Diffusion rate constants of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs through an artificial lipid membrane were measured by using a Sartorius absorption simulator, and also lipid-water partition coefficients of these drugs were determined spectrophotometrically. The permeabilities of naproxen, indomethacin, flufenamic acid and aminopyrine except benzydamine hydrochloride through an artificial intestinal membrane were higher than those through an artificial gastric membrane. The permeabilities through an intestinal membrane of these drugs decreased in the order of flufenamic acid> naproxen> indomethacin> aminopyine> benzydamine hydrochloride. These results suggest that a correlation between diffusion rate constant and partition coefficient is not necessarily parallel in drugs which do not have similar chemical structures.

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Ferromagnetic microcapsules (FM-mc.) were prepared with ethylcellulose according to the principles of coacervation with certain modification. The zinc ferrite (ZnO·Fe₂O₃) particles were attached to surface of microcapsules. Sustained-release of FM-mc. was demonstrated by release test and it can be induced by an external magnetic field in vitro and in vivo experiments.

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Compatibility tests of Urokinase (UK) and Calcicol (CC), Persantin (PS), K.C.L., Nicholin (NC), Penbritin (ABPC), Celtol (CEC) and Keflin (KF) in 3 kinds of infusion were made in terms of measurement of pH, observation of visible changes and residual potency of UK by fibrin-plate methods after mixture. The results were as follows: 1) Mixture of UK and K. C. L. or UK in infusions showed a remarkable decrease of the potency of UK respectively, which indicated that they are incompatible. 2) Mixture of UK and CC, PS, NC, ABPC and CEC did not show visible changes, and decrease of potency of UK was slow as compared with that in compatibility tests of those direct injections.

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The acid-resistance of enteric coated films and dissolution patterns of Futraful enteric coated granules and tablet were monitored with U. S. P. dissolution tester in pH shift test solution, in consideration of pH values of gastrointestinal tract, that is pH of the medium was designed to change gradually 2.3 to 3.7 in the first 150 min, rapidly from 3.7 to 6.2 in the following 30 min, and gradually up to 6.9 after 300 min. For granules, coated films showed satisfactory acidresistance and dissolution, because the rate of dissolution measured 210 min after the onset of the test was less than 10%. Furthermore, the rate of dissolution in the following 50 min was increased rapidly when pH of dissolution medium exceeded 6.5, while the time required to achieve 100% dissolution rate was 270 min after the onset of the test. For tablet, coated films also showed satisfactory acid resistance and dissolution, because the rate of disssolution measured 240 min after the onset of the test was 0%, and the rate of dissolution in the following 40 min was increased rapidly when pH of dissolution medium exceeded 6.7. The times for the 100% dissolution rate was 285 min.

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The dissolution and bioavailability of indomethacin in the commercially available capsules were studied, and the correlation between in vitro and in vivo findings was investigated. Dissolution profiles of two brands of indomethacin capsules (preparations A and B) and sustained-release capules (preparations C and D) were recorded according to JP X and USP XX methods. A significant difference in the amount and the rate of dissolution was observed between C and D, but not between A and B. Then, 5 healthy adult subjects received a single dose of 25 mg indomethacin (A, C and D) orally, and the drug level in the serum was determined with highperformance liquid chromatography. The dissolution behavior of the preparations was related to some bioavailability parameters (peak level, time to peak level, and AUC). Particularly, in preparations C and D, the amount of indomethacin dissolved in 2hr was well correlated with the AUC from 0 to 8hr and the peak level.

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The insolubilized antibodyc-enzyme immunoassay technique (MARKIT method) was studied in terms of its clinical application in determination of carbamazepine (CBZ) and valproic acid (VPA) in serum. Each coefficient of variation for the three levels of CBZ or VPA was less than 8% within-run and between-run. The serum CBZ concentration determined by the MARKIT method was compared with that determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or the homogeneous enzyme immunoassay technique (Emit method). There was good agreement between the MARKIT method and HPLC results, and the MAKRIT method and the Emit method results, where the correlation coefficient was 0.999 and 0.998. The metabolite of CBZ, carbamazepine-10, 11-epoxide, did not interfere with the MAKRIT method under therapeutic conditions. The serum VPA concentration determined by the MARKIT method was compared with that determined by gas liquid chromatography (GLC) or the Emit method. There was good agreement between the MARKIT method and GLC results, and the MARKIT method and the Emit method results, where the correlation coefficient was 0.996 and 0.997.
Consequently the MARKIT method will be usefulfor the serum level monitoring to patients undergoing CBZ and VPA therapy.

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A study on the stability of three β-lactam antibiotics (ampicillin, sulbenicillin, and cephalotin at an initial concentration of 4 mg per ml) in four kinds of IVH solution and 5 % dextrose in water was carried out to determine the apparent first-order degradation constants at room temperature. In contrast to the stability of cephalotin, ampicillin and sulbenicillin were inactivated with the degradation constant of 0.006 to 0.028 h^-1 and 0.007 to 0.015h^-1, respectively. In addition, pharmacokinetic studies were made on two healthy subjects following 8-hour continuous infusion of ampicillin in 5 % dextrose in water (2 g per 500ml), which had the largest degradation constant. The observed values were lower than those predicted on the basis of individual kinetic parameters, indicating that the decrease of infusion rate due to ampicillin inactivation have caused the fall in the serum drug level.

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This investigation was designed for the control of nosocomial infection. This paper deals with the isolation and characterization of bacteria collected from various places of our hospital and also the present state of the usage of chemotherapeutic agents and disinfectants in the same hospital. 100 samples were collected from various places and 10 samples from the hands of 10 medical staffs for the bacterial examination. Contamination with Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and enteric bacteria such as Enterobacter and Citrobacter was significantly observed in the hospital. Although the direct relation between the quantity of the antibacterial agents used and the specialized bacteria isolated was not proved, it was noted that cephem antibiotics as chemotherapeutic agents and chlorhexidine gluconate as disinfectant have been frequently used in the preceding six months.

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We used a high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) for the quality tests of Ubidecarenoe (CoQ₁₀) products. Sample materials used were: 1 tablet, 2 sugar coated tabblets, 3 hard capsules, 2 soft capsules, 3 packs of granules and 1 pack of fine granules. The quality tests were conductedt and erhe following conditions: model, LC-3A (shimadzu); column, Zorbax ODS (4.6mm×25cm); column temperature, 50°C; mobile phase, 99.5% ethanol; flow rate, 0.8ml/ min; detector, SPD-2A (Shimadzu); wavelength, 275nm; data processor, Chromatopac C-R1A (Shimadzu).CoQ₁₀ extracted by n-hexane was directly injected into the HPLC column. The amount of CoQ₁₀ was determined from a peak area on the chromatogram. CoQ₁₀ products were exposed to light under 2000 lux for 29 days, while the granules and the fine granules were packed with Pile Packer Film and the other samples in commercial packages ; their stability to light was measured with HPLC.
The results were as follows: 1) Some sample products contained impurities, the structures of which have not been elucidated as yet. 2) CoQ₁₀ in soft capsules were most unstable to light. 3) As a result of exposure to light, the amount of CoQ₁₀ in granule and fine granule products decreased considerably, whereas the amount of CoQ₁₀ in other samples remained almost unchanged.

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Effect of various bases on rabbit rectal absorption and in vitro release from suppositories containing pentazocine were investigated. Analgesic effect of pentazocine suppository on cancerous pain was also examined. Rectal suppositories were made with glycerogelatin (Gly), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and oleaginous (Witep) bases. The rate of release of pentazocine from a suppository was higher in the order of PEG, Gly and Witep bases. There was no significant difference between PEG base and Witep base in absorption of pentazocine from rabbit rectum, while Gly base gave the lowest absorption. Among 15 patients which received the administration of pentazocine suppository, the agent proved extremely useful, useful and useless in 2, 11 and 2 cases, respectively. Side effect was not observed.

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Release of indomethacin from 6 kinds of commercially available macrogol suppositories (products A to F) was studied. The release profile of indomethacin from products A to E was similar. The amount released from each product during 150 min was more than 95%. However, the release of product F was considerably slow as compared with products A to E, and the release rate was 81% in 150 min. Indomethacin suppositories, prepared in different proportion of macrogols, were compared with products A to F. When the base was prepared with two macrogols, the release rate of indomethacin decreased with an increase of the content of macrogol 4000 or 6000. For the base composed of macrogol 6000 alone, indomethacin was released slowly. For macrogol suppositories studied, linear relations were found between the amount released and the square root of time. The values of lag time and release rate were obtained from each linear equation. These values were important to evaluate the release profile of drug from suppositories.

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A work sampling method was applied to provide a description of the tasks performed by staff members in the hospital pharmacy drug information center of the University of Tokyo. A total of 1090 observations were recorded during 13 days in 3-week period on each of the three pharmacists and a part-timer. Productive time was 78% of the total time. The collection and distribution of drug information occupied 60% and 36% of productive time, respectively.

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The number of the used medicines and their prescription frequency were investigated using prescriptions in 22 months from April 1978 to January 1980 to understand the real situation of the medicines used in inpatients in each department of our hospital.
The results were as follows: 1) Even in the department using largest number of drugs, the number hardly accounted for 20% of all the items in stock. 2) There was a difference in the prescribed medicines between internal medicine and surgery. Generally, medicines for dispensation were used morefrequently in the former, whereas those for injection were used more frequently in the latter. 3) In each department, medicines peculiar to their department were frequently used. 4) From the regression lines, it was found that the shorter the time of the used.medicines was, the more similar their prescription frequency was.

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