Feature Channels: Pharmaceuticals

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Of all the nutritional supplements on stores shelves, only three have been shown to provide any benefit to the heart.

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The popular heartburn drug ranitidine, commonly known as Zantac, was voluntarily recalled due to the contamination of a human carcinogen that could potentially cause cancer. The recall includes oral tablets, capsules, and syrup.

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In a recent study using mice, lab-grown human retinal cells and patient samples, Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they found evidence of a new pathway that may contribute to degeneration of the light sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The findings, they conclude, bring scientists a step closer to developing new drugs for a central vision-destroying complication of diabetes that affects an estimated 750,000 Americans.

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In this issue, Guest Editor Veli-Pekka Jaakola, Ph.D., (Confo Therapeutics, Belgium) includes a series of articles focused on new screening tools and assays that find new chemical matter for medically relevant membrane protein targets. In addition, an overview of a new and emerging protein-lipid reconstitution methodology utilizing Styrene Maleic Acid (SMA) polymers is featured.

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Scientists at Oregon State University may have proven how much people love coffee, tea, chocolate, soda and energy drinks as they validated their new method for studying how different drugs interact in the body.

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Inhaled cannabis reduces self-reported headache severity by 47.3% and migraine severity by 49.6%, according to a recent study led by Carrie Cuttler, a Washington State University assistant professor of psychology.

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University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers examined the effects of baloxavir treatment on influenza virus samples collected from patients before and after treatment.

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A process called sporulation that helps the dangerous bacterium Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) to survive inhospitable conditions and spread is regulated by epigenetics, factors that affect gene expression beyond the DNA genetic code.

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Doctors need better ways to detect and monitor heart disease, the leading cause of death in industrialized countries. Researchers have developed an improved optical imaging technique that found differences between potentially life-threatening coronary plaques and those posing less imminent danger for patients with coronary artery disease. Their method may give cardiologists additional data to identify patients at higher risk of future heart attacks and help them improve medical therapy.

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A $150,000 pledge from the Om Foundation will aid investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in examining a certain type of medication that impacts gene activity in the treatment of a form of pediatric brain cancer.

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University of South Australia biomedical engineer Dr Marnie Winter has been awarded US$100,000 from the world’s largest private foundation to help better understand and tackle a condition which kills 76,000 women and 500,000 babies each year.

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Imagine not being able to drive, shower alone or even work because you are never quite sure when the next seizure will leave you incapacitated. Hope may be on the horizon for epilepsy patients who have had limited success with seizure drugs. In a study, led by a Johns Hopkins lead investigator, of 437 patients across 107 institutions in 16 countries, researchers found that the investigational drug cenobamate reduced seizures 55% on the two highest doses of this medication that were tested over the entire treatment period.

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New research led by Queen’s University Belfast has found that men who are on statins, medicine used to lower blood cholesterol, may have a reduced risk of developing a more lethal form of prostate cancer.

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Despite efforts over multiple decades, there are still no cell lines for marine invertebrates. For the first time, scientists have developed a breakthrough in marine invertebrate (sponge) cell culture, demonstrating exceptionally fast cell division and the ability to subculture the cells. This groundbreaking discovery forms the basis for developing marine invertebrate cell models to better understand early animal evolution, determine the role of secondary metabolites, predict the impact of climate change to coral reef community ecology and develop novel medicines.

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With a little time, some information and a few questions, neurologists can help women with epilepsy make choices about birth control, folic acid supplements, and pregnancy.

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The inventors of a cancer immunotherapy developed at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center have announced a major step forward with that therapy, SurVaxM — a multimillion-dollar licensing deal that will help enable large, randomized clinical trials in both the U.S. and China.

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A Tulane University researcher is part of a nationwide initiative to improve treatment of chronic pain and ultimately achieve long-term recovery from opioid addiction. Michael J. Moore, professor of biomedical engineering in the Tulane School of Science and Engineering, is part of a $945 million National Institutes of Health project called the HEAL Initiative, or Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative.

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A team of researchers at Notre Dame put out a call to the masses, enlisting researchers, data scientists and health professionals to analyze genomic data from emerging drug-resistant malaria parasites and gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of resistance.

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Research from Florida State University is giving physicians a better understanding of ketamine, a potentially useful tool in treating depression that still has unanswered questions. A team of researchers working in the laboratory of Mohamed Kabbaj, a professor of Biomedical Sciences and Neuroscience in the College of Medicine, showed that ketamine can decrease alcohol consumption in male rats that previously had consumed high amounts of alcohol when given unrestricted access several times a week.

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The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) announced today that Fresenius Kabi USA will continue its partnership with ASA as an ASA Industry Supporter. Fresenius Kabi is a global health care company that specializes in medicines and technologies for infusion, transfusion and clinical nutrition. It is a leading provider of affordable, generic anesthesia medicines in the United States.

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The research team looked at all research on the effects of cannabis use on illicit opioid use during methadone maintenance therapy, which is a common treatment for opioid use disorder, and found six studies involving more than 3,600 participants.

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A new screening system developed by scientists at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center leverages redundancy in an important component of a cell – nucleotide metabolism – to help identify new drugs that specifically and potently block processes that are essential for cancer cell growth.

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Israeli researchers have developed new technology for transporting drugs within silicon nanostructures to the brain. These nanostructures release an essential protein, which can inhibit the development of Alzheimer's disease, and provide targeted delivery in the brain with the use of a “gene gun.”

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Cornell researchers have uncovered the structure of a regulatory mechanism unique to bacteria, opening the door for designing new antibiotics targeted to pathogens.

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Less than a century after the discovery of antibiotics, the world is at risk of entering an era in which the life-saving drugs no longer work.

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Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have identified a combination of two anti-cancer compounds that shrank pancreatic tumors in mice—supporting the immediate evaluation of the drugs in a clinical trial. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved versions of the compounds are used today to treat certain leukemias and solid tumors, including melanoma. The study was published in Nature Cell Biology.

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National Institutes of Health researchers found that a single, low-dose ketamine infusion was relatively free of side effects for patients with treatment-resistant depression. Elia Acevedo-Diaz, M.D., Carlos Zarate, M.D., and colleagues at the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) report their findings in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

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ASA and CAE Healthcare today announced the release of the final two training modules of Anesthesia SimSTAT, their first of its kind virtual simulation program. The new modules, designed for the PACU and labor and delivery unit, are the last in a suite of five innovative training modules.

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Stigma and safety fears have made daily dose tapering of opioid prescriptions more common. New research from UC Davis Health physicians, however, shows tapering can occur at rates as much as six times higher than recommended, putting patients at risk of withdrawal, uncontrolled pain or mental health crises.

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The largest-ever clinical trial of a medication for pediatric cardiology patients found that an oral drug significantly improved exercise capacity in adolescent patients with severe, congenital single-ventricle heart defects. A study leader says the physiologic benefits represent a milestone in pediatric cardiology.

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Twice-yearly injections of an experimental cholesterol-lowering drug, inclisiran, were effective at reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, often called bad cholesterol, in patients already taking the maximum dose of statin drugs, according to data of the ORION-10 trial presented Saturday, Nov. 16, at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2019.

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New research from Dr. Luis M. Schang and his group at the Baker Institute for Animal Health has identified a new mechanism that plays a role in controlling how the herpes virus alternates between dormant and active stages of infection.

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University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have discovered a promising method to identify aggressive breast cancer tumors that will respond to drugs that unleash the immune system against cancer.

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Over eight years of follow-up, those who self-reported regular use of prescription drugs for pain and sleep had a 95 percent increased risk of frailty compared to those who did not report regular use of these drugs. For regular prescription drug use for pain only or for sleep only, the increased risks were 58 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has awarded $1.7 million to five universities, including Indiana University, for a wide-ranging research project designed to help the agency better understand how to employ its quality management resources when inspecting drug companies' manufacturing operations, thus benefiting consumers.

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In a new study presented to heart specialists from around the world, researchers at the Intermountain Healthcare Heart Institute in Salt Lake City found that simple “nudges” in the form of texts, emails and phone calls, not only help patients fill that first statin prescription, but also continue to help them take their medications over the long term.

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The Antibiotic Resistance Threats Report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control today shows that while recent federal investments to combat antibiotic resistance have had meaningful impacts, the continued spread of infections that are not effectively treated by existing medicines pose deadly threats to patients and public health. As physicians and scientists on the front lines of a growing public health crisis, the Infectious Diseases Society of America urges federal policy makers to respond to the report’s warning with investments and commitment to turning the tide of antibiotic resistance.

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Lawmakers across the United States continue to debate the safety of kratom, an opioid-containing plant that has been listed as a "drug of concern" by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Kratom is sold over the counter in specialty stores and online.

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By identifying a molecule that delays the progression of MS, researchers pave the way for new therapies for the nearly 77,000 Canadians living with the disease.

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Research co-led by a St. Jude investigator and researchers from Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute reveals the mechanics of how some transporter proteins function with stunning specificity.

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Anthrax may soon help more people win the fight against bladder cancer, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says strikes about 72,000 Americans each year and kills about 16,000,

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The lack of a clinically viable method to track and direct cancer drugs to tumors is a big problem for targeted therapeutics. But a new ultrasonic method proposed by biomedical engineers from Qifa Zhou’s team at the University of Southern California could enable acoustic control and real-time tracking of drug release within the body. The researchers report on their manipulation of ultrasonic waves to pinpoint drug delivery in Applied Physics Letters.

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Researchers at Montana Technological University have developed a portable electrospinning device with a confined electric field that can safely deposit bandages and drugs directly onto biological surfaces, using air to spray the fibers out onto the surface, like a can of spray paint. The device can be used to cover wounds and provide controlled drug release over time, and is described in the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B.

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Researchers from Penn compare a lymphoma-dose regimen of rituximab to a rheumatoid arthritis regimen for the treatment of pemphigus.

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The ADA’s recent updates were developed with expert panel representation from the AAE and provide guidance on when antibiotics should be used in dental treatment.

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Research presented at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting found that a six-week treatment with low-dose oral prednisolone substantially improves pain and decreases signs of inflammation in patients with painful hand osteoarthritis.

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A new study found that very few serious infections were seen in children born to mothers with chronic inflammatory diseases who used non-TNFi biologics or tofacitinib during pregnancy compared to children not exposed to these drugs and children exposed to TNFi biologics in utero. These findings are being presented this week at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting (Abstract #1901).

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New research findings presented at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting found that annual spending on biologic DMARDS (biologics) by U.S. public programs and beneficiaries nearly doubled from 2012 to 2016.

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According to new research findings presented at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting, methotrexate did not demonstrate superior efficacy over placebo for pain relief and function evolution at three and 12 months in patients with erosive hand osteoarthritis, but did significantly reduce the progression of joint damage over placebo and seems to facilitate bone remodeling in these patients