Direct and cytokine-mediated effects of albumin-fused growth hormone, TV-1106, on CYP enzyme expression in human hepatocytes in vitro

Some biologics can modulate cytokines that may lead to changes in expression of drugmetabolizing enzymes and cause drug-drug interactions (DDI). DDI potential of TV- 1106—an albumin-fused growth hormone (GH)—was investigated. In this study, human blood was exposed to recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) or TV-1106, followed by isolation of the plasma and its application to human hepatocytes. While the treatment of blood with rhGH increased multiple cytokines, treatment of blood with TV-1106 had no effect on any of the nine cytokines tested. The interleukin (IL)-6 concentration was higher in the rhGH then in the TV-1106-treated plasma (P < .05). While rhGH had little or no effect on CYP1A2 or CYP2C19 mRNA but increased CYP3A4 mRNA twofold, TV-1106 had little or no effect on cytochrome P450 (CYP) mRNAs in hepatocytes. Although the plasma from rhGH-treated blood lowered CYP1A2 activity, the TV-1106 plasma had no effect on CYP activities. The CYP1A2 activity was lower in the rhGH- then in the TV-1106-plasma treated hepatocytes (P < .05). The results indicated that fusing GH with albumin made TV-1106 an unlikely participant of CYP1A2, CYP2C19 or CYP3A4-facilitated, direct or cytokine-driven DDI.The authors would like to thank scientists in the Scientific Operations at Sekisui XenoTech for their technical assistance

Potential Application of Ionic Liquids for Electrodeposition of the Material Targets for Production of Diagnostic Radioisotopes

An overview of the reported electrochemistry studies on the chemistry of the element for targets for isotope production in ionic liquids (ILs) is provided. The majority of investigations have been dedicated to two aspects of the reactive element chemistry. The first part of this review presents description of the cyclotron targets properties, especially physicochemical characterization of irradiated elements. The second part is devoted to description of the electrodeposition procedures leading to obtain elements or their alloys coatings (e.g., nickel, uranium) as the targets for cyclotron and reactor generation of the radioisotopes. This review provides an evaluation of the role ILs can have in the production of isotopes

Single Step, Electrochemical Preparation of Copper-Based Positive Electrode for Lithium Primary Cells

Lithium primary cells are commonly used in applications where high energy density and low self-discharge are the most important factors. This include small coin cells for electronics, power backup batteries for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor memory or as a long-term emergency power source. In our study we present a fast, electrochemical method of the positive electrode preparation for lithium primary cells. The influence of the current density and oxygen presence in a solution on the preparation of the electrode and thus its electrochemical behavior is examined. Electrode compositions were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The prepared electrodes may be used in Li cells as competition to Zn-MnO2 primary batteries

Surface Oxidation of Nano-Silicon as a Method for Cycle Life Enhancement of Li-ion Active Materials

Among the many studied Li-ion active materials, silicon presents the highest specific capacity, however it suffers from a great volume change during lithiation. In this work, we present two methods for the chemical modification of silicon nanoparticles. Both methods change the materials&rsquo; electrochemical characteristics. The combined XPS and SEM results show that the properties of the generated silicon oxide layer depend on the modification procedure employed. Electrochemical characterization reveals that the formed oxide layers show different susceptibility to electro-reduction during the first lithiation. The single step oxidation procedure resulted in a thin and very stable oxide that acts as an artificial SEI layer during electrode operation. The removal of the native oxide prior to further reactions resulted in a very thick oxide layer formation. The created oxide layers (both thin and thick) greatly suppress the effect of silicon volume changes, which significantly reduces electrode degradation during cycling. Both modification techniques are relatively straightforward and scalable to an industrial level. The proposed modified materials reveal great applicability prospects in next generation Li-ion batteries due to their high specific capacity and remarkable cycling stability

Attitude of Healthcare Professionals: A Major Limiting Factor in Organ Donation from Brain-Dead Donors

Public attitude toward deceased donor organ recovery in Poland is quite positive, with only 15% opposing to donation of their own organs, yet actual donation rate is only 16/pmp. Moreover, donation rate varies greatly (from 5 to 28 pmp) in different regions of the country. To identify the barriers of organ donation, we surveyed 587 physicians involved in brain death diagnosis from regions with low (LDR) and high donation rates (HDR). Physicians from LDR were twice more reluctant to start diagnostic procedure when clinical signs of brain death were present (14% versus 5.5% physicians from HDR who would not diagnose death, resp.). Twenty-five percent of LDR physicians (as opposed to 12% of physicians from HDR) would either continue with intensive therapy or confirm brain death and limit to the so-called minimal therapy. Only 32% of LDR physicians would proceed with brain death diagnosis regardless of organ donation, compared to 67% in HDR. When donation was not an option, mechanical ventilation would be continued more often in LDR regions (43% versus 26.7%; &lt; 0.01). In conclusion, low donation activity seems to be mostly due to medical staff attitude