The study of injectable solutions was focused on hemolytic effects of parenteral solutions. The experiment was made after the method of Akaishi et al., the Tohoku University School of Medicine. 0.1ml of whole human blood containing anticoagulant was added to 1ml of parenteral solution warmed up to 37° for about 2 minutes, and the solution was centrifugalized for 5 mimutes at the speed of 2, 000 rpm. The degree of hemolytic effect was examined macroscopically. About 50% of 161 kinds of examined injectable solutions proved to be hemolytically positive, consisting of+12.4%, ++19.3%, +++8.7%, ++++9.9%; remaining solutions, composing 49.7%, were negative. The hemolytic effect was noted more often in intramuscular preparations than in intravenous; most of the analgesicantipyretics and antihistamines showed positive reactions. This study also indicated that the hemolytic effect varies with types of solvents, concentration and mixing of solutions.

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Glass particles in parenteral solutions, which may arise in the ampoule-cutting process, were counted. 5-ml, ampoules of various parenteral solutions were cut andthe solutions were centrifugalized for 30 minutes at a speed of 3, 000 rpm at room temperature. The bottom layers of centrifugalized solutions were rinsed 3 times with distilled water; then examined by optical and electron microscopes. The number of glass particles over 5μ in size in the solutions, counted with Luzex 450 particle analyzer, was greatly varied with methods: 1, 353 with all round cutting, with ampoule-cutter, 2, 439 with half round cutting, 586 with all round cutting followed by wiping with ethanol cotton swab, 531 with cutting with glass cutter.
The dropping time of the glass particles through parenteral solutions was also measured. Further, the possibility of microorganisms carried into parenteral solutions by the glass particles was examined by means of BTB culture and blood agar. No microorganisms were found. The results of the above study suggest that contamination with microorganisms can be avoided by using special ampoule-cutting devices.

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Lipase activity was measured of various digestive enzyme preparations in the gastric and intestinal juice in terms of the pH values. As compared with the lipase activity of pancreatin (J. P. VIII) as control, the tested preparations might showed a similar activity at pH 3-8 in the gastric juice, and a high activity at pH 7-8 in the intestinal juice. In a comparative study of the lipase activity of the preparations in different lot numbers, it can be said that the activity of newer preparations was not always higher (though only 2 kinds of tablets were compared with pancreatin). Before drawing conclusion on the matter, the storage condition of the preparations must be taken into consideration.

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Japanese Pharmacopoeia (J. P.) requires that the pyrogen test is essential for parenteral solutions. But, in hospital pharmacy, it is practically impossible to perform the official test because of the difficult control of test animals, limited laboratory facilities and timeconsuming procedures. In the study for a simplified checking, a method better than the J. P. pyrogen test was found. The method requires Limulus Lysate, a blood component of Limulus, which is presently applied for the quantitative analysis of endotoxin. The result of this study indicates the possibility of checking pyrogens in parenteral solutions prepared at a hospital pharmacy.

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The thermal analysis was applied to the quality control of tablets at hospital pharmacy. By using of twin type calorimeter with Dewar's vessels, disintegration and dissolution processes of 16 kinds of commercial sugar-coated tablets (11kinds of single ingredient tablets and 5 of compound tablets) were examined in the acidic test solution. The results were compared with dissolution curves obtained by the UV method and disintegration time according to J. P. VIII. Thermogram showed various disintegration and dissolution patterns, and revealed intra-and interlot variations in the disintegration of tablets and aging effect on the disintegration of tablets. This method also made apparent the difference among disintegration processes which was not detected with dissolution curves and the gap between the disintegration times which could not observed by the disintegration test of J. P. VIII.

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Incompatibility between 8 kinds of antibiotics and 9 frequently used drugs in syrups was studied on the basis of dispersion of ingredients. 80 combinations of mixtures of antibiotics and other agents were examined. Water was added to make 30 ml of mixture in a test tube. Precipitation and dispersion of ingredients were observed, turning the test tube upside down at a regular interval at the temperature of 8° and 30°. 9 of the 80 combinations showed complete final dispersion after more than 20-time inversion of the test tube.

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The decomposition of methyl methionine sulfonium chloride (MMSC) wasstudied inaqueous solution at pH 2-9 at the temperature of 40°, 50° and 60°. The decomposition reactions were found to follow pseudo-first-order kinetics. It became faster in parallel with the rise in pH values. The stability of MMSC in aqueous solution was estimated by the Arrhenius equation. The 90% residual rate of MMSC in aqueous solution at 25° was 15.6 days at pH 2 and 5.1 days at pH 9.

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In order to compare the effect of alclofenac with that of diclofenac sodium, a doubleblind study was performed with 57 out-patients with chronic low back pain. Alclofenac was proved to be more effective in the treatment of advanced functional low back pain and severe degenerative low back pain as well. It is considered that alclofenac is one of the useful medicines in the treatment of out-patients with any type of low back pain in view of its marked therapeutic effects and rare side effects.

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the controlled blood sugar level and incidence of adverse reactions in the controlled diabetic out-patients who had been treated with oral hypoglycemic agents. Change in blood sugar level and body weight of each of the 427 patients were recorded before and after the start of the therapy, and the variety and incidence of adverse reactions were analyzed. Of the 427 cases, 90% showed good or fair control indicating satisfactory blood sugar level. Weight reduction appeared to be mild in the group of patients receiving sulfonylurea, as compared with the group on biguanide. It was felt that more effective dietary care should be taken for this group. Low blood sugar level was noted in 10.4% of the sulfonylurea group. The results of this study indicate that in order to maintain an appropriate blood sugar control by sulfonylurea, occurrence of some mild cases of low blood sugar level are unavoidable.

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Local therapy of postoperative cancers with bleomycin was studied. Bleomycin was mixed in various bases, and inserted into the local site with a hemostatic gelatin sponge. In the in vitro and in vivo tests, bleomycin in aluminum soap solution (compound of aluminum monostearate and sesame oil) as a base proved most excellent from the viewpointof local retention, tissue permeability and local hemostatic effect. The preparation produced no undesirable effects on the normal tissue. The therapeutic effect was sustained long. It is, therefore, considered that aluminum soap solution is the base of first choice in the local bleomycin therapy.

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The purpose of this survey is to find out the present status of hospital pharmacists in the clinical pharmacy activities. Out of 814 hospital pharmacies in Japan having more than 4 pharmacists respectively, 356 responded to our questionnaire consisting of 13 pages. Roles taken by hospital pharmacists in new activities at the clinical pharmacy, in addition to the conventional services of hospital pharmacy such as compounding, manufacturing, dispensing, purchasing and inventory control, are analyzed as follows: quality control 43.8%, unit-dose packaging 61.0%, patients' profile 5.8%, I. V. admixture 3.0%, drug information facility 79.0%, active drug information service to physicians and nurses 63.0%, participation in hospital wards activity 2.5%, participation in emergency care service 10.4%, new drug evaluation 67.4%, survey of adverse drug reaction 13.8%. Questions were also given out to hospital pharmacists on their desire for continuous self-education, participation in research of investigational drugs and entering into a teaching profession. This survey revealed a strong desire of hospital pharmacists to improve their present status and anticipation of their important roles.

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The purpose of this study is to find out what kind of information the pharmacists need most on newly marketed drugs. A questionnaire was sent to hospital pharmacies asking on 78 items (eg, dosage forms and their physicochemical properties, pharmacology, indications, dosage, adverse reactions, storage), as well as on the frequency of need and difficulty in obtaining the information. A total of 114 hospital and clinic pharmacies ans-wered the questions. Major findings:(1) The demand for pharmacological and therapeutic information was strong among pharmacists since the information of such kind is often requested by physicians.(2) The request for information on quality control and storage was also urgent among pharmacists.(3) Pharmacists prefer summarized data to elaborate, detailed report.(4) They complain of difficulty in obtaining information on bioavailability, drug interaction, stability and incompatibility.

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