Pharmacogenetics : the science of predictive clinical pharmacology

The study of pharmacogenetics has expanded from what were initially casual family-based clinical drug response observations, to a fully-fledged science with direct therapeutic applications, all within a time-span of less than 60 years. A wide spectrum of polymorphisms, located within several genes, are now recognised to influence the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the majority of drugs within our therapeutic armamentarium. This information forms the basis for the new development of pharmacogenetic genotyping tests, which can be used to predict the therapeutic and/or adverse effects of a specific drug in a particular patient. Pharmacogenetic-guided, patient targeted therapy has now become the developing fulcrum of personalized medicine, as it provides the best means to optimize benefit/risk ratio in pharmacological management.peer-reviewe

Biotech drugs : biological therapeutic agents

The recent years has seen significant growth in a new therapeutic approach to the management of disease. Biological therapeutic agents, constitute a broad category of drugs, usually generated by recombinant techniques from living organisms. These therapies revolutionise the traditional approaches to drug design and development, and regulatory agencies have been swift in developing the necessary structures to ensure their optimal use.peer-reviewe

Constraints on Extra Gauge Bosons in e gamma Collisions

We investigate the sensitivity of e- gamma ---> nu_e nu_mu(bar) mu- to extra charged gauge bosons. The sensitivity is much below that of e-e+ ---> nu nu(bar) gamma. We conclude that e- gamma ---> d u(bar) nu_e and e- gamma ---> f f(bar) e- are also inferior to e+e- collisions in setting bounds on extra charged and neutral gauge bosons and on four fermion contact interactions.Comment: 6 pages Latex, 5 figures included by epsf, uses e-e-ijmpa.sty and citepunct.sty (included

The validity of capillary blood sampling in the determination of human growth hormone concentration during exercise in men

This is an open access article - Copyright © 2004 BMJ Publishing Group LtdBACKGROUND: Studies measuring human growth hormone (hGH) in blood during exercise have mainly used venous sampling. The invasive nature of this procedure makes evaluation of hGH impossible in various exercise environments. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether capillary sampling could offer an alternative sampling method. METHODS: Capillary and venous blood samples were collected for determination of hGH at the end of each exercise stage during an incremental exercise test in 16 male club level competitive cyclists (mean (SD) age 30.8 (8.0) years, body mass 72.2 (7.1) kg, body fat 12.9 (3.5)%, peak oxygen consumption 4.18 (0.46) l⋅min−1). Linear regression, from a plot of venous v capillary blood hGH concentration, showed a correlation coefficient of r = 0.986 (p<0.001). When geometric means and log transformations were used, a coefficient of variation of 14.2% was demonstrated between venous and capillary flow for hGH concentration. The mean ratio limits of agreement were 0.62 (1.72)—that is, 95% of the ratios were contained between 0.36 and 1.07, with a mean of 0.62. CONCLUSIONS: Capillary blood sampling is an acceptable alternative to venous sampling for determining hGH concentration during rest and exercise. Sample sites should not be used interchangeably: one site should be chosen and its use standardised