Storage of prescription veterinary medicines on UK dairy farms:A cross-sectional study

AbstractPrescription veterinary medicine (PVM) use in the United Kingdom is an area of increasing focus for the veterinary profession. While many studies measure antimicrobial use on dairy farms, none report the quantity of antimicrobials stored on farms, nor the ways in which they are stored. The majority of PVM treatments occur in the absence of the prescribing veterinarian, yet there is an identifiable knowledge gap surrounding PVM use and farmer decision making. To provide an evidence base for future work on PVM use, data were collected from 27 dairy farms in England and Wales in Autumn 2016. The number of different PVM stored on farms ranged from 9-35, with antimicrobials being the most common therapeutic group stored. Injectable antimicrobials comprised the greatest weight of active ingredient found while intramammary antimicrobials were the most frequent unit of medicine stored. Antimicrobials classed by the European Medicines Agency as critically-important to human health were present on most farms, and the presence of expired medicines and medicines not licensed for use in dairy cattle was also common. The medicine resources available to farmers are likely to influence their treatment decisions, therefore evidence of the PVM stored on farms can help inform understanding of medicine use.</jats:p

Adherence of Community Pharmacies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to Optimal Conditions for Keeping and Selling Good-Quality Medicines

医薬保健研究域薬学系Exposure to excessive temperature during distribution or storage has unfavorable consequences on the quality of medicines, particularly in hot climates. This could be one of the possible reasons behind the existence of substandard amoxicillin in community pharmacies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This study explored the conditions under which medicines were kept in a random sample of 181 community pharmacies in Riyadh. The pharmacist in charge in each pharmacy was interviewed and our observations about the quality of storage were recorded. The inspection revealed that in 9% of the sample the readings of the existing room thermometers were >25℃, and that 13% of the sample lacked thermometers. Also in 33% of the sample the readings of the refrigerator thermometers were outside the accepted range, and 7% of the sample lacked refrigerator thermometers. About 15% of pharmacists were not informed about the local regulations of community pharmacy practice, neither before nor after taking up their current positions. Surprisingly, incorrect answers to simple questions about the system were frequently given by the informed pharmacists. Certain aspects of substandard storage conditions existed, in varying degrees, in significant percentages of pharmacies regardless of the pharmacists’ qualifications, experience, or awareness about the local regulations of community pharmacy practice. Stricter monitoring by the authorities regarding the adherence of community pharmacies to optimal conditions of storing medicines is recommended. Continuing education of community pharmacists must also be improved

Safety perspectives on presently considered drugs for the treatment of COVID‐19

Intense efforts are underway to evaluate potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of COVID‐19. In order to respond quickly to the crisis, the repurposing of existing drugs is the primary pharmacological strategy. Despite the urgent clinical need for these therapies, it is imperative to consider potential safety issues. This is important due to the harm–benefit ratios that may be encountered when treating COVID‐19, which can depend on the stage of the disease, when therapy is administered and underlying clinical factors in individual patients. Treatments are currently being trialled for a range of scenarios from prophylaxis (where benefit must greatly exceed risk) to severe life‐threatening disease (where a degree of potential risk may be tolerated if it is exceeded by the potential benefit). In this perspective, we have reviewed some of the most widely researched repurposed agents in order to identify potential safety considerations using existing information in the context of COVID‐19

A new accurate method for predicting lithium clearance and daily dosage requirements in adult psychiatric patients

Objective: The present study aimed to derive new equations for estimating lithium clearance and daily dosage requirements needed to achieve an intended lithium serum level for adult psychiatric inpatients and outpatients. Methods: Data were retrospectively collected from 60 adult psychiatric patients (34 males and 26 females, aged between 18-80 years) in both inpatient and outpatient settings. All variables that might affect lithium clearance and/or lithium serum concentration were included and analyzed by stepwise multiple linear regression to produce equations describing lithium clearance and daily dosage requirements for these patients. The validation of the developed equations was performed by application to another 60 psychiatric subjects in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. The bias and accuracy of the new methods were also compared to those set forth by the empirical method and the a priori methods developed by Zetin, Pepin, Jermain and Terao and colleagues. Results: The following prediction equations for lithium clearance (CLLi) were obtained: CLLi (inpatients) = 0.932 + 0.185CL(Cr) and CLLi (outpatients) = 1.021 + 0.141CL(Cr). The equations derived for daily dosage requirements were: daily dose (inpatients, mg) = 350.15 + 289.92 (desired lithium level, mmol/L) + 0.84 (weight, kg) - 1.76 (age, years) + 34.43 [tricyclic antidepressant (TCA), yes = 1, no = 0] + 62.1(CLCr, L/h) + 13.1 [blood urea nitrogen (BUN), mmol/L] + 40.9 (sex, male = 1, female = 0) and daily dose (outpatients, mg) = 784.92 + 530.22 (desired lithium level, mmol/L) + 8.61 (weight, kg) - 12.09 (age, years) - 11.14 (TCA, yes = 1, no = 0) - 7.63 (CLCr, L/h) - 42.62 (BUN, mmol/L) - 23.43 (sex, male = 1, female = 0). In the present method, the prediction error for clearance was 10.31% and 6.62% for inpatients and outpatients, respectively, and the prediction error for daily dosage requirements was 3.96% and 2.95% for inpatients and outpatients, respectively. Conclusions: Compared to previously reported methods, the present method proved to be accurate and can be safely used for the prediction of lithium clearance and daily dosage requirements in psychiatric inpatients and outpatients

Influence of piperacillin on the pharmacokinetics of methotrexate and 7-hydroxymethotrexate studies

The influence of concomitant administration of piperacillin (PIP) on the pharmacokinetic parameters of methotrexate (MTX) and 7-hydroxymethotrexate (7-OH-MTX) was studied in rabbits. Six rabbits received an initial i.v. bolus (0.21 mg kg(-1)) followed by a constant-rate i.v infusion of the drug (5 mu g min(-1) kg-(1)) for 240 min. The PIP dose (30 mg kg(-1)) was repeated every 30 min until the end of the infusion period. The control group consisted of four rabbits treated the same way except for the addition of PIP. There were significant increases in the mean residence times found for MTX (MRTinf) and 7-OH-MTX (MRTm,inf) following PIP administration. Concomitant administration of PIP with MTX also produced significant 1.5- and 2.8-fold increases in the area under the curve of MTX and 7-OH-MTX, respectively. The total body clearance of MTX and the operative total body clearance of 7-OH-MTX significantly decreased, but in a less than proportional manner. The study demonstrates that the interaction between MTX and PIP is mainly due to the reduced clearance of both MTX and 7-OH-MTX combined with a slight increase in the formation clearance of the metabolite

Liquid chromatographic assay of abouthiouzine in plasma and its application to pharmacokinetic studies

Abouthiouzine is a newly synthesized antithyroid agent with a proposed less adverse effects profile than other currently used drugs. A simple and rapid reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography assay was developed to determine the concentration of abouthiouzine in human plasma. The procedure involved extraction of the drug and propranolol (internal standard) from the plasma using ethylacetate. The extract was evaporated under nitrogen and the residue was constituted with the mobile phase and injected onto mu-Bondapack phenyl column (10 mum, 3.9 mm x 150 mm). The mobile phase consisted of 10 mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer, acetonitrile, and methanol in the ratio of 60:25:15 (v/v/v, pH = 3.0), which was delivered at a rate of 1.5 ml/min. Abouthiouzine and the internal standard were monitored using UV detection at 240 nm; the run time was less than 5 min. The detection limit of abouthiouzine is 0.5 mug/ml. The within- and between-day coefficients of variation were less than 7%. Our method has been successfully used to measure abouthiouzine plasma concentrations in a rabbit model following an intravenous administration of the drug. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserve

تقييم نشاط التضاد الميكروبي لمستخلصات بعض النباتات الطبية النامية في قطاع غزة (فلسطين) ضد بعض أنواع البكتيريا الممرضة

The antimicrobial activity of five medicinal plant extracts and some antibiotics were evaluated against some resistant human pathogenic bacterial strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli). The medicinal plants used were Atreplix sembiccata (Chenopodiaceae), Echium angustifolium (Boraginaceae), Solanum nigrum (Solanaceae), Solanum elaeagnifolium (Solanaceae) and Fumaria capreolata (Fumaraceae). In this study, the synergistic effects of the plant extracts when combined together and with the antibiotics were determined. The extraction was carried out by Microwave-assisted extraction method in the presence of 80% ethanol as a solvent. The results revealed that, there was no antibacterial activity of the plant extract alone. However, the combination of the plant extractions with the antibiotics showed synergistic antibacterial activity against the antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The synergistic effect of combined plant extracts of Fumaria capreolata and Solanum nigrum with different antibiotics against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was more potent than Staphylococcus aureus. Also, the results showed that S. nigrum and Echium angustifolium had the highest synergistic activity with various antibiotics against E. coli and P. aeruginosa.تم تقييم النشاط المضاد للميكروبات لخمسة مستخلصات لنباتات طبية وبعض المضادات الحيوية ضد بعض سلالات البكتيريا الممرضة للإنسان. (Pseudomonas aeruginosa و Staphylococcus aureusو Escherichia coli). ولقد كانت النباتات الطبية المستخدمة هي نبات القطف(الفصيلة الرمرامية)، وزهرة الأفعى (الفصيلة البوراجينية)، وعنب الديب والسجوة الزيتية (الفصيلة الباذنجانية)، والفيوماريا (الفصيلة الفيومارية). ولقد تم دارسة تأثير تلك المستخلصات على البكتيريا منفردة أو مجتمعة مع المضادات الحيوية. وتمت عملية الاستخلاص بمساعدة الميكروويف في وجود 80 % كحول أثيلي. وقد أظهرت النتائج أنه على الرغم من أن المستخلصات النباتية منفردة لم تظهر أي نشاط للتضاد البكتيري، إلا أن الجمع بين المستخلصات والمضادات الحيوية قد أظهر نشاطا متآزراً ضد البكتيريا المقاومة للمضادات الحيوية. وقد لوحظ أن تأثير التآزر عند الجمع بين مستخلصي نبات الفيوماريا وعنب الديب مع المضادات الحيوية المختلفة ضد كل من بكتيريا E. coli و P. aeruginosa كان أكثر قوة من تأثيرهم ضد بكتيريا S. aureus . وأيضا أظهرت النتائج أن مستخلصي نباتي عنب الديب وزهرة الأفعى لهما أكبر نشاط تضادي ضد بكتيريا E. coli و P. aeruginosa عند اضافة المضادات الحيوية لهما

Studies on solubility, bioavailability and hypoglycemic activity of gliclazide p-cyclodextrin complexes

The effect of beta-cyclodextrin ((3-CD) complexation with gliclazide (Gz) on both pharmacokinetic and hypoglycemic parameters of pure drug was evaluated and correlated with its in vitro dissolution. The study involves the preparation of solid inclusion complex of Gz with [3-CD using different techniques. The prepared binary systems showed significant enhancement for in vitro dissolution. The pharmacokinetics of neutralization complex (equivalent to 30 mg of gliclazide) was studied in beagle dogs. Gliclazide plasma levels were measured over a period of 48 h from dosing, using a sensitive HPLC method. Significant changes were observed in the mean values of Gz pharmacokinetic parameters (Cm i K , Tm i K and AUC0.„) between the control and pre-treated groups. The findings of this study suggest that neutralization complex in 1:1 and 1:2 Gz/|3-CD molar ratios was the best in enhancing gliclazide dissolution characteristics and bioavailability. Moreover, the various measures of bioavailability (except AUC) correlated well with both in vitro tests and hypoglycemic activity