The influence of formulation components on the aerosolisation properties of spray-dried powders.

Dry powders suitable for inhalation containing beta-estradiol, leucine as a dispersibility enhancer and lactose as a bulking agent were prepared by spray-drying from aqueous ethanol formulations. The influence of formulation components on the characteristics of the resultant spray-dried powders was examined through the use of a range of ethanol concentrations (10-50% v/v) in the solvent used to prepare the initial formulations. Additionally, the amount of leucine required to act as a dispersibility enhancer was investigated by varying the amount of leucine added to the formulation prior to spray-drying. Following spray-drying, resultant powders were characterised using scanning electron microscopy, laser diffraction and tapped density measurements, and the aerosolisation performance determined using Twin Stage Impinger and Andersen Cascade Impactor analysis. We demonstrate that selection of appropriate solvent systems and leucine concentration allows the preparation of spray-dried powders that display enhanced aerosolisation properties, and would be predicted to exhibit high deposition in the lower regions of the respiratory tract.     

Frequency, nature and determinants of pharmaceutical consultations provided in private by Dutch community pharmacists

OBJECTIVE: According to a report published by the federation of Dutch patients' associations, patients would like to see a pharmacist, who acts more as a personal adviser. This raised the question, how often Dutch community pharmacists have personal consultations with their patients in daily practice, on which factors this depends, and what kind of topics are discussed during these meetings. SETTING: Community pharmacies in the Netherlands. METHOD: A questionnaire was distributed among 800 randomly selected pharmacies. Questions were restricted to consultations characterized by one-to-one contact, drug therapy related content, and adequate privacy. These consultations were labelled as pharmaceutical consultations in private to distinguish them from other contacts between pharmacists and patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Number, content, and character of consultations. RESULTS: 198 (24.8%) community pharmacies responded. The pharmacists provide an average of roughly 1.2 consultations in private per working day. The vast majority of respondents provided face-to-face and telephone consultations (94.4 and 91.9%, respectively), only a minority gave consultations by e-mail (30.8%). These consultations primarily dealt with topics related to medication safety. The mean overall time spent was 290 min per month. A relatively high frequency of personal consultations was significantly associated with the absolute number of full-time equivalent pharmacists in the pharmacy. CONCLUSION: The frequency of pharmaceutical consultations in private is low, but may be improved by reorganisation of the pharmacist's activities. The possibility of personal consultations by e-mail is not yet well-developed. Further research is needed to assess the patient's view of pharmaceutical consultations in private.     

Mutations in SOX2 cause anophthalmia-esophageal-genital (AEG) syndrome

Table 1     

Reproducibility of food atopy patch tests over time in the general child population

Background  The atopy patch test (APT) is no longer an experimental method; it is increasingly being used as a standard diagnostic tool for the characterization of patients with aeroallergen- and food-triggered disorders. Some technical aspects of this test still remain to be answered. We aimed to study the reproducibility of this test over time in the general child population.
Methods  In a general population of 118 children, we investigated the reproducibility of duplicate APTs with four food allergens in their native form, which were repeated at set intervals from the first test: 7 days (group 1), 14 days (group 2), and 21 days (group 3).
Results  We observed very poor reproducibility on both sides of the back in all three studied subgroups. The reproducibility rates and Cohen's κ values did not improve when we did not consider the side of the back. There were no differences in the prevalence of atopy between the subjects with reproducible and nonreproducible APT results. All three groups studied showed no difference in the prevalence rates of atopy. There was no relationship between APT and skin prick test positivity for the same allergen. Questionnaire-derived data about previous food-related reactions did not help in the evaluation of the doubtful nonreproducible APT results with food allergens.
Conclusions  Our results show that the reproducibility of food APTs is poor and unsatisfactory over time, and there is an urgent need for the development of optimal, stable, and good-quality APT testing substances.     

Rigid rods with flexible side chains — A route to molecular reinforcement?

Liquid-crystalline main-chain polyesters with polystyrene side chains of different length and number per main chain were synthesized using aromatic hydroxyfunctional polystyrene (PS) macromonomers, terephthalic acid derivatives and tert-butylhydroquinone as co-diol. The molecular weight of the polystyrene side chain was varied in the range from 1000 to 20000. The influence of this novel type of substituent on the solubility, thermal behaviour and miscibility with PS as a flexible matrix polymer is discussed. The properties of the new compounds are compared to those of the respective homopolyester. The graft copolyesters are, depending on the characteristics of the polymeric substituent, soluble in common organic solvents and their thermal transition points are lowered compared to the homopolyester. Compared to blends of the homopolyester, the improvement of miscibility of the polymer-substituted rigid rods with PS as an example for a flexible matrix polymer can be valued as a step to molecular reinforcement.