All posts; Tags Include "Pharmacology"
- March 29, 2013
- 06:41 PM
- 158 views
Antibodies stymie rheumatoid arthritis
by Valerie Ashton in The Molecular Scribe
What do comedian Lucille Ball, impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, actress Kathleen Turner, chemist Dorothy Hodgkin and physician Christiaan Barnard share in common? Apart from being famous, they all had rheumatoid arthritis.... Read more »
Scott DL, Wolfe F, & Huizinga TW. (2010) Rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet, 376(9746), 1094-108. PMID: 20870100
John M. Eisenberg Center for Clinical Decisions and Communications Science. (2012) Drug Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis: Comparative Effectiveness. Agency for Heathcare Research and Quality. PMID: 23285486
Maini RN, & Taylor PC. (2000) Anti-cytokine therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. Annual review of medicine, 207-29. PMID: 10774461
Bartelds GM, Krieckaert CL, Nurmohamed MT, van Schouwenburg PA, Lems WF, Twisk JW, Dijkmans BA, Aarden L, & Wolbink GJ. (2011) Development of antidrug antibodies against adalimumab and association with disease activity and treatment failure during long-term follow-up. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association, 305(14), 1460-8. PMID: 21486979
Scolnik PA. (2009) mAbs: a business perspective. mAbs, 1(2), 179-84. PMID: 20061824
- March 22, 2013
- 10:00 AM
- 306 views
Equipoise and Ethics and IRBs, Oh My!
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
In the comments to what I wrote yesterday about seizures and a study comparing lorazepam (Ativan), diazepam (Valium), and placebo,[1] Brooks Walsh had the following comment –
"Although I’ve read the study before, I am only wondering now how the IRB for Alldredge 2001 thought there was 'equipoise' between placebo and benzos."... Read more »
Alldredge BK, Gelb AM, Isaacs SM, Corry MD, Allen F, Ulrich S, Gottwald MD, O’Neil N, Neuhaus JM, Segal MR, Lowenstein DH. (2001) A Comparison of Lorazepam, Diazepam, and Placebo for the Treatment of Out-of-Hospital Status Epilepticus. New England Journal of Medicine, 345(25), 1860-1860. DOI: 10.1056/NEJM200112203452521
Callaway, C. (2012) Questioning the Use of Epinephrine to Treat Cardiac Arrest. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 307(11), 1198. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2012.313
Hagihara A, Hasegawa M, Abe T, Nagata T, Wakata Y, Miyazaki S. (2012) Prehospital Epinephrine Use and Survival Among Patients With Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 307(11), 1161. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2012.294
- March 13, 2013
- 08:00 AM
- 511 views
One Man’s Poison Is Another Man’s Cure
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
In the early 16th century Paracelsus stated that it is the dose that makes the poison. He had to be thinking about botulinum toxin. This most potent of all toxins known to man has been used as a cosmetic agent for several years, but is now moving into the realm of the necessary pharmacopia, not merely the vanity market.
Use as a muscle relaxant in spasmodic dysphonic and even plantar fasciitis is common now, but a new study links botulinum toxin to chronic pain treatment. It seems that opiod........ Read more »
Vacca, V., Marinelli, S., Luvisetto, S., & Pavone, F. (2013) Botulinum toxin A increases analgesic effects of morphine, counters development of morphine tolerance and modulates glia activation and μ opioid receptor expression in neuropathic mice. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2013.01.088
- February 20, 2013
- 10:05 PM
- 298 views
Polypharmacology – a novel and rising concept in treatment of the diseases
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Polypharmacology is the rising innovative concept that focuses on the multi-target drugs. This field is separated from the classical “one drug, one target” philosophy.
This concept has been gaining a growing attention since the 1990s.
Definition of Polypharmacology:
Polypharmacology is the treatment of diseases by modulating more than one target.
According to Andrew L. Hopkins from Department of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, UK, Polyph........ Read more »
Durrant, J., Amaro, R., Xie, L., Urbaniak, M., Ferguson, M., Haapalainen, A., Chen, Z., Di Guilmi, A., Wunder, F., Bourne, P.... (2010) A Multidimensional Strategy to Detect Polypharmacological Targets in the Absence of Structural and Sequence Homology. PLoS Computational Biology, 6(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000648
- February 14, 2013
- 07:20 PM
- 266 views
Antiviral drugs to fight the flu: yes or no?
Disclaimer: I'm not a medical doctor. I cannot recommend taking or not taking a certain drug. However, I am a human being, I've got kids who do get sick from time to time, and I work on viruses. So when I heard that people were battling the unusually nasty flu this year with antiviral drugs, well, I had to do a bit of research. Antiviral drugs have become increasingly popular after the highly pathogenic avian flu strain emerged. The idea is that in order to be prepared for a possible pandemic, w........ Read more »
Jefferson, T., Jones, M., Doshi, P., & Del Mar, C. (2009) Neuraminidase inhibitors for preventing and treating influenza in healthy adults: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ, 339(dec07 2). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.b5106
Kay Wang, Matthew Shun-Shin, Peter Gill, Rafael Perera, Anthony Harnden. (2012) Neuraminidase inhibitors for preventing and treating influenza in children (published trials only). The Cochrane Library. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD002744.pub4
Tom Jefferson, Mark A Jones, Peter Doshi, Chris B Del Mar, Carl J Heneghan, Rokuro Hama, Matthew J Thompson. (2012) Neuraminidase inhibitors for preventing and treating influenza in healthy adults and children. The Cochrane Library. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD008965.pub3
Urushihara, H., Doi, Y., Arai, M., Matsunaga, T., Fujii, Y., Iino, N., Kawamura, T., & Kawakami, K. (2011) Oseltamivir Prescription and Regulatory Actions Vis-à-Vis Abnormal Behavior Risk in Japan: Drug Utilization Study Using a Nationwide Pharmacy Database. PLoS ONE, 6(12). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0028483
- February 11, 2013
- 12:02 PM
- 103 views
A GPS for Personalized Medicine
by Matt Wood in ScienceLife
The 1200 Patients Project creates a database of how patients with particular genetic profiles react to specific drugs, and then puts that information online to help doctors make better decisions for their patients.... Read more »
O'Donnell PH, Bush A, Spitz J, Danahey K, Saner D, Das S, Cox NJ, & Ratain MJ. (2012) The 1200 patients project: creating a new medical model system for clinical implementation of pharmacogenomics. Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, 92(4), 446-9. PMID: 22929923
- February 6, 2013
- 11:49 AM
- 358 views
Interferon-induced Depression: Genetics
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Photo of a pair of green wing tealInterferon remains a key first line treatment for treatment of hepatitis C. However, interferon has significant neuropsychiatric effects including risk for depression and even suicide in rare individuals.Some individuals with hepatitis C are unable to complete a course of interferon because of induced depression. This makes understanding this phenomenon important to develop prevention and treatment strategies.Understanding how interferon induces depr........ Read more »
Schlaak JF, Trippler M, Hoyo-Becerra C, Erim Y, Kis B, Wang B, Scherbaum N, & Gerken G. (2012) Selective hyper-responsiveness of the interferon system in major depressive disorders and depression induced by interferon therapy. PloS one, 7(6). PMID: 22701688
- February 5, 2013
- 12:25 PM
- 272 views
Donepezil Improves Dementia With Lewy Bodies
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a type of dementia less common than Alzheimer's disease. However, Lewy bodies (brain neuron deposits of the proteins alpha-synuclean and ubiquitin) are found in up to 10 to 15% of individuals dying of dementia.DLB is known to deplete brain acetylcholine and dopamine neurotransmitter levels in the brain. This leads to a clinical syndrome characterized by both cognitive decline and motor symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease.DLB may be difficult to ........ Read more »
Mori E, Ikeda M, Kosaka K, & Donepezil-DLB Study Investigators. (2012) Donepezil for dementia with Lewy bodies: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Annals of neurology, 72(1), 41-52. PMID: 22829268
- February 1, 2013
- 11:44 AM
- 253 views
Oxytocin and Human Attachment
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
In a previous post, I summarized a recent review on the neuroscience of human attachment. This review highlighted research related to the human bonding and social interactions. Attachment ability shows significant variability in humans with insecure attachment styles contributing to risk for some mental disorders. The neuroanatomical framework for social processing is being investigated with brain imaging techniques.Hormonal factors including the role of oxytoc........ Read more »
Macdonald KS. (2012) Sex, receptors, and attachment: a review of individual factors influencing response to oxytocin. Frontiers in neuroscience, 194. PMID: 23335876
- January 31, 2013
- 10:30 AM
- 124 views
Need a Pen? Drug Companies Start Early When it Comes to Marketing to Med Students
by Matt Wood in ScienceLife
Drug companies spend billions of dollars on advertising to consumers online, in print and TV. Their ads are such an everyday part of the media landscape that Saturday Night Live can run a skit mocking the hilarious and scary list of disclaimers about side effects and everyone is in on the joke. And that’s just [...]... Read more »
Hodges LE, Arora VM, Humphrey HJ, & Reddy ST. (2012) Premedical Students' Exposure to the Pharmaceutical Industry's Marketing Practices. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges. PMID: 23269292
- January 18, 2013
- 08:31 AM
- 215 views
Sanford-Burnham cancer drug targets hard-to-reach leukemia stem cells
by admin in Beaker
Researchers find that certain types of drug-resistant leukemia stem cells are vulnerable to sabutoclax, a novel cancer stem cell-targeting drug based on Sanford-Burnham research.... Read more »
Goff, D., Recart, A., Sadarangani, A., Chun, H., Barrett, C., Krajewska, M., Leu, H., Low-Marchelli, J., Ma, W., Shih, A.... (2013) A Pan-BCL2 Inhibitor Renders Bone-Marrow-Resident Human Leukemia Stem Cells Sensitive to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibition. Cell Stem Cell. DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2012.12.011
- January 6, 2013
- 09:31 PM
- 535 views
Have We Killed Half of our Soldiers with Cigarettes?
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Two long-term studies yield grim stats, and women are no exception.
We know that smoking kills. But until the results of 50 years’ worth of observations on British male smokers was published by Richard Doll and coworkers in the British Journal of Medicine in 2004, we didn’t know how many. Cigarettes will kill at least half of those who smoke them past the age of 30—possibly more. In older, specific populations, possibly as many as 2/3.
It took a prospective study of more ........ Read more »
Pirie, K., Peto, R., Reeves, G., Green, J., & Beral, V. (2012) The 21st century hazards of smoking and benefits of stopping: a prospective study of one million women in the UK. The Lancet. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61720-6
- December 27, 2012
- 09:00 PM
- 313 views
If the patient is asleep, does that mean that the pain is gone?
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
Is it appropriate to stop giving pain medicine just because the patient is asleep?
My little burned patient was probably not expressing relief from pain with her periods of unresponsiveness – especially since she had not received anything for her severe pain. Each time that she woke up screaming, that was also a clue. the medical command doctor’s orders were to give no pain medicine.[1]
Is propofol effective at putting patients to sleep without relieving their pain?
Sleep do........ Read more »
Paqueron X, Lumbroso A, Mergoni P, Aubrun F, Langeron O, Coriat P, & Riou B. (2002) Is morphine-induced sedation synonymous with analgesia during intravenous morphine titration?. British journal of anaesthesia, 89(5), 697-701. PMID: 12393765
- December 26, 2012
- 08:25 AM
- 646 views
One Myrrh-aculous Christmas Gift
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
The three wise men made a gift of myrrh, knowing it was an important incense, embalming agent, and anti-microbial. What they didn’t know is that 2000 years later we would find that constituents of myrrh would be important in cancer and other diseases. Recent research has shown how the myrrh steroid, guggulsterone, can reverse multiple drug resistance in several types of cancer by competing with P-glycoportein and inducing apoptosis. At the same time, additional studies show that guggulster........ Read more »
Xu, H., Xu, L., Li, L., Fu, J., & Mao, X. (2012) Reversion of P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance by guggulsterone in multidrug-resistant human cancer cell lines. European Journal of Pharmacology, 694(1-3), 39-44. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2012.06.046
Wang, W., Uen, Y., Chang, M., Cheah, K., Li, J., Yu, W., Lee, K., Choy, C., & Hu, C. (2012) Protective effect of guggulsterone against cardiomyocyte injury induced by doxorubicin in vitro. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 12(1), 138. DOI: 10.1186/1472-6882-12-138
de Rapper, S., Van Vuuren, S., Kamatou, G., Viljoen, A., & Dagne, E. (2012) The additive and synergistic antimicrobial effects of select frankincense and myrrh oils - a combination from the pharaonic pharmacopoeia. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 54(4), 352-358. DOI: 10.1111/j.1472-765X.2012.03216.x
- December 24, 2012
- 12:24 AM
- 378 views
Taste receptors of Gut could help us to treat obesity and related disorders
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Researchers are of the opinion that obesity treatment can be enhanced by targeting the taste receptors in the gut.
This research has been published online in the journal Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism.
This might be interesting to know that our gut has the same feelings (receptors or sensors) for taste as our tongue that work through the same signaling mechanisms. Those receptors or sensors are helpful in controlling the overindulgence in the food intake and blood sugar levels. They ........ Read more »
Janssen, S., & Depoortere, I. (2012) Nutrient sensing in the gut: new roads to therapeutics?. Trends in Endocrinology . DOI: 10.1016/j.tem.2012.11.006
- December 19, 2012
- 04:15 PM
- 317 views
More evidence that antibiotics are over-prescribed - How should that change?
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
Today Lancet Infectious Diseases posted an early release of an article that shows that the antibiotic amoxicillin still does not work on viruses.
Many doctors still routinely prescribe antibiotics for viral infections.
Bias, perhaps the biggest confounder in medical research, is controlled for very well.
What does the study show?... Read more »
Little, P., Stuart, B., Moore, M., Coenen, S., Butler, C., Godycki-Cwirko, M., Mierzecki, A., Chlabicz, S., Torres, A., Almirall, J.... (2012) Amoxicillin for acute lower-respiratory-tract infection in primary care when pneumonia is not suspected: a 12-country, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(12)70300-6
Butler CC, Hood K, Kelly MJ, Goossens H, Verheij T, Little P, Melbye H, Torres A, Mölstad S, Godycki-Cwirko M.... (2010) Treatment of acute cough/lower respiratory tract infection by antibiotic class and associated outcomes: a 13 European country observational study in primary care. The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy, 65(11), 2472-8. PMID: 20852271
- December 19, 2012
- 08:00 AM
- 558 views
The Resin For The Season
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
The three kings made a gift of frankincense to the baby Jesus, but it is unlikely they were aware of the great medicinal properties of this resin – or maybe they were. Recent evidence indicates that frankincense contains a psychoactive agent that increases feelings of well-being, this may be the key to the resin’s use in sacred rites and rituals. Now we are finding that other components of the resin are powerful anti-inflammatory and anticancer agents – at the same time that it is becoming........ Read more »
Takahashi, M., Sung, B., Shen, Y., Hur, K., Link, A., Boland, C., Aggarwal, B., & Goel, A. (2012) Boswellic acid exerts antitumor effects in colorectal cancer cells by modulating expression of the let-7 and miR-200 microRNA family. Carcinogenesis, 33(12), 2441-2449. DOI: 10.1093/carcin/bgs286
Moussaieff, A., Gross, M., Nesher, E., Tikhonov, T., Yadid, G., & Pinhasov, A. (2012) Incensole acetate reduces depressive-like behavior and modulates hippocampal BDNF and CRF expression of submissive animals. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 26(12), 1584-1593. DOI: 10.1177/0269881112458729
Coppi, A., Cecchi, L., Selvi, F., & Raffaelli, M. (2010) The Frankincense tree (Boswellia sacra, Burseraceae) from Oman: ITS and ISSR analyses of genetic diversity and implications for conservation. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 57(7), 1041-1052. DOI: 10.1007/s10722-010-9546-8
- December 18, 2012
- 01:41 PM
- 387 views
Blastocystis Highlights 2012
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
2012 is coming to an end and it is also time for taking stock of the year Blastocystis-wise. ... Read more »
Poirier P, Wawrzyniak I, Vivarès CP, Delbac F, & El Alaoui H. (2012) New insights into Blastocystis spp.: a potential link with irritable bowel syndrome. PLoS pathogens, 8(3). PMID: 22438803
Tsaousis AD, Ollagnier de Choudens S, Gentekaki E, Long S, Gaston D, Stechmann A, Vinella D, Py B, Fontecave M, Barras F.... (2012) Evolution of Fe/S cluster biogenesis in the anaerobic parasite Blastocystis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(26), 10426-31. PMID: 22699510
van Hellemond JJ, Molhoek N, Koelewijn R, Wismans PJ, & van Genderen PJ. (2012) Is paromomycin the drug of choice for eradication of Blastocystis in adults?. Journal of infection and chemotherapy : official journal of the Japan Society of Chemotherapy. PMID: 23053509
Pandey PK, Siddharth J, Verma P, Bavdekar A, Patole MS, & Shouche YS. (2012) Molecular typing of fecal eukaryotic microbiota of human infants and their respective mothers. Journal of biosciences, 37(2), 221-6. PMID: 22581327
Hamad I, Sokhna C, Raoult D, & Bittar F. (2012) Molecular detection of eukaryotes in a single human stool sample from Senegal. PloS one, 7(7). PMID: 22808282
Scanlan PD. (2012) Blastocystis: past pitfalls and future perspectives. Trends in parasitology, 28(8), 327-34. PMID: 22738855
Machicado JD, Marcos LA, Tello R, Canales M, Terashima A, & Gotuzzo E. (2012) Diagnosis of soil-transmitted helminthiasis in an Amazonic community of Peru using multiple diagnostic techniques. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 106(6), 333-9. PMID: 22515992
Cañete R, Díaz MM, Avalos García R, Laúd Martinez PM, & Manuel Ponce F. (2012) Intestinal parasites in children from a day care centre in matanzas city, cuba. PloS one, 7(12). PMID: 23236493
Stensvold CR. (2012) Comparison of sequencing (barcode region) and STS PCR for Blastocystis subtyping. Journal of clinical microbiology. PMID: 23115257
Engsbro AL, & Stensvold CR. (2012) Blastocystis: to treat or not to treat .. But how?. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 55(10), 1431-2. PMID: 22893582
Stensvold CR. (2012) Thinking Blastocystis out of the box. Trends in parasitology, 28(8), 305. PMID: 22704911
Stensvold CR, Ahmed UN, Andersen LO, & Nielsen HV. (2012) Development and evaluation of a genus-specific, probe-based, internal-process-controlled real-time PCR assay for sensitive and specific detection of Blastocystis spp. Journal of clinical microbiology, 50(6), 1847-51. PMID: 22422846
Forsell J, Granlund M, Stensvold CR, Clark CG, & Evengård B. (2012) Subtype analysis of Blastocystis isolates in Swedish patients. European journal of clinical microbiology , 31(7), 1689-96. PMID: 22350386
Malheiros AF, Stensvold CR, Clark CG, Braga GB, & Shaw JJ. (2011) Short report: Molecular characterization of Blastocystis obtained from members of the indigenous Tapirapé ethnic group from the Brazilian Amazon region, Brazil. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 85(6), 1050-3. PMID: 22144442
Stensvold CR, Alfellani M, & Clark CG. (2012) Levels of genetic diversity vary dramatically between Blastocystis subtypes. Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases, 12(2), 263-73. PMID: 22116021
Nagel R, Cuttell L, Stensvold CR, Mills PC, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, & Traub RJ. (2012) Blastocystis subtypes in symptomatic and asymptomatic family members and pets and response to therapy. Internal medicine journal, 42(11), 1187-95. PMID: 22032439
- December 13, 2012
- 11:45 PM
- 302 views
How do we measure the QT segment when there are prominent U waves?
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
This ECG has large T waves, U waves, and P waves, but where does one end and the other begin?
When measuring the QT segment, where do we measure the end of the QT segment and why?... Read more »
Omar, H. (2012) Amiodarone-induced T-U fusion. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 30(9), 20810-208100. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2011.10.024
- December 12, 2012
- 09:26 AM
- 402 views
“Smart Stethoscope” to monitor kidney stone therapy
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Scientists have developed “smart stethoscope” that could help to monitor the progress and effectiveness of the kidney stone therapy.
This research has been done by researchers from the University of Southampton and their collaborators, and has been published online in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A.
One of the favored procedures for the removal of kidney stones is lithotripsy. It is the medical fragmentation of a stone in the urinary system or gallbladder with t........ Read more »
Leighton, T., Turangan, C., Jamaluddin, A., Ball, G., & White, P. (2012) Prediction of far-field acoustic emissions from cavitation clouds during shock wave lithotripsy for development of a clinical device. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 469(2150), 20120538-20120538. DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2012.0538
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