The 1941 sulfathiazole disaster and the birth of good manufacturing practices

The beginning of modern standards for good manufacturing practices can be traced to an incident that began in December 1940, when the Winthrop Chemical Company of New York put on the market sulfathiazole tablets contaminated with phenobarbital. Hundreds of deaths and injuries resulted. FDA's investigation into Winthrop's sulfathiazole production and the agency's efforts to retrieve the Winthrop drug remaining on the market revealed numerous control deficiencies in the plant and serious irregularities in the firm's attempt to recall the tainted tablets. The incident prompted FDA to require detailed controls in sulfathiazole production at Winthrop and throughout the industry, an approach that became the basis for production control standards for all pharmaceuticals.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of thiazolyl indolequinones

A number of thiazolyl indolequinones have been prepared and evaluated for their antitumor properties. The compounds were synthesized from the appropriate indole, building up the thiazole ring using the Hantzsch reaction. Cytotoxic activity was determined in the human breast cancer SKBr3 cell line. Selected compounds were also studied in human lung carcinoma A549 and PV9 cell lines. In addition, some compounds were evaluated for their possible bioreductive action by determining their cytotoxicity towards V79 Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts in air and under anaerobic (hypoxic) conditions.     

The Biosynthesis of Melanin-Concentrating Hormone in a Fish

This work investigated the biosynthesis of a neurohypophysial hormone, melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), in the trout. Sephadex G-75 chromatography showed the presence of several large MCH-immunoreactive molecules in hypothalamic and pituitary gland extracts, with different retention times on high-performance liquid chromatography from the mature MCH^1–17. About 10% of the total MCH-immunoreactivity in the hypothalamus was attributable to large molecular weight forms but these contributed less than 1% to the immunoreactivity in the neurointermediate lobe. Both [³⁵ S]methionine and [³ H]leucine were injected into the hypothalamus near the MCH perikarya (nucleus lateralis tuberis region) of anaesthetized fish, after which the fish were killed at intervals of up to 8 h post-injection and the basal hypothalami, pituitary pars distales and neurointermediate lobes were extracted in acid. MCH-related immunoprecipitates from these extracts were fractionated by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis or by Sephadex G-50 chromatography. The results show the incorporation of radiolabel into 15.3 K and 11.3 K precursors within 0.75 h, and their conversion, via several smaller intermediates, to a molecule resembling MCH^1–17. The results are discussed in relation to the known cDNA sequence of salmon MCH. Labelled MCH first appeared in the neurointermediate lobe 4 h after injection, giving an estimated transit rate of 0.4 mm/h.     

Forskolin infusion in vivo increases ouabain binding in brain

In order to investigate the possible regulation of brain Na,K-ATPase by cyclic AMP, we measured Na,K-ATPase activity and ouabain binding in cerebral cortex after intraventricular infusion of forskolin for 7 days. There was a dose-related increase in high-affinity ouabain binding, with a 75% increase at 12.5 micrograms/h forskolin. The effect on total enzyme activity was smaller but enzyme activity with high affinity for ouabain was increased by 65%, suggesting a selective effect on enzyme with high affinity for ouabain. Forskolin appeared not to interact directly with Na,K-ATPase in vitro.     

Noradrenaline and thyroid function regulate (Na+,K+)-adenosine triphosphatase independently in vivo

We investigated interactions between noradrenaline and thyroid hormone status in the regulation of (Na+,K+)-ATPase in vivo. Treatment with the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol or with the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine did not prevent the increases in heart (Na+,K+)-ATPase associated with triiodothyronine treatment. Administration of methimazole did not prevent the increase in (Na+,K+)-ATPase indices in cerebral cortex and heart associated with subacute noradrenergic stimulation by yohimbine. There was no evidence for synergistic effects between thyroid hormone administration and noradrenergic stimulation by yohimbine. Thyroid hormone, unlike noradrenaline, mainly increased (Na+,K+)-ATPase activity with low affinity for ouabain. These results show that noradrenaline and thyroid hormone regulate (Na+,K+)-ATPase by largely independent mechanisms, and may regulate different populations of enzyme molecules.     

Recent Research on Impulsivity in Individuals With Drug Use and Mental Health Disorders: Implications for Alcoholism

Alcohol misuse and dependence, and many of its accompanying psychological problems, are associated with heightened levels of impulsivity that both accelerate the development of clinically significant illness and complicate clinical outcome. This article reviews recent developments in our understanding of impulsivity as they relate to brain circuitry that might underlie these comorbid factors, focusing upon the clinical features of substance use (and dependence), bipolar disorder, and pathological gambling. Individuals who are affected by these disorders exhibit problems in several domains of impulsive behavior including deficient response or “motor” control, and the tolerance of prolonged delays prior to larger rewards at the expense of smaller rewards (“delay‐discounting”). These populations, like alcoholic dependents, also exhibit impairments in risky decision‐making that may reflect dysfunction of monoamine and catecholamine pathways. However, several areas of uncertainty exist including the specificity of impairments across disorders and the relationship between impulse control problems and altered evaluation of reward outcomes underlying observed impairments in action selection.     

Chronic tiagabine administration and aggressive responding in individuals with a history of substance abuse and antisocial behavior

Anticonvulsants, notably those which modulate GABA activity, have shown efficacy in reducing aggressive behavior. Previously, we found dose-related decreases in human aggressive responding following acute tiagabine administration. Here, we examined the effects of chronic tiagabine over a 5-week period. Twelve individuals at increased risk for aggressive and violent behavior (currently on parole/probation with personality and/or substance use disorders) were randomly assigned to placebo (n?=?6) or an escalating dose sequence of placebo, 4?mg, 8?mg, 12?mg, placebo (n?=?6). Data were analyzed using both frequentist and Bayesian mixed models, evaluating aggressive behavior as a function of time, dose condition, and their interaction. For aggressive responding, there was a significant interaction of drug condition and time. Aggression in the tiagabine condition decreased for each additional week in the study, while participants in the placebo condition failed to demonstrate similar change over time. For monetary-reinforced responding, no drug or drug by time interactions were observed, suggesting specificity of drug effects on aggression. The small number of subjects limits the generality of the findings, and previous studies with tiagabine are limited to acute dosing and case report investigations. However, the present data provide an indication that tiagabine merits further examination as an agent for management of impulsive aggression.