Collaboration and implementation of an annual comprehensive stroke education program.

Collaboration among all stakeholders is imperative in the design of a program to meet the educational needs of non-clinical staff as well as medical-surgical, transitional care, and critical care nurses to provide quality care for stroke patients. The responsibility for educating hospital employees most often falls to staff development educators. The described program is unique in that direct-care nurses played an integral role in the development, implementation, and maintenance of this annual program.

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome.

Early recognition of this drug-induced condition can prevent death.

Systemic administration of monosodium glutamate elevates intramuscular glutamate levels and sensitizes rat masseter muscle afferent fibers.

There is evidence that elevated tissue concentrations of glutamate may contribute to pain and sensitivity in certain musculoskeletal pain conditions. In the present study, the food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG) was injected intravenously into rats to determine whether it could significantly elevate interstitial concentrations of glutamate in the masseter muscle and whether MSG administration could excite and/or sensitize slowly conducting masseter afferent fibers through N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation. The interstitial concentration of glutamate after systemic injection of isotonic phosphate-buffered saline (control) or MSG (10 and 50mg/kg) was measured with a glutamate-selective biosensor.

Anticoagulation self-monitoring.

Small, hand-held monitoring devices are available that patients undergoing long-term warfarin therapy can use to monitor their prothrombin time (PT) and international normalized ratio (INR). PT and INR can be quickly and accurately measured, using only a drop of capillary blood obtained from a finger stick. Convenient monitoring allows for frequent monitoring, which results in improved client outcomes and fewer of the complications commonly associated with anticoagulation therapy.

Identification and synthesis of norhydromorphone, and determination of antinociceptive activities in the rat formalin test.

The main objective of this paper is to report the identification and synthesis of norhydromorphone, a novel metabolite of hydromorphone, and its antinociceptive activities when tested in the formalin test as compared to other known analgesics. In addition, we are reporting for the first time the lack of antinociceptive activities of hydromorphone-3-glucuronide, dihydromorphine-3-glucuronide and dihydroisomorphine-3-glucuronide in the rat formalin test. Norhydromorphone was isolated and identified as a metabolite of hydromorphone in a cancer patient's urine.

Role of individual human cytochrome P450 enzymes in the in vitro metabolism of hydromorphone.

1. The aim was to identify the individual human cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes responsible for the in vitro N-demethylation of hydromorphone and to determine the potential effect of the inhibition of this metabolic pathway on the formation of other hydromorphone metabolites. 2.

Comparison between capillary electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography for the stereoselective analysis of carvedilol in serum.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay using a chiral stationary phase was developed and validated for the determination of carvedilol enantiomers in human serum and was compared with a previously developed capillary electrophoresis (CE) method. The CE and the HPLC assay were compared by analyzing a series of serum samples containing racemic carvedilol in different concentrations using the two methods. The concentrations obtained by the two assays were not found to be significantly different indicating that CE and HPLC are comparable in terms of reproducibility and precision for the stereoselective analysis of carvedilol in human serum.

Hydromorphone metabolites: isolation and identification from pooled urine samples of a cancer patient.

1. Hydromorphone-3-glucuronide, dihydromorphine, dihydroisomorphine, dihydromorphine-3-glucuronide and dihydroisomorphine-3-glucuronide were isolated from a cancer patient's urine and identified as metabolites of hydromorphone by comparison with synthetic standards using LC/MS/MS with gradient elution. 2.

LC-MS-MS analysis of hydromorphone and hydromorphone metabolites with application to a pharmacokinetic study in the male Sprague-Dawley rat.

1. A high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) assay was developed for the analysis of hydromorphone and its metabolites, namely dihydromorphine, dihydroisomorphine, hydromorphone-3-glucuronide, dihydromorphine-3-glucuronide and dihydroisomorphine-3-glucuronide, in rat plasma samples. 2.

Development of a capillary electrophoresis assay for the determination of carvedilol enantiomers in serum using cyclodextrins.

A capillary electrophoresis method using cyclodextrins as the chiral selectors was developed for the determination of carvedilol enantiomers in serum. Several types of cyclodextrins were evaluated. The effect of cyclodextrin concentration on enantiomer resolution was investigated.

High-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry analysis of morphine and morphine metabolites and its application to a pharmacokinetic study in male Sprague-Dawley rats.

A high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) assay was developed for the analyses of morphine, morphine glucuronides and normorphine in plasma samples from rats. The analytes were extracted by using C2 solid-phase extraction cartridges. The extraction recoveries were 100% for morphine, 84% for morphine-3-glucuronide, 64% for morphine-6-glucuronide and 88% for normorphine.

Pharmacokinetics of mexiletine enantiomers in healthy human subjects. A study of the in vivo serum protein binding, salivary excretion and red blood cell distribution of the enantiomers.

1. The disposition kinetics of serum free (unbound) and total mexiletine enantiomers were studied in 12 healthy subjects following oral administration of 200 mg racemic mexiletine hydrochloride. The disposition of the enantiomers of mexiletine in urine, saliva, and red blood cells was also examined.

Comparison of Sulfadimethoxine Residue Analyses in Salmon Muscle Using HPLC and Charm II Test.

Sulfadimethoxine (SDM) residues in chinook salmon muscle were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the Charm II test to evaluate the efficacy of the Charm test for the measurement of sulfonamide residues in fish muscle. Both HPLC and Charm analyses were performed in the presence of salmon tissue matrix for the purpose of evaluating the results in field conditions. The sensitivity of the HPLC method was 0.

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis using a highly sensitive fluorogenic reagent, 2-anthroyl chloride, and stereoselective determination of the enantiomers of mexiletine in human serum.

A stereoselective and highly sensitive HPLC assay was developed for mexiletine enantiomers using a new fluorogenic derivatization reagent, 2-anthroyl chloride. The reagent was synthesized and utilized for the fluorescent detection (excitation at 270 nm, emission at 400 nm) of mexiletine enantiomers as their N-anthroyl derivatives on a Pirkle phenylglycine ionic HPLC column. The assay had a lower limit of quantitation at 2.

Determination of erythromycin A in salmon tissue by liquid chromatography with ion-spray mass spectrometry.

A reverse-phase liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method, incorporating gradient elution, is described for the characterization of residual erythromycin A and its metabolites in salmon tissue. The method uses ion-spray, a mild atmospheric pressure ionization technique which provides an abundant protonated molecule well suited for selected ion monitoring experiments. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) using collision-induced dissociation was used to provide structural information.

Mexiletine's antifibrillatory actions are limited by the occurrence of convulsions in conscious animals.

The antiarrhythmic actions of the racemate and enantiomers of mexiletine were studied in conscious and anaesthetised rats. Racemate or enantiomers, at 20 mg/kg i.v.

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of oxytetracycline in chinook salmon following administration of medicated feed.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic assay was developed to detect oxytetracycline (OTC) in chinook salmon muscle tissue. A solid-phase extraction protocol was used to recover OTC and the internal standard, epitetracycline hydrochloride, from the salmon tissue samples. OTC was analyzed using a mobile phase of methanol-0.

In vitro assessment of vancomycin HCl compatibility after coinfusion with a specialized amino acid formulation.

Vancomycin usage at British Columbia's Children's Hospital has increased substantially in the Special Care Nursery as a consequence of a study demonstrating a reduced morbidity and mortality in neonates with necrotizing enterocolitis when treated with vancomycin and cefotaxime. The inability to place more than one peripheral intravenous access necessitates interruption of parenteral nutrition to infuse vancomycin, resulting in a reduction of the planned daily intake of these neonates. This is clinically significant with the administration of vancomycin because of the long administration period required for this drug (60 minutes).

Tissue distribution of mexiletine enantiomers in rats.

1. The kinetics of distribution of the enantiomers of mexiletine were studied in various tissue (heart, brain, lungs, liver, kidneys and fat) in male Sprague-Dawley rats after administration of a single i.v.