IMPORTANCE OF INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION, PRACTICE AND RESEARCH IN THE PHARMACY CURRICULUM IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION

The profession of pharmacy has evolved gradually for more than a century and has seen many educational challenges and reforms. The pharmacy curriculum is science-based and varies widely in different parts of the world in both content and outcomes. The global pharmacy curriculum could be broadly categorized as product/industry-focused or patient-focused. In the United States (US), the baccalaureate degree has been replaced with the entry level Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) curriculum. This change was designed to enable practicing pharmacists to provide patient care services that optimize medication therapy outcomes and promote health, wellness and disease prevention. This shift from a product-centered to a patient-centered curriculum has offered tremendous benefits to patients, society and healthcare. It has further been realized that working as a collaborative team with an inter-professional approach produces effective patient-centered outcomes. Implementation of inter-professional education (IPE), practice and research was recognized by pharmacy educators and accreditation authorities in the US in the early part of 21st century. IPE is now considered a standard for pharmacy accreditation. This review will compare some of the pharmacy curriculums of the world and the difficulty in harmonization of pharmacy curricula. The factors that facilitate and hinder IPE, practice and research in the curriculum will be discussed

IMPORTANCE OF INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION, PRACTICE AND RESEARCH IN THE PHARMACY CURRICULUM IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION

The profession of pharmacy has evolved gradually for more than a century and has seen many educational challenges and reforms. The pharmacy curriculum is science-based and varies widely in different parts of the world in both content and outcomes. The global pharmacy curriculum could be broadly categorized as product/industry-focused or patient-focused. In the United States (US), the baccalaureate degree has been replaced with the entry level Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) curriculum. This change was designed to enable practicing pharmacists to provide patient care services that optimize medication therapy outcomes and promote health, wellness and disease prevention. This shift from a product-centered to a patient-centered curriculum has offered tremendous benefits to patients, society and healthcare. It has further been realized that working as a collaborative team with an inter-professional approach produces effective patient-centered outcomes. Implementation of inter-professional education (IPE), practice and research was recognized by pharmacy educators and accreditation authorities in the US in the early part of 21st century. IPE is now considered a standard for pharmacy accreditation. This review will compare some of the pharmacy curriculums of the world and the difficulty in harmonization of pharmacy curricula. The factors that facilitate and hinder IPE, practice and research in the curriculum will be discussed

Combination antiretroviral drugs in PLGA nanoparticle for HIV-1

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Combination antiretroviral (AR) therapy continues to be the mainstay for HIV treatment. However, antiretroviral drug nonadherence can lead to the development of resistance and treatment failure. We have designed nanoparticles (NP) that contain three AR drugs and characterized the size, shape, and surface charge. Additionally, we investigated the <it>in vitro </it>release of the AR drugs from the NP using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Poly-(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) containing ritonavir (RTV), lopinavir (LPV), and efavirenz (EFV) were fabricated using multiple emulsion-solvent evaporation procedure. The nanoparticles were characterized by electron microscopy and zeta potential for size, shape, and charge. The intracellular concentration of AR drugs was determined over 28 days from NPs incubated with PBMCs. Macrophages were imaged by fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry after incubation with fluorescent NPs. Finally, macrophage cytotoxicity was determined by MTT assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nanoparticle size averaged 262 ± 83.9 nm and zeta potential -11.4 ± 2.4. AR loading averaged 4% (w/v). Antiretroviral drug levels were determined in PBMCs after 100 μg of NP in 75 μL PBS was added to media. Intracellular peak AR levels from NPs (day 4) were RTV 2.5 ± 1.1; LPV 4.1 ± 2.0; and EFV 10.6 ± 2.7 μg and continued until day 28 (all AR ≥ 0.9 μg). Free drugs (25 μg of each drug in 25 μL ethanol) added to PBMCs served as control were eliminated by 2 days. Fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry demonstrated phagocytosis of NP into monocytes-derived macrophages (MDMs). Cellular MTT assay performed on MDMs demonstrated that NPs are not significantly cytotoxic.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results demonstrated AR NPs could be fabricated containing three antiretroviral drugs (RTV, LPV, EFV). Sustained release of AR from PLGA NP show high drug levels in PBMCs until day 28 without cytotoxicity.</p

The dark side of paclitaxel

The bark extract of Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia) was first reported to have anti-tumor activity in 1963. The active constituent responsible for this activity was later identified in 1971 as paclitaxel [1]. Paclitaxel is a cytotoxic drug used in the treatment of variety of tumors including ovarian, breast, and non-small-cell lung cancers..

Injectable Nano Drug Delivery Systems for the Treatment of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed type of cancer, with 2.26 million cases and 685,000 deaths recorded in 2020. If left untreated, this deadly disease can metastasize to distant organs, which is the reason behind its incurability and related deaths. Currently, conventional therapies are used to treat breast cancer, but they have numerous shortcomings such as low bioavailability, short circulation time, and off-target toxicity. To address these challenges, nanomedicines are preferred and are being extensively investigated for breast cancer treatment. Nanomedicines are novel drug delivery systems that can improve drug stability, aqueous solubility, blood circulation time, controlled release, and targeted delivery at the tumoral site and enhance therapeutic safety and effectiveness. Nanoparticles (NPs) can be administered through different routes. Although the injectable route is less preferred than the oral route for drug administration, it has its advantages: it helps tailor drugs with targeted moiety, boosts payload, avoids first-pass metabolism, and improves the pharmacokinetic parameters of the active pharmaceutical ingredients. Targeted delivery of nanomedicine, closer to organelles such as the mitochondria and nuclei in breast cancer, reduces the dosage requirements and the toxic effects of chemotherapeutics. This review aims to provide the current status of the recent advances in various injectable nanomedicines for targeted treatment of breast cancer

Pharmaceutics : basic principles and application to pharmacy practice

xiii, 378 p.; 28 c