Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Review Of Front-Line Treatment Options, With A Focus On Elderly Cll Patients, Alma O'Reilly, James Murphy, Sarah Rawe, Mary Garvey

Articles

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) remains the most prevalent form of leukemia in the Western world, with no cure to date. Ongoing and essential research into this heterogeneous disease has led to a number of new treatment options becoming available to CLL patients in the past decade. The present review presents the recent developments in the field of CLL treatment, with the main focus on elderly patients and CLL patients with coexisting comorbidities. The review discusses the current treatment regimens that provide the most promising outcomes for patients in this subgroup, with a number of important clinical trials summarized. These clinical …

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Of Calcium Supplementation: A Review Of Calcium Intake On Human Health., Kelvin Li, Xia-Fang Wang, Ding-You Li, Yuan-Cheng Chen, Lan-Juan Zhao, Xiao-Gang Liu, Yan-Fang Guo, Jie Shen, Xu Lin, Jeffrey Deng, Rou Zhou, Hong-Wen Deng

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Calcium is an important integrative component of the human body and critical for human health. It has been well established that calcium intake is helpful in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, which has become one of the most serious public health problems across the world. However, community-dwelling adults with and without osteoporosis are rarely concerned or even not aware of the potential side effects of high or inappropriate doses of calcium intake. Some recent studies have revealed that excessive calcium intake might increase the risks of cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of this article was to review the health benefits, …

Glycosaminoglycan Lyases In The Preparation Of Oligosaccharides, Alhumaidi B. Alabbas

Theses and Dissertations

Glycosaminoglycans are heterogeneous polysaccharides that mediate important biological functions. There has been considerable interest in deciphering the precise GAG sequences that are responsible for protein interactions. In fact, several GAG oligosaccharides have been discovered to date as targeting proteins with higher level of specificity. Yet, it has been difficult to develop GAG oligosaccharides as drugs. One of the key reasons for this state of art is that GAG synthesis is extremely challenging and is highly structure-specific. Thus, much of the biology and pharmacology of GAG remains unknown and unexploited to date.

An alternative approach is to prepare GAG oligosaccharides using …

Bromodomain And Extraterminal Domain (Bet) Inhibitor Rvx-208 Ameliorates Periodontal Bone Loss, Nicholas J. Clayton

Theses and Dissertations

Periodontal disease affects 47% of Americans over 30 and is a growing global concern. Current treatments for periodontal disease focus on the mechanical elimination of periodontal biofilms. Very few treatments are available that target the rampant, unregulated host immune response that is ultimately responsible for tissue degradation. BET proteins have been shown to play critical roles in inflammatory gene regulation and are therefore potentially ideal therapeutic targets for treating periodontal disease. RVX-208 is a selective BET-inhibitor with a high affinity for Bromodomain 2 (BD2) as compared to BD1 in BET proteins. Our previous studies have shown that RVX-208 inhibits inflammatory …

Galantamine's Deconstruction In The Quest Of A Pam Pharmacophore, Malaika Argade

Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder generally affecting people above the age of 65 years. Even though the pathophysiological hallmarks of AD were established more than a hundred years ago, there is yet to be a drug that can stop its characteristic neuronal damage. Of the five currently FDA-approved drugs, galantamine has a unique mechanism of action. Apart from being an AChE inhibitor, galantamine can effectively potentiate (positive allosteric modulator) the effect of agonists at nAChRs at concentrations lower than those required for its action as an AChE inhibitor. Perhaps the clinical benefits observed with galantamine are associated mainly …

Development And Preclinical Evaluation Of Long-Lasting Cocaine Hydrolases For Cocaine Overdose And Cocaine Use Disorder Treatment, Ting Zhang

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

Cocaine is a plant-based illicit drug commonly involved in substance use disorder. Although cocaine overdose and cocaine use disorders cause adverse health consequences to individuals and the economic burden on their family and society, there are no FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved medications for treatment. Recently, it has been recognized that delivery of cocaine hydrolase (CocH) is a promising therapeutic strategy. Human butyrylcholinesterase (hBChE), the primary enzyme involved in cocaine metabolism in human, have advantages over other candidates for the development of CocH. Previous studies in our laboratory have designed and characterized hBChE mutants that have ~4,000-fold improved catalytic …

Regulation Of Prostaglandin D2 And Angiogenesis-Related Factors From Human Skin Mast Cells By Interleukin-6 And Resveratrol, Cody Cody Mchale

Theses and Dissertations

Mast cells are classically recognized as the effector cells of Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated hypersensitivity reactions (i.e. allergic reactions). Mast cells also play an important role in the innate immune response to parasitic helminth infection. Allergic disease including allergic rhinitis, asthma, atopic dermatitis, and anaphylaxis, is a major health concern in the United States with greater than 60 million Americans suffering from allergy and asthma. In addition, mast cells have more recently been implicated in non-allergic disease including various human cancers, which will affect approximately 39.6% of U.S. men and women. Therefore, understanding the immunological and molecular mechanisms that regulate mast …

The Effects Of Emerging Technology On Healthcare And The Difficulties Of Integration, Skyler J. Pavlish-Carpenter

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Background: Disruptive technology describes technology that is significantly more advanced than previous iterations, such as: 3D printing, genetic manipulation, stem cell research, innovative surgical procedures, and computer-based charting software. These technologies often require extensive overhauls to implement into older systems and must overcome many difficult financial and societal complications before they can be widely used. In a field like healthcare that makes frequent advancements, these difficulties can mean that the technology will not be utilized to its full potential or implemented at all.

Objective: To determine the inhibiting factors that prevent disruptive technology from being implemented in conventional healthcare.

Methods: …

A Purification And In Vitro Activity Assay For A (P)Ppgpp Synthetase From Clostridium Difficile, Astha Pokhrel, Asia Poudel, Erin B. Purcell

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Kinase and pyrophosphokinase enzymes transfer the gamma phosphate or the beta-gamma pyrophosphate moiety from nucleotide triphosphate precursors to substrates to create phosphorylated products. The use of γ-³²-P labeled NTP precursors allows simultaneous monitoring of substrate utilization and product formation by radiography. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) on cellulose plates allows rapid separation and sensitive quantification of substrate and product. We present a method for utilizing the thin-layer chromatography to assay the pyrophosphokinase activity of a purified (p)ppGpp synthetase. This method has previously been used to characterize the activity of cyclic nucleotide and dinucleotide synthetases and is broadly suitable for …

The Development Of Microfluidic Devices For The Production Of Safe And Effective Non-Viral Gene Delivery Vectors, Jason Matthew Absher

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Including inherited genetic diseases, like lipoprotein lipase deficiency, and acquired diseases, such as cancer and HIV, gene therapy has the potential to treat or cure afflicted people by driving an affected cell to produce a therapeutic protein. Using primarily viral vectors, gene therapies are involved in a number of ongoing clinical trials and have already been approved by multiple international regulatory drug administrations for several diseases. However, viral vectors suffer from serious disadvantages including poor transduction of many cell types, immunogenicity, direct tissue toxicity and lack of targetability. Non-viral polymeric gene delivery vectors (polyplexes) provide an alternative solution but are …

Hyperthermia As A Cancer Treatment- From Theory To Practice, Graham Fullerton

CMC Senior Theses

Using iron super-paramagnetic and ferromagnetic nanoparticles composed of Fe₃O₄ molecules, scientists analyze the effectiveness and practicality of this new treatment theory, hyperthermia. The problems of magnetic particle density, isothermal barriers/cellular cooling thresholds, and nanoparticle specific targeting are addressed in this review.

Iron magnetic nanoparticles were chosen due to their relatively low biological reactivates and lack of subsequent cellular toxicity. However, there are significant heating problems associated with these magnetic nanoparticles due to their relative size and short thermal time constants or thermal half-lives. Effectively, these aforementioned issues create a phenomenon where cancerous cells, surrounded by unheated healthy …

Development Of Polyvinylpyrrolidone/Paclitaxel Self-Assemblies For Breast Cancer, Pallabita Chowdhury, Prashanth K.B. Nagesh, Sheema Khan, Bilal B. Hafeez, Subhash C. Chauhan, Meena Jaggi, Murali M. Yallapu

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

The goal of this investigation was to develop and demonstrate a polymer/paclitaxel self-assembly (PTX-SA) formulation. Polymer/PTX-SAs were screened based on smaller size of formulation using dynamic light scattering analysis. Additionally, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry studies exhibited that polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-based PTX-SAs (PVP/PTX-SAs) had superior cellular internalization capability in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. The optimized PVP/PTX-SAs exhibited less toxicity to human red blood cells indicating a suitable formulation for reducing systemic toxicity. The formation of PVP and PTX self-assemblies was confirmed using fluorescence quenching and transmission electron microscopy which indicated that the PVP/PTX-SAs were spherical in shape with an …

Naturally Occurring 3rs, 7r, 11r-Phytanic Acid Suppresses In Vitro T-Cell Production Of Interferon-Gamma, Tomonori Nakanishi, Ibuki Motoba, Mayuko Anraku, Ryoji Suzuki, Yuto Yamaguchi, Laurie Erickson, Satoshi Kawahara

Hebrew Theological College Publications and Research

Background: Among the eight stereoisomers of phytanic acid (PA), the 3RS, 7R, 11R-isomer is naturally occurring and is present in foods and the human body. PA is considered to have possible health benefits in the immune system. However, it remains undetermined whether these effects are elicited by the 3RS, 7R, 11R-PA isomer, because previous studies used a commercially available PA whose isomer configuration is unknown. In this study, we synthesized a preparation of 3RS, 7R, 11R-PA, and investigated its in vitro immunomodulatory effects, especially the T-cell production of interferon (IFN)-γ, which is associated with various autoimmune diseases. This study …

Population Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Modeling Of Depot Testosterone Cypionate In Healthy Male Subjects, Youwei Bi, Paul J. Perry, Michael Ellerby, Daryl J. Murry

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Pharmacy

A randomized, double-blind clinical trial was conducted to investigate long-term abuse effects of testosterone cypionate (TC). Thirty-one healthy men were randomized into a dose group of 100, 250, or 500 mg/wk and received 14 weekly injections of TC. A pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) model was developed to characterize testosterone concentrations and link exposure to change in luteinizing hormone and spermatogenesis following long-term TC administration. A linear one-compartment model best described the concentration-time profile of total testosterone. The population mean estimates for testosterone were 2.6 kL/day for clearance and 14.4 kL for volume of distribution. Weight, albumin, and their changes from baseline were …

Operation Of The Leica Sp8 Multiphoton Confocal System Using Single Or Multiple Fluorochromes, Amy E. Rowley

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis is to systematically examine each decision made in obtaining images on the Leica SP8 Multiphoton Confocal Microscope and discuss the basic operating parameters in order to generate publication quality images. The capabilities of the LAS X software are discussed along with an in depth discussion of each icon in order, beginning with the Configuration icon, moving then to Acquire, and a brief overview of the possible imaging processing functions within the Process icon. At the conclusion of this thesis, the reader should feel comfortable with the operation of a confocal system and understand the tradeoffs …

Characterization Of Tetraethyl Orthosilicate-Based Dynamic Hydrogels For Use As Reversible 3-D Cell Culture Matrices, Krisitan Stipe

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

On The Efficacy Of High-Dose Ascorbic Acid As Anticancer Treatment: A Literature Survey, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, ascorbate) has a controversial history in cancer treatment. Emerging evidence indicates that ascorbate in cancer treatment deserves re-examination. As research results concerning ascorbate pharmacokinetics and its mechanisms of action against tumor cells have been published, and as evidence from case studies has continued to mount that ascorbate therapy could be effective if the right protocols were used, interest among physicians and scientists has increased.

Out-Of-Pocket Cost For Individuals Being Treated For Opioid Dependence In Rutland County, Vermont, Christopher T. Veal

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Each day more than 140 Americans die from drug overdoses, 91 specifically due to opioids. In Vermont, more than 50 people die each year from opioid poisoning. With insurance coverage being a critical component of Opioid Dependence Recovery, many people seeking treatment are unaware of the financial barriers to recovery- namely the out-of-pocket costs associated with treatment. This study sought to provide insight on the financial impact of Opioid Dependence Treatment on the patient, and provide financial assistance information to the Rutland County community.

The Association Of Hormonal Contraception With Depression, Pamela Derickson

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Hormonal contraceptives are widely used by women during their reproductive years. Currently, over 100 million women worldwide use the pill, and 82% of sexually active women in the USA will use oral contraceptive pills at some time during their reproductive years (Carrol, 2017). Oral contraceptive use, especially among adolescents, is associated with subsequent use of antidepressants and a first diagnosis of depression, suggesting depression may be a potential adverse effect of hormonal contraceptive use (Skovlund, 2016). This project focused on educating health care providers at the Community Health Center of Burlington, VT (CHCB) about the association of depression and oral …