A. Marchi, C. Kobarg, Keity Margareth Doretto, Luis Gustavo Robello, M. Pigatto, M. Alves, R. Pereira
{"title":"Searching for a long-acting injectable formulation for the antiretroviral dolutegravir","authors":"A. Marchi, C. Kobarg, Keity Margareth Doretto, Luis Gustavo Robello, M. Pigatto, M. Alves, R. Pereira","doi":"10.5920/bjpharm.568","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5920/bjpharm.568","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this study was to engineer a DTG particle size able to provide plasma drug concentration maintenance above PA-IC-90 and, based on such drug prolonged- exposure, to evaluate the 30 days-acting injectable DTG feasibility for anti-HIV therapy. Liquidantisolvent precipitation technology was used to engineer dolutegravir particles. As a strategy for controlling variations of the habit, particle size and polymorphs of Dolutegravir, process intensification was performed using acetone, methanol, and DMSO as solvents and a temperature range from 5oCto 30oC. Physical properties of particles were characterized and in vitro drug release was measured. As a pivotal characterization, in vivo pharmacokinetic analysis was conducted in Wistar male rats. Findings revealed that crystal habit and polymorph were solvent and temperature independents. Concerning solvents, particle sizes were not markedly different. However, results suggested that the higher the temperature the higher dolutegravir particle size. Particle size ranging from 6.48 µm to 17 µm (D50) shown an accelerated release rate and 93% of the drug were released up to 12th day. Results demonstrated thatDolutegravir particles of approximately 13 µm (D50) maintained plasma drug concentration above PA- IC90 for 26 days.","PeriodicalId":9253,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Pharmacy","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89127906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Inter-professional prescription safety workshop for non-medical prescribing and pharmacy students: A cross-sectional study.","authors":"S. Hemingway, M. Culshaw, J. Stephenson","doi":"10.5920/bjpharm.659","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5920/bjpharm.659","url":null,"abstract":"This article reports on an evaluation of a prescribing workshop to increase ‘sharedlearning’ between registered practitioners undertaking a non-medicalprescribing (NMP) course (midwifery, nursing, physiotherapy, and podiatry) andundergraduate pharmacy students to increase awareness of, and understanding of theroles. The focus was on three domains ofsafe prescribing: Knowledge (of commonly prescribed medicines and theirsuitability for individual patients); Process (of legal requirements and supplyof medicines and associated patient information); and Relationships (betweenprescribers and pharmacists). A cross-sectional evaluation was utilized with6-point Likert-style items and a free text section, completed by 337participants. Participants reported positivelyabout the workshop content and their learning experience, although somedifferences between pharmacy and NMP participants were noted in the knowledgedomain. Quantitative analysis revealed significant differences (p<0.001) oflow-to-moderate magnitude (partial-2=0.146) between NMP and Pharmacy studenton all 3 domains, with NMP students reporting slightly more positive outcomes(between 0.4 and 1.5 points higher) in all cases. However, both groups scoredpositively; with mean domain scores of 15.6 to 16.5 on scales with maximumscores of 18.","PeriodicalId":9253,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Pharmacy","volume":"58 2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77753974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Differential effects of NSAIDs on amyloid β1-42 peptide aggregation","authors":"A. Alzurfi, H. Aojula, J. Penny","doi":"10.5920/BJPHARM.628","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5920/BJPHARM.628","url":null,"abstract":"Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and one of the great health-care challenges of the 21st century. The disease is characterised by extracellular aggregation of the amyloid beta (Aβ1-42) peptide within the brain, with subsequent formation of plaques leading to dementia. Currently, there is no cure for AD with only symptomatic therapies available which have demonstrated no, or limited, efficacy. Current pharmacologic studies into AD have focused principally on the development of disease-modifying therapies that can slow the progression of AD. Targets of these investigational agents include Aβ1-42 production, aggregation, and clearance. The ability of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to influence Aβ1-42 aggregation was assessed using the thioflavin-T spectrofluorimetric assay. Mefenamic acid and flufenamic acid both significantly reduced Aβ1-42 aggregation in vitro; however ibuprofen and naproxen had no significant effect on aggregation. These studies highlight that NSAIDs may have potential for helping manage or treat AD.","PeriodicalId":9253,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Pharmacy","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84996913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Non-adherence to cardiovascular pharmacotherapy in Iraq assessed using 8-items Morisky questionnaire and analysis of dried blood spot samples","authors":"Ahmed Alalaqi, G. Lawson, Yaseen Obaid, S. Tanna","doi":"10.5920/BJPHARM.627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5920/BJPHARM.627","url":null,"abstract":"The study evaluated the non-adherence to selected cardiovascular medications, atenolol, atorvastatin, bisoprolol, diltiazem, lisinopril, simvastatin and valsartan in Iraqi patients by applying a standardized Morisky questionnaire (8-MMAS) and by measuring therapeutic drug concentrations in dried blood spots (DBS) analyzed by liquid chromatography - high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). Sixty-nine patients, on continued use of one or more of the selected drugs, were evaluated. The questionnaire showed that 21.7% of participants were non-adherent whereas DBS analysis showed that 49.3% were non-adherent to their medications. No significant correlation between medication non-adherence and gender was detected, but adherence was negatively correlated with the number of medications in the regimen. The 8-items questionnaire was unable to differentiate non-adherence to multiple medications in the prescribed pharmacotherapy regimens. DBS is an alternative to conventional methods to monitor non-adherence objectively. Agreement between the two approaches was weak (Kappa =0.269, p-value 0.05).","PeriodicalId":9253,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Pharmacy","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89393854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Medicine Manipulation for Paediatric Use: Dispersible aspirin tablets and dose uniformity.","authors":"Ahmed A Lahiq, H. Batchelor","doi":"10.5920/BJPHARM.623","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5920/BJPHARM.623","url":null,"abstract":"Concerns about uniformityand the accuracy of the doses resulting from tablet manipulation havepreviously been reported. When aspirinis required to treat children, an oral liquid is not readily available,therefore health care providers or parents are required to manipulate aspirintablets to produce the appropriate dose. In this work, aspirin 75mg dispersible tablets were dispersed in a rangeof waters (room temperature and warm deionized and tap water and sparklingwater) and the dose accuracy was measured. The impact of temperature on the dose accuracy for the tap water wasless pronounced yet there was overall lower accuracy compared to the deionisedwater. Dispersion of the tablet in sparkling water does not give an accuratedose. Heatingfluid used in dispersion is practically achievable yet deionized water in thehome or a ward is impractical. Sparklingwater should be avoided when dispersing aspirin tablet. Thereis a need to evaluate the apparatus and methods used to manipulate medicinesfor children as both the water used and the tools to undertake the manipulationhave significant effects on the accuracy of the dose obtained.","PeriodicalId":9253,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Pharmacy","volume":"622 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77023495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Science of Differentiated Medicines: The 9th APS PharmSci Conference @FIP 2018","authors":"J. Wahlich","doi":"10.5920/BJPHARM.610","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5920/BJPHARM.610","url":null,"abstract":"The Academy ofPharmaceutical Sciences (APSGB) hosts the annual Pharm Sci Conference, the UK’spremier pharmaceutical sciences event championing ‘The Science of Medicines’.In 2018 the 9th conference was linked to the FIP Conference held inGlasgow and consequently was a shorter meeting. The theme of APS Pharm Sci 2018was ‘The Science of Differentiated Medicines’","PeriodicalId":9253,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Pharmacy","volume":"195 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77215443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hassan Elsana, J. Carr-wilkinson, A. Faheem, A. Elkordy
{"title":"Preparation, characterisation and cell transfection of cationic liposomes in gene therapy","authors":"Hassan Elsana, J. Carr-wilkinson, A. Faheem, A. Elkordy","doi":"10.5920/BJPHARM.618","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5920/BJPHARM.618","url":null,"abstract":"Cationic lipid-mediated gene transfer is one of the most commonly used non-viralvectors. It has been shown to be a safe and effective carrier. However, its use ingene delivery was hampered by its low transfection efficiency and stability.DOTAP, DOPE, cholesterol (CHO) and carboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin (CD) wereused to prepare cationic liposomes. Cationic liposomes were prepared using both,thin film hydration and a microfluidic method. Formulation stability wasevaluated using liposome size, zeta potential and polydispersity index (PDI).Promega QuantiFluor® ONE dsDNA System was used to investigate theencapsulation efficiency. COS7 and SH-SY5Y cell lines were used to determinetransfection efficiency. Results show that carboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin increasedencapsulation efficiency by 15.5% and 8% using NanoAssemblr® and rotaryevaporator, respectively compared to liposomes without CD. The addition ofcarboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin to cationic liposomes resulted in an increase intransfection efficiency in both cell lines.B","PeriodicalId":9253,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Pharmacy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78483202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of preparation methods on the characteristics of niosomes","authors":"A. Elkordy, C. Chaw, L. Yeo","doi":"10.5920/BJPHARM.616","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5920/BJPHARM.616","url":null,"abstract":"Niosomes are colloidal vesicles that capable of encapsulating drugs as a carrier for drug delivery system. They are formed by self-assembly of a non-ionic surfactant with cholesterol and co-surfactant. In this work, cinnarizine-containing niosomes comprised of sorbitan monostearate (Span® 60), cholesterol and co-surfactant (Cremophor® ELP, Cremophor® RH40 or Solutol® HS15) were prepared using conventional thin film hydration and microfluidic methods. Effects on characteristics of niosomes with the presence of poorly water-soluble drug, cinnarizine in the niosomal formulations prepared using different methods and incorporation of different co-surfactants were studied and compared for their particle size, polydispersity index (PDI) and encapsulation efficiency. Dynamic light scattering was employed for particle size measurements and drug loading studies were analysed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The morphology of niosomes was characterized using optical light microscopy.","PeriodicalId":9253,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Pharmacy","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89777397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fabrication and physicochemical characterisation of novel pimozide loaded PLGA nanoparticles","authors":"N. Uddin, A. Elkordy, A. Faheem","doi":"10.5920/BJPHARM.615","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5920/BJPHARM.615","url":null,"abstract":"Cancer has always been a big concern for human health. There is always an increased need for fabrication of newer drugs or repurposing the existing drugs to treat cancer. Apart from being an antipsychotic agent, pimozide has already shown its anticancer activity against various cancers in several studies. The aim of the present study was to fabricate pimozide loaded PLGA nanoparticles and hence characterize them. Single emulsion and microfluidic techniques were used to prepare nanoparticles. Physicochemical properties such as particles size, shape, surface charge, and encapsulation efficiency were investigated. Results showed that the nanoparticles were in average size distribution of 200-300 nm, spherical in shape and negatively charged. Additionally, high encapsulation efficiency (50-89%) makes these nanoparticles potential drug delivery systems to target cancer cells.","PeriodicalId":9253,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Pharmacy","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78456032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Bonifazi, Mariangela Lupo, Valeria Pignataro, I. Toni, H. Kubová, C. Tuleu, M. Lavitrano, A. Ceci
{"title":"EPTRI – European Paediatric Translational Research Infrastructure. Bridging the gaps of the paediatric excellence medicine","authors":"D. Bonifazi, Mariangela Lupo, Valeria Pignataro, I. Toni, H. Kubová, C. Tuleu, M. Lavitrano, A. Ceci","doi":"10.5920/BJPHARM.614","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5920/BJPHARM.614","url":null,"abstract":"Development of age appropriate medicines for children is one of the major challenge of our century. Historically, research of new paediatric drugs has been neglected due to poor industrial interest and limited public and private investments. The ID-EPTRI project is aimed to bridge the existing gaps in the paediatric medicine that stop the progress, from the early stage drug development phases to be translated into paediatric use of medicines, through a new paediatric Research Infrastructure. To reach this goal, EPTRI has developed and disseminated a survey in order to identify the gaps and map the competences of the excellence of the paediatric research in pan-European countries that will be the potential service providers of the new Research Infrastructure. EPTRI will network all the available competences and technologies useful to the paediatric research, creating an open science space allowing top-level researchers to work together.","PeriodicalId":9253,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Pharmacy","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77002744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}