Chemical and Pharmacologic Phenomena Commons^™

Targeting Tgf-Β During Epithelial-To-Mesenchymal Progression As An Effective Therapy Against Colorectal Cancer, Joyce Fan

Undergraduate Research

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Understanding the mechanisms of colorectal cancer progression is crucial for the development of effective therapeutics. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is a hallmark feature of cancer and is defined as the loss of epithelial cell features, such as apical-basal polarity and high expression of cell adhesion molecules, and the development of mesenchymal features, such as lack of polarity and increased cell mobility. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal is essential for cell migration, proliferation, and tumor growth. Both the TGF-β and SMAD pathway are associated with colorectal cancer progression. TGF-β is crucial to the cellular mechanism of cell …

Non-St Elevation Myocardial Infarction Presentation In Severe Aortic Stenotic Patient, Margi Desai, Daniel Maysonet

The Journal of Integrated Primary Care

This case report demonstrates a patient who presents with typical findings for a diagnosis of NSTEMI. Upon further evaluation, this diagnosis was able to be ruled out. Presentations and labs consistent with NSTEMI masked the true diagnosis of aortic stenosis due to oxygen supply/demand mismatch.

Killing Cancer: Manipulating Hydrophobic Vanadium Complexes To Improve Anti-Cancer Activity, Levi Ausherman, Debbie C. Crans, Peter A. Lay, Maggi Braasch-Turi

SACAD: John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activity Days

Hydrophobic vanadium complexes have recently shown improved anti-cancer activities compared to cisplatin. The hydrophobicity and anti-proliferative activity of [VO(Hshed)(dtb)] ([Hshed= N-(salicylideneaminato)-N’-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1,2-ethanediamine and dtb= 3,5-di(tert-butyl)catechol)]) have inspired the development of a library of hydrophobic vanadium complexes. Increasing the steric bulk of the catechol ligand has been shown to have a direct impact on hydrophobicity and anti-proliferative activities. Currently at Fort Hays State University, the Braasch-Turi group is synthesizing VO(HSHED)(dtb) to build up material to support the chemical analysis and biological assay performed by our collaborators at Colorado State University and the University of Sydney, Australia, respectively. In the future, we plan …

Exploring The Developmental Effects Of Antidepressants In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Alexandra Van Stone

Annual Research Symposium

It is so important to explore the potential side effects of antidepressants especially if these side effects could lead to a future detriment to an individual’s financial and social well-being. A better understanding of these side effects in regards to human developmental issues is imperative considering issues related to mental health and depression affect a large percentage of the population. In this study, we tested if Caenorhabditis (C.) elegans could be a potential model organism to predict possible side effects associated with select antidepressants. Their developmental problems potentially encountered upon drug treatment may be encountered in humans.

Tak1 And Tbk1 Are Differentially Required By Gmp- And Lmpp-Like Leukemia Stem Cells, Austin P. Runde, Joseph Michael Cannova, Ryan Mack, Kanak Joshi, Mark Sellin, Allan Youmaran, Mattias Lenz, Rohit Thalla, Wei Wei, Peter Breslin S.J., Jiwang Zhang

School of Medicine

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) encompasses a diverse group of cancers that originate in the blood-forming tissues of the bone marrow. Aside from the M3 subtype (PML-RARA⁺), AML carries a 5-year survival rate of 28% for patients 20+ years of age. AML is the most common cancer of the hematopoietic system and is slightly more common in biological males; the average age at diagnosis is 68 years. Standard frontline treatment for AML is a 2-phase regimen of intensive chemotherapy (CTx) employing daunorubicin and cytarabine. Despite 60-70% of patients achieving complete remission (CR), at least half of CR-achieving patients …

Prescribing Protocol For Postoperative Opioids In An Orthopedic Spine Practice, Kelly M. Manda

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Project

Problem: The opioid epidemic is magnified by excessive post-surgery prescriptions. Over six months at an orthopedic spine practice, 50% of patients received two or more opioid refills beyond their first. This highlighted the absence of a clear prescribing policy and emphasized the need for a structured protocol and to promote patient safety.

Aim of the Project: The primary aim was to implement a prescribing protocol to lower opioid refills provided to post-surgical patients in this surgical practice. The desired result was to reduce the number of opioid refills provided to patients after surgery.

Review of the Evidence: Evidence highlighted …

Oral Dosages Of The Nsaid Aspirin Decreased The Growth Rate Of Species Found In The Human Gut Microbiome Including Akkermansia Muciniphila, Bacteroides Fragilis, Clostridium Sordellii, And Clostridium Difficile, Wyatt H. Greenbaum, Garrett J. Greenbaum, Anna Spiezio

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

Over past few decades, new insight has been revealed in the scientific community about the importance of the human gut microbiome relating to general health. It is known that imbalances in the species that reside in the human gut can cause organism-wide problems in humans. When prescribing or injecting oral medications, the thought of the downstream effects on the gut microbiome are not always considered. By exposing known healthy members of the gut; Akkermansia muciniphila, Bacteroides fragilis, Clostridium sordellii, and Clostridium difficile to the Aspirin, this study attempted to provide insight into the effects of the drug on bacterial growth. …

Sex-Dependent Effects Of Intestinal Microbiome Manipulation In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Harpreet Kaur, Suba Nookala, Surjeet Singh, Santhosh Mukundan, Kumi Nagamoto-Combs, Colin K. Combs

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

Mechanisms linking intestinal bacteria and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are still unclear. We hypothesized that intestinal dysbiosis might potentiate AD, and manipulating the microbiome to promote intestinal eubiosis and immune homeostasis may improve AD-related brain changes. This study assessed sex differences in the effects of oral probiotic, antibiotics, and synbiotic treatments in the AppNL-G-F mouse model of AD. The fecal microbiome demonstrated significant correlations between bacterial genera in AppNL-G-F mice and Aβ plaque load, gliosis, and memory performance. Female and not male AppNL-G-F mice fed probiotic but not synbiotic exhibited a decrease in Aβ plaques, microgliosis, brain …

Reminiscence Therapy For Prevention Of Post-Stroke Anxiety And Depression In Adults, Carly Porter

Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies Capstone Presentations (Center City)

Introduction

Anxiety and depression are prevalent after a stroke.^1,2 Peer support is a non-pharmacologic intervention utilized to manage post-stroke anxiety and depression with inconsistent results.³ Reminiscence therapy is an intervention that has been studied in the dementia population but is a relatively new intervention for the stroke population and has the potential to impact the psychological care provided to stroke patients.⁴

Modeling Biphasic, Non-Sigmoidal Dose-Response Relationships: Comparison Of Brain- Cousens And Cedergreen Models For A Biochemical Dataset, Venkat D. Abbaraju, Tamaraty L. Robinson, Brian P. Weiser

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

Biphasic, non-sigmoidal dose-response relationships are frequently observed in biochemistry and pharmacology, but they are not always analyzed with appropriate statistical methods. Here, we examine curve fitting methods for “hormetic” dose-response relationships where low and high doses of an effector produce opposite responses. We provide the full dataset used for modeling, and we provide the code for analyzing the dataset in SAS using two established mathematical models of hormesis, the Brain-Cousens model and the Cedergreen model. We show how to obtain and interpret curve parameters such as the ED50 that arise from modeling, and we discuss how curve parameters might change …

Calcium Carbonate As A Potential Intervention To Prevent Labor Dystocia: Narrative Review Of The Literature, Sabahat Raees, Marie Forgie, Rita Mitchell, Emily Malloy

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Anecdotally, there are attestations from clinicians of calcium carbonate being used successfully for laboring people experiencing labor dystocia. The goal of this narrative review was to provide a synopsis of pertinent literature on calcium use in obstetrics to explore the potential benefit of calcium carbonate as a simple and low-cost intervention for prevention or treatment of labor dystocia. To answer how calcium and carbonate physiologically contribute to myometrium contractility, we conducted a literature search of English-language peer-reviewed articles, with no year limitation, consisting of the keywords “calcium,” “calcium carbonate,” “calcium gluconate,” “pregnancy,” “hemorrhage,” and variations of “smooth muscle contractility” and …

The Threat Of Hospital Wastewater: An Evidence-Based Call To Action, Ann P. Nguyen

DNP Qualifying Manuscripts

Introduction: Hospital wastewater carries a unique composition of pollutants, a burden that includes high chemical and biological residuals. These pollutants are discharged into sewage treatment plants and natural environments where they contaminate human water sources and larger ecosystems. Water treatment plants are not designed to treat the high loads of biomedical waste and persistent organic compounds found in hospital wastewater and therefore pollutants survive in conventionally treated water. Evidence of contaminated soil, municipal wastewater, surface water, ground water, and even drinking water have been demonstrated in studies conducted around the world highlighting the ubiquity of the problem. Hospital effluent as …

Perioperative Ketamine Use For Post Mastectomy Pain, Alessia Cooney, Jaylyn Thompson, Naomi Watkins-Granville

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

PMPS is defined as chronic neuropathic pain following breast cancer procedures in the ipsilateral arm, chest wall, axilla or shoulder.1-3 Approximately 20 to 50% of post mastectomy patients suffer from Post Mastectomy Pain Syndrome (PMPS).1 With more than 3.8 million breast cancer survivors, due to advances in treatment, there is increased importance in findings ways to better manage the quality of life of breast cancer survivors.1,4 Ketamine induces analgesic effects through its non-competitive antagonism of NDMA receptors.5 Low doses of ketamine infusion (20–30 mg x h−1) have been shown to produce analgesia in neuropathic pain states with benefits lasting up …

Comparative Analysis Of The Effects Of Actual Versus Assumed Opioid Experience On The Regulation Of Ventral Striatal Opioid Receptor Gene Expression, Indu Mithra Madhuranthakam, Martin Job

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Rationale: We conducted experiments to assess the effect of prior opioid experience on gene expression changes. We compared the current experimenter-imposed short versus extended-access conditions of opioid self-administration and developed a new quantitative method to determine their effectiveness in identifying the role of opioid experience in regulating opioid receptor expression levels in the ventral striatum (VS) using an oxycodone self-administration/abstinence model.

Methods: In this study, male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=36) were trained for 20 days to self-administer oxycodone at 0.1 mg/kg/infusion under short access (n=15, or saline as controls n=3, for 3h/day) or extended access (n=15, or saline as controls n=3, …

Photodynamic Therapy Agents: The Power Of Mjöllnir To Eradicate Cancer, Sidney M. Hopper

Honors College Theses

After its discovery back in the 1900s, photosensitizers became a critical study for potential treatments and cures for medical issues, including cancer. It was discovered that porphyrins appeared to target and accumulate in proliferating cells, and to reach the cells, a certain wavelength of light with maximum absorbance associated with the porphyrin was necessary to achieve cell death. Photodynamic therapy involves making use of porphyrins or metalloporphyrins as activators when exposed to such light. When activated, these compounds generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as HO- or O2-, which can react with nucleic acids found in DNA and RNA. In …

The Effects Of Clonidine On Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Patient Outcomes, Claire E. Flatt

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Keynote Speaker Arkansas Women In Stem Conference Presentation, Maria Ines Ines Dow

Arkansas Women in STEM Conference

The Keynote Speaker of the 3rd Annual Arkansas Women in STEM Conference is Dr. Diana Escalona-Vargas, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UAMS and ACH, and Scientific Director of the Arkansas Children's Hospital Magnetoencephalography Laboratory.

Regeneration Of Neurons In Human Brain Tissue; A Revolutionary Concept With Therapeutic Potential, Mackenzie R. Dunn

Other Undergraduate Research

There is current research to suggest that endogenous neuronal regeneration, exogenous neuronal stem cell transplantation and glial cell reprogramming could be prospective therapeutic treatments for neurodegeneration and traumatic injury. With these conditions, there is significant brain atrophy, loss of neurons and loss of synaptic connections which can have devastating effects on executive functioning, cognition, learning and memory. This review will examine these modern approaches to adult neurogenesis, and assess the viable mechanisms and future outlook of these three therapies for neurological regenerative medicine.

The Potential Off-Target Neuroprotective Effect Of Sister Gliflozins Suggests Their Repurposing Despite Not Crossing The Blood–Brain Barrier: From Bioanalytical Assay In Rats Into Theory Genesis, Shereen Mowaka, Moataz S. Hendy, Ehab F. Elkady, Asmaa El-Zaher, Bassam M. Ayoub

Pharmacy

Gliflozins are successfully marketed antidiabetic agents with a reported neuroprotective effect, and this study tests their blood–brain barrier crossing ability. Henceforward, a computational hypothesis interpreting their effects was reasonable after failure to cross into the brain. A chromatographic bioassay for canagliflozin, dapagliflozin, and empagliflozin was developed, validated, and applied to the rat's and rat's plasma and brain. HPLC method robustness was tested over two levels using Design of Experiment on MINITAB. It is the first method for gliflozins’ detection in rats’ brain tissue. The method was applied on 18 rats and six for each drug. Concentrations in plasma were determined …

How Do Glp-Ira Medications Affect Gut And Brain Hunger Signaling To Allow For Reduction In Weight And Better Glycemic Control In Adults With Obesity And Type 2 Diabetes?, David White

Graduate Research Projects

No abstract provided.