Publications by authors named "Leonid Kagan"

Gabapentin has variable pharmacokinetics (PK), which contributes to difficulty in dosing and increased risk of adverse events. The objective of this study was to leverage gabapentin concentrations from therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) to develop a population PK (popPK) model and characterize significant covariates that impact gabapentin PK. Data were retrospectively collected from 82 hospitalized adult patients with TDM gabapentin concentrations.

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  • Obesity can significantly alter how the body processes drugs, particularly affecting the liver and kidneys which are key to drug clearance and absorption.
  • A study compared gene expression of drug transporters in liver and kidney tissues between lean and overweight/obese individuals, finding that certain transporters were either up-regulated or down-regulated in obese subjects.
  • These changes in transporter gene expression could influence drug pharmacokinetics in obese individuals, requiring more research to better understand the impact on medication dosing and effectiveness.
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  • Epidural opioids, such as methadone and morphine, are used for managing acute postoperative pain, but this study investigates whether methadone provides better localized pain relief (segmental analgesia) than morphine.
  • In the study, 13 healthy volunteers received epidural injections of either 4 mg of methadone or morphine and their pain tolerance was tested across different body regions for 24 hours.
  • Results showed no significant difference in localized pain relief between the two drugs, although morphine resulted in longer-lasting analgesia and more systemic side effects compared to methadone, which had a better side effect profile.
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Purpose: Serotonin (5-HT) receptor antagonists are promising agents for treatment of neuropathic pain. However, insufficient drug exposure at the central nervous system (CNS) might result in lack of efficacy. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of administration of a Pgp inhibitor (tariquidar) on ondansetron exposure in the brain, spinal cord, and cerebrospinal fluid in a wild-type rat model.

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Background: The investigation of drug disposition in tissues is critical to improving dosing strategy and maximizing treatment effectiveness, yet developing a multi-tissue bioanalytical method could be challenging due to the differences among various matrices. Herein, we developed an LC-MS/MS method tailored for the quantitation of piperacillin (PIP), cefazolin (CFZ), and cefoxitin (CFX) in rat plasma and 12 tissues, accompanied by validation data for each matrix according to the FDA and EMA guidelines.

Results: The method required only a small sample volume (5 μL plasma or 50-100 μL tissue homogenates) and a relatively simple protocol for simultaneous quantitation of PIP, CFZ, and CFX within different biological matrices.

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Background: Vertical sleeve gastrectomy (SGx) is a type of bariatric surgery to treat morbid obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). The molecular mechanisms of SGx to improve MASLD are unclear, but increased bile acids (BAs) and FGF19 (mouse FGF15) were observed. FGF15/19 is expressed in the ileum in response to BAs and is critical in not only suppressing BA synthesis in the liver but also promoting energy expenditure.

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This work was designed to investigate the associations between vitamin D metabolites, gene polymorphisms and echocardiographic markers in a population of patients with cardiovascular disease. Echocardiographic markers for 42 patients were determined with tissue Doppler techniques. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis identified genetic variants , , and .

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Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the leading global causes of mortality. Several methods have been established to detect anti-TB agents in human plasma and serum. However, there is a notable absence of studies analyzing TB drugs in urine.

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Variable pharmacokinetics of rifampin in tuberculosis (TB) treatment can lead to poor outcomes. Urine spectrophotometry is simpler and more accessible than recommended serum-based drug monitoring, but its optimal efficacy in predicting serum rifampin underexposure in adults with TB remains uncertain. Adult TB patients in New Jersey and Virginia receiving rifampin-containing regimens were enrolled.

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Drug effects are often assumed to be directly proportional to the fraction of occupied targets. However, for a number of antagonists that exhibit target-mediated drug disposition (TMDD), such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, drug binding to the target at low concentrations may be significant enough to influence pharmacokinetics but insufficient to elicit a drug response (i.e.

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The goal of this work was to develop a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling framework for cisplatin. The model was constructed based on 11 published data sets from rodents; and rabbit, dog, and human data were used to evaluate its utility in predicting plasma and tissue distribution of platinum in larger species, including humans. The model included biotransformation of cisplatin into mobile (k) and fixed (k) metabolites in all tissues, and subsequent conversion of fixed metabolites to mobile metabolites (k) due to protein degradation and turnover.

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Successful tuberculosis (TB) therapy requires achieving sufficient exposure to multiple drugs. Limited stability of several first-line anti-TB drugs might compromise reliable therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). We developed and validated a sensitive and selective UPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous quantification of isoniazid (INH), pyrazinamide (PZA), rifampicin (RIF), its metabolite 25-desacetylrifampicin and degradation products: rifampicin quinone and 3-formyl-rifampicin.

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Ondansetron is used in clinical settings as an antiemetic drug. Although the animal studies showed its potential effectiveness also in treating neuropathic pain, the results from humans are inconclusive. The lack of efficacy of ondansetron in a subset of patients might be due to the overexpression of P-glycoprotein, which could result in low concentrations of ondansetron in the central nervous system (CNS).

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Objective: Pharmacokinetic variability drives tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes but measurement of serum drug concentrations for personalised dosing is inaccessible for children in TB-endemic settings. We compared rifampin urine excretion for prediction of a serum target associated with treatment outcome.

Design: Prospective diagnostic accuracy study.

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Article Synopsis
  • - SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, causes severe disease characterized by excessive inflammation, known as a "cytokine storm," leading to organ damage, particularly in the lungs.
  • - Research in a mouse model showed changes in the expression of drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes in the liver, kidneys, and lungs due to COVID-19, with some transporters being upregulated and others downregulated.
  • - The findings indicate a need for further research on how these changes in drug processing may affect the effectiveness of existing and new treatments for COVID-19 and how they impact the metabolism of natural compounds in the body.
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Purpose: To evaluate how obesity affects the pharmacokinetics of human IgG following subcutaneous (SC) and intravenous (IV) administration to rats and the homeostasis of endogenous rat IgG.

Methods: Differences in body weight and size, body composition, and serum concentration of endogenous rat IgG in male Zucker obese (ZUC-FA/FA) and control (ZUC-LEAN) rats were measured from the age of 5 weeks up to 30 weeks. At the age of 23-24 weeks animals received a single IV or SC dose of human IgG (1 g/kg of total body weight), and serum pharmacokinetics was followed for 7 weeks.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of obesity on immunoglobulin G (IgG) pharmacokinetics in a rat model of obesity, and to collect clinical evidence for an association between the body composition and intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) pharmacokinetic parameters in humans. In a preclinical study, pharmacokinetics of human IgG was evaluated after intravenous (IV) and subcutaneous (SC) delivery to obese and lean rats (n = 6 in each group). Serial serum samples were analyzed using an ELISA.

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This study addresses well-known shortcomings of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based conjugates. PEGylation is by far the most common method employed to overcome immunogenicity and suboptimal pharmacokinetics of, for example, therapeutic proteins but has significant drawbacks. First, PEG offers no protection from denaturation during lyophilization, storage, or oxidation (e.

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Purpose: To evaluate the duration of effect of rHuPH20 on SC absorption of cetuximab and to develop a mechanistic pharmacokinetic model linking the kinetics of rHuPH20 action with hyaluronan (HA) homeostasis and absorption of cetuximab from the SC space.

Methods: Serum pharmacokinetics of cetuximab was evaluated after IV and SC dosing at 0.4 and 10 mg/kg (control groups).

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Background: Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, and it is a potential key factor in maintaining a healthy status. Various observational studies have reported the association between vitamin D deficiency and an elevated risk of osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and certain types of cancer. The number of studies that investigates the genetic determinants of vitamin D hydroxy metabolism has been growing.

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A novel, simple, rapid, and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed to determine cefazolin concentrations in human adipose tissue. Sample preparation was performed by protein precipitation followed by using Captiva EMR-Lipid plates. The mobile phase consisted of 5 mM ammonium formate and 0.

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Fibroblast growth factors 15 (FGF15) and 19 (FGF19) are endocrine growth factors that play an important role in maintaining bile acid homeostasis. FGF15/19-based therapies are currently being tested in clinical trials for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and cholestatic liver diseases. To determine the physiologic impact of long-term elevations of FGF15/19, a transgenic mouse model with overexpression of ( Tg) was used in the current study.

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