• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.680-684
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• 2005

Ginseng, the root of Panax ginseng CA Meyer, is well known as a tonic medicine for restoring and enhancing human health. In traditional medicine, ginseng is utilized for the alleviation of emesis, which includes nausea and vomiting. However, it has not yet been demonstrated whether ginseng exhibits in vivo anti-nausea and anti-vomiting properties. In this study, we examined the anti-emetic effect of Korean red ginseng total extract (KRGE) on cisplatin-induced nausea and vomiting using ferrets. Intraperitoneal administration (i.p.) of cisplatin (7.5 mg/kg) induced both nausea and vomiting with one-hour latency. The episodes of nausea and vomiting reached a peak after 1.5 h and persisted for 3 h. Treatment with KRGE via oral route significantly reduced the cisplatin-induced nausea and vomiting in a dose-dependent manner. The anti-emetic effect was 12.7 $\pm$ 8.6, 31.8 $\pm$ 6.9, and 67.6 $\pm$ 4.0$\%$ with doses of 0.3, 1.0, and 3.0 g/kg of KRGE, respectively. Pretreatment with KRGE via oral route 1 and 2 h before cisplatin administration also significantly attenuated the cisplatin-induced nausea and vomiting. However this did not occur with a pretreatment 4 h before cisplatin administration. These results are supportive of KRGE being utilized as an anti-emetic agent against nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy (i.e. cisplatin).

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 1997

We determined the microviscosity of synaptosomal plasma membrane vesicles (SPMV) isolated from bovine cerebral cortex and liposomes of total lipids (SPMTL) and phospholipids (SPMPL) extracted from SPMV. Changes in the microviscosity induced by the range and rate of lateral diffusion were measured by the intramolecular excimerization of 1, 3-di(1-pyrenyl)propane (Py-3-Py). The microviscosity values of the direct probe environment in SPMV, SPMTL and SPMPL were 38.17, 31.11 and 27.64 cP, respectively, at$37^{\circ}C$and the activation energies $(E_a)$ of the excimer formation of Py-3-Py in SPMV, SPMTL and SPMPL were 8.236, 7.448 amd 7.025 kcal/mol, respectively. Probe location was measured by polarity and polarizability parameters of the probe Py-3-Py and probe analogues, pyrene, 1-pyrenenonanol and 1-pyrenemethyl-3${\beta}$-hydroxy-22, 23-bisnor-5-cholenate (PMC), incorporated into membranes or solubilized in reference solvents. There existed a good linear relationship between the first absorption peak of the $^1_a$ band and the polarizability parameter $(n^{2}-1)/(2n^{2}+1)$.The calculated refractive index values for SPMV, SPMTL and SPMPL were close to 1.50, which is higher than that of liquid paraffin (n=l.475). The probe location was also determined by using a polarity parameter $(f-1/2f^{I})$. Here f=$({\varepsilon}-1)/(2{\varepsilon}+1)$ is the dielectric constant function and $f^I=(n^2-1)/(2n^2+1)$ is the refractive index function. A correlation existed between the monomer fluorescence intensity ratio and the solvent polarity parameter. The probes incorporated in SPMV, SPMTL, and SPMPL report a polarity value close to that of 1-hexanol $({\varepsilon}=13.29)$. In conclusion, Py-3-Py is located completely inside the membrane, not in the very hydrophobic core, but displaced toward the polar head groups of phospholipid molecules, e.g., central methylene region of aliphatic chains of phospholipid molecules.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.961-967
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• 2004

The development of an antibody labeling method with $^{99m}$Tc is important for cancer imaging. Most bifunctional chelate methods for $^{99m}$Tc labeling of antibody incorporate a $^{99m}$Tc chelator through a linkage to lysine residue. In the present study, a novel site-specific $^{99m}$Tc labeling method at carbohydrate side chain in the Fc region of 2 antibodies (T101 and rabbit anti-human serum albumin antibody (RPAb)) using dihydrazinophthalazine (DHZ) which has 2 hydrazino groups was developed. The antibodies were oxidized with sodium periodate to pro-duce aldehyde on the Fc region. Then, one hydrazine group of DHZ was conjugated with an aldehyde group of antibody through the formation of a hydrazone. The other hydrazine group was used for labeling with $^{99m}$Tc. The number of conjugated DHZ was 1.7 per antibody. $^{99m}$Tc labeling efficiency was 46-85％ for T101 and 67∼87％ for RPAb. Indirect labeling with DHZ conjugated antibodies showed higher stability than direct labeling with reduced antibodies. High immunoreactivities were conserved for both indirectly and directly labeled antibodies. A biodistribution study found high blood activity related to directly labeled T1 01 at early time point as well as low liver activity due to indirectly labeled T101 at later time point. However, these findings do not affect practical use. No significantly different biodistribution was observed in the other organs. The research concluded that DHZ can be used as a site-specific bifunctional chelating agent for labeling antibody with $^{99m}$Tc. Moreover, $^{99m}$Tc labeled antibody via DHZ was found to have excellent chemical and biological properties for nuclear medicine imaging.edicine imaging.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.224-231
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• 2003

The anti-thrombotic effects of LB30057, a direct thrombin inhibitor, were evaluated with in vivo rat and dog thrombosis models. In rats, 1 mg/kg of LB30057 inhibited half of the clot formations in the inferior vena cava at 5 minutes after intravenous application. When measured at 2 hours after oral application, 100 mg/kg prevented approximately half of the clot formations in the inferior vena cava and 50 mg/kg prolonged the mean occlusion time from $15.6{\pm}1.3$ minutes to $47.2{\pm}8.3$ minutes in the carotid artery. In dogs, the formation of thrombus in the jugular vein was reduced to half at a dose range of 20-30 mg/kg at 6 hours after oral application. In addition, the LB30057 dosage required to reduce venous clot formation by approximately 80-90% in dogs was only about 10% of that required for the same reduction in rats. This is probably due to the variation in its time-dependent blood concentration profiles in each species; for example, the plasma half-life of LB71350 in dogs was longer than that in rats ($153.0{\pm}3.0$ vs. $129.7{\pm}12.7$ min at 30 mg/kg, i.v., respectively). AUG, $T_{max},{\;}G_{max}$, and BA in dogs were 59, 8.9, 9.17, and 13.3 times higher than those in rats at oral 30 mg/kg, respectively. Taken together, these results suggest that LB30057 administered orally is effective in the prevention of arterial and venous thrombosis in rats and dogs. It therefore represents a good lead compound for investigations to discover a new, orally available, therapeutic agent for treating thrombotic diseases.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.863-866
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• 2004

The effect of substance P (Sub P) injected intrathecally (I.t.) on c-fos mRNA expression in vari-ous tissues was examined in the present study. We found that a single administration of Sub P(0.5 nM) caused an increase of the c-fos mRNA level in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA) axis, hippocampus, and spinal cord. The time-course study showed that c-fos mRNA level was maximal at 10 min and began to decrease 30 min after the Sub P injection in all tis-sues, and the Sub P-induced increase of the c-fos mRNA level was returned to the control level 1 h after the injection. The kinetics of the c-fos mRNA expression in mice that were repeatedly injected with Sub P (every 30 min interval up to 4 times) were different in the HPA axis, hippocampus, and spinal cord. The increased c-fos mRNA level in the hypothalamus and the spinal cord induced by I.t. injected Sub P remained at a high level. In the pituitary gland, adrenal gland, and hippocampus, the increased level of c-fos mRNA expression gradually returned to the control level during the repeated substance P injections up to 4 times. Our results suggest that spinally injected Sub P-induced pain stress increases c-fos mRNA expres-sion in the spinal cord, hippocampus, and HPA axis. In mice repeatedly injected with Sub P, the kinetics of c-fos mRNA appear to be different varied from tissue to tissue.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2005

We evaluated the antiplatelet effects of two classes of ATP-sensitive potassium channel openers $(K_{ATP}\;openers)$ on washed human platelets, and the study's emphasis was on the role of mitochondrial $K_{ATP}$ in platelet aggregation. Collagen-induced platelet aggregation was inhibited in a dose dependent manner by lemakalim and SKP-450, which are potent cardio-nonselective $K_{ATP}$ openers, and also by cardioselective BMS-180448 and BMS-191095 $(IC_{50}\;:\;1,130,\;>\;1,500,\;305.3\;and\;63.9\;{\mu}M,\;respectively)$, but a significantly greater potency was noted for the cardioselective $K_{ATP}$ openers. The latter two $K_{ATP}$ openers also inhibited platelet aggregation induced by thrombin, another important blood-borne platelet activator, with similar rank order of potency $(IC_{50}\;:\;498.0\;and\;104.8{\mu}M\; for\;BMS-180448\;and\;BMS-191095,\;respectively)$. The inhibitory effects of BMS-191095 on collagen-induced platelet aggregation were significantly blocked by a 30-min pretreatment of platelets with glyburide $(1{\mu}M)$ or sodium 5-hydroxyde­canoate$(5-HD,\;100{\mu}M)$, a nonselective and selective mitochondrial $K_{ATP}$ antagonist, respectively, at similar magnitudes; this indicates the role of mitochondrial $K_{ATP}$ in the antiplatelet activity of BMS-191095. However, glyburide and 5-HD had no effect when they were added to the platelet cuvette immediately prior to the addition of BMS-191095. These findings indicate that cardioselective mitochondrial $K_{ATP}$ openers like BMS-191095 are able to exert cardioprotective effects in cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury via dual mechanisms directed at the inhibition of platelet aggregation and the protection of cardiomyocytes, and both these mechanisms are mediated by mitochondrial$K_{ATP}$.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-4
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• 2003

Cyclosporine (CsA) has become well established as a potent immunosuppressive agent in the renal transplantation. However, therapy is complicated by large intraindividual and interindividual variability in pharmacokinetics of CsA and frequent undesirable clinical outcomes such as graft rejection and nephrotoxicity. The objective of this study was to determine the CsA trough blood concentrations that were associated with acute graft rejection and renal toxicity in renal transplant patients. Also, the ability of the current recommendation of therapeutic range for CsA to prevent graft rejections and CsA-associated renal toxicity was assessed. The clinical courses of the patients on CsA as an immusuppressive agent for preventing the graft rejection with renal ransplantation performed at Seoul National University Hospital from January 1995 to September 1998 were retrospectively reviewed. Total of 78 patients were included and three of them were retransplantation cases. Twenty-two acute episodes of rejection were identified, but only 16 episodes were clinically significant. Of these all the episodes occurred during the first month after transplantation except one. Mean daily doses of CsA were $427.2\pm72.1,\;352.6\pm56.8,\;308.62\pm48.3\;and\;268.47.1\;mg$ at posttransplant 1, 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. Mean CsA whole blood though levels were $259.8\pm36.2,\;238.5\pm39,\;200.8\pm45.8\;and\;161.9\pm25.8\;ng/ml$ at posttransplant 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, respectively. Mean daily doses/weight were $7.9\pm1,\;6.4\pm1,\;5.3\pm0.7\;and\;4.6\pm0.7\;mg/kg$ at posttransplant 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, respectively. CsA doses decreased significantly as months progressed (p<0.001). During the first month after transplantation, only $12.5\%$ of the patients in rejection group had CsA concentration in therapeutic range, and 87.5, 93.8, and $100\%$ were within the therapeutic range at posttransplant 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. These results suggested that CsA concentrations of $250\sim300\;ng/ml$ might be appropriate for preventing the acute rejection during the first posttransplant month.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.151-158
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• 2015

Objective: This study was designed to compare pegfilgrastim and filgrastim in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients treated with a rituximab with cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, oncovin, and prednisone (R-CHOP) regimen in terms of clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness. Method: Clinical efficacy was measured by trough level of absolute neutrophil count (ANC), days of ANC under 50% of baseline value, days of ANC under 90% of baseline value, duration of ANC recovery to baseline value, days of ANC less than $0.5{\times}10^9cells/L$, and difference of peak and trough level of ANC during 1 cycle of R-CHOP regimen. To evaluate cost-effectiveness, total prices of used filgrastim and pegfilgrastim within 1 cycle of R-CHOP were analyzed. Results: In terms of clinical efficacy, trough level of ANC and days to ANC recovery showed statistical significance. The median trough levels of ANC with administration of filgrastim and pegfilgrastim were 0.18 and 1.94 (p = 0.021), respectively, and the median durations of ANC recovery to baseline value were 5.5 days and 2 days (p = 0.023), respectively. For the median days of ANC under 50% of baseline value, days of ANC under 90% of baseline value, days of ANC less than $0.5{\times}10^9cells/L$, and difference of peak and trough level of ANC during 1 cycle of R-CHOP, the pegfilgrastim group performed better than the filgrastim group. However the difference was not statistically significant. In terms of overall expense during 1 cycle of R-CHOP, pegfilgrastim is about 3.43 times more expensive than filgrastim. Conclusion: Pegfilgrastim is more efficient than filgrastim in terms of clinical efficacy. In terms of prices, pegfilgrastim is more expensive than filgrastim for patients, but it is more convenient in clinical use. Therefore, pegfilgrastim should be the preferred choice of G-CSF for neutropenic patients. Further comparative study of pegfilgrastim and filgrastim is needed.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.255-261
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• 2010

Cefprozil is a broad-spectrum oral beta-lactam cephalosporin consisting of cis- and trans-isomeric mixture whose ratio is approximately 90:10. Cefprozil is used to treat certain infections caused by bacteria such as bronchitis and ear, skin, and throat infections. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the bioequivalence of two cefprozil tablets, $Cefzil^{(R)}$ tablet 250 mg (BMS Pharmaceutical Korea., Ltd.) and Procezil tablet 250 mg (Hanmi Pharm. Co., Ltd.), according to the guidelines of the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). The in vitro release of cefprozil from the two cefprozil formulations were tested using KP VIII Apparatus I method with water dissolution media. Thirty five healthy male subjects, $24.00{\pm}1.53$ years in age and $69.77{\pm}9.99$ kg in body weight, were divided into two groups and a randomized $2{\times}2$ cross-over study was employed. After four tablets containing 1000 mg as cefprozil were orally administered, blood samples were taken at predetermined time intervals and the concentrations of cefprozil in serum were determined using HPLC/UV detector. The dissolution profiles of two formulations were similar in water tested dissolution media. The pharmacokinetic parameters such as $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$ on the basis of total-cefprozil were calculated, and computer program (K-BE Test 2002) was utilized for the statistical analysis of the parameters using logarithmically transformed $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and untransformed $T_{max}$. The results showed that the differences between two formulations based on the reference drug, $Cefzil^{(R)}$ tablets, were -0.81%, -3.00% and -6.83% for $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$, respectively. There were no sequence effects between two formulations in these parameters. The 90% confidence intervals using logarithmically transformed data were within the acceptance range of log 0.8 to log 1.25 (e.g., log 0.9515~log 1.0454 and log 0.9613~log 1.0465 for $AUC_t$ and $C_{max}$, respectively). Thus, the criteria of the KFDA bioequivalence guideline were satisfied, indicating Procezil tablet was bioequivalent to $Cefzil^{(R)}$ tablet.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.235-241
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• 2010

Bambuterol hydrochloride, dimethylcarbamic acid 5-[2-(1,1-dimethylethyl)amino-1-hydroxyethyl]-1,3-phenylene ester hydrochloride, is the prodrug of active ${\beta}_2$-adrenergic metabolite terbutaline. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the bioequivalence of two bambuterol hydrochloride tablets, $Bambec^{(R)}$ tablet 10 mg (Yuhan Co., Ltd.) and Bambucol tablet 10 mg (Sam Chun Dang Pharm. Co., Ltd.), according to the guidelines of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). In vitro release of bambuterol from two bambuterol hydrochloride formulations was tested using KP VIII Apparatus II method with various dissolution media. Twenty eight healthy male Korean volunteers, $23.86{\pm}1.65$ years in age and $68.98{\pm}9.58$ kg in body weight, were divided into two groups and a randomized $2{\times}2$ cross-over study was employed. After two tablets containing 10 mg as bambuterol hydrochloride were orally administered, blood samples were taken at predetermined time intervals, and the concentrations of bambuterol in serum were determined using column switching HPLC with UV detector. The dissolution profiles of two formulations were similar in all tested dissolution media. The pharmacokinetic parameters such as $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$ were calculated, and ANOVA test with K-BE Test 2002 was utilized for the statistical analysis of the parameters using logarithmically transformed $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and untransformed $T_{max}$. The results showed that the differences between two formulations based on the reference drug, $Bambec^{(R)}$, were -8.10%, -3.82% and 12.65% for $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$, respectively. There were no sequence effects between two formulations in these parameters. The 90% confidence intervals using logarithmically transformed data were within the acceptance range of log 0.8 to log 1.25 (i.e., log 0.8093~log 1.0302 and log 0.8564~log 1.1280 for $AUC_t$ and $C_{max}$, respectively). Thus, the criteria of the KFDA bioequivalence guideline were satisfied, indicating Bambucol tablet 10 mg was bioequivalent to $Bambec^{(R)}$ tablet 10 mg.