90 research outputs found
HIV pharmaceutical care in primary healthcare: Improvement in CD4 count and reduction in drug-related problems
AbstractBackground: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is complex and many factors contribute to a patientâs response to initial therapy including adherence, drug effectiveness, and tolerance. Close HAART follow-up is needed, particularly when there are concurrent therapies such as prophylactic antibiotics and medications for the treatment of comorbidities. Objective: To assess the effectiveness of pharmacist intervention in reducing drug related problems in HIV/AIDS outpatients (intervention group) and in improving clinical parameters in the intervention group compared to the control group. Methods: We conducted a prospective controlled intervention study with patients paired by gender and initial T CD4+ lymphocyte (CD4) count. HIV-infected patients of a public outpatient service were enrolled for the study by consecutive and convenience sampling. Patients selected for the study were divided into a control group and an intervention group. Both groups were followed for one year; however, only the intervention group received pharmaceutical care. The primary outcome was the drug related problem (DRP) analysis for the intervention group. Secondary outcomes were CD4 count and viral load evaluation for both groups. Results: There was a total of 143 patients enrolled in this study, with 53 (37.06%) patients in the control group and 90 (62.94%) patients in the intervention group. A total of 202 pharmacist interventions with 193 pharmacist-patient and 9 pharmacist-physician interventions were proposed. After one year of pharmaceutical care, a reduction of 38.43% between the initial and final DRP was found (p=0.0001). The most common DRPs found were related to medication safety. The intervention group showed a mean increase of 84% for the CD4 count in comparison with that observed in the control group. The viral load was not significantly different between the final and initial mean values for both groups. Conclusion: Pharmacist appointments enabled identification, prevention, and solving of drug related problems, especially those related to drug safety. Also, pharmacist interventions improved adherence and increased HAART effectiveness as suggested by the higher elevation in the CD4 count seen in the intervention group in comparison with the control group
The influence of pH, polyethylene glycol and polyacrylic acid on the stability of stem bromelain
Enzyme stability is critical in biotechnology, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Investigations on this subject have drawn attention because of its practical application. Bromelain is a thiol-endopeptidase, obtained from pineapple (Ananas comosus), known for its clinical and therapeutic applications, particularly to selective burn debridement and improvement of antibiotic action and anti-inflammatory activities. To date, the use of bromelain in pharmacological or industrial applications is limited, due to commercial availability, costs, and sensitivity to pH and temperature. Therefore, a better understanding of enzyme stability would be of great interest. The aim of this study was to evaluate bromelain activity and stability in several pH (2.0 to 8.0) and in polyethylene glycol and polyacrylic acid solutions. We observed that bromelain was able to maintain its stability at pH 5.0 for the temperatures studied. PEG solutions increased bromelain stability, but PAA solutions had the opposite effect.Estabilidade de enzimas Ă© uma questĂŁo fundamental em indĂșstrias biotecnolĂłgicas, farmacĂȘuticas e cosmĂ©ticas. As investigaçÔes sobre o assunto tĂȘm chamado a atenção por sua aplicação prĂĄtica. A bromelina Ă© uma tiol-endopeptidase, obtida a partir do abacaxi (Ananas comosus). Ă conhecida por suas aplicaçÔes clĂnicas e terapĂȘuticas, especialmente para desbridamento seletivo de queimaduras, melhoria de açÔes antibiĂłtica e de atividades anti-inflamatĂłrias. AtĂ© o momento, a utilização da bromelina em aplicaçÔes farmacolĂłgicas industriais Ă© limitada, devido Ă disponibilidade comercial, os custos, a sensibilidade ao pH e temperatura. Portanto, a maior compreensĂŁo da estabilidade desta enzima seria de grande interesse. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a estabilidade da atividade da bromelina em vĂĄrios pH (2,0 a 8,0) e em soluçÔes de polietilenoglicol e de ĂĄcido poliacrĂlico. Observamos que a bromelina foi capaz de manter a sua estabilidade em pH 5.0, em todas as temperaturas estudadas. SoluçÔes de PEG aumentaram a estabilidade da bromelina, enquanto que soluçÔes de PAA obtiveram efeito oposto
Influence of Soy Lecithin Administration on Hypercholesterolemia
Recent studies suggest that lecithin-rich diet can modify cholesterol homeostasis and hepatic lipoprotein metabolism. Considering the phytotherapeutic impact of lecithin, this work hypothesizes that lecithin administration in hypercholesterolemic patients may reduce cholesterol concentrations by increasing biliary secretion. Total cholesterol and LDL were evaluated after soy lecithin administration in hypercholesterolemic patients. One soy lecithin capsule (500âmg/RP-Sherer) was administrated daily. One-two months before the treatment beginning, blood samples were collected for total lipids and cholesterol fractions analysis. The results showed a reduction of 40.66% and 42.00% in total cholesterol and of 42.05% and 56.15% in LDL cholesterol after treatment for one and two months, respectively. A significant reduction in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations was observed during the first month of treatment, suggesting that the administration of soy lecithin daily may be used as a supplemental treatment in hypercholesterolemia
Prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions in the intensive care unit of a Brazilian teaching hospital
Patients in intensive care unit are prescribed large numbers of drugs, highlighting the need to study potential Drug-Drug Interactions in this environment. The aim of this study was to delineate the prevalence and risk of potential drug-drug interactions between medications administered to patients in an ICU. This cross-sectional observational study was conducted during 12 months, in an adult ICU of a teaching hospital. Inclusion criteria were: prescriptions with 2 or more drugs of patients admitted to the ICU for >; 24 hours and age of â„18 years. Potential Drug-Drug Interactions were quantified and classified through MicromedexTM database. The 369 prescriptions included in this study had 205 different drugs, with an average of 13.04 ± 4.26 (mean ± standard deviation) drugs per prescription. Potential Drug-Drug Interactions were identified in 89% of these, with an average of 5.00 ± 5.06 interactions per prescription. Of the 405 different pairs of potentially interacting drugs identified, moderate and major interactions were present in 74% and 67% of prescriptions, respectively. The most prevalent interaction was between dipyrone and enoxaparin (35.8%), though its clinical occurrence was not observed in this study. The number of potential Drug-Drug Interactions showed significant positive correlations with the length of stay in the intensive care unit, and with the number of prescribed drugs. Acknowledging the high potential for Drug-Drug Interactions in the ICU represents an important step toward improving patient safety and best therapy results
Clinical relevancy and risks of potential drugâdrug interactions in intensive therapy
AbstractPurposeEvaluate the potential DrugâDrug Interactions (pDDI) found in prescription orders of adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a Brazilian public health system hospital; quantify and qualify the pDDI regarding their severity and risks to the critical patient, using the database from MicromedexÂź.MethodsProspective study (JanuaryâDecember of 2011) collecting and evaluating 369 prescription orders (convenient sampling), one per patient.ResultsDuring the study 1844 pDDIs were identified and distributed in 405 pairs (medication AĂmedication B combination). There was an average of 5.00±5.06 pDDIs per prescription order, the most prevalent being moderate and important interactions, present in 74% and 67% of prescription orders, respectively. In total, there were 9 contraindicated, 129 important and 204 moderate pDDIs. Among them 52 had as management recommendation to âavoid concomitant useâ or âsuspension of medicationâ, while 306 had as recommendation âcontinuous and adequate monitoringâ.ConclusionThe high number of pDDIs found in the study combined with the evaluation of the clinical relevancy of the most frequent pDDIs in the ICU shows that moderate and important interactions are highly incident. As the majority of them demand monitoring and adequate management, being aware of these interactions is major information for the safe and individualized risk management
Isolation and purification of bromelain from waste peel of pineapple for therapeutic application
The aim of this work was to isolate and purify bromelain extracted from the pineapple peel by ammonium sulfate precipitation (40-80%), followed by desalting and freeze-drying with a 75% activity recovery and 2.2 fold increased specific activity. Ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose was able to separate the polysaccharides from the enzyme, which was recovered in the elution step, maintaining its enzymatic activity. The batch adsorption of bromelain was evaluated in terms of total protein and enzymatic activity using Langmuir and Langmuir-Freundlich models. Results showed that the process could be suitable for the recovery and purification of the enzyme, maintaining its specific activity.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientĂfico e TecnolĂłgico (CNPq)Universidade Estadual de Campinas Faculdade de Engenharia QuĂmicaUniversidade Federal de SĂŁo Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de CiĂȘncias Exatas e da TerraUniversidade Federal de UberlĂąndia Instituto de GenĂ©tica e BioquĂmicaUniversidade Estadual de Campinas Faculdade de CiĂȘncias MĂ©dicasUNIFESP, Depto. de CiĂȘncias Exatas e da TerraSciEL
Liquid-liquid extraction in the presence of electrolytes of nisin and green fluorescent protein (GFPuv)
In the biotechnology field, it has been suggested that extractions in two-phase aqueous
complex-fluid systems can possibly be used instead of, or as complementary processes to,
the more typical chromatographic operations, to reduce the cost of the downstream
processing of many biological products (Lam et al., 2004; Mazzola et al., 2006). This method
offer attractive conditions to be applied in this study, thereby two-phase systems can be
exploited in separation science for the extraction/purification of desired biomolecules directly
on the culture medium (Mazzola et al., 2008). This study aimed to evaluate the aqueous two
phase system (ATPS) composed by a nonionic surfactant, Triton X-114 (TX), in presence or
absence of electrolytes, to separate two interesting biomolecules: nisin and recombinant
green fluorescent protein (GFP). Results indicated that nisin partitions preferentially to the
micelle rich-phase, with significant antimicrobial activity increase (up to 10-fold). GFP
partitioned evenly between the phases in TX system without electrolytes.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de
Pessoal de NĂvel Superior, Brazil (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientĂfico e TecnolĂłgico, Brazil (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo Ă Pesquisa do Estado de SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil (FAPESP
Isolation and purification of bromelain from waste peel of pineapple for therapeutic application
The aim of this work was to isolate and purify bromelain extracted from the pineapple peel by ammonium sulfate precipitation (40-80%), followed by desalting and freeze-drying with a 75% activity recovery and 2.2 fold increased specific activity. Ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose was able to separate the polysaccharides from the enzyme, which was recovered in the elution step, maintaining its enzymatic activity. The batch adsorption of bromelain was evaluated in terms of total protein and enzymatic activity using Langmuir and Langmuir-Freundlich models. Results showed that the process could be suitable for the recovery and purification of the enzyme, maintaining its specific activity.971979Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientĂfico e TecnolĂłgico (CNPq
Stability of furosemide and aminophylline in parenteral solutions
Parenteral solutions (PS) are one of the most commonly used drug delivery vehicles. Interactions among the drug, components in the drug's formulation, and the PS can result in the formation of inactive complexes that limit efficacy or increase side effects. The aim of this work was to evaluate possible interactions between the drugs and PS, assess drug stability and to identify degradation products after 20 h at room temperature. Furosemide (FSM) and Aminophylline (APN) were added to PS containing either 20% mannitol or 0.9% NaCl at pH 6.5-7.5 and 10-11. Their behavior was studied individually and as an admixture, after 1 h oxidation with H2O2, using a spectrophotometer and HPLC. Individually, FSM and APN added to 20% mannitol and 0.9% NaCl solutions had the highest stability at pH 10-11. When FSM and APN were combined, the behavior of FSM was similar to the behavior observed for the drug individually in the same solutions. With the drugs combined in 20% mannitol pH 10-11, HPLC showed that both drugs were stable after a 20 h period yielding two distinct peaks; in oxidized samples, the elution profile showed four peaks with retention times unrelated to the untreated samples.SoluçÔes parenterais de grande volume sĂŁo frequentemente utilizadas no ambiente hospitalar para a veiculação de fĂĄrmacos. No entanto, possĂveis incompatibilidades entre as estruturas dos fĂĄrmacos, em diferentes veĂculos de administração, podem gerar possĂveis associaçÔes antagĂŽnicas ou sinĂ©rgicas, resultando em alteraçÔes das propriedades fĂsico-quĂmicas, consequentemente, dos efeitos farmacolĂłgicos e das respostas clĂnicas esperadas. Este artigo avaliou a estabilidade e a possĂvel formação de produtos de degradação entre os fĂĄrmacos furosemida e aminofilina quando estes foram veiculados em soluçÔes parenterais, apĂłs o preparo e apĂłs o perĂodo de 20 h. Furosemida e aminofilina foram adicionadas Ă s soluçÔes de 20% manitol e 0,9% NaCl nos valores de pH 6,5-7,5 e 10-11. A estabilidade dos fĂĄrmacos foi avaliada individualmente, combinada e apĂłs degradação com perĂłxido de hidrogĂȘnio atravĂ©s de espectrofotometria de UV e HPLC. Furosemida e aminofilina individualmente avaliadas mostraram alta estabilidade em ambas as soluçÔes estudadas nos valores de pH 10-11. Quando os fĂĄrmacos foram combinados o comportamento da furosemida foi similar ao observado na ausĂȘncia de aminofilina. Os fĂĄrmacos combinados em 20% manitol pH10-11 por HPLC foram estĂĄveis apĂłs o perĂodo de 20 h. ApĂłs degradação o perfil de cromatograma encontrado foi diferente do observado na ausĂȘncia de degradação mostrando que o mĂ©todo Ă© indicativo de estabilidade.Fundação de Amparo Ă Pesquisa do Estado de SĂŁo Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPq)Coordenadoria de Apoio a Pesquisa (CAPES
Determination of decimal reduction time (D-value) of chemical agents used in hospital disinfection
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