Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Commons^™

Assessing Performance Of The Healthcare Access And Quality Index, Overall And By Select Age Groups, For 204 Countries And Territories, 1990–2019: A Systematic Analysis From The Global Burden Of Disease Study 2019, Annie Haakenstad, Jamal Akeem Yearwood, Nancy Fullman, Corinne Bintz, Kelly Bienhoff, Ismaeel Yunusa Ph. D., Et Al.

Faculty Publications

Background Health-care needs change throughout the life course. It is thus crucial to assess whether health systems provide access to quality health care for all ages. Drawing from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019 (GBD 2019), we measured the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index overall and for select age groups in 204 locations from 1990 to 2019.

Methods We distinguished the overall HAQ Index (ages 0–74 years) from scores for select age groups: the young (ages 0–14 years), working (ages 15–64 years), and post-working (ages 65–74 years) groups. For GBD 2019, HAQ Index construction …

The Risk And Clinical Implications Of Antibiotic-Associated Acute Kidney Injury: A Review Of The Clinical Data For Agents With Signals From The Food And Drug Administration’S Adverse Event Reporting System (Faers) Database, Kalin M. Clifford, Ashley R. Selby, Kelly R. Reveles, Chengwen Teng, Ronald G. Hall Ii, Jamie Mccarrell, Carlos A. Alvarez

Faculty Publications

Antibiotic-associated acute kidney injury (AA-AKI) is quite common, especially among hospitalized patients; however, little is known about risk factors or mechanisms of why AA-AKI occurs. In this review, the authors have reviewed all available literature prior to 1 June 2022, with a large number of AKI reports. Information regarding risk factors of AA-AKI, mechanisms behind AA-AKI, and treatment/management principles to decrease AA-AKI risk were collected and reviewed. Patients treated in the inpatient setting are at increased risk of AA-AKI due to common risk factors: hypovolemia, concomitant use of other nephrotoxic medications, and exacerbation of comorbid conditions. Clinicians should attempt to …

Ribosomal Rack1 Regulates The Dendritic Arborization By Repressing Fmrp Activity, Nicla Romano, Bruna Di Giacomo, Veronica Nobile, Antonella Borreca, Daniela Willems, Francesca Tilesi, Elisabetta Catalani, Manasi Agrawal, Kristy Welshhans, Sara Ricciardi, Davide Cervia, Marcello Ceci

Faculty Publications

FMRP is an RNA-binding protein that represses the translation of specific mRNAs. In neurons, its depletion determines the exaggerated translation of mRNAs leading to dendritic and axonal aberrant development, two peculiar features of Fragile X syndrome patients. However, how FMRP binds to translational machinery to regulate the translation of its mRNA targets is not yet fully understood. Here, we show that FMRP localizes on translational machinery by interacting with the ribosomal binding protein, Receptor for Activated C Kinase 1 (RACK1). The binding of FMRP to RACK1 removes the translational repressive activity of FMRP and promotes the translation of PSD-95 mRNA, …

Identification Of Minimum Essential Therapeutic Mixtures From Cannabis Plant Extracts By Screening In Cell And Animal Models Of Parkinson’S Disease, Michael G Morash, Jessica Nixon, Lori M N Shimoda, Helen Turner, Alexander J Stokes, Andrea L Small-Howard, Lee D Ellis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Medicinal cannabis has shown promise for the symptomatic treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD), but patient exposure to whole plant mixtures may be undesirable due to concerns around safety, consistency, regulatory issues, and psychoactivity. Identification of a subset of components responsible for the potential therapeutic effects within cannabis represents a direct path forward for the generation of anti-PD drugs. Using an

Design, Implementation, And Evaluation Of A Pharmacist-Led Outpatient Benzodiazepine-Tapering Clinic, Tania Gregorian, Kristin Bradley, Scott Campbell, Rachel Mashburn, Richard Beuttler, Michelle S. Keller

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Benzodiazepines are commonly used among older adults, despite well-known risks. Clinical pharmacists can lead tapering efforts, leveraging their clinical expertise and relieving time-pressured primary care providers.

Objectives

The objective of this study is to describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of an outpatient pharmacist-led benzodiazepine-tapering clinic.

Practice description

The clinic is based within a community medical group associated with a large academic health system in Los Angeles, California.

Practice innovation

The clinic is staffed by clinical pharmacists and supervised by a psychiatrist. The initial visit consists of patient education, design of patient-driven tapering schedule, and medical history review. Follow-up …

Bioassay-Guided Isolation Of Iridoid Glucosides From Stenaria Nigricans, Their Biting Deterrence Against Aedes Aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae), And Repellency Assessment Against Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Fazila Zulfiqar, Abbas Ali, Zulfiqar Ali, Ikhlas A. Khan

Faculty and Student Publications

In our natural product screening program, we screened natural products for their repellency and toxicity against insect vectors. Methanolic extract of aerial parts of Stenaria nigricans (Lam.), with no published chemistry, was tested for repellency against mosquitoes and imported hybrid fire ants. Methanolic extracts showed biting deterrence similar to DEET (N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) against Aedes aegypti L. Based on this activity, the crude extract was fractionated into chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol subfractions. The active methanolic subfraction was further fractionated into 13 subfractions. These fractions were tested for their biting deterrence against Ae. Aegypti. Active subfractions were further characterized to identify the …

Synthesis And Inhibitory Activity Of Machaeridiol-Based Novel Anti-Mrsa And Anti-Vre Compounds And Their Profiling For Cancer-Related Signaling Pathways, Mallika Kumarihamy, Siddharth Tripathi, Premalatha Balachandran, Bharathi Avula

Faculty and Student Publications

Three unique 5,6-seco-hexahydrodibenzopyrans (seco-HHDBP) machaeridiols A–C, reported previously from Machaerium Pers., have displayed potent activities against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, and E. faecalis (VRE). In order to enrich the pipeline of natural product-derived antimicrobial compounds, a series of novel machaeridiol-based analogs (1–17) were prepared by coupling stemofuran, pinosylvin, and resveratrol legends with monoterpene units R-(−)-α-phellandrene, (−)-p-mentha-2,8-diene-1-ol, and geraniol, and their inhibitory activities were profiled against MRSA ATCC 1708, VRE ATCC 700221, and cancer signaling pathways. Compounds 5 and 11 showed strong in vitro activities with MIC values of 2.5 μg/mL and 1.25 μg/mL against MRSA, respectively, and …

Hiv-1 Tat Upregulates The Receptor For Advanced Glycation End Products And Superoxide Dismutase-2 In The Heart Of Transgenic Mice, Alaa N. Qrareya, Nason S. Wise, Emmanuel R. Hodges, Fakhri Mahdi

Faculty and Student Publications

Cardiovascular disorder (CVD) is a common comorbidity in people living with HIV (PLWH). Although the underlying mechanisms are unknown, virotoxic HIV proteins, such as the trans-activator of transcription (Tat), likely contribute to CVD pathogenesis. Tat expression in mouse myocardium has been found to induce cardiac dysfunction and increase markers of endothelial toxicity. However, the role that Tat may play in the development of CVD pathogenesis is unclear. The capacity for Tat to impact cardiac function was assessed using AC16 human cardiomyocyte cells and adult male and female transgenic mice that conditionally expressed Tat [Tat(+)], or did not [Tat(−)]. In AC16 …

Immunomodulatory Effects Of Plant Extracts From Salvia Deserta Schang. And Salvia Sclarea L., Aizhan Zhussupova, Gaziza Zhumaliyeva, Vyacheslav Ogay, Assel Issabekova

Faculty and Student Publications

Medicines, their safety, effectiveness and quality are indispensable factors of national security, important on a global scale. The COVID-19 pandemic has once again emphasized the importance of improving the immune response of the body in the face of severe viral infections. Plants from the Salvia L. genus have long been used in traditional medicine for treatment of inflammatory processes, parasitic diseases, bacterial and viral infections. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the immunomodulatory effects of plant extracts LS-1, LS-2 from Salvia deserta Schang. and LS-3, LS-4 from Salvia sclarea L. plants growing in southern Kazakhstan by conventional …

Phytochemical Investigation Of Egyptian Spinach Leaves, A Potential Source For Antileukemic Metabolites: In Vitro And In Silico Study, Shimaa M. Abdelgawad, Mona H. Hetta, Mohamed A. Ibrahim, Premalatha Balachandran

Faculty and Student Publications

Spinacia oleracea L., Amaranthaceae, leaves cultivated in Egypt demonstrated a potential antileukemic activity against the chronic myeloid leukemia, K562 cell line. Thus, the aim of this study is to carry out a phytochemical investigation of S. oleracea leaves as well as the isolation of its antileukemic phytoconstituents. Phytochemical investigation of S. oleracea leaves resulted in the isolation of seventeen known compounds. The biological study revealed that compounds hexaprenol, phytol, and 18-[(1-oxohexadecyl) oxy]-9-octadecenoic acid exhibited a remarkable antiproliferative activity against K562 cells in vitro. A mechanistic in silico study showed that hexaprenol, phytol, and 18-[(1-oxohexadecyl) oxy]-9-octadecenoic acid exhibited a strong binding …

Sharksrx Newsletter Fall 2022, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Sharks Rx

No abstract provided.

September / October 2022, Randy Curry, Cindy Brooks

RURAL ROCKS

PLS presents the 7^th Annual Substance Use Disorder Seminar with Dr. Jake Nichols.

Influence Of Pregabalin Maintenance On Cannabis Effects And Related Behaviors In Daily Cannabis Users, Joshua A Lile, Joseph L Alcorn, Lon R Hays, Thomas H Kelly, William W Stoops, Michael J Wesley, Philip M Westgate

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No medications are approved for cannabis use disorder (CUD), though a small clinical trial demonstrated that the voltage-dependent calcium channel (VDCC) ligand gabapentin reduced cannabis use in treatment seekers. VDCCs are modulated by cannabinoid (CB) ligands, and there are shared effects between CB agonists and VDCC ligands. This overlapping neuropharmacology and the initial clinical results supported the evaluation of pregabalin, a "next-generation" VDCC ligand, as a CUD medication. Two separate placebo-controlled, double-blind, counterbalanced, within-subjects human laboratory studies tested placebo and 300 (N = 2 females, 11 males; Experiment [EXP] 1) or 450 (N = 3 females, 11 males; …

Development Of Peptidomimetic Inhibitors Targeting The Polo Box Domain Of Plk1 As Potential Cancer Therapeutics, Jessy Mariam Stafford

Theses and Dissertations

PLK1 overexpression has shown to be associated with tumor progression and an unfavorable prognosis in a wide variety of cancer types. Interfering with PLK1 genetically and chemically induces apoptotic cell death in cancer cells thus confirming PLK1 as a validated anticancer target. From a drug discovery perspective, PLK1 offers two functionally distinct, essential, and interconnected target sites in one molecule. These are the ATP binding kinase domain (KD) and the unique Polo Box Domain (PBD), where the interplay between these results in dynamic structural regulation of catalytic activity and sub cellular localization. Since the KD is conserved among kinases and …

Changes In The Regulation Of The Unfolded Protein Response During Aging In Peromyscus, Elham Soltanmohammadi

Theses and Dissertations

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been linked to various metabolic pathologies, neurodegeneration, and aging. Although various mechanistic aspects of the resulting unfolded protein response (UPR) have been elucidated, its regulation in genetically diverse populations remains elusive. In the present study we evaluated the expression of chaperones BiP/GRP78, GRP94 and calnexin (CANX) in the lungs, liver, and brain of 7 months old and 2–3 years old outbred deer mice P. maniculatus and P. leucopus. Chaperones’ _expression was highly variable between species, tissues and ages suggesting that levels of expression of individual chaperones do not change consistently during aging. Despite this variation, …

Genomic Analysis Workflows To Identify Mutational Signatures And Structural Variations In Ovcar8 Cells And Rad51d-Deficient Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts, Manli Yang

Theses and Dissertations

Specific genomic profiles associated with exposure to DNA damaging agents have been identified in cancer related genes, revealing that mutational patterns can be carcinogen- specific. However, there have been limited efforts to demonstrate similar clear relationships for endogenous mutational processes. One endogenous source of mutations is contamination of the deoxynucleotide pool with damaged bases that, if incorporated into DNA, cause mutations.

The Catalog of Somatic Mutations In Cancer (COSMIC) represents an international effort to characterize mutations in cancer. A mutational signature is the pattern of mutations generated by a mutational process. Each mutational process contains two parts: DNA damage and …

Peromyscus Maniculatus Bairdii And Peromyscus Maniculatus Sonoriensis Polymorphisms, Matthew Dixon Lucius

Theses and Dissertations

Sequencing technology has advanced greatly over the past couple of decades. This has led to many studies developing hypotheses based on genomic data. This requires many genomic studies to have up-to-date information on the species’ or subject’s genome being investigated. If a study does not have accurate or up-to-date background information, then they cannot fully develop their theories that are being established. In this study, I utilize outbred Peromyscus maniculatus, deer mice that are genetically diverse, to record the polymorphisms that are found throughout the Peromyscus maniculatus genome. I first explore the differences between the polymorphisms found in Peromyscus …

Synthesis Of Alginate/Hydroxyapatite Beads For Acetaminophen Delivery, Anesylvia Angan, Nonni Soraya Sambudi

Makara Journal of Science

Conventional drug delivery systems usually involve the intake of multiple drugs, which could amplify the risk of overdosing. Acetaminophen is a widely used pain relief substance that is prone to accidental overdosing. Hence, a controlled drug delivery system is needed to ensure its efficacy. A nanocomposite hydroxyapatite/alginate system that was used as a drug carrier for acetaminophen was synthesized through the sol-gel method, and the mechanism underlying its controlled drug delivery was investigated. Spherical nanocomposite bead samples were synthesized by incorporating 5 wt%, 10 wt%, and 15 wt% hydroxyapatite into mixtures containing alginate. The mixtures were then dropped into calcium …

Functional Assessment Of Missense Variants In The Abcc6 Gene Implicated In Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum, A Heritable Ectopic Mineralization Disorder., Luke Kowal, Jianhe Huang, Hongbin Luo, Jagmohan Singh, Adam E Snook, Jouni Uitto, Qiaoli Li

Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Faculty Papers

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum, a heritable multisystem ectopic mineralization disorder, is caused by inactivating mutations in the ABCC6 gene. The encoded protein, ABCC6, a transmembrane transporter, has a specialized efflux function in hepatocytes by contributing to plasma levels of inorganic pyrophosphate, a potent inhibitor of mineralization in soft connective tissues. Reduced plasma inorganic pyrophosphate levels underlie the ectopic mineralization in pseudoxanthoma elasticum. In this study, we characterized the pathogenicity of three human ABCC6 missense variants using an adenovirus-mediated liver-specific ABCC6 transgene expression system in an Abcc6

Pharmacists’ Response To The Opioid Crisis: A California Naloxone Survey, Jerika T. Lam, Moom Roosan, Mary A. Gutierrez, Enrique Seoane-Vazquez

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

This study aimed to assess pharmacists’ response to the current opioid crisis in California, particularly regarding the prevalence of naloxone furnishing (or dispensing without a prescription) and prescriptions for medication-assisted treatment (MAT) drugs for opioid use disorder (OUD) to patients and consumers.