Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Commons^™

Immunization Update, Karl M. Hess, Jeffery A. Goad

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

"Immunization represents a very effective primary prevention strategy to curb the rate of vaccine preventable diseases...Pharmacists can play a leading role in vaccination by serving as an advocate, facilitator, and active immunizer. As an advocate, pharmacists provide vaccine education while motivating people to get immunized. As a facilitator, pharmacy’s can host other groups, such as the visiting nurses association, to come into the pharmacy and vaccinate. As an active immunizer, however, pharmacists serve their greatest role by giving immunizations to adolescents and adults."

Preparation Of Silica-Coated Lanthanum-Strontium Manganite Particles With Designable Curie Point, For Application In Hyperthermia Treatments, Vuk Uskoković, Aljoša Košak, Miha Drofenik

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Silica-coated lanthanum–strontium manganite particles with La_0.76Sr_0.24MnO_3+δ stoichiometric formula, exhibiting Curie temperature at ∼40°C, were prepared by using a traditional solid-state method of synthesis of magnetic ceramic particles, followed by milling and a low-temperature coating procedure in an aqueous alcoholic alkali medium. The properties of the obtained material establish it as a potential candidate for self-regulated power-absorbing and temperature-controlling materials in hyperthermia treatments. Moreover, core-comprising LaSr–manganites with different stoichiometries, ranging from La_0.5Sr_0.5MnO_3+δ to LaMnO_3+δ, were synthesized, with magnetic and structural properties examined thereof. Herein reported findings can potentially be …

Cost Prevention Of Hiv, Jerika Lam

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

"Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the late 1990s, management of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has improved where they are living longer and with fewer incidences of opportunistic illnesses. Furthermore, significant progress has been made in the understanding of the disease, the ability to quantify viral load and correlate with clinical outcomes, genotypic and phenotypic resistance assays designed to assess viral susceptibility, and a heightened awareness and appreciation of the importance of treatment adherence to ensure virologic suppression.' In spite of the benefits that HIV-infected patients may have acquired in terms of more …

Interdependency Of Pharmacokinetic Parameters: A Chicken-And-Egg Problem? Not!, Reza Mehvar

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Pharmacokinetic (PK) software packages are widely used by scientists in different disciplines to estimate PK parameters. However, their use without a clear understanding of physiological parameters affecting the PK parameters and how different PK parameters are related to each other may result in erroneous interpretation of data. Often, mathematical relationships used for the estimation of PK parameters obscure the true physiological relationships among these parameters, prompting a discussion of which parameter came first and giving the appearance of the-chicken-and-the-egg dilemma. In this article, the author attempts to show how different PK parameters are related to physiological parameters and each other …

Attenuation Of Acute Rejection In A Rat Liver Transplantation Model By A Liver-Targeted Dextran Prodrug Of Methylprednisolone, Anjaneya Chimalakonda, Donald L. Montgomery, Jon A. Weidanz, Imam H. Shaik, Justin H. Nguyen, John J. Lemasters, Eiji Kobayashi, Reza Mehvar

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background. The use of methylprednisolone (MP) and other corticosteroids for the treatment of acute liver allograft rejection is associated with severe toxicities in nontarget tissues. Therefore, selective delivery of NIP to the liver may improve its efficacy and alleviate its side effects. We investigated the effects of a novel liver-targeted dextran prodrug of MP (DMP) in an orthotopic rat liver transplantation (OLT) model.

Methods. The model consisted of a high responder rejection strain combination (Dark Agouti donors and Lewis recipients). Liver recipients were intravenously administered saline or a single subtherapeutic dose of MP (5 mg/kg) as the parent …

Methods For The Study Of Signaling Molecules In Membrane Lipid Rafts And Caveolae, Rennolds S. Ostrom, Paul A. Insel

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Lipid rafts and caveolae are cholesterol- and sphingolipid-rich microdomains of the plasma membrane that concentrate components of certain signal transduction pathways. Interest in and exploration of these microdomains has grown in recent years, especially after the discovery of the biochemical marker of caveolae, caveolin, and the recognition that caveolin interacts with many different signaling molecules via its scaffolding domain. There are three major types of caveolins (1, 2, and 3), with some selectivity in their expression in different tissues. Results assessing lipid raft/caveolae co-localization of molecules in signal transduction pathways have provided support for the idea that signaling components are …

The Science Of Prevention Strategies, Rachel Abrishami, Jeffery A. Goad

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

"From newborn screening for Phenylkentonurea (PKU) and the birth dose of Hepatitis B vaccine to prostate and breast cancer screening and pneumococcal immunization for older adults, the science of health maintenance is multi-tiered and spans the lifetime of an individual. Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies are used in concert with each other to enable healthcare professionals and their patients to sustain and improve the quality of life."

Effect Of Prophylactic And Therapeutic Mitomycin C On Corneal Apoptosis, Cellular Proliferation, Haze, And Long-Term Keratocyte Density In Rabbits, Marcelo V. Netto, Rajiv R. Mohan, Sunilima Sinha, Ajay Sharma, Pankaj C. Gupta, Steven E. Wilson

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

PURPOSE—To determine the mechanism through which topical mitomycin C prevents and treats corneal haze after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and to examine the effects of dosage and duration of exposure.

METHODS—In 224 New Zealand rabbits, −9.0 diopter PRK with mitomycin C or balanced salt solution was performed. Haze level was graded at the slit-lamp. Rabbits were sacrificed at 4 hours, 24 hours, 4 weeks, or 6 months after surgery and immunohistochemistry was performed with TUNEL assay, Ki67 and α-SMA.

RESULTS—TUNEL-positive apoptotic cells marginally increased in all mitomycin C groups whereas Ki67-positive mitotic cells decreased significantly following mitomycin C application. A greater …

Stromal Haze, Myofibroblasts, And Surface Irregularity After Prk, Marcelo V. Netto, Rajiv R. Mohan, Sunilima Sinha, Ajay Sharma, William Dupps, Steven E. Wilson

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the level of stromal surface irregularity after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and myofibroblast generation along with the development of corneal haze.

Variable levels of stromal surface irregularity were generated in rabbit corneas by positioning a fine mesh screen in the path of excimer laser during ablation for a variable percentage of the terminal pulses of the treatment for myopia that does not otherwise generate significant opacity. Ninety-six rabbits were divided into eight groups[.]

Slit lamp analysis and haze grading were performed in all groups. Rabbits were sacrificed at 4 hr …