Conference scene : Golden Helix Pharmacogenomics Days : educational activities on pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine

The Golden Helix Pharmacogenomics Days are high-profile international educational scientific meetings discussing pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. Here, we provide an overview of the scientific lectures and the topics discussed during the 4th Golden Helix Pharmacogenomics Day, held in Cagliari, Italy, on 7 October 2011, and the 5th Golden Helix Pharmacogenomics Day, that was held in Msida, Malta, on 3 December 2011. The scientific programs of both events included scientific and company lectures on pharmacogenomics, bioinformatics and personalized medicine by local and international speakers from Europe and the USA.peer-reviewe

The Translational Medicine Ontology and Knowledge Base: driving personalized medicine by bridging the gap between bench and bedside

Background: Translational medicine requires the integration of knowledge using heterogeneous data from health care to the life sciences. Here, we describe a collaborative effort to produce a prototype Translational Medicine Knowledge Base (TMKB) capable of answering questions relating to clinical practice and pharmaceutical drug discovery. Results: We developed the Translational Medicine Ontology (TMO) as a unifying ontology to integrate chemical, genomic and proteomic data with disease, treatment, and electronic health records. We demonstrate the use of Semantic Web technologies in the integration of patient and biomedical data, and reveal how such a knowledge base can aid physicians in providing tailored patient care and facilitate the recruitment of patients into active clinical trials. Thus, patients, physicians and researchers may explore the knowledge base to better understand therapeutic options, efficacy, and mechanisms of action. Conclusions: This work takes an important step in using Semantic Web technologies to facilitate integration of relevant, distributed, external sources and progress towards a computational platform to support personalized medicine. Availability: TMO can be downloaded from http://code.google.com/p/translationalmedicineontology and TMKB can be accessed at http://tm.semanticscience.org/sparql

Application of pharmacogenomics and bioinformatics to exemplify the utility of human <i>ex vivo</i> organoculture models in the field of precision medicine

Here we describe a collaboration between industry, the National Health Service (NHS) and academia that sought to demonstrate how early understanding of both pharmacology and genomics can improve strategies for the development of precision medicines. Diseased tissue ethically acquired from patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), was used to investigate inter-patient variability in drug efficacy using ex vivo organocultures of fresh lung tissue as the test system. The reduction in inflammatory cytokines in the presence of various test drugs was used as the measure of drug efficacy and the individual patient responses were then matched against genotype and microRNA profiles in an attempt to identify unique predictors of drug responsiveness. Our findings suggest that genetic variation in CYP2E1 and SMAD3 genes may partly explain the observed variation in drug response

Connected healthcare: Improving patient care using digital health technologies

Now more than ever, traditional healthcare models are being overhauled with digital technologies of Healthcare 4.0 being increasingly adopted. Worldwide, digital devices are improving every stage of the patient care pathway. For one, sensors are being used to monitor patient metrics 24/7, permitting swift diagnosis and interventions. At the treatment stage, 3D printers are currently being investigated for the concept of personalised medicine by allowing patients access to on-demand, customisable therapeutics. Robots are also being explored for treatment, by empowering precision surgery or targeted drug delivery. Within medical logistics, drones are being leveraged to deliver critical treatments to remote areas, collect samples, and even provide emergency aid. To enable seamless integration within healthcare, the Internet of Things technology is being exploited to form closed-loop systems that remotely communicate with one another. This review outlines the most promising healthcare technologies and devices, their strengths, drawbacks, and scopes for clinical adoption

Studies on NF-κB Docking with Common Bioactive Compounds in Punica granatum peel and Vitis vinifera Seeds

Plant-based products have long been utilized as traditional remedies throughout the world. Higher plants serve as a "reservoir" of phytochemicals known as bioactive compounds, which are used as valuable medicines to fight a variety of diseases across the world. The materials that are considered waste in plants possess bioactive components with potential medicinal properties due to the presence of important secondary metabolites known as phytochemicals. In this study, the interaction of phytochemicals that are present in both Punica granatum peel and Viti vinifera seeds was analyzed on protein NF-κB. Compounds 2,3- dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one (DDMP), α-tocopherol-β-D-mannoside, gamma-sitosterol, glycerine, guanidine, pyrogallol, palmitic acid, and ethyl palmitate were the eight phytoconstituents which are present in both the selected plant materials and further investigated for in-silico analysis. The 3D protein structure of NF-κB was retrieved from the protein data bank. The structures of bioactive compounds were obtained from Chemspider and drawn using Chemsketch software. This study clearly shows that α-tocopherol-β.-D-mannoside interacts with target protein NF-κB with an energy level of -10.88 kcal/mol (2 hydrogen bonds). The interaction of α-tocopherol-β-D-mannoside with NF-κB may play a major role in anti-oxidant and anti-cancer potential and provide chemopreventive property for both P. granatum peel and V. vinifera seeds

Disrupting 3D printing of medicines with machine learning.

3D printing (3DP) is a progressive technology capable of transforming pharmaceutical development. However, despite its promising advantages, its transition into clinical settings remains slow. To make the vital leap to mainstream clinical practice and improve patient care, 3DP must harness modern technologies. Machine learning (ML), an influential branch of artificial intelligence, may be a key partner for 3DP. Together, 3DP and ML can utilise intelligence based on human learning to accelerate drug product development, ensure stringent quality control (QC), and inspire innovative dosage-form design. With ML's capabilities, streamlined 3DP drug delivery could mark the next era of personalised medicine. This review details how ML can be applied to elevate the 3DP of pharmaceuticals and importantly, how it can expedite 3DP's integration into mainstream healthcare

Precision medicine in oncology: a complicated idea needs a simple solution

Cancer therapy has historically been determined by a tumor’s tissue of origin. Now, thanks to advances in genomics technology, scientists are looking further into one’s cancer; into the very genome that drives the tumor growth. The growth of genomics in cancer research has been astronomical. In a little over ten years since the completion of the Human Genome Project, genomic profiling technologies have developed into an incredibly powerful, relatively cheap, and immensely underutilized tool for oncologists. In the midst of the advances in cancer profiling, there has been reluctance from oncologists to incorporate genomic profiling into their treatment decisions. Saddled by outdated clinical trial designs, and cancer drug regulation programs, the true measure of the clinical utility of genomic profiling has yet to be seen. Cancer scientists will continue to profile cancers at a pace well beyond the limits of the field of oncology. Without coordinated efforts to update the oncology healthcare system, compendia of data will continue to be generated with limited ability to translate the information into personalized medicines. There are significant barriers to overcome before genomic data can universally be incorporated into the daily practice of cancer medicine. In the meantime, resources are available for physicians to help begin the process of integrating a more personalized approach to cancer therapy. Third-party bioinformatics companies are in the best position to be the agents of this change. As cancer research continues to adopt a genomic approach, it is paramount that, for the sake of millions of cancer patients, the healthcare system adapts in a way to best utilize this new information

Pharmacogenomic Precision Medicine: Best Practice Toolkit for Improving Patient Screening for Adult Metastatic Cancer Patients

Precision medicine utilizes pharmacogenomic testing as a therapeutic approach. Genomic testing can assess the impact of an individual\u27s genome on their reaction to specific medications. The main objective is to find variants that may affect an individual\u27s response to a given medication. The implementation of pharmacogenomics in oncology facilitates informed decision-making by clinicians in drug selection and dosage determination

An Indian effort towards affordable drugs: "generic to designer drugs"

This review discusses the progress of India from being one of the largest producers of generics to its coming of age and initiating novel drug development programs such as the Open Source Drug Discovery for tuberculosis. A few groups have also begun to emerge which focus their research on rational or structure based drug design. We discuss here some of the ongoing efforts in drug discovery in India primarily in national research institutions and academia

Experiência Profissionalizante na vertente de Farmácia Comunitária, Hospitalar e Investigação

The present thesis was elaborated aiming to obtain the master’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences. In here, it is described all the scientific investigation work done to reach the proposed objective, as well as all tasks and learnings that I have taken along my community and hospital pharmacy internships. Chapter 1 is related with my scientific investigation work entitled “Bioanalytical method validation of Venlafaxine and Desvenlafaxine in mouse plasma, brain and liver using a MEPS/HPLC assay: a path to study these drugs’ intranasal administration”. Since major depressive disorder is one of the most prevalent psychiatric diseases, its therapeutic successful rate must be increased. Nowadays, the majority of all antidepressants used are given orally, being this route a source of therapeutic problems, mainly in what concerns with the time and dosage required to accomplish the desired effects. So, in order to improve it, intranasal administration route has been investigated, once parts of the nasal cavity directly contacts with brain tissue. Over time, and after some research, it was also understood that Venlafaxine is one of the most successful antidepressants until now, having the advantage of being metabolized to an active metabolite called Desvenlafaxine. So, in order to perform some future studies using intranasally administration of both these drugs and understand what advantages it brings, a reliable bioanalytical quantification method for venlafaxine and desvenlafaxine in mouse plasma, brain and liver matrices must be validated, in this case, using a MEPS/HPLC method. Chapter 2 is related with community pharmacy internship, describing all the performed activities during the 3 month that I have stayed in Pharmacy Alameda. The focus in this chapter is to understand how community pharmacies in general work, taking into account not only drugs dispense and pharmaceutical services but also the best way to manage them. Chapter 3 is about my 2 month of internship in hospital pharmacy services, describing all the duties and tasks performed in each pharmacy section. In here it is also explicit pharmacists’ importance in patients’ pharmaceutical therapies management as well as in controlling all the economic costs related with it.A tese aqui exposta foi elaborada com o intuito de obter o grau de Mestre em Ciências Farmacêuticas. Seguidamente é descrito todo o trabalho efetuado no âmbito da investigação científica, de modo a que o objectivo proposto fosse alcançado. Estão também descritas as tarefas elaboradas e aprendizagens obtidas ao longo dos meus estágios em farmácia comunitária e em farmácia hospitalar. No Capítulo 1 é descrito todo o meu trabalho no âmbito da área de investigação, sendo este intitulado “Validação de um método bioanalítico de Venlafaxina e Desvenlafaxina em plasma, cérebro e fígado de murganho usando MEPS/HPLC: um caminho para o estudo da administração intranasal destes fármacos”. Uma vez que a depressão major é uma das doenças psiquiátricas mais prevalente, a taxa de sucesso do seu tratamento terá obrigatoriamente de ser aumentada. Actualmente, a maioria dos antidepressivos são administrados por via oral, o que é uma fonte de problemas a nível terapêutico, considerando principalmente o tempo e as elevadas doses necessárias para o tratamento da doença. Assim, de modo a melhorar este aspecto, a via intranasal tem vindo a ser estudada, uma vez que existem locais na cavidade nasal que contactam directamente com o tecido cerebral. Ao longo do tempo também se tem percebido que a Venlafaxina é um dos antidepressivos mais eficazes, tendo também a vantagem de ser metabolizada num metabolito activo chamado Desvenlafaxina. Assim, de modo a perceber quais as vantagens da administração por via intranasal da Venlafaxina e da Desvenlafaxina, deve ser antes validado um método bioanalítico usando MEPS/HPLC de modo a que ambos se consigam quantificar em plasma, cérebro e fígado de murganho. O Capítulo 2 está relacionado com o estágio em farmácia comunitária, no qual são descritas todas as actividades realizadas ao longo dos 3 meses que passei na Farmácia da Alameda. Neste capítulo é focado todo o funcionamento em geral de uma farmácia comunitária, tendo sempre em conta não apenas a dispensa de medicamentos e os serviços farmacêuticos, mas também as melhores formas de gestão efetuadas neste âmbito. O Capítulo 3 refere-se aos 2 meses de estágio em farmácia hospitalar, descrevendo-se aqui todas as tarefas e responsabilidades de cada secção da farmácia. Aqui é também focada a importância do farmacêutico hospitalar na gestão das terapêuticas dos doentes e dos custos associados a estas