Authors:Samuel Kyei, George Asumeng Koffuor, Elvis Ofori Ameyaw, Paul Ramkissoon, Daniel Adu-Agyeman Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate self-reported adverse reactions associated with the use of topical ophthalmic medications. A cross-sectional survey, involving 500 ophthalmic patients recruited from three eye care facilities in the Central Region of Ghana was conducted. A structured questionnaire was administered to participants to collect data on demographics, name of drug, dosage form, and dosing frequency of ophthalmic medications used, as well as adverse reactions experienced. The pHs of frequently prescribed ophthalmic medications to the patients were measured. The prevalence of reported adverse drug reaction [predominantly burning sensation (55%), blurry vision (22%) and itching (13%)] was 44.8%. More Females reported adverse drug reactions than males (χ2=26.24, P<0.001). The aged reported more adverse reaction than others (P<0.01). Patients using cream ophthalmic medications reported more adverse drug reactions than those using other dosage forms (χ2=8.80, P=0.024). The pHs of the commonly prescribed ophthalmic medications measured ranged between 4.44-7.37 (desired: 6.6-7.8). There is a high prevalence of reported symptoms of adverse drug reactions among this clinical population attributable to the acid/base status of the drug agent. PubDate: 2014-06-17 DOI: 10.4081/dts.2014.5278 Issue No:Vol. 4, No. 1 (2014)
Authors:Keith B. Hoffman, Brian M. Overstreet, P. Murali Doraiswamy First page: 4 Abstract: Rigorous clinical trials under the watchful eye of regulators remain the cornerstone of drug safety. However, the emergence of serious and life-threatening Adverse Events (AEs) across best-selling drug classes [sometimes many years after winning Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval] underscores the limitations of current clinical trial processes and reinforces the need for careful post-approval pharmacovigilance. The FDA’s sizeable repository of patient case reports linking AEs to approved drugs is the Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). We believe that open and user-friendly access to the millions of case reports in FAERS would help advance the field of post-marketing pharmacovigilance. However, FAERS data are virtually inaccessible to most physicians, pharmacists, and consumers. Accordingly, we have recently launched a big data platform (www.AdverseEvents.com) that, unlike previous efforts, provides on-demand, user-friendly, and high-impact access to FAERS data. Bringing the power of big data to regular users, such as clinicians, pharmacists, and patients, is the logical next step in the transformation of health care to a model of shared decision making between consumers and the system. PubDate: 2013-07-10 DOI: 10.4081/dts.2013.e4 Issue No:Vol. 3 (2013)
Authors:Mariarita Laforgia, Anna Elisa Quatrale, Nicola A. Colabufo, Amalia Azzariti, Angelo Paradiso, Patrizia Nardulli First page: 6 Abstract: Several clinically used anticancer drugs are well-known as far as their pharmacologic properties are concerned, but scarcely ever the interest towards their physico-chemical characteristics in solution led to practical acknowledgement in their management. Thanks to the Units for Centralized Anticancer Drug Handling, the importance to evaluate the concentration of saturation (physical stability) or the possible transformations undergone by a drug in solution (chemical stability) has become the starting point for avoiding useless wasting drugs and economic resources. By HPLC experiments we have demonstrated that the solutions of two drugs, docetaxel and irinotecan, are particularly stable at different concentrations and times of analyses in our experimental conditions. The best mobile phase for docetaxel was water/methanol/acetonitrile in 42/32/26 volumetric ratio: for halving concentrations (0.72-0.36-0.18-0.09 mg/mL) in NaCl 0.9%, the highest value gave a six-day and the three lower concentrations a fourteen-day stability, when storage occurred at room temperature and light protected. Elution of irinotecan was possible through an analysis in mobile phase gradient: at t0 a 20% ammonium acetate 10 mM and 80% methanol mixture, and after 5 min, a 80% ammonium acetate 10 mM and 20% methanol mixture. The physico-chemical stability was showed for five days, for any concentration of analysis when storage occurred at 2-8°C and light protected. PubDate: 2013-10-16 DOI: 10.4081/dts.2013.e6 Issue No:Vol. 3 (2013)
Authors:Anthony Stanislaus, Anil Philip Kunnath, Snigdha Tiash, Tahereh Fatemian, Nur Izyani Kamaruzman, Athirah Bakhtiar, Sayyad Mustak, Sharif Hossain, Toshihiro Akaike, Ezharul Hoque Chowdhury First page: 7 Abstract: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer and fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women. Advanced stage of the disease is treated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy with poor therapeutic outcome and adverse side effects. NFκB, a well-known transcription factor in the control of immunity and inflammation, has recently emerged as a key regulator of cell survival through induction of antiapoptotic genes. Many human cancers, including cervical carcinoma, constitutively express NF-κB and a blockade in expression of its subunit proteins through targeted knockdown of the gene transcripts with small interfering RNAs (siRNA) could be an attractive approach in order to sensitize the cancer cells towards the widely used anti-cancer drugs. However, the inefficiency of the naked siRNA to cross the plasma membrane and its sensitiveness to nuclease-mediated degradation are the major challenges limiting the siRNA technology in therapeutic intervention. pH-sensitive carbonate apatite has been established as an efficient nano-carrier for intracellular delivery of siRNA, due to its strong electrostatic interaction with the siRNA, the desirable size distribution of the resulting siRNA complex for effective endocytosis and the ability of the endocytosed siRNA to be released from the degradable particles and escape the endosomes, thus leading to the effective knockdown of the target gene of cyclin B1 or ABCB1. Here, we report that carbonate apatite-facilitated delivery of the siRNA targeting NF-κB1 and NF-κB2 gene transcripts in HeLa, a human cervical adenocar- cinoma cell line expressing NF-κB, led to a synergistic effect in enhancement of chemosensitivity to doxorubicin, but apparently not to cisplatin or paclitaxel. PubDate: 2013-12-10 DOI: 10.4081/dts.2013.e7 Issue No:Vol. 3 (2013)
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