Impact of individualized pharmaceutical care on efficacy and safety of opioid-tolerant outpatients with cancer pain: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Background: Managing cancer pain is a growing challenge. Individualized pharmaceutical care is particularly important for opioid-tolerant outpatients due to variation in terms of their knowledge about pain, treatment adherence, and risk of experiencing inadequate analgesia and severe adverse events. This study aimed to determine the influence of individualized pharmaceutical care on outcomes in opioid-tolerant outpatients with cancer pain.

Pharmacist-Led Management Improves Treatment Adherence and Quality of Life in Opioid-Tolerant Patients With Cancer Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Opioid-tolerant patients are more likely to deviate from recommended treatments and to experience inadequate analgesia than opioid-naive ones. The aim of this study was to examine whether pharmacist-led management could help improve treatment adherence and quality of life.

Methods: Eligible patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to control group and intervention group.

Determination of Afatinib in Human Plasma by 2-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography.

Introduction: A simple, sensitive, rapid, and practical 2-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) method was developed and validated for the quantification of a 500-μL afatinib sample extracted from human plasma.

Methods: The plasma samples were pretreated with acetonitrile for protein precipitation. The mobile phase consisted of a first-dimensional mobile phase (acetonitrile, methanol, and 25 mmol/L ammonium phosphate in a ratio of 25:25:50, V/V/V) and a second-dimensional mobile phase (acetonitrile and 10 mmol/L ammonium phosphate in a ratio of 25:75, V/V).

A novel use for an old drug: resistance reversal in by combining dihydroartemisinin with fluconazole.

To investigate the effects of dihydroartemisinin combined with fluconazole against and to explore the underlying mechanisms. Checkerboard microdilution assay and time-kill curve method were employed to evaluate the static and dynamic antifungal effects against . Reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured by a fluorescent probe.

Reversal of azole resistance in Candida albicans by oridonin.

Objectives: Candida albicans is a yeast that causes fungal infections with high mortality and is typically resistant to azole drugs. To overcome this resistance, we explored the combined use of oridonin (ORI) and three azole drugs, namely fluconazole (FLC), itraconazole (ITR) and voriconazole (VOR). Azole-resistant C.

Differences in terms of presentation and outcomes between patients with lung cancer as opposed to other solid organ cancer after infection with SARS-CoV-2: protocol for a systematic review.

Introduction: Scholars believe that COVID-19 can be particularly lethal for patients with cancer. Some studies found that COVID-19 appears to be more lethal in patients with lung cancer than in other cancer patients. In order to take appropriate measures to balance a delay in lung cancer treatment against the risk for a potential COVID-19 exposure, we first need to know whether patients with lung cancer have special risks.

Validated LC-MS/MS method of Sphingosine 1-phosphate quantification in human serum for evaluation of response to radiotherapy in lung cancer.

Background: Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), a bioactive lipid, has been shown to mediate cancer processes. Therefore, accurate qualitative and quantitative determination is essential. The current assay method is still cumbersome to be of practical use worldwide and the aim of this study was therefore to develop a fast, accurate, precise and efficient LC-MS/MS method for targeted analyses of S1P in serum samples.

Expression of estrogen receptor beta and overall survival in non-small cell lung cancer patients: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among males and the second leading cause among females worldwide. Numerous studies have linked estrogen status to lung cancer outcome. However, there are studies with conflicting results about the effect of ERβ on survival of lung cancer.

Recent advances in fluorescent probes for monitoring of hydrogen sulfide.

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), known for its unpleasant rotten egg smell and its high toxicity, has recently emerged as an important mediator of human physiological and pathological processes, such as the regulation of cell growth, cardiovascular protection, the stimulation of angiogenesis, gastric mucosal injury and Alzheimer's disease. Due to its significant actions in the physiology, H₂S has attracted the abundant concern of numerous researchers in the cutting edge of chemistry, biology and medicine. Recently, several fluorescent probes have been developed for detecting and elucidating the role played by H₂S in biological systems.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of riccardin D nanosuspensions with different particle size.

Riccardin D (RD) is a novel compound extracted from Chinese liverwort Marchantia polymorpha L. It exhibits various anticancer activities and can be used during lung cancer treatment. However, the compound's low solubility hinders its development.

Successfully tailoring the pore size of mesoporous silica nanoparticles: exploitation of delivery systems for poorly water-soluble drugs.

A novel approach was applied to fabricate mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) with different pore size in this study. The pore size of MSNs can be modulated conveniently from 3 nm to 10nm by controlling the etching time of MSNs with the NaBH(4) solution. The as-synthesized MSNs were investigated as carriers for loading and delivery of the model drug paclitaxel (PTX).

In vivo studies on the oridonin-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers.

Oridonin (ORI)-loaded Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) were prepared by emulsion-evaporation and low temperature-solidification technique, and evaluated for morphological observation, particle size, zeta potential and in vitro drug release. Next, the characteristics of biodistribution and pharmacokinetics in vivo were examined. The average particle size of resultant NLC was 245.

Galactosylated chitosan nanoparticles for hepatocyte-targeted delivery of oridonin.

In this study, oridonin-loaded nanoparticles coated with galactosylated chitosan (ORI-GC-NP) were prepared for tumor targeting and their characteristics were evaluated for the morphologies, particle size and zeta potential. Oridonin-loaded nanoparticles (ORI-NP) without galactosylated chitosan were prepared as a control. The entrapment efficiency of ORI-GC-NP and ORI-NP were 72.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of oridonin-loaded long circulating nanostructured lipid carriers.

The purpose of this study was to develop poly(ethylene glycol)-coated nanostructured lipid carriers (PEG-NLC) for parenteral delivery of oridonin (ORI) to prolong drug circulation time in blood. Oridonin-loaded PEG-NLC (ORI-PEG-NLC) consisting of PEG(2000)-stearate, glycerol monostearate and medium chain triglycerides were prepared by emulsion-evaporation and low temperature-solidification technique. Oridonin-loaded NLC (ORI-NLC) were also prepared as control.

Folate-mediated targeted and intracellular delivery of paclitaxel using a novel deoxycholic acid-O-carboxymethylated chitosan-folic acid micelles.

Background: A critical disadvantage for successful chemotherapy with paclitaxel (PTX) is its nontargeting nature to cancer cells. Folic acid has been employed as a targeting ligand of various anticancer agents to increase their cellular uptake within target cells since the folate receptor is overexpressed on the surface of such tumor cells. In this study, a novel biodegradable deoxycholic acid-O-carboxymethylated chitosan-folic acid conjugate (DOMC-FA) was used to form micelles for encapsulating the anticancer drug PTX.

Development and in vitro characterizations of bifendate nanosuspensions.

It is reported that nano-sizing is one of the promising methods for improving the dissolution rate and oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. In this study, bifendate (DDB) suspensions have been successfully produced by employing two different techniques, the precipitation-ultrasonication method and the precipitation-combined microfluidization method. According to the preliminary test, in the precipitation-ultrasonication process, the concentrations of polyvinylpyrrolidone K30 (PVPK30) and lecithin in the anti-solvent, the concentration of DDB in the organic phase and the precipitation temperature were optimized at 0.

Studies on pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of bifendate nanosuspensions for intravenous delivery.

It is reported that the nanosuspension is one of the promising formulations for poorly water-soluble drugs. In order to enhance the in vitro and in vivo behaviours of DDB (bifendate), DDB-NSP (DDB nanosuspensions) have been produced by the precipitation-combined microfluidization method. The optimized DDB-NSP were transformed into dry powders by freeze-drying and then investigated by transmission electron microscopy, laser diffraction and X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments.

Comparison of different methods for preparation of a stable riccardin D formulation via nano-technology.

Riccardin D is a new compound extracted from liverwort Marchantia polymorpha L. It has been proved to be useful in antifungal therapy and reversing the resistance of Candida albicans against fluconazole. However, the poor solubility leads to the poor bioavailability and limits its development.

Galactose-decorated pH-responsive nanogels for hepatoma-targeted delivery of oridonin.

Nanogels based on the polymers of galactosylated chitosan-graft-poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (Gal-CS-g-PNIPAm) were used as carriers of oridonin (ORI) for tumor targeting. Three ORI-loaded nanogels with various degrees of galactose substitution were prepared, and their characteristics were evaluated. The release behavior of ORI from these nanogels was pH-dependent, and the release could be accelerated under mildly acidic conditions.

Synergistic effect of folate-mediated targeting and verapamil-mediated P-gp inhibition with paclitaxel -polymer micelles to overcome multi-drug resistance.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) in tumor cells is a significant obstacle for successful cancer chemotherapy. Overexpression of drug efflux transporters such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a key factor contributing to the development of tumor drug resistance. Verapamil (VRP), a P-gp inhibitor, has been reported to be able to reverse completely the resistance caused by P-gp.

Preparation, characterization and biodistribution of nanostructured lipid carriers for parenteral delivery of bifendate.

Nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC)-loaded bifendate (DDB) was prepared by melt-emulsification method to improve drug payloads and liver targeting. The particle size of the prepared formulation analysed by photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) was 217.4 nm with a narrow polydispersity index (PI) lower than 0.

In vitro antitumor activity of silybin nanosuspension in PC-3 cells.

The present study aims to evaluate the antitumor activity of silybin nanosuspension on human prostatic carcinoma PC-3 cell line in vitro. Silybin nanosuspension was prepared by the high pressure homogenization (HPH) method. MTT assay, observation of morphological changes and apoptotic body showed that silybin nanosuspension could significantly enhance the in vitro cytotoxicity against PC-3 cells compared to the silybin solution.

Chitosan-g-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) based nanogels for tumor extracellular targeting.

The principle objective of this research was to develop and characterize pH-responsive and biocompatible nanogels as a tumor-targeting drug delivery system. The nanogels were self-assembled from chitosan-based copolymers, chitosan-graft-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (CS-g-PNIPAm). The copolymers were synthesized via free radical copolymerization and characterized for their chemical structure by FT-IR and (1)H NMR.

Development and in vitro evaluation of deacety mycoepoxydiene nanosuspension.

Deacety mycoepoxydiene (DM), extracted from Phomopsis sp. A123 of thalassiomycetes, is a novel and potent anti-cancer agent. Due to its physicochemical characteristics, the drug, a poorly water-soluble weak acid, shows poor solubility and dissolution characteristics.

Growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells by oridonin nanosuspension.

The mechanism for anti-tumor activity of oridonin (ORI) nanosuspension, prepared by the high pressure homogenization method, was studied using MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cells in vitro. MTT assay, observation of morphologic changes, flow cytometric analysis, and western blot analysis indicated that ORI nanosuspension could significantly intensify the in vitro anti-tumor activity to MCF-7 cells, as compared with ORI solution. Furthermore, ORI nanosuspension induced G₂/M stage proliferation arrest and apoptosis in MCF-7 cells depending on its concentration.