Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin
The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan, established in 1880, is one of Japan’s oldest and most distinguished academic societies. The Society currently has around 15,000 members. It publishes three monthly scientific journals. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin (Chem. Pharm. Bull.) began publication in 1953 as Pharmaceutical Bulletin. It covers chemistry fields in the pharmaceutical and health sciences. Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin (Biol. Pharm. Bull.) began publication in 1978 as the Journal of Pharmacobio-Dynamics, which then merged the Journal of Health Science, another former Society’s journal, in 2012. It covers various biological topics in the pharmaceutical and health sciences. Yakugaku Zasshi (Japanese for “Pharmaceutical Science Journal”) has the longest history, with publication beginning in 1881. Yakugaku Zasshi is published mostly in Japanese, except for some articles related to clinical pharmacy and pharmaceutical education, which are published in English. The main aim of the Society’s journals is to advance the pharmaceutical sciences with research reports, scientific communication, and high-quality discussion. The average review time for articles submitted to the journals is around one month for first decision. The complete texts of all of the Society’s journals can be freely accessed through J-STAGE. The Society’s editorial committee hopes that the content of its journals will be useful to your research, and also invites you to submit your own work to the journals.

Chairman of Committee
Hidehiko Nakagawa
Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University
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11,715 registered articles
(updated on July 10, 2025)
Online ISSN : 1347-5215
Print ISSN : 0918-6158
ISSN-L : 0918-6158
1.7
2024 Journal Impact Factor (JIF)
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Featured article
Volume 48 (2025) Issue 5 Pages 537-544
Efficacy of De-Escalation to Cefmetazole in Patients with Bacteremic Urinary Tract Infections Caused by Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli Read more
Editor's pick

The pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) parameter of the exposure time that the unbound drug concentration remains above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for a bacterium (fT ≥ MIC) is used in establishing optimal dosing regimens. The authors revealed that the optimal fT ≥ MIC for the clinical efficacy of de-escalation to cefmetazole (CMZ) for patients with extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-E) bacteremic urinary tract infection (UTI) was clarified as fT ≥ MIC ≥ 57%. These results may lead to optimal dosing regimens when using CMZ for patients with bacteremic UTI caused by ESBL-E.

Volume 48 (2025) Issue 5 Pages 545-554
Role of Histamine H1 and H3 Receptors in Emotion Regulation in Intermittent Sleep-Deprived Mice Read more
Editor's pick

Abnormal behaviors such as low anxiety, impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattention-like traits have been observed in mice with disrupted sleep patterns, mirroring symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the central histamine system plays a role in various physiological and neurological functions, including the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle, anxiety-related behaviors (ranging from high to low anxiety), and ADHD. In this study, the authors revealed that the low-anxiety behavior and impulsive-like ADHD symptoms induced by intermittent sleep deprivation may result from the overstimulation of histamine H1 and H3 receptors by elevated histamine together with increased hypothalamic HDC expression.  These findings suggest that sufficient sleep may contribute to ameliorating ADHD symptoms.

Volume 48 (2025) Issue 5 Pages 606-612
Impact of Bridged Nucleic Acid Positions within Blocking Oligonucleotides on DNA Amplification Inhibition in Wild-Type Blocking PCR Read more
Editor's pick

[Highlighted Paper selected by Editor-in-Chief] 
Detecting low-frequency genetic mutations is crucial in genetic testing, particularly for cancer diagnostics. Wild-type blocking PCR (WTB-PCR) utilizes a blocking oligonucleotide fully complementary to wild-type DNA to suppress its amplification, thereby enabling selective detection of mutant alleles. Incorporating bridged nucleic acids (BNAs) into blocking oligonucleotides can enhance binding affinity, consequently improving inhibitory efficiency. However, the optimal placement of BNAs within blocking oligonucleotides remains uncertain. This study systematically evaluated the effects of BNA positioning and identified significant variations in inhibition efficacy dependent on position, offering essential insights for optimizing WTB-PCR design.

Volume 48 (2025) Issue 5 Pages 672-681
Protective Effects of Pleurotus Species on UVB-Induced Skin Disorders at Clinically Relevant Plasma Concentrations of the Antioxidant Ergothioneine in Hairless Mice Read more
Editor's pick

Ergothioneine (ERGO), an amino acid with potent antioxidant activity, is abundantly found in certain mushroom species. The authors demonstrated that dietary ERGO-rich mushrooms significantly alleviated the epidermal thickening, reduction in skin moisture content, and increase in TEWL induced by UVB in mice, at clinically relevant plasma ERGO levels. These protective effects were accompanied by reductions in oxidative stress markers and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, ERGO-rich mushroom intake increased epidermal ERGO levels to approx. 100 times the concentration required to inhibit UVB-induced intracellular ROS in keratinocytes. These findings suggest that ERGO-rich mushrooms are promising beneficial foods for the prevention and/or treatment of photoaging.

Volume 48 (2025) Issue 5 Pages 706-712
Evaluating Signal Peptide Efficiency for Extracellular Protein Secretion for mRNA Vaccine Design Read more
Editor's pick

This study systematically compares natural and synthetic signal peptides for boosting extracellular NanoLuc luciferase secretion in HEK293, C2C12, and HepG2 cells. Signal peptides from cystatin S, lactotransferrin, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), and artificial sequences were tested, with cystatin S driving the highest luciferase secretion in all cell types. Notably, the cystatin S peptide outperformed the commonly used tPA signal peptide. These findings suggest that optimizing signal peptides—such as using cystatin S—could increase antigen expression for mRNA vaccines, potentially enabling robust immune responses at lower mRNA doses.

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Announcements from publisher
  • 2024 Announcement of Academic Journals’ Awards Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin (BPB)https://bpb.pharm.or.jp/award/bpb_award.pdf
  • Biol. Pharm. Bull. Vol. 48 No. 3
    Current Topics: Recent Advances in Antibacterial Resistance by Japanese Pharmaceutical Scientists
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