Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Commons^™

Evaluation And Enhancement Of Physical Stability Of Amorphous Solid Dispersions, Xin Feng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A major concern during formulation development has been to enhance the dissolution rate and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs.[1],[2] The amorphous forms of APIs have attracted considerable attention as the amorphous forms tend to exhibit significantly higher levels of supersaturation in aqueous media when compared to the crystalline forms.[3],[4] For drugs which bioavailability is limited by aqueous solubility (biopharmaceutical classification system (BCS) class II drugs), which is a significant number of recently discovered drug candidates, the improved solubility may lead to enhanced bioavailability.[5-7] Oral absorption of APIs depends on two broad, but crucial, events, namely drug solubilization and gastrointestinal permeation.[8] …

Exploring New Chemical Entities From Traditional Medicine: Docking, Synthesis And Specific Bioactivities, Chinni Yalamanchili

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traditional medical systems contributed significantly to medicine with a number of their phytochemicals found to possess good biological properties. Recently, Dr. Youyou Tu was awarded the Nobel Prize (2015) for her discovery/isolation of Artemisinin from the TCM plant Artemisia annua. Our first aim is to identify active phytochemicals against botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A), and diabetes from Ayurveda and TCM, respectively, by using in silico, in vitro and in vivo approaches. In our second aim, we wanted to enantioselectively synthesize scalable quantities of phytoestrogenic isoflavans such as equol and sativan. The following three chapters summarize results of the three research goals. …

Terpenes And Flavonoids From Salvia Apiana And Their Affinities To Cannabinoid And Opioid Receptors, Taylor Hayes

Honors Theses

Salvia apiana (white sage, Lamiacae family) plant is native to southern California and parts of Mexico. Some Native American tribes local to this region consider S. apiana to be sacred and burn the leaves as incense for purification ceremonies. The plant has been used to treat sore throats, coughs, chest colds, upper respiratory infections, and poison oak rashes. Native Americans widely used this plant in traditional Chumash healing. Infusion of the leaves is used as a diaphoretic and diuretic. The aqueous ethanolic extract of S. apiana showed moderate activity towards the CB1 receptor (58.3% displacement). The extract was fractionated on …

Patient Experiences With Small-Scale Pharmacy Compounding, Morgan Cawthon

Honors Theses

Investigators examined patients' use, knowledge and perceptions of pharmacy compounding at an independent compounding pharmacy in Mandeville, Louisiana. Data were collected using a self-administered survey that patients could complete in hard-copy in the pharmacy or at home, or online using Qualtrics. Investigators found that, in some instances, patients who use compounded medications, or have a member of their household who uses compounded medications, may be more knowledgeable or have more positive perceptions of compounded medications. However, patients who did not have experience with compounds were not unknowledgeable about the practice and did not report any negative perceptions of compounding. These …

Two Sudden And Unexpected Deaths Of Patients With Schizophrenia Associated With Intramuscular Injections Of Antipsychotics And Practice Guidelines To Limit The Use Of High Doses Of Intramuscular Antipsychotics, Nasratullah Wahidi, Katie M. Johnson, Allen Brenzel, Jose De Leon

Psychiatry Faculty Publications

Intravenous haloperidol has been associated with torsades de pointes (TdP). These two sudden deaths were probable adverse drug reactions (ADRs) following intramuscular (IM) antipsychotics. The autopsies described lack of heart pathology and were highly compatible with the possibility of TdP in the absence of risk factors other than the accumulation of antipsychotics with a high serum peak after the last injection, leading to death within hours. The first case was a 27-year-old African-American male with schizophrenia but no medical issues. His death was probably caused by repeated IM haloperidol injections of 10 mg (totaling 35 mg in 2 days). The …

Novel Approaches For Ungual And Trans-Ungual Delivery Of Drugs, Avadhesh Singh Kushwaha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Topical therapy is commonly used for the treatment of nail diseases such as onychomycosis and nail psoriasis due to less severe side effects, non-invasiveness, direct drug delivery at the site of infection, patient compliance and lower cost of treatment. However, topical treatment is limited due to poor permeability and hard nature of nail plate. The main objective of first project was to investigate the penetrability of apremilast into and across the nail plate, folloby the preparation of a novel nail lacquer formulation to improve its ungual and trans-ungual permeation for the treatment of nail psoriasis. Dexpanthenol and salicylic acid were …

Critical Quality Attributes Of Topical Semi-Solid Dosage Forms: Solvent Activity, Muralikrishnan Angamuthu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Critical quality attribute has been defined as “a physical, chemical, biological or microbiological property or characteristic that should be within an appropriate limit, range, or distribution to ensure the desired product quality”. Deviations from preset quality metrics may potentially result in drug products with inferior therapeutic efficacy and unacceptable clinical safety profile. Topical cream formulations may possess numerous quality attributes that can affect the permeation of the drug through skin and consequently therapeutic efficacy. CQAs of topical formulations are often aimed at characterizing either the physicochemical properties of APIs or bulk characteristics of the formulation itself. Solvent systems constitute a …

Hot-Melt Extrusion: A Versatile Pharmaceutical Technology, Hemlata Patil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hot-melt extrusion (HME) is a promising technology for the production of new chemical entities in the developmental pipeline and for improving products already on the market. The first objective of this research work was to describe a continuous process for the production of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) as drug-carrier systems via hot-melt extrusion (HME) using Quality by Design (QbD) principles. Fenofibrate SLN were prepared by combining two processes: HME technology for melt-emulsification and high-pressure homogenization (HPH) for size reduction. Varying the process parameters enabled the production of SLN below 200 nm. At the end of a 5-h in-vitro dissolution study, …

Redox-Sensitive Block Copolymer Nanoparticle Preparation And Characterization, Mary Virginia Portera

Honors Theses

The purpose of the research conducted in this project was to add to a wealth of knowledge concerning chemotherapy. Although chemotherapy has been used since Paul Ehrlich's discover of Salvarsan's ability to kill Treponema pallidum (the bacterium that causes syphilis), today the term chemotherapy is mostly used in conjunction with cancer treatment. There have been many successful chemotherapy drugs produced throughout the years, but a constant problem with chemotherapy is the fact that it also affects noncancerous cells. The topic of this research investigated targeted drug delivery systems that incorporate paclitaxel, a hydrophobic chemotherapy drug. This research mainly focused on …

The Pharmaceutical Industry's Effect On Rheumatologists' Patterns Of Care, Frank Bailey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Drug makers have developed numerous techniques to influence treatment choices. Almost no information exists regarding the pharmaceutical industry's influence on rheumatologists and how these pressures could affect patient care. This phenomenological research, conducted within the framework of social exchange theory, explored the lived experiences of rheumatologists regarding their interactions with agents of the pharmaceutical industry. A researcher-designed interview protocol was used to gather feedback from 10 rheumatologists regarding how interactions with agents of the pharmaceutical industry made them feel. Using horizonalization, meaningful statements made by rheumatologists were condensed into specific themes and patterns, which provided a composite summary of their …

Characterization And Economic Burden Associated With Pediatric Opioid Exposures And Poisonings, Anisha M. Patel

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction

The main objectives of this study were: 1) to examine the prevalence and characteristics of opioid exposures, 2) to estimate the economic costs associated with opioid poisonings, and 3) to examine the characteristics associated with opioid poisoning-related health care resource use (HCRU) and costs in children.

Methods

Data from the National Poison Data System from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2014 were utilized to examine the prevalence and characteristics of opioid exposures and poisonings in children <18 years. Economic costs were estimated using the 2012 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, Kids’ Inpatient Database, Multiple Cause-of-Death file and other published sources, applying a societal perspective. Direct costs included costs associated with ED visits, hospitalizations and ambulance transports. Indirect cost included productivity costs due to caregivers’ absenteeism and premature mortality among children.

Results

There were a total of 83,418 pediatric opioid exposures and nearly half of them resulted in poisoning. The epidemiology of opioid …

Exploration Of The Srx-Prx Axis As A Small-Molecule Target, Murli Mishra

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality irrespective of gender. The Sulfiredoxin (Srx) and Peroxiredoxin (Prx) are a group of thiol-based antioxidant proteins that plays an essential role in non-small cell lung cancer. Understanding the molecular characteristics of the Srx-Prx interaction may help design the strategies for future development of therapeutic tools. Based on existing literature and preliminary data from our lab, we hypothesized that the Srx plays a critical role in lung carcinogenesis and targeting the Srx-Prx axis or Srx alone may facilitate future development of targeted therapeutics for prevention and treatment of lung cancer. First, …

Multifunctional Nanocarriers For Cancer Therapy, Bei Cheng

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is one of the leading causes of human mortality and mortality in all diseases. There has been a boost in developing nanocarrier-based therapies for treating cancer or other diseases during the past decade. One of the major advantages about nanocarrier (with the size range from 1-1000 nm) lies in its ability to specifically target tumor and maximize drug accumulation in tumor foci through the enhanced permeability and retention effect. Advancement in nanotechnology has opened a new paradigm in pharmaceutical field. But new challenges have to be overcome in order to fully exploit the technology and improve safety in clinical …

The Synthesis And Applications Of [2.2]Paracyclophane Derivatives, Craig Hicks

Doctoral

This work concerns the preparation of novel [2.2]paracyclophane derivatives intended for use as asymmetric ligands and investigations into surface coatings prepared from [2.2]paracylophanes. This begins with a general introduction to enantioselective synthesis, followed by a review of relevant reported ligands based on the [2.2]paracyclophane framework and their applications. Next is described the preparation of novel ligands based on the [2.2]paracyclophane structure. Starting with the preparation of a range of mono and disubstituted [2.2]paracyclophanes, including several novel analogues, this moves on to investigating resolution procedures where a novel method for the preparation of enantiopure 4-bromo[2.2]paracyclophane is described. The coupling of prepared …

Anode Catalysts For The Direct Ethanol Fuel Cell, Daryl Fox

Doctoral

The anodic reaction of the Direct Ethanol Fuel Cell has been studied with various catalysts such as electrodeposited platinum, palladium, nickel and gold electrodes. The mechanism of bimetallic catalysts was used to reduce the platinum content needed for ethanol oxidation. The effects of increased temperature, ethanol concentration, electrolyte pH and scan rate have been examined. The impact of different carbon surfaces such as carbon ink, carbon paper and commonly used Vulcan XC72 have also been analysed in order to determine the optimum conditions for the EOR in a fuel cell.

Electrochemical methods were used to analyse catalyst performance such as …

Relational Intelligence: A Framework To Enhance Interprofessional Collaborative Care, Elizabeth Ekole

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many studies have reported that the training for practitioners does not stimulate reflexes that contribute to the tenets of teamwork and collaboration. No studies were found to investigate relational intelligence (RQ) in pharmacist-physician relationships as a catalyst for collaborative and hence cost effective quality care. This study addressed the role and potential opportunity to promote RQ as a critical leadership skill in the collaboration between pharmacists and physicians. Using RQ as the conceptual framework, this phenomenological study explored how pharmacists and physicians in a hospital setting perceive RQ as a leadership skill when working collaboratively. A total of 10 participants …

Beers Medication: Empowering The Elderly Through Education, Amanda J. Parker

DNP Projects

The elderly population (those aged 65 years and older) has an increased risk of experiencing adverse effects from their prescribed medications. These adverse effects are due to many reasons, one being changes that naturally occur in the aging body, such as diminished kidney function or decreased gastrointestinal motility. This project explores the prescribing practices of one primary care practice setting. Specifically, this project sought to determine the number of patients in a primary care practice who were prescribed medications on the Beers list and whether or not the patients received education on adverse effects. The results concluded the most frequently …

Obesity Management: Clinical Review And Update Of The Pharmacologic Treatment Options, Raymond A. Plodkowski, Megan E. Mcgarvey, Keith Reisinger-Kindle, Bradley Kramer, Erik Nelson, Jennifer Lee, Quang T. Nguyen

College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUN) Publications and Research

The toolbox of medications available for medical weight management is more robust than ever and includes a wide variety of mechanisms of actions and options for patients.

Piperlongumine (Piplartine) And Analogues: Antiproliferative Microtubule-Destabilising Agents, Mary J. Meegan, Seema M. Nathwani, Brendan Twamley, Daniela M. Zisterer, Niamh O'Boyle

Articles

Piperlongumine (piplartine, 1) is a small molecule alkaloid that is receiving intense interest due to its antiproliferative and anticancer activities. We investigated the effects of 1 on tubulin and microtubules. Using both an isolated tubulin assay, and a combination of sedimentation and Western blotting, we demonstrated that 1 is a tubulin-destabilising agent. This result was confirmed by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy, which showed that microtubules in MCF-7 breast cancer cells were depolymerised when treated with 1. We synthesised a number of analogues of 1 to explore structure-activity relationships. Compound 13 had the best cytotoxic profile of this series, …

Evaluation Of The Prevalence And Treatment Trends Of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy Among Patients With Diabetes In A Rural Population, Lauren Daigle

Honors Theses

Evidence for adherence to the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) screening and treatment guidelines for various health complications of diabetes in rural populations is limited. The ADA recommends annual foot and eye exams and supports the use of the Semmes-Weinstein monofilament (SWM) to detect signs of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). This study evaluated the prevalence and treatment trends of DPN among patients with diabetes in a rural population. Fifty-two individuals over the age of 18, with known Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes mellitus, were recruited to participate. Participants were asked to respond to a 29-item, multiple choice and freeform question …