Anti-Pancreatic Cancer Deliverables From Sea: First-Hand Evidence on the Efficacy, Molecular Targets and Mode of Action for Multifarious Polyphenols From Five Different Brown-Algae.

Anti-pancreatic cancer deliverables from sea: first-hand evidence on the efficacy, molecular targets and mode of action for multifarious polyphenols from five different brown-algae.

PLoS One. 2013; 8(4): e61977
Aravindan S, Delma CR, Thirugnanasambandan SS, Herman TS, Aravindan N

Pancreatic cancer (PC) remains the fourth leading cause of cancer death with an unacceptable survival that has remained relatively unchanged over the past 25 years. The presence of occult or clinical metastases at the time of diagnosis together with the lack of effective chemotherapies pose a dire need for designing new and targeted therapeutic deliverables that favors the clinical outcome. Herein, we investigated the anti-tumorigenic potential of polyphenols from five different brown-algae in human PC cells (MiaPaCa-2, Panc-1, BXPC-3 and Panc-3.27). Total anti-oxidant capacity (TAC) analysis on stepwise polyphenol separations with increasing polarity (Hexane-DCM-EA-methanol) identified high levels of TAC in DCM and EA extractions across all seaweeds assessed. All DCM and EA separated polyphenols induced a dose-dependent and sustained (time-independent) inhibition of cell proliferation and viability. Further, these polyphenols profoundly enhanced DNA damage (acridine orange/Ethidium bromide staining and DNA fragmentation) in all the cell lines investigated. More importantly, luciferase reporter assay revealed a significant inhibition of NF?B transcription in cells treated with polyphenols. Interestingly, QPCR analysis identified a differential yet definite regulation of pro-tumorigenic EGFR, VEGFA, AKT, hTERT, kRas, Bcl2, FGF? and PDGF? transcription in cells treated with DCM and EA polyphenols. Immunoblotting validates the inhibitory potential of seaweed polyphenols in EGFR phosphorylation, kRas, AurK? and Stat3. Together, these data suggest that intermediate polarity based fractions of seaweed polyphenols may significantly potentiate tumor cell killing and may serve as potential drug deliverable for PC cure. More Studies dissecting out the active constituents in potent fractions, mechanisms of action and synergism, if any, are warranted and are currently in process. HubMed – drug

Livelihood Experiences and Adherence to HIV Antiretroviral Therapy among Participants in a Food Assistance Pilot in Bolivia: A Qualitative Study.

PLoS One. 2013; 8(4): e61935
Palar K, Martin A, Oropeza Camacho ML, Derose KP

Health and development organizations increasingly promote livelihood interventions to improve health and economic outcomes for people living with HIV (PLHIV) receiving treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART). In-depth understanding about how PLHIV make labor decisions in the context of treatment for HIV – and treatment decisions in the context of their livelihoods – is essential to guiding intervention design and developing hypotheses for future research on livelihoods and ART. However, few studies have explored the perspectives of PLHIV regarding integration of livelihoods and ART in urban, resource-limited settings.Qualitative interviews explored the livelihood experiences of food insecure ART patients in four Bolivian cities (n?=?211). Topics included work-related barriers to ART adherence, HIV-related barriers to work, and economic coping mechanisms. Themes were identified using content coding procedures, with two coders to maximize reliability.Participants reported complex economic lives often characterized by multiple economic activities, including both formal and informal labor. They struggled to manage ART treatment and livelihoods simultaneously, and faced a range of interpersonal and structural barriers. In particular, lack of HIV status disclosure, stigma, and discrimination were highly salient issues for study participants and likely to be unique to people with HIV, leading to conflict around requesting time off for clinic visits, resentment from co-workers about time off, and difficulties adhering to medication schedules. In addition, health system issues such as limited clinic hours or drug shortages exacerbated the struggle to balance economic activities with HIV treatment adherence.Improved policy-level efforts to enforce existing anti-discrimination laws, reduce HIV-related stigma, and expand health services accessibility could mitigate many of the barriers discussed by our participants, improve adherence, and reduce the need for livelihoods interventions. HubMed – drug

Biasogram: visualization of confounding technical bias in gene expression data.

PLoS One. 2013; 8(4): e61872
Krzystanek M, Szallasi Z, Eklund AC

Gene expression profiles of clinical cohorts can be used to identify genes that are correlated with a clinical variable of interest such as patient outcome or response to a particular drug. However, expression measurements are susceptible to technical bias caused by variation in extraneous factors such as RNA quality and array hybridization conditions. If such technical bias is correlated with the clinical variable of interest, the likelihood of identifying false positive genes is increased. Here we describe a method to visualize an expression matrix as a projection of all genes onto a plane defined by a clinical variable and a technical nuisance variable. The resulting plot indicates the extent to which each gene is correlated with the clinical variable or the technical variable. We demonstrate this method by applying it to three clinical trial microarray data sets, one of which identified genes that may have been driven by a confounding technical variable. This approach can be used as a quality control step to identify data sets that are likely to yield false positive results. HubMed – drug

Permeability enhancers dramatically increase zanamivir absolute bioavailability in rats: implications for an orally bioavailable influenza treatment.

PLoS One. 2013; 8(4): e61853
Holmes EH, Devalapally H, Li L, Perdue ML, Ostrander GK

We have demonstrated that simple formulations composed of the parent drug in combination with generally regarded as safe (GRAS) permeability enhancers are capable of dramatically increasing the absolute bioavailability of zanamivir. This has the advantage of not requiring modification of the drug structure to promote absorption, thus reducing the regulatory challenges involved in conversion of an inhaled to oral route of administration of an approved drug. Absolute bioavailability increases of up to 24-fold were observed when Capmul MCM L8 (composed of mono- and diglycerides of caprylic/capric acids in glycerol) was mixed with 1.5 mg of zanamivir and administered intraduodenally to rats. Rapid uptake (tmax of 5 min) and a Cmax of over 7200 ng/mL was achieved. Variation of the drug load or amount of enhancer demonstrated a generally linear variation in absorption, indicating an ability to optimize a formulation for a desired outcome such as a targeted Cmax for enzyme saturation. No absorption enhancement was observed when the enhancer was given 2 hr prior to drug administration, indicating, in combination with the observed tmax, that absorption enhancement is temporary. This property is significant and aligns well with therapeutic applications to limit undesirable drug-drug interactions, potentially due to the presence of other poorly absorbed polar drugs. These results suggest that optimal human oral dosage forms of zanamivir should be enteric-coated gelcaps or softgels for intraduodenal release. There continues to be a strong need and market for multiple neuraminidase inhibitors for influenza treatment. Creation of orally available formulations of inhibitor drugs that are currently administered intravenously or by inhalation would provide a significant improvement in treatment of influenza. The very simple GRAS formulation components and anticipated dosage forms would require low manufacturing costs and yield enhanced convenience. These results are being utilized to design prototype dosage forms for initial human pharmacokinetic studies. HubMed – drug