)
October 17, 2008... "The transient receptor potential (TRP) vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) member of the TRP superfamily has recently been implicated in numerous physiological processes. In this study, we describe a small molecule TRPV4 channel activator,...

Recent findings from Chinese University of Hong Kong highlight research in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
October 17, 2008... According to a study from Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, "Arsenic compounds have been traditionally used to treat a variety of ailments, including skin diseases. Our previous study identified the extract of realgar to possess potent...

Recent studies from University of Liverpool add new data to pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
October 17, 2008... "Methapyrilene (MP), a 2-thiophene H-1-receptor antagonist, is a model toxicant in the genomic and proteomic analyses of hepatotoxicity. In rats, it causes an unusual periportal necrosis that is hypothetically attributed to chemically reactive...

Research by G.B. Varty and colleagues in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics provides new insights.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research from the United States, "Orphanin FQ/nociceptin (OFQ/N) is the endogenously occurring peptide ligand for the nociceptin opioid receptor (NOP) that produces anxiolytic-like effects in mice and rats. The present study...

Research from F. Jia and co-authors in the area of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics published.(Report)
October 17, 2008... "Drinking alcohol is associated with the disturbance of normal sleep rhythms, and insomnia is a major factor in alcoholic relapse. The thalamus is a brain structure that plays a pivotal role in sleep regulation and rhythmicity," scientists...

Research from Medical College of Wisconsin, Medical College provides new data on pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
October 17, 2008... "Cytochrome P450 genes catalyze formation of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) from arachidonic acid. The effects of 5,6-EET, 8,9-EET, 11,12-EET, and 14,15-EET microinjected into the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) on the thermally...

Research from University of Kentucky provides new data on pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
October 17, 2008... "The current study evaluated a new series of N,N'-alkane-diylbis-3-picolinium (bAPi) analogs with C-6-C-12 methylene linkers as nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) antagonists, for nicotine-evoked [H-3] dopamine (DA) overflow, for...

Research from University of North Carolina in the area of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics published.
October 17, 2008... "Whereas ethanol has behavioral actions consistent with increased GABAergic function, attempts to demonstrate a direct enhancement of GABA-gated currents by ethanol have produced mixed results. Recent work has suggested that a part of the...

Researchers at Meharry Medical College, Medical College release new data on pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
October 17, 2008... "We previously reported that apolipoprotein (Apo) E-deficient, ApoB48-containing (E-/B48) lipoproteins inhibited expression of lysosomal hydrolase and transformed mouse peritoneal macrophages (MPMs) into foam cells. The present study examined...

Studies from A. Satow et al provide new data on pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research from Tsukuba, Japan, "The functional roles of metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) 1 in integrative brain functions were investigated using a potent and selective mGluR1 allosteric antagonist, FTIDC...

Studies from Wake Forest University provide new data on pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
October 17, 2008... "Previous studies have shown that the phenylisothiocyanate tropane analog 2-beta-propanoyl-3-beta-(2-naphthyl)-8-[4-isothiocyanato) benzyl] nortropane (HD-205) binds covalently to dopamine and serotonin transporters (DAT and SERT, respectively)...

New radiopharmaceuticals study findings have been reported from D.V. Yanvarev et al.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research from Russia, "A simple method of chemical phosphorylation for modified nucleosides with [P-32]orthophosphoric acid in the presence of BrCN is described." "The yields of 5'-[P-32]nucleoside monophosphates...

Research from M.B. Mallia and co-authors reveals new findings on radiopharmaceuticals.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research from Bombay, India, "Non-invasive determination of hypoxia is an important problem in clinical nuclear medicine. Although F-18-fluoromisonidazole is used clinically for hypoxia determination, the short half-life...

Research from Southern Medical University provide new insights into radiopharmaceuticals.
October 17, 2008... According to recent research from Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, "Two fully automated synthetic procedures of [F-18]fluoroacetate ([F-18]FAC have been developed using a modified commercial TRACERlab FXFN synthesizer. One was a two-step...

Research reports from University of Warsaw provide new insights into radiopharmaceuticals.
October 17, 2008... "The synthesis of isotopomers of phenylpyruvic acid, IPPA, selectively labeled with hydrogen isotopes in the 3-position of the side-chain is reported. Three deuterium or tritium labeled isotoporners of L-phenylalanine, L-Phe, i.e,"...

The Plasmodium vivax genome provides new routes and challenges in the global fight against malaria.
October 24, 2008... Institutions from around the world join forces in the Global Fight Against Malaria. While most research into controlling malaria has focused on the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which is responsible for the most virulent form of the disease,...

Older renal cancer patients appear to benefit from sorafenib treatment.
October 24, 2008... Older and younger patients with renal cancer derive similar benefit from sorafenib therapy and tolerate the drug equally well, according to a study published online October 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (see also Journal of...

Free drug samples carry risks for children.
October 24, 2008... Cambridge, MA...Free prescription drug samples distributed to children may be unsafe, according to a study by physicians from Cambridge Health Alliance and Hasbro Children's Hospital. The national study, the first to look at free drug sample...

Study finds abnormalities in cerebral cortex of cocaine addicts.
October 24, 2008... A brain imaging study carried out at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) reveals abnormalities in the cortex u the outer surface of the brain u of cocaine addicts that appear to correlate with dysfunction in areas responsible for attention and...

C. difficile and antibiotics not necessarily linked.(Report)
October 24, 2008... The latest study by Dr. Sandra Dial from the Research Institute of the MUHC, McGill University, and Attending Staff in the Intensive Care Unit at the Jewish General Hospital, questions the assumption held by a vast majority of medical...

Data on alternative and complementary medicine described by H.Y. Li et al.
October 24, 2008... "Since the 1980s, many studies have indicated there are hypodermic migration channels of radiotracer along meridians independent of lymphatic and blood vessels in vivo. However, the radioactive trajectories were not clear enough to identify the...

Reports outline alternative and complementary medicine study findings from R.P. Dhond and colleagues.(Report)
October 24, 2008... According to recent research from the United States, "Acupuncture is an ancient Eastern healing modality with putative therapeutic applications. Unfortunately, little is known about the central mechanisms by which acupuncture may exert its...