• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10705-10711
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• 2015

Oral cancer is one of the most common and lethal cancers in the world. Combination chemotherapy coupled with nanoparticle drug delivery holds substantial promise in cancer therapy. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two dosages of our novel pH and temperature sensitive doxorubicin-methotrexate-loaded nanoparticles (DOX-MTX NPs) with attention to the MMP-2 mRNA profile in a 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide induced oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) model in the rat. Our results showed that both IV and oral dosages of DOX-MTX NP caused significant decrease in mRNA levels of MMP-2 compared to the untreated group (p<0.003). Surprisingly, MMP-2 mRNA was not affected in DOX treated compared to cancer group (p>0.05). Our results indicated that IV dosage of MTX-DOX is more effective than free DOX (12 fold) in inhibiting the activity of MMP-2 in OSCCs (P<0.001). Furthermore, MMP-2 mRNA expression in the DOX-MTX treated group showed a significant relation with histopathological changes (P=0.011). Compared to the untreated cancer group, we observed no pathological changes and neither a significant alteration in MMP-2 amount in either of healthy controls that were treated with oral and IV dosages of DOX-MTX NPs whilst cancer group showed a high level of MMP-2 expression compared to healthy controls (p<0.001).Taking together our results indicate that DOX-MTX NPs is a safe chemotherapeutic nanodrug that its oral and IV forms possess potent anti-cancer properties on aggressive tumors like OSCC, possibly by affecting the expression of genes that drive tumor invasion and metastasis.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.230-240
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• 2002

Background : The purpose of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate the pharmacist intervention program designed to identify and correctly adjust the dosage of $H_2$-receptor antagonists ($H_2RA$) in renally impaired patients and promote timely conversion of $H_2RA$ from IV to PO therapy. Methods : The study population consisted of renally impaired patients who received $H_2RA$ therapy from April 9 to May 8, 2001 at Hallym Medical Center. Each morning a specifically developed software program identified patients with serum creatinine (Scr) greater than 1.2 mg/dl or age greater than 65 years. The pharmacist, then screened the pharmacy profiles of the identified patients to determine if the patient was on $H_2RA$. For these patients on $H_2RA$ with renal impairement the creatinine clearance (CrCl) was calculated using Cockroft & Gault equation. The pharmacist determined the proper dosage for each identified patients based on the calculated CrCl and the oral dosage that would be appropriate for whom IV therapy was no longer indicated. Result : A total of 149 cases (101 patients) were monitored during the study period. The dosage was inappropriately prescribed for renal function in 61 of 149 cases (41%), and of those, pharmacist made recommendations for 58 cases of which 33 cases (57%) were accepted by the physicians. The administration route of H2RA was inappropriately used as IV in 22 of 53 cases (42%), and pharmacist made recommendations for those 22 cases of which 15 cases (68%) were accepted. Conclusion : Monitoring of patients with renal dysfunction by a pharmacist improved the dosing of $H_2RA$ and a dosing program of patients with renal impairment would be of benefit to other clinicians and institutions seeking to optimize patient care.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.210-214
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• 2008

The pharmacokinetic parameters and bioavailability of pranoprofen from the gel were measured to determine the enhancing effect of octanoic acid on the transdermal absorption of pranoprofen in rats. 8 mg/kg of pranoprofen was administered from gel with octanoic acid (the enhancer group) or that without octanoic acid (the control group) via the transdermal route, and the results were compared with those obtained from the intravenously (0.5 mg/kg, IV group) or orally administered group (4 mg/kg, oral group). The AUC of the control, the enhancer, the IV, and the oral groups were $20.2{\pm}5.1$, $50.7{\pm}12.7$, $19.9{\pm}2.5$, and $70.5{\pm}17.6\;ug/ml{\cdot}h$ respectively. The average $C_{max}$ of the control and the enhancer group were $0.93{\pm}0.23$ and $2.82{\pm}0.71\;ug/ml$, respectively, and the mean $T_{max}$ of the control and the enhancer group was 7.00 h. The relative bioavailability of the transdermally administered pranoprofen gel containing octanoic acid was approximately 2.50 times higher than the control group, showing a relatively constant, sustained blood concentration with minimal fluctuation. This suggests that it might be feasible to develop a pranoprofen gel preparation containing an enhancer for the transdermal administration, which is more convenient dosage form than the oral dosage forms.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.65-72
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• 2014

Objectives : The objective of this study was to evaluate the treatment duration and adherence of osmotic-controlled release oral delivery system (OROS) methylphenidate for treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods : A total of 843 children with ADHD were recruited : 213 children (25.3%) who had previously taken medications for ADHD and 630 drug-na$\ddot{i}$ve children (74.7%) were recruited. The dosage was adjusted according to the clinician's judgment. The primary efficacy endpoint of this study was treatment retention rate, which was estimated at Week 12 and Week 20 using the Kaplan-Meier curve. The Swanson, Nolan and Pelham-IV (SNAP-IV), Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S), Clinical Global Impression-Improvement, and the side effect rating scale were measured at every visit. Remission rates were presented based on SNAP-IV and CGI-S, respectively. Results : The treatment retention rate at 12 weeks and at 20 weeks was 76.2% and 66.8%, respectively. Divided according to 6-8, 9-11, 12-14 and 15-18 years of age, younger children tended to show a statistically higher treatment retention rate (p=.02). Based on SNAP-IV and CGI scores, children with better response to medication showed tendencies of statistically higher treatment retention rate. The most common adverse events included loss of appetite (7.1%) and insomnia (3.3%). There was no serious adverse event related to the treatment, such as death. Conclusion : The use of OROS methylphenidate for treatment of ADHD was safe and tolerable for children. In this study, lower age and better treatment response showed a statistically significant relationship with higher treatment adherence. Boys showed a trend of high treatment adherence. The treatment adherence at 20 weeks was satisfactory, however, the treatment adherence after 20 weeks showed a sharp decrease. Therefore, treatment persistence for six months after the beginning of ADHD treatment is important. In addition, the positive role of psycho-education for children and parents is necessary for increasing treatment adherence.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.193-199
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• 2010

Tacrolimus, an immunosuppressant prescribed against graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in patients with allogeneichematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), is affected to change its pharmacokinetic properties by various factors. For this reason, it is needed a close monitoring to adjust dosage amount in order to optimize the blood concentration of tacrolimus is located within the effective range. According to our in-house study, 62% of HSCT-patients were needed dosage-adjustment and it is necessary to optimize the current immunosuppressive regimen in clinical settings. A retrospective study was designed to evaluate the dosing regimen (converting ratio of IV:PO=1:4) of tacrolimus in HSCT patients (n=62). After collecting data from patient's profile and medical record, pharmacokinetic parameters were calculate and compared between the estimated and the actual values in the selected subjects (n=58). It was found that the bioavailabilty (BA) of oral tacrolimus was 40.5% very much different from that is known as 25%. It implies that the current protocol has a potent risk causes dose-related toxicities to the patients. Furthermore, analyses among factors demonstrated that there was no statistical significance between BA of tacrolimus and the variable factors. In the clinical perspectives, the current converting ratio of tacrolimus in patients with HSCT to be re-considered and an appropriate and optimal alternative regimen should be adopted to prevent GVHD and to increase the quality of life of patients.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.183-198
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• 1998

This study was done in order to present clinical trial method for safety of herb-acupuncture. The results were summerized as follow: In case of western medicine, clinical trial divides into four phase 1. Phase I: Investigate safety and drug movement for health people. 2. The first phase II: Investigate safety, effectiveness for the limited patient. The late phase II: Investigate propriety of an applicable disease, the way to use and dose. 3. Phase III: Through the comparative, public trial, investigate a final, applicable disease and side effect. 4. Phase IV: After NDA, investigate safety and effectiveness for the wide patients. In case of herb-acupuncture, we have to investigate the following for safety and effectiveness 1. Drug dose: Decide with 1/2 or 1/3 of oral dosage or a basis of animal's of maximum dosage or a ratio of man and animal. 2. Toxicity: Examine blood, urine, liver function, EKG, after herb-acupuncture during acertain period of time. 3. Regional response: Estimate response of swelling, redness, pruritus. etc 4. Treatment effectiveness: After exactly diagnosis, estimate effectiveness with a objective guide post.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.219-223
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• 1995

Rectal absorption of opeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor, from suppositories was studied in rabbits. The suppositories were prepared by the conventional melting method with two types of bases, water-soluble polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000 and oil-soluble Witepsol H15 bases, and administered intractally (ir) to rabbits at a dose of 10 mg omeprazole/kg. The plasma omeprazole concentration-time profiles of the two suppositories were compared with those following intravenous 9iv) administration of the same dose. There were no significant differences between the two suppositories in bioabailabilities and peak plasma concentrations $(C_{max})$. Bioavaiabilities and $C_{max}$ of PEG- and Witpsol suppositories were 30.3 and 33.9%, and 7.0 and $5.6\mug/ml$, resepectively. However, PEG suppository showed significantly (p<0.05) shorter time to reach peak plasma concentration $(T_{max})$ mean absorption time (MAT) and mean residence time in the plasma (MRT) than Witepsol suppository. The $T_{max}$ MRT nad MAT were 25.0, 83.0 and 38.5 min for PEG syppository, but were 90.0, 122.5 and 78.0 min for Wiepsol supposiotory, respectively. These differences between thw two suppositories could be explanined by the difference in the in vitro dissolution rates between the suppositories. The dissolution of omeprazole form PEG suppository was reportedly much faster than that from Witepsol suppository. It suggests that plasma profiles of omeprazole, especially $C_{max}$ MAT and MRT, could be controlled by modifying the in vitro dissolution rate of the drug from the suppositories. Above results suggest that rectal suppository is worth developing as an alternative dosage form of omeprazole to the conventional oral preparations which need sophisticated treatments, such as enterix coating, to prevent acid degradation of the drug in the stomach fluid.