• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.129-136
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• 2013

Objectives: Among many new drugs that are under investigation with intent to treat cancer, oral kinase inhibitors are proven to be effective in numerous clinical trials and easy to administer. Due to these advantages the use of oral kinase inhibitors is increasing. Oral kinase inhibitors are metabolized by CYP450 which can result either increase of adverse effect or decrease of drug effect by drug interaction when used concurrently with other agents. In this research, the medication records of patients on oral kinase inhibitors from Oct. 2010 to Nov. 2011 were reviewed to investigate potential drug interactions. Methods: From Oct. 2010 to Nov. 2011, cancer patients in Inha University Hospital who took oral kinase inhibitors more than once were included. The patients' medication records were reviewed to list out concurrent medications that have interaction potential with oral kinase inhibitors, the frequency of concurrent use, and the severity of interaction result using Micromedex$^{(R)}$ and Lexicomp-online$^{(R)}$ as references. Results: As a result, 90 cases of drug with interaction potential were prescribed by Micromedex$^{(R)}$ and 179 cases by Lexicomp-online$^{(R)}$ data. In case of severity, 33.3% by Micromedex$^{(R)}$ and 26.3% by Lexicomp-online$^{(R)}$ were categorized as Major and 65.6% by Micromedex$^{(R)}$ and 72.6% by Lexicomp-online$^{(R)}$ as Moderate. The number of adverse events was 92 cases which 58.7% were on skin and 19.6% on Gastro-intestinal tract. Conclusions: Considerable number of drug with interaction potential was used though each oral kinase inhibitors showed differences in extent. Hence there exists the risk of drug interaction in patients taking oral kinase inhibitors with other drugs.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.163-167
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• 2009

Since its first release in 2007, the National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation (NIFDS) has provided pharmacogenomic and comparative information specific to Koreans to allow regulatory reviewers and researchers to adapt their working practices to pharmacogenomics. The highlights of this year's additions include "Drug Information", "Gene Information" and "Pharmacogenomic information in the drug labels" sections. These new additions provide information on 737 genes, 719 drugs and pharmacogenomic data of the labels or relabels of 253 approved drugs as of November 2008. The latest version of the Korean Pharmacogenomic Database (KPD, release 2.0) has expanded significantly since its previous release. More SNP and haplotype information has been added to the database with the latest version of the KPD containing approximately four times as many SNPs and haplotypes than the previous version (719 vs. 152, and 30 vs. 7 respectively). Through the "SNP" and "Haplotype" sections, the KPD provides unique Korean SNP and haplotype information as well as comparative information of other populations (Japanese, Chinese, European, African) to offer a range of pharmacogenomic data that can help reviewers and the public understand pharmacogenomic information. The quality and quantity of information in the KPD has also been improved considerably. This data can be found at: http://www.nitr.go.kr/nitr/contents/m134700/view.do/.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.123-134
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• 2013

Purpose: The prescription drug list for primary treatment by community health practitioners has been maintained for 30 years without any modification. Thus, this study will suggest an improvement scheme of prescription drug list for primary health care posts through an analysis of drug use in those posts. Methods: A questionnaire survey was implemented with community health practitioners from April to June in 2012. A total of 1,249 copies were analyzed. As for the databases of drug use in the integrated information, a total of 154,229 diagnoses selected in the method of stratified cluster sampling from 39 primary health care posts' data were analyzed. We consulted some experts about the prescription medication list, and referred to the medication information on-line home page for up-to-date drug information. Results: This study ultimately suggests 77 prescription drug items for primary health care posts by eliminating 35 items and replacing 1 item from the original list, and adding 4 items to it. Conclusion: This study will provide basic data for revising the prescription drug list in primary health care posts by periodically reflecting adverse effects in the existing drugs, demographic and environmental changes, and development of new drugs.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2015

Treatment of Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LMC) from solid cancers has not advanced noticeably since the introduction of intra-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) chemotherapy in the 1970's. The marginal survival benefit and difficulty of intrathecal chemotherapy injection has hindered its wide spread use. Even after the introduction of intraventricular chemotherapy with Ommaya reservoir, frequent development of CSF flow disturbance, manifested as increased intracranial pressure (ICP), made injected drug to be distributed unevenly and thus, the therapy became ineffective. Systemic chemotherapy for LMC has been limited as effective CSF concentration can hardly be achieved except high dose methotrexate (MTX) intravenous administration. However, the introduction of small molecular weight target inhibitors for primary cancer treatment has changed the old concept of 'blood-brain barrier' as the ultimate barrier to systemically administered drugs. Conventional oral administration achieves an effective concentration at the nanomolar level. Furthermore, many studies report that a combined treatment of target inhibitor and intra-CSF chemotherapy significantly prolongs patient survival. Ventriculolumbar perfusion (VLP) chemotherapy has sought to increase drug delivery to the subarachnoid CSF space even in patients with disturbed CSF flow. Recently authors performed phase 1 and 2 clinical trial of VLP chemotherapy with MTX, and 3/4th of patients with increased ICP got controlled ICP and the survival was prolonged. Further trials are required with newly available drugs for CSF chemotherapy. Additionally, new LMC biologic/pharmacodynamic markers for early diagnosis and monitoring of the treatment response are to be identified with the help of advanced molecular biology techniques.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.115-122
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• 2000

The development of molecular biology has brought many changes in psychiatry. Molecular biology makes us possible to know the cause of mental disorders that provide the way to prevent the disorders, and to develop various accurate diagnostic and treatment methods for mental disorders. The author discusses the concept, cause, and treatment of mental disorders in the aspect of molecular biology. Importing the methods of molecular biology into psychiatry, we can anticipate to get a number of the goals of psychiatric genetics, including identification of specific susceptibility genes, clarification of the pathophysiological processes whereby these genes lead to symptoms, establishment of epigenetic factors that interact with these genes to produce disease, validation of nosological boundaries that more closely reflect the actions of these genes, and development of effective preventive and therapeutic interventions based on genetic counseling, gene therapy, and modification of permissive or protective environmental influences. In addition to their capacity to accelerate the discovery of new molecules participating in the nervous system's response to disease or to self-administered drugs, molecular biological strategies can also be used to determine how critical a particular gene product may be in mediating a cellular event with behavioral importance. Molecular biology probably enables us discover the environmental factors of mental disorders and allow rational drug design and gene therapies for mental disorders, by isolation of gene products that facilitate a basic understanding of the pathogenesis of these disorders. A specific genetic linkage may suggest a novel class of drugs that has not yet been tried. With respect to gene therapy, the hypothetical method would use a gene delivery system, most likely a modified virus, to insert a functional copy of a mutant gene into those brain cells that require the gene for normal function.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.171-177
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• 2006

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as indomethacin (IN) can exert anti-colorectal cancer (CRC) activity through cyclooxygenase independent mechanism, but the exactly biological mechanism is not completely known. Here we use proteomic tools to investigate the molecular mechanism of this action. First, nude mice bearing tumors derived from subcutaneous injection with human CRC cell line HCT116 were randomly allocated to groups treated with or without indomethacin. Later, tumor lumps were incised and then total proteins extracted. After separated with two-dimensional electrophoresis, thirty-one differently expressed spots were found between IN-treated and non-IN-treated groups, of which 25 spots decreased and 6 spots increased in abundance in IN-treated group. Through matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry and then NCBInr and SWISS-PROT databases searching, 12 protein spots were finally identified including galectin-1, annexin A1, annexin IV, trancription factor BTF3A, calreticulin. Most of the identified proteins are correlated with tumor's biological prosperities of proliferation, invasion, apoptosis and immunity, or take part in cell's signal transduction. From above we thought that indomethacin can exert its effect on colorectal cancer through regulating several proteins' expression directly or indirectly. Further study of these proteins may be helpful in founding new targets of drugs for cancer chemotherapy.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.25-56
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• 2000

Trace element are involved in enzymatic activities, immunological reactions. physiological mechanisms. Deficiency in some trace elements, such as iron and iodine. is still an important health problem, The role of trace elements deficiency is suspected in various clinical situations and is now confirmed by well designed supplementation studies. However, the importance of trace elements as chinese herbal constituents is not sufficiently appreciated by the oriental medical profession, although in recent years a significant increase of new finding on their essential character in chinese herbal medicine occurred. It is well known that herbal medicine contains a variety of trace elements which would show therapeutic effects with active components in herbal medicine . In china, recent work showed some positive correlation between trace element and traditional chinese medicine (TCM) in terms of therapeutic effects even if their role in therapeutic effects is still obscure. In korea, not much attention has been on the therapeutic importance of trace element contained in herbal medicine Here, the therapeutic effects of trace element in TCM were reviewed and summarized. 1. Iron, copper, zinc and manganese are mainly contained in TCM. In addtion, chromium, magnesium, molybdenum, nickel, alminium, cobalt, arsenic and selenium has been studied for their therapeutic effects 2. Zinc, is decreased in patients who have deficiency of kindney(腎虛) and chronic disease. Fe is decreased in patients who have deficiency of blood(血虛). However copper is increased in patients who have chronic disease and hepatic disease.3 Iron concentration is high in herbs used for tonifying and nourishing yin or blood(補陰補血藥) Zinc concentration is high also in herb used for tonifying kidiney and vital essence(補腎補精藥). In addition. copper concentration Is high in herb used for replenishing qi(補氣藥) 4 In herbal drugs, the therapeutic substances in TCM are not only organic but also inorganic. It seems that trace elements would be one of components in herb for its therapeutic effects. This indicates that therapeutic effects of TCM should be extended not only to herb itself, bur also to trace elements contained in herb.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.1216-1225
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• 2014

Biofilm-related infections of Candida albicans are a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients, especially those with immunocompromised status. Options of the antifungal drugs available for successful treatment of drug-resistant biofilms are very few, and as such, new strategies need to be explored against them. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of phenylpropanoids of plant origin against planktonic cells, important virulence factors, and biofilm forms of C. albicans. Standard susceptibility testing protocol was used to evaluate the activities of 13 phenylpropanoids against planktonic growth. Their effects on adhesion and yeast-to-hyphae morphogenesis were studied in microplate-based methodologies. An in vitro biofilm model analyzed the phenylpropanoid-mediated prevention of biofilm development and mature biofilms using XTT-metabolic assay, crystal violet assay, and light microscopy. Six molecules exhibited fungistatic activity at ${\leq}0.5mg/ml$, of which four were fungicidal at low concentrations. Seven phenylpropanoids inhibited yeast-to-hyphae transition at low concentrations (0.031-0.5 mg/ml), whereas adhesion to the solid substrate was prevented in the range of 0.5-2 mg/ml. Treatment with ${\leq}0.5mg/ml$ concentrations of at least six small molecules resulted in significant (p < 0.05) inhibition of biofilm formation by C. albicans. Mature biofilms that are highly resistant to antifungal drugs were susceptible to low concentrations of 4 of the 13 molecules. This study revealed phenylpropanoids of plant origin as promising candidates to devise preventive strategies against drug-resistant biofilms of C. albicans.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.427-433
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• 2004

With the Sunshine policy, exchange of materials and cultures inter Koreas has been broadened and expectancy of reunification is getting higher. Especially, medical supplies and medicines are one of the biggest parts in the exchange goods. So, preparing an unified official drug standard preparing new medical administration system is required. We compared the Korean pharmacopoeia with North Korean Pharmacopoeia. Two pharmacopoeias have been developed in different direction and have many differences in the nomenclature and format. In this study, we compared general notices, general rules for preparations and crude drugs, monographs, general tests, processes and apparatus.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.274-280
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• 1999

A variety of mechanism may generate pain resulting from injury to the central and peripheral nervous system. None of these mechanism is disease-specific, and several different pain mechanism may be simultaneously present in anyone patient, independent of diagnosis. Diagnosis of neuropathic pain is often easily made from information gathered on neurologic examination and from patient history. Although treatment of neuropathic pain may be difficult, optimum treatment can be achieved if the neurologist has a complete understanding of therapeutic options, the mainstay of which is pharmacotherapy. Selection of an appropriate rharmacologic agent is by trial and error since individual responses to different agents, doses, and serum levels are highly variable. An adequate trial for each agent tried is key to pharmacologic treatment of neuropathic pain. Tricyclic antidepressants are first-line agents, although other drugs, including anticonvulsants, local anesthetic antiarrhythmics, clonidine, opiates, and certain topical agents, also offer pain relief in some patient populations. The novel antidepressants venlafaxine and nefazodone are potentially useful new drugs that are better tolerated than tricyclic antidepressants. Also Gabapentine seems an interesting and promising drug for the treatment of neuropathic pain.