Efficacy and Safety of Apremilast for the Treatment of Japanese Patients with Palmoplantar Pustulosis: Results from a Phase 2, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study.

Background: Palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) is a pruritic, painful, recurrent, and chronic dermatitis with limited therapeutic options.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of apremilast for the treatment of Japanese patients with PPP and inadequate response to topical treatment.

Methods: This phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study enrolled patients with Palmoplantar Pustulosis Area and Severity Index (PPPASI) total score ≥ 12 and moderate or severe pustules/vesicles on the palm or sole (PPPASI pustule/vesicle severity score ≥ 2) at screening and baseline with an inadequate response to topical treatment.

Point Prevalence Surveys of Antimicrobial Prescribing in a Non-Acute Care Hospital in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.

Background: The global point prevalence survey (Global-PPS) is the standard for the surveillance of prescribed antimicrobials among inpatients and provides data for the development of hospital antimicrobial stewardship programs.

Aim: To evaluate the prevalence and quality of antimicrobial prescriptions using the universally standardized Global-PPS protocol in a non-acute care hospital in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.

Methods: Antimicrobial prescriptions for inpatients, staying at the hospital overnight, were surveyed on three separate week days in November 2018, January 2019, and May 2019.

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma: Comparison of the therapeutic efficacies between miriplatin and epirubicin.

Aim: The therapeutic efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) using miriplatin was evaluated in comparison with that using epirubicin in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Two hundred and eight-nine HCC patients receiving TACE were retrospectively enrolled; none of the patients gave a previous TACE history. The short-term therapeutic efficacy was evaluated by computed tomography (CT) performed 1 month later.

Modulation of intestinal P-glycoprotein function by polyethylene glycols and their derivatives by in vitro transport and in situ absorption studies.

We examined the effect of polyethylene glycols (PEGs) with different molecular weights and their derivatives on the intestinal absorption of rhodamine123, a P-glycoprotein (P-gp) substrate, across the isolated rat intestinal membranes by an in vitro diffusion chamber system. The serosal to mucosal (secretory) transport of rhodamine123 was greater than its mucosal to serosal (absorptive) transport, indicating that the net movement of rhodamine123 across the intestinal membranes was preferentially secretory direction. The secretory transport of rhodamine123 was inhibited by the addition of PEGs with average molecular weights of 400, 2000 and 20,000, irrespective of its molecular weight.