Pharmacology Research & Perspectives最新文献

Doxorubicin (DOXO) has long been used clinically and remains a key drug in cancer therapy. DOXO-induced cardiomyopathy (DICM) is a chronic and fatal complication that severely limits the use of DOXO. However, there are very few therapeutic agents for DICM, and there is an urgent need to identify those that can be used for a larger number of patients. The most likely pathogenic mechanism of DICM is the involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and promotion of cell death. In this study, we investigated the efficacy and mechanism of action of edaravone (EDA), a known radical scavenger in DICM. Two methods of EDA administration were employed: daily and weekly. Our results showed that the daily administration group had prolonged survival periods and preserved the left ventricular ejection fraction in DICM mice. In contrast, in the weekly treatment group, slight improvements were observed in these indicators compared with those in DICM mice; however, none of them were statistically significant. These results show that the daily administration group had a higher efficacy than the weekly administration group. Gene-expression results showed that Nrf2 and its related genes were upregulated in the daily group but not in the weekly group. Based on these results, we hypothesized that the Sirt1/Nrf2/HO-1 and ABCB4 pathways were involved in EDA. However, there is limited evidence that EDA is effective against DICM. The findings obtained herein bolster the evidence in DICM by demonstrating prolonged survival and continued preservation of cardiac function and proposing a possible mechanism.

The aim of this study was to evaluate safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics (PK) of single and multiple doses of a novel inhaled formulation of voriconazole (ZP-059). In the single ascending dose part, 4 cohorts of 6 healthy subjects received one dose of inhaled voriconazole (5-40 mg). In the multiple ascending dose part, 3 cohorts of 6 subjects with mild asthma received voriconazole 10 mg twice daily [BID], 20 mg BID or 40 mg once daily. In the 2-period crossover part, 16 subjects with mild to moderate asthma each received one dose of inhaled voriconazole 20 mg and one dose of oral voriconazole 200 mg. A bioanalytical method was developed and validated to simultaneously determine concentrations of voriconazole and its metabolite N-oxide voriconazole in serum and sputum. Inhaled voriconazole was well tolerated with no treatment emergent adverse events (TEAEs) leading to treatment discontinuation. The PK profile of inhaled voriconazole showed rapid absorption, apparent greater than proportional increase in exposure with increasing dose, a consistent half-life across dosing, and large clearance and volume of distribution. Following repeat administration limited accumulation was observed. Systemic exposure following inhaled voriconazole was much lower than following oral voriconazole. Serum data confirmed that voriconazole was extensively metabolized also when administered by inhalation. Sputum data following inhaled voriconazole were limited but demonstrated increasing exposure with increasing dose. The current study shows the newly developed dry powder inhaled formulation of voriconazole to be safe and well tolerated, providing a possible improved treatment approach for patients affected by allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04229303.

Pharmacogenomics is a field of personalized medicine that aims to tailor drug dosing based on the genetics of an individual. The polymorphic and complex CYP2D6 gene is important to analyze because of its role in the metabolism of approximately a quarter of all drugs. Several bioinformatic tools have been developed to genotype CYP2D6 from short-read sequencing data. Among these, Cyrius, a tool specifically designed for CYP2D6 genotyping, has demonstrated high performance across various datasets. However, Cyrius has not been updated in the past 3 years, during which dozens of new star alleles have been identified and some previously defined ones revised. In this work, we simulated all known CYP2D6 haplotypes to assess the ability of Cyrius to identify them. In that dataset, Cyrius was unable to call or misidentified 50 of 360 samples. Given the importance of providing an up-to-date tool, particularly in clinical settings, we present an upgraded version of the tool, named BCyrius, which includes all the missing star alleles as well as revisions to the previously listed ones. BCyrius successfully identified 100% of the currently defined minor star alleles, higher than Cyrius (85.6%) and the two other tested tools, Aldy and StellarPGx, which identified 92.2% and 87.8%, respectively. BCyrius also demonstrated slightly improved performance on a dataset of real biological samples, resulting in a higher call rate while maintaining similar accuracy with Cyrius. In addition to providing genotyping results, BCyrius also reports the predicted phenotype, along with information for each detected haplotype, including population frequencies.

In this study, the structure of a new boron compound obtained using 3-methoxy catechol and 4-methoxy phenyl boronic acid was characterized by ¹H, ¹³C NMR, LC-MS-IT-TOF, UV-Vis and FTIR spectroscopy. The antioxidant activities of the newly synthesized compound were evaluated by DPPH free radical scavenging, ABTS quation radical scavenging and CUPRAC copper reducing capacity methods. Anticholinesterase activities were determined by acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase enzyme inhibitor assays. Antiurease and antithyrosinase enzyme inhibition activities were also examined. Cytotoxic effects were evaluated on healthy cell lines and breast and colon cancer cell lines using MTT method. The results showed that the synthesized compound has high antioxidant activity. Especially the average antioxidant activity values obtained at 10 μg/mL concentration were found to be statistically significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the reference values of α-TOC and BHT. When the antioxidant activity data (IC₅₀) were compared separately with α-TOC and BHT reference values, the new compound was found to be more effective. In acetylcholinesterase enzyme inhibition, the average activity values were found to be statistically significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the galantamine reference value. However, no statistically significant difference was observed at BChE (% inhibition) level with galantamine reference value. In terms of urease and tyrosinase enzyme inhibition activities, the urease activity of the synthesized compound was statistically significantly (p < 0.05) lower than the thiurea reference value. Tyrosinase activity was statistically significantly (p < 0.05) lower than kojic acid reference values. The synthesized and characterized compound was found to have no toxic effect on healthy cell lines and did not show any cytotoxic effect on breast cancer (MCF-7) and colon cancer (HT-29) cell lines.

Interindividual variation in pharmacokinetics can occur due to diet, environmental or lifestyle factors, underlying pathology, and gene variants, typically single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Genetic mechanisms have received the most attention in research and education about ethnic differences in pharmacokinetics. Making this connection between genetics and ethnicity is problematic because it could reinforce the erroneous idea that there is a biological basis to ethnicity. The aim of this work was to design an educational intervention about interindividual variation in pharmacokinetics, explore how students perceive ethnicity and genetic differences prior to the educational intervention, and then assess the impact of the intervention and whether it could influence any misconceptions students might have about ethnicity and genetic similarity. Through the use of questionnaires and focus groups, we found that students typically refer to ethnicity to mean culture and place of origin, whereas in the pharmacological literature, ethnicity is synonymous with racial groups, that is, Black, White, and Asian. Prior to the educational intervention, students tended to expect a genetic mechanism for ethnic differences in drug metabolism and this was reduced after the intervention when a range of other nongenetic mechanisms were presented for interindividual variation. However, students' views about possible underlying mechanisms for ethnic differences in hypertension and about ethnicity more generally were unaffected by the intervention. This highlights the importance of reevaluating the way ethnicity is presented across the medical and medical sciences curriculums to be clear that ethnicity is socially constructed and avoid implying a biological basis.

This study aimed to evaluate the anticonvulsant properties of fenoprofen on the experimental model of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced epilepsy. Male Wistar rats were randomly grouped into five, and the kindling model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of PTZ 35 (mg/kg) every other day for 1 month. Aside from the control and PTZ groups, three groups received intraperitoneal injections of fenoprofen at doses of 10, 20, and 40 (mg/kg) before each PTZ injection. Rats were challenged with PTZ 70 (mg/kg) 1 week after kindling development. Then rats were subjected to deep anesthesia, and serum and brain samples were prepared. Oxidative stress (OS) markers (malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase) were measured in serum samples. Hippocampal tissue was used to investigate the relative expression of OS-related genes (nuclear factor [erythroid-derived 2]-like 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase 1 (Hmox1)) and histological studies. Seizure behavior was assessed based on Lüttjohann's score. In treated groups, the number of myoclonic jerks and generalized tonic-clonic seizure (GTCS) duration decreased significantly, while myoclonic jerks and GTCS latency increased compared with the PTZ group. The biochemical evaluation revealed the antioxidative effects of fenoprofen. The decreased expression of Nrf2/HO-1 genes in the PTZ group was reversed after fenoprofen administration. The results of the histological study obtained from Nissl staining in the hippocampal tissue also confirmed the protective effect of fenoprofen. The anticonvulsant effects of fenoprofen seem to be through inhibition of OS-related markers, induction of protective effect in hippocampal tissue, and activation of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.

Cachexia is a multifactorial metabolic syndrome characterized by weight and skeletal muscle loss caused by underlying illnesses such as cancer, heart failure, and renal failure. Inflammation, insulin resistance, increased muscle protein degradation, decreased food intake, and anorexia are the primary pathophysiological drivers of cachexia. Cachexia causes physical deterioration and functional impairment, loss of quality of life, lower response to active treatment, and ultimately morbidity and mortality, while the difficulties in tackling cachexia in its advanced phases and the heterogeneity of the syndrome among patients require an individualized and multidisciplinary approach from an early stage. Specifically, strategies combining nutritional and exercise interventions as well as pharmacotherapy that directly affect the pathogenesis of cachexia, such as anti-inflammatory, metabolism-improving, and appetite-stimulating agents, have been proposed, but none of which have demonstrated sufficient evidence to date. Nevertheless, several agents have recently emerged, including anamorelin, a ghrelin receptor agonist, growth differentiation factor 15 neutralization therapy, and melanocortin receptor antagonist, as candidates for ameliorating anorexia associated with cancer cachexia. Therefore, in this review, we outline cancer cachexia-associated anorexia and its pharmacotherapy, including corticosteroids, progesterone analogs, cannabinoids, anti-psychotics, and thalidomide which have been previously explored for their efficacy, in addition to the aforementioned novel agents, along with their mechanisms.

There has been scarce research on the potential neuroprotective effects of remifentanil (REM) in septic individuals. We aimed to investigate the role and underlying mechanism of REM in LPS-induced neuroinflammation. Thirty-two rats were randomly divided to control, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), LPS + REM, and REM groups. Depending on the group, 4 h after intraperitoneal administration of LPS or saline, REM or saline was infused intravenously for 40 min. Following the sacrification, blood samples and brain tissues were collected for analysis. Brain tissues (prefrontal cortex, cerebellum, and hippocampus) were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, caspase-3 (Cas-3), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis was used to detect claudin-5 (CLDN5), zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), serine-threonine protein kinase (AKT), and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α) gene expression levels. Histopathologic and immunohistochemical analyses showed that REM treatment improved LPS-induced histological changes. REM does not reduce TOS and OSI levels or increase TAS levels, suggesting that it is ineffective through oxidative stress. LPS-induced changes in gene expression levels (PI3K, AKT, HIF-1α, and CLDN5) were also reversed by REM. REM was found to prevent neuroinflammation, and apoptosis by restoring blood-brain barrier, and regulating the PI3K/AKT/HIF-1α pathway. These findings suggest that REM is protective against neuroinflammation.

Aromatase inhibitors are used for patients with hormone-receptor positive breast cancer. Alzheimer's disease is the most prevalent cause of dementia. Several studies have suggested an association between the use of aromatase inhibitors and the development of Alzheimer's disease. The objective of this study was to identify potential pharmacovigilance signals associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease and third-generation aromatase inhibitors in menopausal and postmenopausal women. VigiBase, the global database of individual case safety reports of the World Health Organization, was used to investigate this possible association. A disproportionality analysis was performed for women aged 45 years and older. The reporting odds ratio (ROR) and its 95% CI for reporting dementia are exemestane, 2.08 (1.35-3.19); anastrozole, 1.59 (1.09-2.32); and letrozole, 1.43 (1.05-1.95) and for Alzheimer's disease are exemestane, 0.94 (0.30-2.92); anastrozole: 2.63 (1.55-4.45); and letrozole, 1.33 (0.76-2.35). For senile dementia, only letrozole has cases, with an ROR of 6.77 (2.51-18.31). Signals of disproportionate reporting have been observed between the occurrence of dementia, dementia Alzheimer's type, and senile dementia with aromatase inhibitors, which is in line with estrogen functions and aromatase activity, as well as the findings from preclinical studies. Additional research is required to elucidate this intricate matter.