The author believes that a supply of new preparations and studies on the disposition of drugs in patients with various physiological and pathological conditions are required to develop new drug therapy. Therefore these are considered to be the responsibility of pharmacists in so-called special function hospitals, such as university hospitals and national center hospitals. Works related to clinical drug therapy carried out at the Department of Pharmacy, Kumamoto University Hospital, are described. The topics related to drug delivery include injections containing anticancer drugs for intra-arterial administration, lidocaine gels for dermal anesthesia, glucagon solution for nasal administration and midazolam solution for sublingual administration. The topics related to the disposition of drugs include clinical pharmacokinetic studies, medical uses of adsorbents and evaluations of sustained release formulations.

The inclusion behavior of benzoic acid (BA) to linear amylose by the sealed-heating method was investigated. By using the powder X-ray diffraction method, the inclusion compound formation between linear amylose and BA was studied as a function of heating temperature. The 6₁-helix complex (Vh type) was formed by the sealed-heating of the mixture at 60 and 70°C for 3 days, and the 7₁-helix complex formation was observed by the sealed-heating of the mixture above 80°C. From a comparison of the inclusion behavior of BA, benzamide, p-aminobenzoic acid, salicylamide, and o-toluic acid, it was found that there are two types of the inclusion process of 7₁-helix complexation by sealed-heating. One is when helical structure changes from 6₁-helix (Va type) to 7₁-helix by way of the 6₁-helix complex (Vh type); the other is a direct change from 6₁-helix (Va type) to 7₁-helix. These results indicated that guest size strongly affected the 6₁-helix complex (Vh type).

Pressure swing granulation is a novel fluidized bed granulation method for fine cohesive powders requiring no binders or other additives. In this study we applied the pressure swing granulation for the first time to the granulation of pharmaceutical powders. The preparation of theophylline (TP) granules by the pressure swing granulation method was attempted, and the effects of granulation conditions on the granule properties were investigated. The utility of the TP granules as dry powder inhaler (DPI) was studied. It was feasible to granulate the TP particles using no binders by the pressure swing method. The granulation process varied, depending on granulation conditions, causing a change in the hardness of granules. The amount of TP remaining in a capsule at the inhalation study of the TP granules was greatly decreased compared with the TP powder. In the granule with lower hardness, the deposition percent of TP to respirable fraction increased. These results show that it is feasible to produce the DPI granules by the pressure swing granulation method, and the utility of the DPI can be raised by using the granule of low hardness.