Drug Discoveries & Therapeutics
Online ISSN : 1881-784X
Print ISSN : 1881-7831
ISSN-L : 1881-7831
Volume 8, Issue 6
Displaying 1-8 of 8 articles from this issue
Review
  • Rajendra Prasad, Pawan Gupta, Abhijeet Singh, Nitin Goel
    2014 Volume 8 Issue 6 Pages 232-237
    Published: December 31, 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: January 08, 2015
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Drug-induced pulmonary parenchymal disease (DIPPD) can be caused by a variety of agents, including antibiotics, chemotherapeutic drugs, antiarrhythmic agents and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). DIPPD includes acute bronchospasm, organizing pneumonia, alveolar hypoventilation and hypersensitivity reactions. History, physical examination and investigations are required mainly to exclude other causes of lung diseases. Investigations may include chest radiography, pulmonary function testing and bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Recognition of DIPPD is difficult because the clinical, radiologic, and histologic findings are nonspecific. Management includes drug withdrawal and in some cases corticosteroid therapy. In this article we reviewed the various drugs known to cause pulmonary parenchymal diseases, various patterns of parenchymal diseases observed and their management.
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Brief Reports
  • Binh Cao Quan Nguyen, Nozomi Taira, Shinkichi Tawata
    2014 Volume 8 Issue 6 Pages 238-244
    Published: December 31, 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: January 08, 2015
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The p21-activated kinase 1 (PAK1) is emerging as a promising therapeutic target, and the search for blockers of this oncogenic/aging kinase would be potentially useful for the treatment of various diseases/disorders in the future. Here, we report for the first time the anti-PAK1 activity of compounds derived from three distinct Okinawa plants. 5,6-Dehydrokawain (DK) and dihydro-5,6-dehydrokawain (DDK) from alpinia inhibited directly PAK1 more strongly than mimosine and mimosinol from leucaena. Cucurbitacin I isolated from bitter gourd/melon also exhibited a moderate anti-PAK1 activity. Hispidin, a metabolite of DK, strongly inhibited PAK1 with the IC50 = 5.7 μM. The IC50 of three hispidin derivatives (H1-3) for PAK1 inhibition ranges from 1.2 to 2.0 μM, while mimosine tetrapeptides [mimosine-Phe-Phe-Tyr (MFFY) and mimosine-Phe-Trp-Tyr (MFWY)] inhibit PAK1 at nanomolar level (IC50 of 0.13 and 0.60 μM, respectively). Thus, we hope these derivatives of hispidin and mimosine could be used as potential leading compounds for developing far more potent anti-PAK1 drugs which would be useful for clinical application in the future.
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  • Hiromitsu Noguchi, Masatoshi Jinnin, Keishi Miyata, Masataro Hiruma, H ...
    2014 Volume 8 Issue 6 Pages 245-248
    Published: December 31, 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: January 08, 2015
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    From March 2008 through February 2014, 80 patients aged 1-95 years (43 men and 37 women) were diagnosed with tinea faciei by a rural Japanese clinic. The affected sites were the cheek in 42 patients (52.5%), the auricles and area surrounding the auricles in 16 (20.0%), and the mandible in 12 (15.0%); 33 patients (41.2%) had concurrent ringworm in areas other than the face. Twenty-one patients (26.3%) had applied topical steroids to treat a rash. The pathogen responsible for tinea faciei was Trichophyton rubrum in 35 patients (43.7%), T. tonsurans in 19 (23.8%), T. mentagrophytes in 3 (3.8%), T. verrucosum in 2 (2.5%), T. violaceum in 2 (2.5%), Microsporum canis in 17 (21.3%), and M. gypseum in 2 (2.5%). Clinical symptoms were divided into three groups based on the severity of inflammation and the extent of lesions and scored in points. Anthropophilic dermatophytes resulted in a score of 1.82 points for the severity of inflammation and a score of 1.84 points for the extent of lesions while zoophilic dermatophytes resulted in a score of 2.14 points for the severity of inflammation and a score of 1.50 points for the extent of lesions. This indicates that anthropophilic fungi resulted in less inflammation and broader lesions, whereas zoophilic fungi resulted in more intense inflammation and smaller lesions. Patients who had applied topical steroids had a mean score of 1.90 points for the severity of inflammation and a mean score of 2.10 points for the extent of lesions. Patients who had not applied topical steroids had a mean score of 1.95 points for the severity of inflammation and a mean score of 1.59 points for the extent of lesions. The severity of inflammation did not differ significantly. However, lesions were significantly broader in patients who had applied topical steroids than in those who had not applied topical steroids (p < 0.04). The severity of tinea faciei is a useful index for the clinical diagnosis of tinea faciei.
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Original Articles
  • Ryuji Uchida, Hideaki Hanaki, Hidenori Matsui, Hiroshi Hamamoto, Kazuh ...
    2014 Volume 8 Issue 6 Pages 249-254
    Published: December 31, 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: January 08, 2015
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) activity of nosokomycins A to D discovered in the silkworm-MRSA infection screening was investigated. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of nosokomycins for authentic MRSA and S. aureus strains were calculated to be 0.06 to 2.0 μg/mL. They also showed potent inhibitory activity against 54 clinically isolated MRSA strains. Furthermore, nosokomycin A proved effective in the mouse-MRSA infection model.
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  • Shotaro Wani, Yutaka Hirose, Yoshiaki Ohkuma
    2014 Volume 8 Issue 6 Pages 255-261
    Published: December 31, 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: January 08, 2015
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Supplementary material
    The C-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) is composed of tandem repeats of the heptapeptide Tyr1-Ser2-Pro3-Thr4-Ser5-Pro6-Ser7. The CTD of Pol II undergoes reversible phosphorylation during the transcription cycle, mainly at Ser2, Ser5, and Ser7. Dynamic changes in the phosphorylation patterns of the CTD are responsible for stage-specific recruitment of various factors involved in RNA processing, histone modification, and transcription elongation/termination. Human RNA polymerase II-associated protein 2 (RPAP2) was originally identified as a Pol II-associated protein and was subsequently shown to function as a novel Ser5-specific CTD phosphatase. Although a recent study suggested that RPAP2 is required for the efficient expression of small nuclear RNA genes, the role of RPAP2 in controlling the expression of protein-coding genes is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the C-terminal region of RPAP2 interacts directly with the Pol II subunit Rpb6. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses of the MYC and GAPDH protein-coding genes revealed that RPAP2 occupied the coding and 3' regions. Notably, siRNA-mediated knockdown of RPAP2 caused defects in 3'-end formation of the MYC and GAPDH pre-mRNAs. These results suggest that RPAP2 controls Pol II activity through a direct interaction with Rpb6 and participates in pre-mRNA 3'-end formation.
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  • Siriporn Okonogi, Sakornrat Khongkhunthian, Sanchai Jaturasitha
    2014 Volume 8 Issue 6 Pages 262-267
    Published: December 31, 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: January 08, 2015
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The aim of this work was to investigate the suitable rice varieties for developing pharmaceutical buccal films. Two rice varieties with extreme difference in amylose content were used. Rice powders were chemically modified to yield the carboxymethyl rice prior to film preparation. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) were used to investigate the solid structure of rice powders. The results indicated that amylose content in the rice grains played the effects on the morphology and crystalline structure of the modified rice powders as well as the film properties. The modified rice powders of low amylose content showed halo pattern XRD whereas some crystalline peaks could be observed from the high amylose content modified rice powders. Adding of glycerin caused the films better properties of more transparency and getting rid of air bubbles. High amylose rice films showed more transparency and higher mucoadhesive property and was considered to be suitable for incorporating the drug. Adding of surfactant caused the increase in tensile strength and decrease in elongation of the rice films. The most suitable surfactant for diclofenac buccal rice film is Tween 20. This study demonstrates that rice grains are the promising natural source for pharmaceutical film forming agent. Suitable pharmaceutical buccal films could be developed from the rice with high amylose content.
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  • Reham Mokhtar Aman, Mahasen Mohamed Meshali, Galal Mahmoud Abdelghani
    2014 Volume 8 Issue 6 Pages 268-275
    Published: December 31, 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: January 08, 2015
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A stable controlled release resinate-complex for the highly bitter taste famotidine (FAM) was developed to allow once-daily administration and improve patient compliance especially in pediatric and geriatric medicine. The drug-resinate complexes were prepared in different drug to resin (Amberlite IRP-69) ratios by weight (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5 and 1:6). The optimized drug-resinate complex resulted from 1:6 drug to resin ratio experienced maximum drug loading and sustained release property. Hence, it was subjected to physicochemical characterizations by differential scanning colorimetry (DSC), x-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The optimized complex was further dispensed in the prepared syrup and the suspension was subjected to accelerated stability study, as mentioned in the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. Furthermore, the gustatory properties of the complex were evaluated on humans. The syrup complied successfully with ICH guidelines and sufficiently alleviated the bitterness of famotidine.
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Case Report
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