Combining phages and antibiotics
Most talk of phages in the experimental sense is done in terms of monotherapy, from what I've seen. There's not a whole lot of talk about using them in conjunction with current antibiotics, at least not in this fashion:
Experiments in mice revealed that 75% of those infected with a lethal dose of Pseudomonas survived if the antibiotic gentamicin was administered in the presence of bacteriophages. None survived without the phages (Microb. Drug Resist., 2006, 12 (3), 164).
This is sort of nifty in a non-revolutionary sort of way. I've written here before about my love of phages and how I think they're going to be the next "big thing" in infectious disease, this possible new atun antibiotic notwithstanding, so any modern literature concerning phages is a good thing.
The question is whether or not phage cocktails will be considered biologic drugs when they are made available… (Since it's only a matter of time.)
[tags]Medicine, pharmacy, antibiotics, bacteriophages, phage therapy[/tags]
Biologics have side effects? No way!
Centient Biotech Investor submits: It is generally assumed that biological substances are intrinsically less toxic than small molecule drugs. And it is not just doctors and patients who share this notion. Biologics sail through approvals quicker, and they get to market sooner than small molecules do.
I surely hope that doctors don't assume that biologics have fewer side effects than non-biologics. I've certainly never encountered a pharmacist who thought this. I would hope that TGN1412 pounded this lesson into the collective healthcare establishment's brain.
[tags]Medicine, pharmacy, biologics, side effects[/tags]
Microwaves to sterilize sponges, etc.
I wasn't going to post this:
University of Florida engineering researchers have found that microwaving kitchen sponges and plastic scrubbers — known to be common carriers of the bacteria and viruses that cause food-borne illnesses – sterilizes them rapidly and effectively.
That means that the estimated 90-plus percent of Americans with microwaves in their kitchens have a powerful weapon against E. coli, salmonella and other bugs at the root of increasing incidents of potentially deadly food poisoning and other illnesses.
And then I saw this.
But several experimenters evidently left out the crucial step of wetting the sponge.
"Just wanted you to know that your article on microwaving sponges and scrubbers aroused my interest. However, when I put my sponge/scrubber into the microwave, it caught fire, smoked up the house, ruined my microwave, and pissed me off," one correspondent wrote in an e-mail to Reuters.
"First, the sponge is worthless afterwards so you have to throw it out instead of using it. And second your entire house stinks like a burning tire for several hours, even with windows/doors open," complained another.
The mind… it boggles.
Topical anesthetic for premature ejaculation
One of my most popular posts here at OnThePharm (and most commented on) is my "Dapoxetine for premature ejaculation" entry, with many commenters wondering where and when it will be available. (I have no idea — that's up to the FDA, sorry.) When and if dapoxetine becomes available, I can see it being marketed in much the same way that Viagra has been. And initially it'll be treated by the public as "Tee hee, if you need this, you're less than a man." And slowly PE will become a socially-acceptable thing to talk about, and men will be looked down on less because of the increased awareness.
That's probably the only good thing about DTC advertising that I can think of — making socially-taboo topics more discussion-friendly, and allowing people to seek treatment for what otherwise might be embarrassing private afflictions.
In any case, there's another, potentially more promising treatment for premature ejaculation being tested in the Netherlands and the UK.
"The men who were prescribed the TEMPE spray, which delivers a combination of lidocaine and prilocaine, managed to delay ejaculation by just under an extra four minutes after using the product" reports Professor Wallace Dinsmore from the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.
"Meanwhile the control group, who were prescribed a placebo (dummy) spray, increased their penetration to ejaculation time by just over 40 seconds.
"Overall, the TEMPE spray was 2.4 times more effective than the placebo."
It's not the same ratio as EMLA:
The men in the TEMPE group (Topical Eutectic Mixture for Premature Ejaculation) administered three metered sprays of the local anaesthetic preparation to the glans of their penis 15 minutes before intercourse. This delivered a total of 22.5mg of lidocaine and 7.5mg of prilocaine.
Not knowing the weight or volume of the mixture, I can't calculate the concentration, but that seems pretty high to me. It is a spray though, so in theory, it won't last as long as rubbing in a cream. It'll be interesting to see where this goes in terms of treating PE, and possibly for quick in-house topic anesthetic perhaps similar to Gebauer's ethyl chloride.*
*And for anyone out there who suffers from PE thinking about using Gebauer's to achieve a similar effect, don't bother. I know a kid who's nickname is "Frosty" for a reason. You'll have trouble finding your testicles, never mind getting an erection. (Ah, fraternity pranks in pharmacy school…)
[tags]Medicine, pharmacy, premature ejaculation, men's health[/tags]
More on the discovery on an old antibiotic
Thanks to a reader, I've gotten my hands on the actual study of the old antibiotic that I mentioned last week. If you recall, I expressed some doubts about the "newness" of the atun-based compound, wondering if it could be a product of mold growing in the seeds or on the leaves. My doubts have been laid to rest:
We preserved the leaves and kernels of A racemosa collected in the Independent State of Samoa in 70% ethanol and prepared alcohol extracts according to standard protocol. Various concentrations of kernel extract and leaf extract were added to samples of two Gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis) and two Gram negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) in a minimal inhibitory concentration assay. This assay was performed in cation adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth according to the standard protocol.
The assay showed that the extracts from A racemosa (the atun tree described by Rumphius) had antibacterial activity that was specific for the Gram positive bacteria tested (table). The minimal inhibitory concentrations of the leaf extract were significantly different from those of the kernel extract in both of the Gram positive bacteria…
Etc. etc. I might've guessed that they controlled for this sort of think. I guess I just got carried away with my own cleverness… 
[tags]Medicine, pharmacy, antibiotics, drug discovery, MRSA[/tags]
Transdermal Alzheimer's vaccine in the works
Vaccines are becoming the new medical hotness. Cervical cancer, otitis media, shingles, and now a second Alzheimer's effort. (I covered the first one here.)
This time it's a transdermal vaccine that's working in mouse models. Mouse models, of course, don't translate to successful human trials, but it's a good start. This vaccine works by causing the immune system to recognize the toxic amyloid beta proteins and triggering an attack on them.
Why transdermal?
They found that transdermal immunization with Ab does not appear to trigger specific toxicities associated with past immunization strategies.
Specialized immune cells prevalent in the skin, called Langerhans, may direct the body's reaction to the vaccine toward a response that is beneficial instead of overly aggressive and ultimately harmful, Dr. Tan said.
They're hopeful that they can reduce memory loss and reduce the relevant population's senile plaque burden.
"If those studies show clear cognitive benefits," Dr. Tan said, "we believe clinical trials to evaluate a beta amyloid skin patch or topical cream in patients with Alzheimer's would be warranted."
Har har. Emphasis mine.
[tags]Medicine, vaccine, Alzheimer's, geriatrics[/tags]
DCA: activating apoptosis by turning mitochondria back on
I saw this in a couple of places a few days ago, but I'm just getting to it now, what with classes starting this week and many other things going on. In the time that the story was published and now, there has been a huge amount of interest generated in the story, and the University of Alberta has set up a DCA information/donation page, because as Jack points out, there's no money to be made by a pharmaceutical company here as DCA (dichloroacetate) is an unpatentable compound.
DCA shows a huge amount of promise in both in vitro and mouse models of tumor growth, and it doesn't seem to be selective about the specifics of the tumor itself. The reason is because DCA works by activating cell mitochondria which in turn turns on a cell's ability to die naturally (apoptosis). It's thought that cellular mitochondria shut down due to a lack of oxygen, and instead cellular metabolism stops at glycolysis. (Normal metabolism results in pyruvate being transported into the mitochondria for further metabolism netting greater ATP production.)
The phenomenon might also explain how secondary cancers form. Glycolysis generates lactic acid, which can break down the collagen matrix holding cells together. This means abnormal cells can be released and float to other parts of the body, where they seed new tumours.
It does indeed seem to be a good time to get cancer, if any time could be described as such.
[tags]Medicine, pharmacy, DCA, oncology, cancer, cellular metabolism[/tags]