Discipline Of Pharmacology Research Articles

Implications of Immunogenicity Testing for Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies: A Quantitative Pharmacology Framework

The interpretation of immunogenicity results for a mAb product and prediction of its clinical consequences remain difficult, despite enormous advances in methodologies and efforts toward the best practice for consistent data generation and reporting. To this end, the contribution from the clinical pharmacology discipline has been largely limited to comparing descriptively the pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles by antidrug antibodies (ADA) status or testing the significance of ADA as a covariate in a population PK setting, similar to the practice for small-molecule drugs in investigating the effect of an intrinsic/extrinsic factor on the drug disposition. There is a need for a mAb disposition framework that captures the dynamics of ADA formation and drug’s interactions with the ADA and target as parts of the drug distribution and elimination. Here we describe such a framework and examine it against the PK, ADA, and clinical response data from a phase 3 trial in patients treated with adalimumab. The proposed framework offered a generalized understanding of how the dose, target affinity, and drug/ADA analyte forms affects the manifestation of ADA response with regard to its detections and alterations of drug disposition and effectiveness. Furthermore, as an example, its utility for dose considerations was demonstrated through predicting for late-stage trials of a PCSK9 inhibitor in terms of development in ADA incidence and titers, and consequences on the drug disposition, interaction with target, and downstream lowering effect on LDL-C.Graphical

Overcoming the paradigm of traditional teaching methodology in pharmacology monitoring: innovations in medical education driven by the pandemic

In the course of the last decades there has been a transformation of medical education, aiming to change from a traditional model centered on the teacher to active methodologies, which involve students in a participative, practical and critical way. The pandemic highlighted the importance of differentiated approaches, such as dialoged classes and the inverted classroom. While they bring benefits, they also present challenges, such as preparedness and the necessary infrastructure. Training assessment and Think-Pair-Share (TPS) methodology are also important in this context. Accordingly, the adaptation of the ative methodologies for the teaching of pharmacology is considered relevant for forming doctors prepared for the future demands. The objective of the present study was to report the experience of the monitors in the discipline of Pharmacology in the context of adaptation between the pandemic scenario with remote activities and the return to face-to-face teaching, maintaining the strategy of active methodologies and the formative evaluation, which was initially structured during the pandemic in a digital context. The discipline of Pharmacology offered to the undergraduate course in Medicine of the State University of Rio de Janeiro has therefore started to integrate medical theory and practice, involving classroom, asynchronous and clinical cases. In this way, the teachers teach the subjects and the student monitors, with the supervision of the teachers, select clinical cases based on practical experiences, and use the strategy of the TPS for discussions with small groups of students, which, afterwards, are shared with the whole group. Clinical cases are based on supporting texts, but the discussions encourage the addition of new information to widen the understanding of the discipline. In this context, the monitoring project in Pharmacology involves an active teaching approach, encouraging students to participate in clinical case discussions and broaden theoretical knowledge. This practice enriches academic skills, arouses interest in teaching and is well evaluated by students. The approach aligns with Glasser's learning pyramid, favoring knowledge retention. The use of the TPS methodology promotes collaboration and clinical reasoning and the impact has been positive, which is evidenced by student evaluations and feedback to the discipline and to the monitors. Therefore, the restructuring of the Pharmacology discipline adopted more dynamic and active teaching strategies, seeking to stimulate the active participation of students and critical reasoning. Monitoring played an important role in this approach, promoting debate, proactivity, and clinical skills. The monitoring experience has been positive, deepening the technical knowledge of the monitors and challenging them to constantly improve teaching strategies. Accordingly, the work reflects the importance of more ative, critical medical teaching that is aligned with social demands.

Overall Satisfaction Index on the improvement of the program of the Pharmacology discipline in an Angolan university

Introduction: An educational intervention strategy was carried out in the teaching-learning process of the discipline of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy at the Jean Piaget Polytechnic Institute of Benguela in the Republic of Angola, prior to an initial diagnosis of the process, and the perception of the level of satisfaction of students and teachers was intended to be analyzed.Objective: to evaluate the level of overall satisfaction regarding the improvement of the Teaching and Learning Process in the discipline of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy.Method: A descriptive and cross-sectional observational study was carried out with a quantitative or positivist approach. A questionnaire was applied to 8 teachers and 43 students. 28 variables were analyzed (15 for teachers and 13 for students). The Global Satisfaction Index was calculated through the Iadov technique.Results: the Iadov Global Satisfaction Index (ISG) was 0.63 and 0.57 for teachers and students respectively. According to the interpretation of this result, it is within the range of satisfactory evaluation. According to the professors' evaluation, low indices were obtained in the range of lack of definition in learning through clinical cases (ISG=0.44) and the topic of teaching based on experimentation (ISG=0.44). On the part of the students, the variable that generated dissatisfaction in them was the experimentation activities in any of its modalities [ISG= (-0.05)].Conclusions: Overall, there is satisfaction in students and professors with the modifications implemented in the educational teaching process in the discipline of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy

An Extensive Review of the Literature Using the Diophantine Equations to Study Fuzzy Set Theory

Every field in mathematics has made significant progress in research with fuzzy sets. Numerous application fields were discovered in both empirical and theoretical investigations, ranging from information technology to medical technology, from the natural sciences to the physical sciences, and from technical education to fine arts education. However, it has limitations of its own and has not been able to function in real‐world situations. An interdisciplinary approach of fuzzy theory with number theory, especially Diophantine equations, needs to be accomplished to overcome this problem. A thorough literature study of the Diophantine equations, fuzzy sets, and the combination known as the linear Diophantine fuzzy set (LDFS) is accomplished in the present study. New forms of LDFSs have been added recently, and these additions have found use in a variety of fields, including the disciplines of pharmacology, power, healthcare, goods, and finance. The genesis of these expansions is also examined in this study of the literature. Hence, in the present work, some applications of LDFS are described in detail. Further in the present study, the existing primary constraints in the research on LDFS are highlighted. Also, the last section of the review is dedicated to outlining some future directions for the study of LDFS.

Cognitive Enhancement in Mice: a Data Driven Predictive Model for Evaluating Anxiolytic Effects of Diazepam using Supervised Machinelearning Approach

In the discipline of pharmacology, where it is vital to investigate natural substances for therapeutic benefits, this study investigates the topic of cognitive enhancement in mice with a focus on the anxiolytic characteristics of diazepam. We present a novel approach to predict and assess the anxiolytic potential of diazepam by combining pharmacology with supervised machine learning and making use of the power of modern data analysis techniques.Machine learning is frequently used to build mathematical models that explain or predict data driven based on previous observations. The support vector regressor, Linear Regression, and naïve Bayesian classifier are perhaps among the most popular supervised algorithms. Behavioral pharmacology, which assesses the behavior of experimental subjects after being injected with various chemicals to see if they have positive or negative effects, is an area of possible application. Diazepam (0.5 and 2 mg/kg) was tested in the elevated plus maze (EPM) in the current investigation to determine its effects. Machine learning techniques (SVR Algorithm) was applied. The results showed an effective anxiolytic effect of the 2 mg/kg dose of diazepam when compared with the control group. The findings of the research using conventional statistical methods indicate that progesterone, at a dose of 2 mg/kg, has an impact that is similar to anxiolytics. The variables that provide additional information to distinguish the experimental groups are automatically identified via machine learning.

Ten clinical pharmacological interventions in routine care to ensure better treatment outcomes.

Clinical Pharmacologists play a major role in facilitating the rational use of medicines.[1] The World Health Organization insists on integrating the Clinical Pharmacology discipline with the health service system[2]; however, there is procrastination in materializing this.[3] We describe ten instances wherein Clinical Pharmacological interventions improved prescribing and patient outcomes (Table 1). ... ... Clinical Pharmacologists and clinical pharmacists promote the safer and effective use of medicines.[13] Their consultations should be encouraged to improve treatment outcomes. No funding was obtained for this work. The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. The idea for drafting this article was conceptualised by SD, SSS, and SKT. The patients described in this article were treated and consulted by SD, SSS, S. Sarkar, S. Sen, S. Selvarajan, SKT, JP, NC, and SRJ. The literature search was performed by SD and SM. Expert inputs were provided by AP, CSL, S. Selvarajan, and SKT. All authors contributed to the writing and proofreading of the final manuscript. The final manuscript was discussed and approved by all authors.

Prevalence of self-medication among academics of the healthcare field in a university in the middlewest of Santa Catarina before and after the pharmacology discipline

Self-medication is characterized by self-administration of drugs that have not been prescribed by the doctor, thereby seeking rapid relief of symptoms. This irrational and incorrect practice can lead to several consequences, such as masking evolutionary diseases, causing dependence, intoxication and drug interactions. The incidence of self-medication is problematized with health students, since they should be aware of such a practice, the risks and harms it may entail. This study aimed to analyze the prevalence of self-medication in nursing, pharmacy and medicine students in Alto Vale do Rio do Peixe University (UNIARP) and what influence the discipline of pharmacology has on the self-administration of drugs. The results of this analysis may motivate actions in order to bring improvements regarding the correct use of medication among university students and avoid self-medication.

Emerging role of curcumin N enhancing cancer therapy

One of the greatest public health issues is cancer, which is the second major cause of death for mortality in the globe. The rate of prevalence and fatality of cancer continue to be high despite significant advancements in cancer therapy. Therefore, the hunt for more effective and benign cancer treatment methods is at the forefront of scientific inquiry. The primary component of the Curcuma longa plant, curcumin, has drawn a lot of interest as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer agent over the past 20 years. Based on literature data from experimental and clinical evaluations of curcumin in cancer cell lines based on animal models, and human subjects, in regards to their anticancer activities, primary modes of action, and cellular targets, this review article examines the medicinal chemistry and medicinal chemistry of curcumin and its derivatives. The discipline of pharmacology was described. In addition, current developments in curcumin delivery systems for cancer cells were emphasized.

Introduction to the Theme "New Insights, Strategies, and Therapeutics for Common Diseases".

The reviews in Volume 62 of the Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology (ARPT) cover a diverse range of topics. A theme that encompasses many of these reviews is their relevance to common diseases and disorders, including type 2 diabetes, heart failure, cancer, tuberculosis, Alzheimer's disease, neurodegenerative disorders, and Down syndrome. Other reviews highlight important aspects of therapeutics, including placebos and patient-centric approaches to drug formulation. The reviews with this thematic focus, as well as other reviews in this volume, emphasize new mechanistic insights, experimental and therapeutic strategies, and novel insights regarding topics in the disciplines of pharmacology and toxicology. As the editors of ARPT, we believe that these reviews help advance those disciplines and, even more importantly, have the potential to improve the health care of the world's population.

Pharmacology and Pharmacy: research and innovation analysis

Pharmacology and Pharmacy has a highly vertiginous evolution at international level. Its results are widely applied in the pharmaceutical industry, which is in the first places internationally. The study is aimed to analyse the behaviour of the leading institutions at global level in terms of production of papers and patents; as well as the impact that these contributions generate. The databases used were Science Citation Index and Derwent Innovation Index, both belonging to Web of Science platform. The InCite tool was used to analyse the period from 2000 to 2019. It was demonstrated that there is no correspondence among the highlighted institutions in patent applications, patents granted and number of citations, as well as among entities with the highest number of papers, highly cited papers and number of citations. Leadership in the discipline of Pharmacology and Pharmacy is neither determined by their highly productive institutions nor the impact generated by them.

Threshold Concepts in the Discipline of Pharmacology - A Preliminary Qualitative Study of Students’ Reflective Essays

PurposePharmacology is widely experienced as a difficult to learn discipline. Unfamiliarity with its technical and medical terms, and how pharmacological principles transfer from theory to practice, is especially troublesome. This known state of affairs is even more compounded where English is not the first language of students in question. This study aimed to discern the crucial aspects of health science students’ reflections from an Eastern – Mediterranean context on the learning and practice of pharmacology using threshold concept framework. Methods21 students enrolled in the pharmacology component of a four years’ undergraduate optometry program were recruited for this study. They were provided with prompts and guidelines to write reflective essays related to their learning – teaching experience of pharmacological concepts and constructs in preparation for clinical practice. ResultsThe reflective qualitative accounts were thematically analysed using a recent version of NVivo©. The themes were cross-referenced against two main criteria of threshold concept framework which included transformation and troublesomeness. The key characteristics that eventuated was transformation - in that students felt they had transformed into students who could learn and master. DiscussionThis study observed that learning process, when accompanied by challenges such as difficulty in understanding ‘foreign’ concepts and overwhelming content, motivated the students to adopt various strategies that not only aided their understanding of the subject but also transformed them as learners. The key attribute of threshold concept framework that thematically emerged through this study included transformation; in that students felt they had transformed into persons who could learn (and master) pharmacology alongside ‘creative’ teaching methods and ‘working out’ individual coping strategies.

Advancing Biosimilar Development Using Pharmacodynamic Biomarkers in Clinical Pharmacology Studies.

Development and approval of biosimilars is critical for enhancing the availability of affordable, safe, and effective treatment options for patients. Utilization of PD biomarkers can help streamline clinical programs for biosimilar development as the current process can be costly and time consuming. While PD biomarkers have not been prominently used across biosimilar approvals to date, there is ample opportunity to utilize such information alongside or in place of comparative clinical studies with efficacy end point(s) moving forward. PD biomarkers have been successfully utilized as primary end points in PD similarity studies when the PD biomarker was a surrogate end point or a direct measure of clinical outcome. Extending such application beyond surrogate end point PD biomarkers will require some or all the following aspects to be explored: (i) investment in evaluating and synthesizing available information in the literature, (ii) conducting pilot studies, (iii) completing model‐based assessments using available data, and (iv) adopting other novel or emerging technologies, among others. Biosimilar development presents an opportunity for the clinical pharmacology discipline to advance the science around identification and application of PD biomarkers as primary end points in PD similarity studies. The impact on public health is such that the use of PD similarity data in biosimilar programs is a clear means for bringing more affordable, safe, and effective treatments to patients faster.

The European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics\u201425\xa0years\u2019 young and going strong

Clinical pharmacology as a scientific discipline and medical specialty was unarguably born in the twentieth century. Whilst pharmacology—the science behind the treatment of disease—had been in evolution since at least medieval times, the clinical discipline of pharmacology has had a more recent genesis and rather insidious evolution. During the 1900s, there were some clear father (parent) figures of clinical pharmacology in Europe that emerged and were responsible for the development of the specialty in this continent. This was a time when there were parallel developments in geographically dispersed academic departments (around the globe), during an age of excitement in drug discovery and clinical application of new therapeutic agents. It was the meeting of minds of some of these progenitors of the specialty that led to the development of the European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (EACPT) 25 years ago arising from a working party supported by the World Health Organization in Europe. The EACPT now includes all major national organizations for clinical pharmacology in Europe, representing over 4000 individual professionals interested in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics. The EACPT has a major interest in promoting the safe use of medicines across Europe and internationally and has supported these aims since 1995, through biennial international scientific congresses and summer schools with delegates and presenters from around the world as well as various working group activities. In this article, the current executive committee members of EACPT recall this history, describe the evolution of the association over the last quarter of a century, and provide an update on the activities and ambitions of the association today.

Perspectives of Pharmacology over the Past 100 Years.

It is fitting that the 100th anniversary of the Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology celebrates not only its founding but also the founding of experimental pharmacology as both had their beginnings in Germany. Founded in 1919 by Arthur Heffter (1859-1925) as the "Handbuch der Experimentellen Pharmakologie" and renamed to its current title in 1937, the Handbook has continued to capture the emergence and developments of experimental pharmacology since the initial systematic work of Rudolf Buchheim and his student Oswald Schmiedeberg. Heffter, the first Chairman of the German Society of Pharmacology, was also responsible for isolating mescaline as the active psychedelic component from the peyote cactus, thereby initiating a series of studies along with an Institute that, much like the Handbook and the discipline of pharmacology, continues to discover and disseminate new findings to this day. These early endeavors to establish pharmacology as a viable and valuable contributor to the medical sciences met with considerable resistance and challenges. However, the persistence and dedication of these early pharmacologists placed pharmacology on a firm foundation from which to spread this discipline globally, leading ultimately to our current understanding of the principles of drug action and with an impact likely unanticipated by these founding scientists. Summarizing the beginnings of these efforts and their early spread to other countries provides an appropriate context in which to document the many contributions pharmacological research has made over the past 100 years and provide an opportunity to anticipate expectations around its future developments.

Joshua Harold Burn (1892-1981): A visionary during the evolution of pharmacology as a biomedical discipline.

This article encapsulates the career of Joshua Burn, whose work encouraged new lines of experimentation and paved the way for fundamental advances in our knowledge of the autonomic nervous system. His legacy also endures in his efforts as Department Chairman to oversee a very supportive environment which led to the development of many successful scientists. By producing a body of work that enabled the discipline of pharmacology to contribute in a major way to the advancement of clinical medicine, Joshua Burn stands out as a unique figure in the annals of true scientific pioneers.

Interdisciplinary pharmacometrics linking oseltamivir pharmacology, influenza epidemiology and health economics to inform antiviral use in pandemics.

A modular interdisciplinary platform was developed to investigate the economic impact of oseltamivir treatment by dosage regimen under simulated influenza pandemic scenarios. The pharmacology module consisted of a pharmacokinetic distribution of oseltamivir carboxylate daily area under the concentration-time curve at steady state (simulated for 75mg and 150mg twice daily regimens for 5days) and a pharmacodynamic distribution of viral shedding duration obtained from phase II influenza inoculation data. The epidemiological module comprised a susceptible, exposed, infected, recovered (SEIR) model to which drug effect on the basic reproductive number (R0 ), a measure of transmissibility, was linked by reduction of viral shedding duration. The number of infected patients per population of 100000 susceptible individuals was simulated for a series of pandemic scenarios, varying oseltamivir dose, R0 (1.9 vs. 2.7), and drug uptake (25%, 50%, and 80%). The number of infected patients for each scenario was entered into the health economics module, a decision analytic model populated with branch probabilities, disease utility, costs of hospitalized patients developing complications, and case-fatality rates. Change in quality-adjusted life years was determined relative to base case. Oseltamivir 75mg relative to no treatment reduced the median number of infected patients, increased change in quality-adjusted life years by deaths averted, and was cost-saving under all scenarios; 150mg relative to 75mg was not cost effective in low transmissibility scenarios but was cost saving in high transmissibility scenarios. This methodological study demonstrates proof of concept that the disciplines of pharmacology, disease epidemiology and health economics can be linked in a single quantitative framework.

Pharmacogenomics: The Scientific Basis of Rational Drug Development and Prescribing

“It is more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has” (Hippocrates 460 BC-370 BC). The holy grail of drug discovery is to ensure that an individual responds positively to an investigational drug with minimal or no adverse events. This could then translate to newly discovered drugs being licenced for prescribing as safe and effective therapeutics. Pharmacogenomics may herald the technology for this aspiration to become reality. Uniting the disciplines of pharmacology and genomics, pharmacogenomics provides a mechanism to understand and predict the response of an individual to a drug or group of drugs. This is based on the premise that an individual’s genotype affects the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and, ultimately, the individual’s their response to a drug. This review will begin by reviewing the history of drug development and then proceed to discuss the use of pharmacogenomics in drug development through case studies in oncology, respiratory and vaccinology. It will then go on to discuss how pharmacogenomics presently influences prescribing practices and how this technology may have the potential to enhance patient safety when medicines are administered.

Net Income of Pharmacy Faculty Compared to Community and Hospital Pharmacists

Objective. To compare the net cumulative income of community pharmacists, hospital pharmacists, and full-time pharmacy faculty members (residency-trained or with a PhD after obtaining a PharmD) in pharmacy practice, medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutics, pharmacology, and social and administrative sciences. Methods. Markov modeling was conducted to calculate net projected cumulative earnings of career paths by estimating the costs of education, including the costs of obtaining degrees and student loans. Results. The economic model spanned 49 years, from ages 18 to 67 years. Earning a PharmD and pursuing an academic career resulted in projected net cumulative lifetime earnings ranging from approximately $4.7 million to $6.3 million. A pharmacy practice faculty position following public pharmacy school and one year of residency resulted in higher net cumulative income than community pharmacy. Faculty members with postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) training also had higher net income than other faculty and hospital pharmacy career paths, given similar years of prepharmacy education and type of pharmacy school attended. Faculty members with either a PharmD or PhD in the pharmacology discipline may net as much as $5.9 million and outpace all other PhD graduates by at least $75 000 in lifetime earnings. Projected career earnings of postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) trained faculty and PharmD/PhD faculty members were lower than those of community pharmacists. Findings were more variable when comparing pharmacy faculty members and hospital pharmacists. Conclusion. With the exception of PGY1 trained academic pharmacists, faculty projected net cumulative incomes generally lagged behind community pharmacists, likely because of delayed entry into the job market as a result of advanced training/education. However, nonsalary benefits such as greater flexibility and autonomy may enhance the desirability of academic pharmacy as a career path.

The gap between training and practice of prescribing of drugs by nurses in the primary health care: a case study in Brazil

In many countries, the inclusion of nurses as prescribers is considered to be an advanced practice. In Brazil, such prescriptions are legally regulated and restricted to primary health care protocols. The presence of prescribing nurses has provoked a debate among medical and nursing corporations. However, there are few studies examining the qualifications, protocols and in-service training that are aimed at prescribing nurses in primary health care. We sought to investigate possible gaps between the education, qualifications, self-assessments and practice of prescribing medicine in primary health care from the perspective of nurses. This investigation is a case study with a qualitative approach. This research was conducted in a Brazilian municipality with 84.04% family health strategy coverage and 400,002 inhabitants in northeast Brazil. The participants were an intentional sample of 37 nurses in primary health care who were linked to the family health strategy. The study was conducted between August and November 2011 with four focus groups, a script validated by the Delphi technique,and a pilot study. This study addressed the qualifications for the prescription of medication, the sufficiency of the Ministry of Health protocols and self-assessments of the ability to prescribe. Qualitative analysis was applied. All nurses reported having received insufficient training in the discipline of pharmacology to qualify them for prescriptive practice. The nurses emphasised the need for post-graduate training, the importance of clinical experience,and the lack of discussions and training. Only a small number of nurses self-assessed themselves as competent in prescribing drugs, and the others revealed fears of causing adverse reactions to medication. There are gaps in the education, training,and daily demands of the prescription of medication by nurses in primary health care. It is suggested that prescription practices should be incorporated into undergraduate studies and continuing education in health services.

НОВІ ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ ФОРМУВАННЯ ПРОФЕСІЙНИХ КОМПЕТЕНЦІЙ З ДИСЦИПЛІНИ «ФАРМАКОЛОГІЯ»: МОЖЛИВОСТІ КЕЙС-МЕТОДУ

<p>Запропоновано до запровадження у навчальний процес ефективний метод підготовки майбутніх фахівців за допомогою новітніх інформаційних технологій при вивченні дисципліни “Фармакологія”. “Кейс-навчання” дозволяє оптимізувати навчальний процес та корегувати його на вимогу часу, що особливо є актуальним у сьогоденні при підготовці майбутнього лікаря. Приклад практичного кейсу дозволяє оцінити методику у розрізі конкретної дисципліни, що вивчається на доклінічному етапі.</p>