Drug-drug interactions between letermovir and tacrolimus in Japanese renal transplant recipients simulated using a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model.

Letermovir (LET) is a novel antiviral agent recently approved for cytomegalovirus (CMV) prophylaxis of renal transplant patients in Japan. However, its interactions with tacrolimus (TAC), an important immunosuppressant, remain ambiguous, warranting careful evaluation considering the unique genetic and physiological characteristics of Japanese patients. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate the drug-drug interactions between LET and extended-release TAC (ER-TAC) in Japanese renal transplant patients via physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling.

Effects of Chemotherapy-Induced Neutropenia on Overall Survival in Patients With Unresectable or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma to Gemcitabine Plus Cisplatin Combination Chemotherapy.

Background: Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) is an important dose-limiting toxicity of chemotherapy. However, evidence suggests that the occurrence of CIN may be predictive of treatment outcome. Indeed, studies have revealed that the onset of CIN is associated with a good chemotherapeutic response.

[The 10th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Pharmaceutical Palliative Care and Sciences].

　The 10th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Pharmaceutical Palliative Care and Sciences was held at Act City Hamamatsu, Japan, with a total of 2634 participants in attendance. The theme of the meeting was realized through a number of new concepts, such as a debate symposium, information sessions, nurses' workshops, and so on. The results obtained from the participation questionnaire (n=438), which were aggregated up to 1 month following the end of this year's meeting, revealed that 89% of the participants at considered it to have been appealing.

Drug-related genetic polymorphisms affecting severe chemotherapy-induced neutropenia in breast cancer patients: A hospital-based observational study.

Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) is one of the major adverse events that necessitate chemotherapy dose reduction. This study aimed to evaluate the association between grade 4 neutropenia and genetic polymorphisms in breast cancer patients. In this genetic polymorphism association study, peripheral blood samples from 100 consecutive breast cancer outpatients, between August 2012 and September 2014, treated with doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (AC) combination chemotherapy were genotyped for polymorphisms in adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette subfamily B member 1 (ABCB1), cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme-coding genes (CYP2B6 and CYP3A5), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1).

Relationship between ABCB1 gene polymorphisms and severe neutropenia in patients with breast cancer treated with doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia is one of the major adverse events which results in the reduction of chemotherapy. Doxorubicin is a substrate of the adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette subfamily B member 1 (ABCB1) transporter; reportedly, ABCB1 polymorphisms influence doxorubicin pharmacokinetics. We evaluated the association between chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and ABCB1 polymorphisms in patients with breast cancer.

[Analysis of risk factors of drug-induced lung injury in patients receiving gemcitabine treatment].

Gemcitabine hydrochloride is a very safe medicine that even outpatients can be administered, and the bone marrow depression that is the dose limiting factor remains moderate and does not need special treatment, although it is confirmed in most cases. Meanwhile, caution is required because there is a possibility of drug-induced lung injury and death due to high frequency, compared with the appearance rate described in the packaging insertion. We investigated the clinical background of a patient in whom drug-induced lung injury appeared, and clarified the risk factor by administering gemcitabine hydrochloride.

Role of the community pharmacy in palliative care: a nationwide survey in Japan.

Purpose: The role of the community pharmacy in palliative care may become increasingly important in Japan. There has been however no investigation to date of community pharmacies in Japan that takes into account their role in enabling palliative care in the home. The aims of the present study were thus to evaluate (1) the availability of narcotics through community pharmacies and the experience of pharmacists in prescribing narcotics; (2) availability of patient counseling provided by pharmacists; (3) pharmacist-perceived difficulties in treating cancer patients with narcotics; and (4) useful strategies to make narcotics more easily available to patients.

Suppression of dopamine-related side effects of morphine by aripiprazole, a dopamine system stabilizer.

Dopamine receptor antagonists are commonly used to counter the adverse effects of opioids such as hallucinations, delusions and emesis. However, most of these agents themselves have side effects, including extrapyramidal symptoms. Here, we investigated the effect of the dopamine system stabilizer aripiprazole on morphine-induced dopamine-related actions in mice.

[Survey on patients' satisfaction with opioid rescue guidance by pharmacists].

To examine the influence of drug therapy guidance by pharmacists on the use of a rescue dose (RD) for opioid analgesics (opioids) and pain as well as drug therapy guidance in cancer pain treatment, we conducted a patient satisfaction survey. The subjects were 56 cancer patients undergoing opioid therapy in hospitals belonging to the Symptom Control Research Group (SCORE-G). The survey period was 2 months (from November 1 until December 31, 2006).

[Cost-effectiveness analysis of 5-HT3 receptor antagonist drugs in cancer chemotherapy].

Recently, ambulatory treatment centers (ATC) are markedly increasingboth in number and scale. It is therefore important to consolidate an efficient therapeutic system. A decrease in both treatment time and waitingtime leads to not only the improvement of the quality of life (QOL) for patients but also the efficient use of personnel and running costs for medical institutions by reducingthe bed occupation rate.

[Effects of fasudil on neuropathic pain-like state in mice].

The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of protein kinases within the spinal cord in the development of a neuropathic pain-like state induced by partial sciatic nerve ligation in mice. Thermal hyperalgesia induced by nerve ligation in mice was markedly suppressed by either repeated intrathecal (i.t.

Usefulness of the dopamine system-stabilizer aripiprazole for reducing morphine-induced emesis.

In the management of pain, nausea and vomiting are some of the most distressing adverse effects induced by opioids. In the present study, we investigated the effect of the dopamine system-stabilizer aripiprazole on morphine-induced emesis. Morphine induced retching and vomiting in a dose-dependent manner in ferrets.