Hasil untuk "Pharmacy and materia medica"

Dominik Lewandowski, Mateusz Konieczny, Krzysztof Chrzanowski et al.

<b>Background</b>: C3 glomerulopathies (C3G), including dense deposit disease (DDD) and C3 glomerulonephritis (C3GN), are rare kidney disorders driven by dysregulation of the alternative complement pathway. Eculizumab, a terminal complement inhibitor targeting C5, has emerged as a potential therapeutic option in these conditions. This systematic review evaluated the efficacy and safety of eculizumab in patients with C3G or DDD. <b>Methods</b>: Literature searches in PubMed and Cochrane databases identified case reports and case series reporting eculizumab use. <b>Results</b>: Only eight studies involving ten patients met the inclusion criteria. Eculizumab stabilized renal function and reduced proteinuria in most cases, especially when C5b-9 deposition was present. Histopathological improvements were variable, and recurrence after discontinuation occurred in some patients. Responses were limited in cases with alternative mechanisms of C5 activation. <b>Conclusions</b>: Eculizumab offers clinical benefit in select C3G and DDD patients but does not address the underlying cause of complement dysregulation. The need for long-term therapy, incomplete histologic resolution, and risk of relapse underscore the necessity of larger trials and the development of personalized treatment strategies.

Yu Hei, Xin Wang, Yang Chen et al.

With the global aging population and rising tumor incidence, central nervous system degenerative diseases and brain tumors have emerged as critical threats to human health. Leveraging the biological properties of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), the development of dual-mediated brain-targeted liposomes via receptor-mediated and adsorption-mediated mechanisms holds promise for overcoming limitations such as lysosomal entrapment and saturation in single-receptor systems, thereby enabling efficient brain drug delivery. In this study, we constructed two types of dual-mediated liposomes using the BBB-specific ligand RVGP and cell-penetrating peptide R9 through distinct strategies: the monoligand liposome RVGPR9-SSL (incorporating both ligands as a single conjugate) and the biligand liposome RVGP-R9-SSL (displaying ligands as separate moieties). An in-depth comparative analysis of their BBB permeability and transport mechanisms was performed. Results demonstrate that RVGPR9-SSL circumvents lysosomal degradation via an endoplasmic reticulum-mediated transport pathway, exhibiting superior brain-targeted delivery efficiency and an excellent safety profile. These findings establish RVGPR9-SSL as an efficient brain-targeted drug delivery system with broad therapeutic potential for central nervous system disorders. Moreover, this study provides critical insights for the rational design of next-generation dual-mediated brain-targeted liposomal systems.

Zhengyou He, Wenyi Jiang, Ruijiao Yao et al.

<b>Background:</b> Renal fibrosis is a common pathological feature of all progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD). <i>Eucommiae cortex</i> (EC) is a valuable economic tree species endemic to China. The microbial fermentation of Chinese medicines can release their active ingredients as effectively as possible or produce new active ingredients with enhanced efficacy and reduced toxic side effects; <b>Methods:</b> The microbial fermentation of EC can produce pinoresinol (Pin) and dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (DA). In this study, C57 BL/6 mice were fed a diet containing 0.2% adenine, resulting in a model of chronic kidney disease. The effects of EC and EC ferment (ECF) on CKD were explored by the exogenous supplementation of EC and ECF; <b>Results:</b> The results of the study showed that exogenous supplementation with EC and ECF suc-cessfully reduced creatinine and urea nitrogen levels, down-regulated the expression levels of TGF-β1, α-SMA, Smad3, and phospho-Smad3 in the TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway, and ameliorated renal fibrosis; <b>Conclusions:</b> Both EC and ECF may have reno-protective effects and provide a reference for relevant clinical drug development.

Yiyang Xu, Ziyou Shen, Yanqing Lv et al.

AlphaFold 3 (AF3) is a powerful biomolecular structure-predicting tool based on the latest deep learning algorithms and revolutionized AI model architectures. A few of papers have already investigated its accuracy in predicting different biomolecular structures. However, the potential applications of AF3 beyond basic structure prediction have not been fully explored. In our study, we firstly focused on structure predictions of antibody-antigen (CD47) complexes, which is believed to be challenge for AF3 due to limited resolved cognate crystallographic structures. Furtherly, we aimed to the potentiality of AF3 in performing pre-screening for potent antibody candidates as an auxiliary work through binding affinity analysis compared to other molecular docking modules of commercial software, which would greatly benefit the lead identification or optimization process in the drug development. In essence, this is not limited to antibody-antigen binding affinity, but many other chemical or physical properties of any drug candidate based on AF3's accurate predicting structures that are extremely close to the reality. According to our experimental results, AF3 is a very promising competitor, which can efficiently produce highly reliable molecular structures and subsequent binding energy predictions for most subjects. Surprisingly, an unexpected and nonrandom phenomenon "reverse docking" was observed for two of our antibody subjects, suggesting new issues arising from the architectural revolution of AF3. Our analysis and error correction experiments show that this phenomenon is likely to be caused by revolutionized AI model architectures, which provides important experience and reminders for the optimization and design direction of AI for structural prediction. All software copyrights belong to the China Pharmaceutical University (CPU) and its affiliated School of Pharmacy and School of Science.

Achraf Ben-Hamadou, Nour Neifar, Ahmed Rekik et al.

Teeth landmark detection is a critical task in modern clinical orthodontics. Their precise identification enables advanced diagnostics, facilitates personalized treatment strategies, and supports more effective monitoring of treatment progress in clinical dentistry. However, several significant challenges may arise due to the intricate geometry of individual teeth and the substantial variations observed across different individuals. To address these complexities, the development of advanced techniques, especially through the application of deep learning, is essential for the precise and reliable detection of 3D tooth landmarks. In this context, the 3DTeethLand challenge was held in collaboration with the International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) in 2024, calling for algorithms focused on teeth landmark detection from intraoral 3D scans. This challenge introduced the first publicly available dataset for 3D teeth landmark detection, offering a valuable resource to assess the state-of-the-art methods in this task and encourage the community to provide methodological contributions towards the resolution of their problem with significant clinical implications.

Gholamali Dorooshi, Mahbod Shirmohammadi, Farzad Gheshlaghi et al.

Objective: Given the prevalence of methadone poisoning, this study was conducted to compare the cardiovascular complications following acute methadone poisoning in patients with and without a history of long-term methadone use. Methods: In this retrospective study, information related to patients with acute methadone poisoning hospitalized at Al-Zahra and Khorshid hospitals in Isfahan-Iran was collected from hospital archives and analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups with and without a history of long-term methadone use. Findings: The mean of corrected QT interval (QTc), QRS, and heart rate showed no significant differences between the two groups at three-time points: baseline (upon admission), 12 h, and 24 h after admission (P > 0.05). The mean QT dispersion upon admission and 12 h after admission did not differ significantly between the groups (P > 0.05). However, the observation at 24 h postadmission indicated a significant increase in QT dispersion in the group with a history of long-term methadone use, showing a mean of 47.53 ± 10.62 ms compared to the without a history of long-term use group, with a mean of 26.78 ± 6.75 ms (P = 0.041). Conclusion: The results indicate that among the cardiovascular findings when analyzing the electrocardiograms of patients with acute methadone poisoning, only QT dispersion differed between patients with and without a history of long-term methadone use. Cardiovascular events resulting from methadone poisoning are the significant factors contributing to patient mortality, highlighting the need for the careful management of methadone use in these patients.

Mahesh Kumar, Bhagwan Singh Meena, Shubhangi Anand Kale

Background: The immunological and inflammatory systems are both modulated in large part by vitamin D. Lower vitamin D levels have been connected in several studies to an increased risk and worse course of acute infections. Many chronic diseases include inflammation, and concerns have been raised regarding how low vitamin D levels may affect inflammatory processes. Aim and Objective: Inflammatory markers and vitamin D levels in people with and without dyslipidemia were compared in this study. In addition, an effort was made to link the vitamin D levels of the research participants to the inflammatory alterations. Materials and Methods: A tertiary care teaching hospital conducted a cross-sectional study. A control population of 250 healthy, age- and sex-matched people without dyslipidemia was chosen, whereas 250 persons with dyslipidemia were included as test subjects. In the investigation of vitamin D, lipid profiles (total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and very low density lipoprotein), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), five milliliters of fasting blood samples from each individual were taken. Results: In comparison to the control groups, patients with dyslipidemia had significantly higher levels of hs-CRP and significantly lower levels of vitamin D. A statistically significant negative relationship between hs-CRP and vitamin D was revealed by the Pearson correlation. The deficiency of vitamin D may be root in the inflammation. Conclusion: People with dyslipidemia, hs-CRP levels are high and vitamin D levels are low. In test, population&apos;s low levels of vitamin D showed negative connection with hs-CRP, indicating that low vitamin D levels may aggravate the inflammatory response. [Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol 2024; 14(4.000): 626-629]

Nicola Luigi Bragazzi, M. Mansour, A. Bonsignore et al.

Since late December 2019, a novel, emerging coronavirus was identified as the infectious agent responsible for a generally mild but sometimes severe and even life-threatening disease, termed as “coronavirus disease 2019” (COVID-19). The pathogen was initially named as “2019 novel coronavirus” (2019-nCoV) and later renamed as “Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus type 2” (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 quickly spread from the first epicenter, the city of Wuhan, province of Hubei, mainland China, into neighboring countries, and became a global pandemic. As of July 15th 2020, the outbreak is still ongoing, with SARS-CoV-2 affecting 213 countries and territories. The coronavirus has caused a dramatic toll of deaths and imposed a severe burden, both from a societal and economic point of view. COVID-19 has challenged health systems, straining and overwhelming healthcare facilities and settings, including hospital and community pharmacies. On the other hand, COVID-19 has propelled several changes. During the last decades, pharmacy has shifted from being products-based and patient-facing to being services-based and patient-centered. Pharmacies have transitioned from being compounding centers devoted to the manipulation of materia medica to pharmaceutical centers, clinical pharmacies and fully integrated “medical-pharmaceutical networks”, providing a significant range of non-prescribing services. Moreover, roles, duties and responsibilities of pharmacists have paralleled such historical changes and have known a gradual expansion, incorporating new skills and reflecting new societal demands and challenges. The COVID-19 outbreak has unearthed new opportunities for pharmacists: community and hospital pharmacists have, indeed, played a key role during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that a fully integrated, inter-sectoral and inter-professional collaboration is necessary to face crises and public health emergencies. Preliminary, emerging evidence seems to suggest that, probably, a new era in the history of pharmacies (“the post-COVID-19 post-pharmaceutical care era”) has begun, with community pharmacists acquiring more professional standing, being authentic heroes and frontline health workers.

Edlaine Rijo Costa, Thales Nascimento Castro, Cassiano Felippe Gonçalves-de-Albuquerque et al.

Abstract Dasatinib, a potent oral multi-targeted kinase inhibitor against Src and Bcr-Abl, can decrease inflammatory response in sepsis. A simple and cost-effective method for determination of an effective dose dasatinib was established. This method was validated in human plasma, with the aim of reducing the number of animals used, thus, avoiding ethical problems. Dasatinib and internal standard lopinavir were extracted from 180 uL of plasma using liquid-liquid extraction with methyl tert-butil ether, followed by liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry in multiple reaction monitoring mode. For the pharmacokinetic study, 1 mg/kg of dasatinib was administered to mice with and without sepsis. The method was linear over the concentration range of 1-98 ng/mL for DAS in mice and human plasma, with r2>0.99 and presented intra- and interday precision within the range of 2.3 - 6.2 and 4.3 - 7.0%, respectively. Further intra- and interday accuracy was within the range of 88.2 - 105.8 and 90.6 - 101.7%, respectively. The mice with sepsis showed AUC0-t = 2076.06 h*ng/mL and Cmax =102.73 ng/mL and mice without sepsis presented AUC0-t = 2128.46 h*ng/mL. Cmax = 164.5 ng/mL. The described analytical method was successfully employed in pharmacokinetic study of DAS in mice.

I. O. Vlasenko

Pharmacies are a component of the healthcare. Pharmaceutical care and pharmaceutical services improve disease control, quality of patients life and reduce of the burden on healthcare. The implementation of pharmaceutical care and pharmaceutical services for patients with diabetes according to the standards of the GPP is relevant for the domestic pharmacy. Therefore, it is advisable to determine the preferences of patients with diabetes because they have their own needs for treatment and control. The purpose of the study was to study the views of patients with diabetes regarding to function of pharmacies, pharmaceutical services and determine their preferences. The survey of patients with diabetes by the questionnaire method was carried out. Relevant questionnaires of 510 patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes were included in the study. The results of the survey showed that the majority of patients with diabetes would like to be served in a specialized pharmacy that specializes in drugs and medical products for diabetes. On the basis of the study, the preferences of patients with diabetes regarding to the activities of pharmacies were determined: availability of a wide rang of product; loyalty program for special products related to diabetes, additional services and pharmaceutical consultations. The majority of those interviewed noted that they need a pharmacist's consultation on taking medications. This type of service requires training of pharmacists in diabetes in order to provide pharmaceutical care at an appropriate level. Pharmaceutical services which patients with diabetes need were identificated. There are: testing of blood glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, weight check, calculation of body mass index and interpretation of results. The creation of a «diabetes self-management school» based on pharmacies will improve the availability of education for patients with diabetes. It is necessary to study the demand directly in the area of the pharmacy before introduction this type of service. It is important to implement systematic special events in pharmacies for the World Diabetes Day. Thes is appropriated for the general population, but also for patients with diabetes. From the point of view of patients with diabetes during this event, they are interested in: consultation of an endocrinologist and nutritionist; blood glucose test; test of diabetes risk; information materials about diabetes. The results of the survey can be prospectively used to improve the service of patients with diabetes and provide for their needs.

Yali Zhang, Jingjing Yang, Yinjian Ji et al.

Osthole (OST), a natural coumarin compound, has shown a significant inhibitory effect on corneal neovascularization (CNV). But, its effect on treating CNV is restricted by its water insolubility. To overcome this limitation, an OST-loaded microemulsion (OST-ME) was created to improve the drug’s therapeutic effect on CNV after topical administration. The OST-ME formulation comprised Capryol-90 (CP-90), Cremophor^® EL (EL-35), Transcutol-P (TSP) and water, and sodium hyaluronate (SH) was also included to increase viscosity. The OST-ME had a droplet size of 16.18 ± 0.02 nm and a low polydispersity index (0.09 ± 0.00). In vitro drug release from OST-ME fitted well to the Higuchi release kinetics model. Cytotoxicity assays demonstrated that OST-ME was not notably toxic to human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs), and the formulation had no irritation to rabbit eyes. Ocular pharmacokinetics studies showed that the areas under the concentration–time curves (AUC_0-t) in the cornea and conjunctiva were 19.74 and 63.96 μg/g*min after the administration of OST-ME, both of which were 28.2- and 102.34-fold higher than those after the administration of OST suspension (OST-Susp). Moreover, OST-ME (0.1%) presented a similar therapeutic effect to commercially available dexamethasone eye drops (0.025%) on CNV in mouse models. In conclusion, the optimized OST-ME exhibited good tolerance and enhanced 28.2- and 102.34-fold bioavailability in the cornea and conjunctiva tissues compared with suspensions in rabbit eyes. The OST-ME is a potential ocular drug delivery for anti-CNV.

Lance T. Dockery, Marie-Christine Daniel

Dendronized nanoparticles, also called nanoparticle-cored dendrimers, combine the advantages of nanoparticles and dendrimers. These very stable and polyvalent nanoparticles can be used for diverse applications. One such application is drug delivery, because the dendrons can enhance the density of the payload. In this report, we describe the design of multifunctional gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) coated with poly(propylene imine) (PPI) dendrons that contain both prostate cancer active targeting and chemotherapeutic drugs. The PPI dendron is a good candidate for the design of drug delivery vehicles because of its ability to induce a proton sponge effect that will enhance lysosomal escape and intracellular therapeutic delivery. The chemotherapeutic drug used is doxorubicin (DOX), and it was linked to the dendron through a hydrazone acid-sensitive bond. Subsequent acidification of the AuNP system to a pH of 4–5 resulted in the release of 140 DOX drugs per nanoparticles. In addition, the PPI dendron was conjugated via “click” chemistry to an EphA2-targeting antibody fragment that has been shown to target prostate cancer cells. In vitro cell viability assays revealed an IC50 of 0.9 nM for the targeted DOX-bearing AuNPs after 48 h incubation with PC3 cells. These results are very promising upon optimization of the system.

Lotte Nijskens, Cornelis, AT van den Berg et al.

Background: Synthetic computed tomography (sCT) has been proposed and increasingly clinically adopted to enable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based radiotherapy. Deep learning (DL) has recently demonstrated the ability to generate accurate sCT from fixed MRI acquisitions. However, MRI protocols may change over time or differ between centres resulting in low-quality sCT due to poor model generalisation. Purpose: investigating domain randomisation (DR) to increase the generalisation of a DL model for brain sCT generation. Methods: CT and corresponding T1-weighted MRI with/without contrast, T2-weighted, and FLAIR MRI from 95 patients undergoing RT were collected, considering FLAIR the unseen sequence where to investigate generalisation. A ``Baseline'' generative adversarial network was trained with/without the FLAIR sequence to test how a model performs without DR. Image similarity and accuracy of sCT-based dose plans were assessed against CT to select the best-performing DR approach against the Baseline. Results: The Baseline model had the poorest performance on FLAIR, with mean absolute error (MAE)=106$\pm$20.7 HU (mean$\pmσ$). Performance on FLAIR significantly improved for the DR model with MAE=99.0$\pm$14.9 HU, but still inferior to the performance of the Baseline+FLAIR model (MAE=72.6$\pm$10.1 HU). Similarly, an improvement in $γ$-pass rate was obtained for DR vs Baseline. Conclusions: DR improved image similarity and dose accuracy on the unseen sequence compared to training only on acquired MRI. DR makes the model more robust, reducing the need for re-training when applying a model on sequences unseen and unavailable for retraining.

Gitanjali Talele, Rajen Dinesh Shah

Abstract Introduction  The system of homoeopathic medicine calls for continued development and upgrading. Many drugs used in homoeopathy have limited information about their original composition and collection method, making their exact reproducibility practically impossible or challenging. To improve the quality, reliability, ethics, legality, purity and science, there is an urgent need to review, revise, revolutionise, re-develop, remove and revamp many drugs in the Materia Medica in the current light of technology and modern medical knowledge. Method  A rigorous literature review of homoeopathy Materia Medica , pharmacopeia and manufacturing units was done. Based on the literature review, we have identified some challenges and suggested ways to overcome them. Observation and Discussion  The common observation is that most homoeopathy drugs prepared and sold in the market are prepared by simply stepping up the ‘back-potencies.’ Many drugs could be made afresh without depending on the old stocks of back-potencies. Although few pharmacies have started this practice in the UK, Brazil, the United States and India, many pharmacies prefer the back-potency route probably due to the reasons such as difficulty in procuring identical raw materials (e.g. Lachesis, Tarentula , Spongia , X-ray), expensive raw materials (e.g. Aurum metallicum , Argentum nitricum , Platina ) and lack of facility to process the raw material (e.g. Phosphorus , Radium bromide , Diptherinu m, Carcinosin ). Well-defined mechanisms are required for drug standardisation, authenticity and quality of source material, standardised potentisation method, quantifiable force parameter, complete tracking record of back potency (traceability).

Patrick Chiu

In ancient China, Daoist philosophers developed the concepts of qi (energy), Wu Xing (five elements), and yin (feminine, dark, negative) and yang (masculine, bright, positive) opposite forces between 200 and 600 BCE. Based on these philosophies, Zhen Jiu (acupuncture), Ben Cao (materia medica), and the practice of Qi Gong (energy optimization movements) evolved as the three interrelated therapeutic regimens of Chinese medicine (Note 1). Since the time of Zhang Qian, who discovered China’s western regions in the 1st century BCE, Hai Yao (the exotic elements of materia medica from the maritime Silk Road countries), had been transmitted from the ancient land and maritime routes of the Silk Road to China in the past two millennia (Note 2). Since the late 17th century, the English East India Company, later called the British East India Company, introduced Yang Yao (opium) to the Manchu Qing Empire to balance a growing trade deficit for tea export from China to the British Empire. After the First Opium War ended in 1842, enterprising expatriate chemists and druggists in the treaty ports imported Xi Yao (modern medicines from the Western world) for sale to the merchant navy and the local market. From the second half of the 19th century onwards, both Hai Yao and Xi Yao have become a fully integrated part of modern China’s armamentarium for the Chinese medicine and Western hospitals and retail pharmacy sectors. This paper articulates the journey of adoption of exotic elements of materia medica from the ancient land and sea routes of the Silk Road, including the western regions and the rest of the world in the past two millennia. Opium traders, ship surgeons, medical and pharmaceutical missionaries, enterprising traders, and policymakers together transformed Ben Cao into Xi Yao during the late Manchu Qing dynasty and the early Nationalist Era.

S. Alban, R. Fürst

It is our great pleasure to present this special issue dedicated to Prof. Gerhard Franz on the occasion of his birthday, in recognition of his renowned scientific contributions in pharmaceutical biology and his outstanding work for pharmacopoeias to improve and harmonise the quality of herbal medicinal products. Gerhard Franz, born on March 26th, 1937 in Dresden, Germany, studied pharmacy at the Technical University of Karlsruhe (1959–1962) and earned his PhD in plant biochemistry at the University of Fribourg (1965). During his time as a post-doc at the Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley, and then as Chef de Travaux at the Department of Biology, University of Fribourg (1967–1970), he made important discoveries on the biosynthesis of cellulose and other oligoand polysaccharides of plant cell walls, resulting in his habilitation in 1970. From 1970 until 1976, he had a position as Assistant Professor at the University of Fribourg, interrupted by a stay as Invited Professor at the University of Basel (1973–1975). His research focussed on plant polysaccharides, ranging from biosynthesis and metabolism over chemotaxonomy up to physiological and application aspects. An important milestone in his life was the appointment to the Chair of Pharmaceutical Biology at the newly established Department of Pharmacy of the University of Regensburg in 1977, where he became strongly involved in academic self-administration and is still active as Professor Emeritus since 2005. Although Gerhard Franz is known for his expertise in carbohydrates, he expanded his research areas in Regensburg. The topics included identification of numerous secondary plant metabolites and investigations on their biosynthesis, as well as immunomodulating, anti-tumour and anti-angiogenetic activities of natural and modified polysaccharides and other natural compounds. He also worked toward furthering the chemical and pharmacological characterisation of components of medicinal plants, investigated the quality and stability of herbal drugs and herbal preparations, and, finally, performed analytical investigations of traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbal drugs. This scientific work is documented in more than 270 publications and about 60 PhD theses under his supervision. Readers may know Gerhard Franz due to his numerous editorial activities (including co-editor of Planta Medica), his engagement for the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA) since 1970 (e.g., president 1994–1998), or his many scientific honours and awards. Important to mention is also another part of his career, namely, his outstanding commitment in the field of regulatory aspects of herbal drugs and herbal medicinal products (HMPs) since 1988. Until the end of last year, he chaired the Expert Group “Pharmaceutical Biology” and was a member of the German Pharmacopoeia (DAB) as well as other commissions at the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM). From 1996 until 2005, he was the Chair of the Group of Experts 13B and subsequently of the TCM Working Party of the European Pharmacopoeia (PhEur) Commission at the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM) until 2016. He acted as an observer at the EMA, is a member of the Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards HKCMMS, and is still active for the “Deutscher Arzneimittel Codex” (DAC). Under the guidance of Gerhard Franz, a tremendous number of quality monographs on herbal drugs and herbal drug preparations have been implemented in the DAB and in the PhEur. Based on his DAB experience, he acted as a “driving force” at the EDQM so that the PhEur now contains more than 350 herbal monographs. Such monographs are very important for all parties involved in the production and quality control of HMPs. Moreover, since appropriate quality is essential for the safety and efficacy of HMPs, all this work finally contributed to the improvement of phytotherapy and thus to public health. Remarkable is his engagement to ensure the quality of TCM herbal drugs used in Europe. He initiated the elaboration of quality monographs on TCM herbal drugs for the PhEur and chaired the TCM working party, established in 2005, for 12 years. The challenging work resulted in 60 TCM monographs implemented in the PhEur 9.0 (86 in PhEur 11.2). In parallel, he guided similar activities for the DAB, the results of which were taken over in part by the PhEur. The scientific efforts and achievements of the TCM working party had attracted international attention. Gerhard Franz was invited to give plenary lectures at many conferences in China and other countries all over the world to report about problems and solutions regarding TCM herbal drugs. He was Visiting Professor at the University of Harbin (China), consulted several institutions in China, and was able to catalyse a fruitful collaboration between the Chinese State Administration of TCM (SATCM) and Bibliography Planta Med 2023; 89: 776–777 DOI 10.1055/a-2086-1569 ISSN 0032‐0943 © 2023. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag KG, Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany Editorial for the Special Issue Dedicated to Prof. Gerhard Franz Editorial

Yulu Miao, Bin Wang, Jing Hu et al.

Lung infection is a common complication induced by stroke and seriously affects the prognosis and life quality of patients. However, effective therapeutic strategies are still lacking. In the present study, the herb formula GCis was confirmed to prevent pulmonary infection induced by intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The animal model of lung infection induced by ICH, GCis (Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma, Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata, and Cistanches Herba) was orally administrated every day for 7 days. Lung microbial biomass and pathological results showed that the GCis formula pretreatment significantly reduced lung bacterial biomass and alleviated pathological abnormalities. These results indicated that the GCis formula has a clear pharmacological effect on preventing lung infection induced by ICH. Immunosuppression induced by ICH seemed to be the main mechanism of lung infection. Our results showed that the spleen and thymus indexes, WBC, and LY% contents were significantly increased in the GCis formula group. Moreover, bone marrow cells were further analyzed by transcriptome sequencing, and GO and KEGG enrichment analysis results showed that immune function was the main pathway enriched by differential genes after GCis formula intervention. More importantly, our results showed that GCis pretreatment had no significant effect on the mRNA expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in the brain. These results indicated that the GCis formula could enhance immunity after ICH. The intestinal barrier function was further investigated in the present study, considering the origin of the source of infection. Our results showed that the mRNA expressions of intestinal ZO-1, SIgA, and MUC2 were significantly increased, villi structure was intact, inflammatory cell infiltration was reduced, and goblet cell number was increased after GCis formula treatment. These results suggest that the GCis formula can enhance the intestinal mucosal immune barrier. This study provides a herb formula (GCis) that could enhance peripheral immunity and intestinal mucosal immune barrier to prevent pulmonary infection induced by ICH. It would be beneficial in the prevention of severe clinical infections.

Huaiyu Chen

Based on his revised dissertation, Liu Yan’s new book Healing with Poisons: Potent Medicines in Medieval China is a welcoming addition to the Englishlanguage scholarship on the history of medicines in China, focusing on the medieval transformation of poisons as medicines. In the past two decades, the history of pharmacology, pharmacy, and medicines in China has experienced a booming development across the globe. Many books focus on early modern, modern, and contemporary periods. For example, just in the past couple of years, we have seen the publications of Know Your Remedies: Pharmacy and Culture in Early Modern China (Princeton, ) and Mao’s Bestiary: Medicinal Animals and Modern China (Duke, ). However, many books on premodern periods have been published in Chinese, Japanese, and French, as Liu Yan also noted in the introduction of his new book. On the one hand, these books resulted from the flourishing of cultural history that focused on the body, health, medicine, and life. On the other hand, there was also inspiration from newly available materials, such as manuscripts found in Dunhuang and other sites in Central Asia and entombed stone inscriptions. Indeed, Chinese and Japanese scholars have continued the tradition of studying materia medica (bencao) to compile, edit, and study these manuscripts. In recent years, some East Asian scholars also attempted to incorporate new concepts to interpret these new materials in light of the history of medicine and material culture. One of the strengths of Liu’s book is to digest numerous secondary sources in East Asian languages. Besides incorporating secondary sources, Healing with Poisons focused on two genres of texts as primary sources, meteria medica (bencao) and formula books (fangshu). I would further point out that from the perspective of material culture, since there were three major material sources for Chinese medicines in medieval China: animals, plants, and minerals, many texts on the roles of plants, animals, and minerals in Chinese medical history might not be categorized into the two genres noted in Healing with Poisons, so their values for this theme might have been underestimated. For example, the text on zoomancy or animal divination collected in Treatise on the Auspicious Signs of Heaven and Earth (Tiandi ruixiang zhi 天地瑞祥志) often mentioned the animals serving as medicine for healing illness. Healing with Poisons has three parts and seven chapters. The first two parts trace the origins and evolving transformation of the “du” as “potent” or “potency” from poison to medicine in the textual sources from the Han to the  China Review International: Vol. , No. , 

Luca Palugan, Matteo Cerea, Micol Cirilli et al.

Diseases of the urinary bladder have high incidence rates and burden healthcare costs. Their pharmacological treatment involves systemic and local drug administration. The latter is generally accomplished through instillation of liquid formulations and requires repeated or long-term catheterization that is associated with discomfort, inflammation and bacterial infections. Consequently, compliance issues and dropouts are frequently reported. Moreover, instilled drugs are progressively diluted as the urine volume increases and rapidly excreted. When penetration of drugs into the bladder wall is needed, the poor permeability of the urothelium has also to be accounted for. Therefore, much research effort is spent to overcome these hurdles, thereby improving the efficacy of available therapies. Particularly, indwelling delivery systems suited for i) insertion into the bladder through the urethra, ii) intra-organ retention and prolonged release for the desired time lapse, iii) final elimination, either spontaneous or by manual removal, have been proposed to reduce the number of catheterization procedures and reach higher drug levels at the target site. Vesical retention of such devices is allowed by the relevant expansion that can either be triggered from the outside or achieved exploiting elastic and purposely 4D printed shape memory materials. In this article, the main rationales and strategies for improved intravesical delivery are reviewed.

Hariom Khandelwal, Anoop Negi, Nishith Govil et al.

Background and Aims: Transdermal opioids are newer modality in use for the control of postoperative pain, because of its noninvasiveness, longer duration of action, sustained blood levels, and with minimal side effects. The study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of analgesia of buprenorphine patch 10, 20 μg·h-1 and fentanyl patch 25 μg·h-1 for relief of pain in the postoperative period in patients undergoing arthroscopic lower limb surgeries. Materials and Methods: It was a randomized, double-blinded, prospective study in which adult patients undergoing lower limb arthroscopic surgery were randomly segregated into three groups. In Group 1 (fentanyl patch 25 μg·h-1), Group 2 (buprenorphine patch 10 μg·h-1), and Group 3 (buprenorphine patch 20 μg·h-1), transdermal patches were applied 12 h prior to surgery. Mean NRS score, total rescue analgesic requirement, drug-related adverse effects, and hemodynamic status were evaluated till 72 h in the postoperative period. Results: Out of 175 screened patients, 150 patients were finally analyzed. Baseline characteristics were the same among all the three groups. Median NRS score was lowest in Group 3 [P value < 0.05 at 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 h after surgery (Kruskal Wallis test). The total consumption of postoperative rescue analgesic diclofenac was the lowest in Group 3 as compared to other groups without any significant increase in adverse events. Conclusions: In arthroscopic lower limb surgery, buprenorphine patch (20 μg·h-1) applied 12 h prior to surgery is an effective postoperative analgesic and it is not associated with any significant adverse effects.