Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Commons^™

Testing The Efficacy And Synergistic Components Of Sesamol And Black Rice Extract On Human Colon Cancer Cells, Sera Lim, Philip M. Gerk

Undergraduate Research Posters

Purpose: Systemic treatment of colorectal cancer involves chemotherapeutic agents which elicit serious and negative side effects from the toxicity of the drug. To address this issue, we are testing dietary supplements for their efficacy against human colon cancer cell lines and also their potential synergistic effects when combined with conventional chemotherapy. Dietary supplements (specifically sesamol and black rice extract) exhibit anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and chemo-preventive properties. Meanwhile, one of the cancer resistance mechanisms is the upregulation of drug elimination mechanisms, leading to multi-drug resistance. We hypothesize that dietary compounds will act as chemo-enhancers, thus enhancing potency of the chemotherapy drug(s) on …

The Water Solubility Of Ursolic Acid Complexes At Different Choline Concentrations, Sera Lim, Renjie Zhan, Phillip M. Gerk

Undergraduate Research Posters

No abstract provided.

Modified Ysk12-Mend-Sirna In Dendritic Cells For Cancer Immunotherapy, Syed S. Alam

Undergraduate Research Posters

Tumors may induce tolerogenesis through signaling dendritic cells to produce tolerogenic molecules, such as indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1). Tumor-associated immunosuppression is associated with higher mortality in patients. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) has been shown to silence specific target genes in the target cell. The siRNA associated with these genes could support a gene knockdown of these immunosuppressors and reduce mortality. Delivery of these therapeutic nucleic acids is difficult in vivo because siRNA is easily broken down inside the cell and the bloodstream through present nucleases. Use of liposome polymers has been reviewed extensively in literature. YSK12-C4, a lipid nanoparticle …

Frequency Of Genetic Polymorphisms Of Cyp2c19 In Native Hawaiian, And Asian And Pacific Islander Subgroups: Implications For Personalized Medicine, Khalifa Y. Alrajeh, Youssef Roman Dr

Graduate Research Posters

Pharmacogenetic testing, where prescriptions are tailored to the individual patient based on his/her genetic makeup, increases the ability to predict individual drug response. However, little is known about the prevalence of clinically actionable pharmacogenes in diverse populations. This study seeks to assess the prevalence of select drug-gene alleles that are implicated in the metabolism of commonly prescribed drugs, so-called Very Important Pharmacogenes (VIPs). The results of this study will fill in the gaps of knowledge of VIPs in underrepresented populations and characterize their potential risk for drug adverse events or due to their underlying genetic polymorphisms, especially in patients of …

Peptidomimetic And Non- Peptidomimetic Derivatives As Possible Sars-Cov-2 Main Protease (Mpro) Inhibitors, Mohammed A. Al Awadh, Mohini S. Ghatge Ph.D, Mona A. Al Khairi, Faik N. Musayev, Akua K. Donkor, Mohammed H. Al Mughram, Abdelsattar M. Omar Ph.D, Moustafa M. El-Araby Ph.D, Martin K. Safo Ph.D

Graduate Research Posters

To design novel inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro), we investigated the binding mode of the recently reported α-ketoamide inhibitors of this enzyme. Following, we utilized in-silico screening to identify 168 peptidomimetic and non-peptidomimetic compounds that are high probability Mpro binding candidates. The compounds were synthesized in 5 to 10 mg for initial screening for their potential inhibition of Mpro using Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) assay. The study was conducted using the main protease, MBP-tagged (SARS-CoV-2) Assay Kit (BPS Bioscience, #79955-2), and the fluorescence due to enzymatic cleavage of substrate measured using BMG LABTECH CLARIOstar™, a fluorescent microplate …

Pharmacogenomics And Ssris Appropriateness In Older Community Dwelling African Americans, Wint War Phyo, Lana Sargent, Elvin T. Price

Graduate Research Posters

Background: Depressive and anxiety disorders are among the most common illnesses experienced by older adults (age > 60). The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are preferred class of antidepressants for these disorders due to their high efficacy and safety profiles among older adults. However, SSRIs are metabolized by highly polymorphic cytochrome P450 enzymes, specifically CYP2D6 and CYP2C19. This can lead to variable dose-response outcomes, especially among older African American population.

Objective: Analyze the frequency of CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 polymorphisms in African American older adults who are taking SSRIs and identify potential inappropriate use of SSRIs in these older adults using the …

Development Of An Online Warfarin Dosing Platform Using R Programming Language To Facilitate Healthcare Professional Duties And Limit Medication Related Errors., Monther Alsultan

Graduate Research Posters

Development of an online warfarin dosing platform using R programming language to facilitate healthcare professional duties and limit medication related errors.

Monther Alsultan, Joshua M. Morriss, Daniel Contaifer Jr, Suad Alshammari; Silas Contaifer, Rachel W Flurie, Dayanjan S. Wijesinghe^#

Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcome Sciences

Objective: 1) Gain experience in developing platform agnostic, fully operational and clinically relevant web applications for effective pharmacist led patient care. 2) Create a decision- support tool using open source software to facilitate evidence-based management therapy of warfarin in clinical settings where it is available for everyone to use at anytime and anywhere.

Introduction: …

Local Lung Targeting Of Tumor Associated Macrophages Combined With Cytoreductive Therapy Decrease Tumor Burden In A Secondary Lung Cancer Model, Sulaiman Alhudaithi, Hanming Zhang, Rashed Almuqbil, Wei Du, Fatemah Sunbul, Paula Bos, Sandro Da Rocha

Graduate Research Posters

Backgrounds. The efficacy of a locally administered small molecule colony stimulating factor 1 receptor inhibitor (CSF-1Ri), PLX3397, alone or in combination with cytoreductive therapy (paclitaxel) in reducing the tumor burden of an in vivo model of secondary lung cancer was investigated in this work. Local administration of immunotherapy to the lungs may enhance lung biodistribution of such therapies and reduce potential unwanted off-target toxicity. In addition, combination of such therapy with low dose standard of care chemotherapy may offer improved anti-tumor effects.

Methods. Murine breast cancer cells (4T1, known to be highly metastasized to the lungs) were transduced to …

Molecular Predictors Of Anakinra Treatment Success In Heart Failure Patients With Reduced Ejection Fraction, Joshua Morriss, Daniel Contaifer Jr, Leo F. Buckley, George Wohlford, Monther Alsultan, Suad Alshammari, Asanga D. Ranasinghe, Salvatore Carbone, Justin M. Canada, Cory Trankle, Elvin T. Price, Antonio Abbate, Benjamin W. Van Tassell, Dayanjan S. Wijesinghe

Graduate Research Posters

Background. Kineret (Anakinra) is an interleukin-1 antagonist that is under investigation for its novel clinical application treating patients that have heart failure with reduced (<50%) ejection fraction (HFrEF). A prior study from our group indicated that Anakinra may restore heart function by addressing dysregulations in HFrEF metabolic pathways. Herein, we attempt to elicit Anakinra’s effects on both metabolome and lipidome.

Methods. Lipids and metabolites that had previously been quantified by mass spectrometry (MS) from patients (n=49) who had ≥2 mg/L of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were mTIC normalized and transformed. We conducted a stepwise Linear Discriminant Analysis (r- LDA) to test Anakinra (2 and 12 weeks) vs placebo for separation from combined baseline. Metabolic pathway analysis was performed with Fisher’s exact test algorithm for detection of over-represented and enriched analytes. Univariate analysis (one tailed t-test …

A Pre-Transplant Blood-Based Lipid Signature For Prediction Of Antibody-Mediated Rejection In Kidney Transplant Patients, Monther Al Sultan, Daniel Contaifer Jr., Joshua Morriss, Suad Alshammari, Jeffrey Stern, Sindhura Bobba, Pamela Kimball, Anne King, Dhiren Kumar, Marlon Levy, Gaurav Gupta, Dayanjan Wijesinghe

Graduate Research Posters

Purpose. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the potential of the pre-transplant lipidome to predict post-transplant antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in kidney transplant patients.

Methods. Patients were selected from a prospective observational cohort of a single-center adult kidney transplant center in the United States. The study included 16 kidney transplant patients who develop AMR within 2 years post-transplant and 29 stable control (SC) kidney transplant patients who did not develop AMR at any time within the post-transplant follow up. Selection of group differences on the day of transplant was determined by t-test analysis. Stepwise forward method was used to …

Dendrimer Conjugation Enhances Tumor Penetration And Cell Kill Of Doxorubicin In 3d Coculture Lung Cancer Models, Rashed Almuqbil, Rodrigo S. Heyder, Elizabeth R. Bielski, Mikhail Durymanov, Joshua J. Reineke, Sandro R. P. Da Rocha

Graduate Research Posters

Background: Doxorubicin (DOX) is a potent chemotherapeutic widely used for solid tumors (1). Despite high efficacy in 2D cell culture, DOX efficacy does not translate to in vivo lung cancer models (2). Major side effects such as cardiotoxicity may be alleviated with nano-based drug delivery systems (nanoDDS). However, tumor penetration of DOX and DOX-nanoDDS is largely unknown and is an additional barrier to effective clinical therapy (3). Here we describe a nanoDDS capable of enhancing the penetration of DOX.

Methods: DOX was conjugated to generation 4 poly(amido-amine) dendrimers through (GFLG) tumor- liable bond. G4SA-GFLG-DOX was synthesized/characterized. spheroids were formed of …

Development Of An R Script For Simple Lipidomic And Metabolomic Data Analysis, Suad Alshammari, Joshua M. Morriss, Daniel Contaifer, Dayanjan S. Wijesinghe, Monther Alsultan

Graduate Research Posters

Background: Metabolomic and lipidomic studies generate vast quantities of data that are often analysed in a closed software environment with little to no access to the underlying algorithms. As a result, data processed via different software pipelines yield different results thus leading to a widespread problem of low reproducibility within these fields. To address this problem, we are developing LipidAnalyst; an R based lipidomics software pipeline. As a part of this project, we are creating a simple statistical analysis and graphing module in R to generate accurate, reproducible, high-resolution figures.

Methods: R scripts were developed under version 3.5.3 with the …

Paroxetine Is Pro-Inflammatory In Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells, Syeda Hashimi, Sulay Patel, Omar Hassan, Bukola Odeniyi

Graduate Research Posters

BACKGROUND: Paroxetine is an antidepressant that is widely used. However, Paroxetine possesses anticholinergic properties which may contribute to cognitive decline in older adults. Surprisingly, the mechanisms of the cognitive decline of anticholinergic drugs in older adults remains elusive. A hypothesis is that a loss of cholinergic signaling is pro-inflammatory in the brain. We designed experiments to determine if Paroxetine is pro-inflammatory in Normal Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells (NHBMECs).

METHOD: NHBMECs were grown at 5% CO2, 37C and 95% relative humidity until 90% confluent. NHBMECs were treated with the RNA free water as control, Paroxetine as 1.67x 10 4 mM/mol, …

Detection And Quantification Of Glucuronidation Of Ursolic Acid (Ua) In Human Liver Microsomes (Hlms)., Kamola Tolliboeva, Philip M. Gerk

Undergraduate Research Posters

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Hiv And Drugs Of Abuse On The Blood-Brain Barrier, Gopika Hari

Undergraduate Research Posters

Despite effective systemic therapy, HIV-1 infection within the brain results in neuronal degradation and neurocognitive dysfunction. This neurocognitive dysfunction is worsened in the setting of opiate abuse. The central nervous system (CNS) is protected by the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a selective barrier regulating the passage of substances from peripheral circulation into the CNS. The BBB is composed of microvascular endothelial cells encased by basal lamina, pericytes, and perivascular astrocyte endfeet. Intracellular junctional complexes comprising of adherens and tight junctions are located between the endothelial cells and form tight barrier, preventing traffic of compounds between cells (paracellular flux). Clinical and in …

Feasibility Of Integrating Tripterygium Wilfordii Into Modern Cancer Therapy For Increased Efficacy And Minimal Toxicity, Ngoc T. Vo

Undergraduate Research Posters

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. and millions of novel cancer cases are being diagnosed each year. While chemotherapy and ionizing radiation are effective treatments against these malignant tumors, the adverse effects that accompany such treatments are devastating. In order to find alternative treatment methods with less side effects, we turn to Eastern herbal medicine. Recent scientific research has found that Tripterygium wilfordii, an herbal medicine traditionally used to treat inflammation in China, contains compounds (triptolide and celastrol) that prevent the growth of solid tumors, induce apoptosis, and prevent metastasis of developed tumors. Investigations …