Purpose: Research pharmacy effort required to safely and compliantly manage investigational products (IP) varies between studies. No validated tool exists in the United States to evaluate these differences in effort. The Vizient Pharmacy Research Committee Investigational Drug Services (IDS) Subcommittee previously developed a systematic complexity scoring tool (CST) through expert consensus to assign a complexity score for pharmacy effort.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing a system optimized for propagating human keratinocytes, culture of skin samples from white and green sturgeons generated epithelial cells capable of making cross-linked protein envelopes. Two distinct forms of TGM1-like mRNA were molecularly cloned from the cells of white sturgeon and detected in green sturgeon cells, accounting for their cellular envelope forming ability. The protein translated from each displayed a cluster of cysteine residues resembling the membrane anchorage region expressed in epidermal cells of teleosts and tetrapods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInorganic arsenic oxides have been identified as carcinogens in several human tissues, including epidermis. Due to the chemical similarity between trivalent inorganic arsenic (arsenite) and antimony (antimonite), we hypothesized that common intracellular targets lead to similarities in cellular responses. Indeed, transcriptional and proteomic profiling revealed remarkable similarities in differentially expressed genes and proteins resulting from exposure of cultured human epidermal keratinocytes to arsenite and antimonite in contrast to comparisons of arsenite with other metal compounds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite its controversial nature, the use of medical marijuana and cannabis-derived medicinal products grows more popular with each passing year. As of November 2016, over 40 states have passed legislation regarding the use of either medical marijuana or cannabidiol products. Many providers have started encountering patients experimenting with cannabis products for a wide range of conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmong the adaptations of aquatic species during evolution of terrestrial tetrapods was the development of an epidermis preventing desiccation. In present day mammals, keratinocytes of the epidermis, using a membrane-bound transglutaminase (Tgm1), accomplish this function by synthesizing a scaffold of cross-linked protein to which a lipid envelope is attached. This study characterizes the abilities of two homologous transglutaminase isozymes in the teleost fish tilapia to form cross-linked protein structures and their expression in certain tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmacists' specialized training and knowledge qualify them to lead and engage in research pertaining to optimal medication use. Performing research promotes pharmacy professionalism and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration. To conduct research appropriately, one must have thorough knowledge of when institutional review board (IRB) approval is required and how to successfully navigate IRB processes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSbIII and AsIII are known to exhibit similar chemical properties, but the degree of similarity in their effects on biological systems merits further exploration. Present work compares the responses of human epidermal keratinocytes, a known target cell type for arsenite-induced carcinogenicity, to these metalloids after treatment for a week at environmentally relevant concentrations. Previous work with these cells has shown that arsenite and antimonite have parallel effects in suppressing differentiation, altering levels of several critical enzymes and maintaining colony forming ability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAkathisia and restless legs syndrome (RLS) share some common clinical features and a common relationship with dopamine dysfunction. However, the underlying causes and appropriate treatments for akathisia and RLS are different. Herein we describe a case of RLS that was precipitated by a single dose of asenapine, which is an atypical antipsychotic, and dissect the features that support the contention that this was indeed a case of RLS and not akathisia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany residency programs have adopted formal training in clinical preceptorship as an additional opportunity for professional development. However, a balance must be struck between acting as a co-preceptor for pharmacy students and as a learner being precepted by a more experienced practitioner. A commonly utilized method for demonstrating skill in the 4 preceptor roles (direct instruction, modeling, coaching, and facilitating) is to co-precept students during a learning experience with the support of a preceptor or experiential mentor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmputation for paediatric bone cancer is cosmetically and emotionally disturbing. At the Stollery Children's Hospital, in Edmonton, Alberta, families are taken to see their child following amputation but before their child's anaesthetic has been reversed. Through a retrospective study we found that families found this step to be valuable in helping them prepare to support and care for their child post-amputation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArsenic, a human skin carcinogen, suppresses differentiation of cultured keratinocytes. Exploring the mechanism of this suppression revealed that BMP-6 greatly increased levels of mRNA for keratins 1 and 10, two of the earliest differentiation markers expressed, a process prevented by co-treatment with arsenite. BMP also stimulated, and arsenite suppressed, mRNA for FOXN1, an important transcription factor driving early keratinocyte differentiation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Health Syst Pharm
November 2011
Purpose: The results of a 2008 survey by the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) Safe Medication Use Expert Committee assessing the use of standardized i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhen cultured human keratinocytes reach confluence, they undergo a program of changes replicating features of differentiation in vivo, including exit from the proliferative pool, increased cell size, and expression of specialized differentiation marker proteins. Previously, we showed that insulin is required for some of these steps and that arsenite, a human carcinogen in skin and other epithelia, opposes the differentiation process. In present work, we show that insulin signaling, probably through the IGF-I receptor, is required for the increase in cell size accompanying differentiation and that this is opposed by arsenite.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile preserving keratinocyte proliferative ability, arsenite suppresses cellular differentiation markers by preventing utilization of AP1 transcriptional response elements. In present experiments, arsenite had a dramatic effect in electrophoretic mobility supershift analysis of proteins binding to an involucrin promoter AP1 response element. Without arsenite treatment, binding of JunB and Fra1 was readily detected in nuclear extracts from preconfluent cultures and was not detected a week after confluence, while c-Fos was detected only after confluence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArsenic is a well-known human skin carcinogen whose mechanism of action remains to be elucidated. In this work using cultured human epidermal cells, arsenite suppressed accumulation of the transcriptionally active intracellular domain of Notch1. The cells responded to an active peptide from the Notch1 ligand, Jagged1, with increased levels of differentiation marker mRNAs and decreased colony-forming ability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecommendations are provided to assist health care professionals, manufacturers, and consumers in the appropriate handling of tubing with Luer-tip connectors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis work explores spontaneous immortalization in keratinocytes, derived from two skin samples, that display naturally elevated telomerase activity. Serially passaged with 3T3 feeder layer support, the keratinocytes were examined for colony-forming ability, telomerase activity, telomere length, and finally gene expression using Affymetrix DNA microarrays. The cells initially exhibited normal karyotypes and low colony-forming efficiencies typical of normal epidermal cells, but after 40 passages (approximately 400 generations) colony-forming ability increased markedly, yielding immortalized lines exhibiting a small number of chromosomal aberrations and functionally normal p53.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Recommendations of the interdisciplinary Safe Medication Use Expert Committee of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) to assist health care professionals, manufacturers, and organizations in handling neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) safely and effectively are discussed.
Summary: Review and analysis of the USP Medication Errors Reporting Program and MEDMARX program databases showed a continuing risk of patient harm or death due to errors with NMBAs. Medication errors involving wrong concentrations, wrong doses, wrong drugs, look-alike packaging, and sound-alike names, combined with lack of monitoring and communication, have been associated with the use of NMBAs in health care institutions.
Toxicol Appl Pharmacol
August 2005
Arsenic is a well-known carcinogen for human skin, but its mechanism of action and proximal macromolecular targets remain to be elucidated. In the present study, low micromolar concentrations of sodium arsenite maintained the proliferative potential of epidermal keratinocytes, decreasing their exit from the germinative compartment under conditions that promote differentiation of untreated cells. This effect was observed in suspension and in post-confluent surface cultures as measured by colony-forming ability and by proportion of rapidly adhering colony-forming cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Tertiary care hospitals are a potential source for development and spread of bacterial resistance being in the loop to receive outpatients and referrals from community nursing homes and hospitals. The liberal use of third-generation cephalosporins (3GCs) in these hospitals has been associated with the emergence of extended-spectrum beta- lactamases (ESBLs) presenting concerns for bacterial resistance in therapeutics. We studied the 3GC utilization in a tertiary care teaching hospital, in warded patients (medical, surgical, gynaecology, orthopedic) prescribed these drugs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: TGM1(transglutaminase 1) is an enzyme that crosslinks the cornified envelope of mature keratinocytes. Appropriate expression of the TGM1 gene is crucial for proper keratinocyte function as inactivating mutations lead to the debilitating skin disease, lamellar ichthyosis. TGM1 is also expressed in squamous metaplasia, a consequence in some epithelia of vitamin A deficiency or toxic insult that can lead to neoplasia.
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