[The long and winding road of the clinical pharmacy in Chile]. / El largo y sinuoso camino de la farmacia clinica en Chile.

Clinical pharmacy is a health discipline in which pharmacists provide patient care that optimizes rational medication use and promotes health, wellness and disease prevention. The beginnings of clinical pharmacy in Chile were inspired by the origin in the School of Pharmacy of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), in the mid-1960s. However, the historical development in our country, both in teaching and in the professional field, was accompanied by difficulties and success, which became a long and winding road. This article shares the events that gave rise to its beginnings in Chile, first through teaching, then in pharmacovigilance and clinical pharmacokinetics, to later describe its professional expansion and recognition as a specialty of pharmacy. This article briefly recounts the history of the Chilean clinical pharmacy to this day. Some names of people or institutions were not mentioned. Therefore the authors apologize in advance to pharmacists and organizations whose contribution cannot be recognized in this way. However, we know that this specialty has not been forged only by the names that appear, but by all those who love and respect the work of the clinical pharmacy.

The role of bioimpedance analysis in overweight and obese patients with acute heart failure: a pilot study.

AIMS: Residual congestion at the time of hospital discharge is an important readmission risk factor, and its detection with physical examination and usual diagnostic techniques have strong limitations in overweight and obese patients. New tools like bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) could help to determine when euvolaemia is reached. The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of BIA in management of heart failure (HF) in overweight and obese patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: Our study is a single-centre, single-blind, randomized controlled trial that included 48 overweight and obese patients admitted for acute HF. The study population was randomized into two arms: BIA-guided group and standard care. Serum electrolytes, kidney function, and natriuretic peptides were followed up during their hospital stay and at 90 days after discharge. The primary endpoint was development of severe acute kidney injury (AKI) defined as an increase in serum creatinine by >0.5 mg/dL during hospitalization, and the main secondary endpoint was the reduction of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels during hospitalization and within 90 days after discharge. The BIA-guided group showed a remarkable lower incidence of severe AKI, although no significant differences were found (41.4% vs. 16.7%; P = 0.057). The proportion of patients who achieved levels of NT-proBNP < 1000 pg/mL at 90 days was significantly higher in the BIA-guided group than in the standard group (58.8% vs. 25%; P = 0.049). No differences were observed in the incidence of adverse outcomes at 90 days. CONCLUSIONS: Among overweight and obese patients with HF, BIA reduces NT-proBNP levels at 90 days compared with standard care. In addition, there is a trend towards lower incidence of AKI in the BIA-guided group. Although more studies are required, BIA could be a useful tool in decompensated HF management in overweight and obese patients.

El largo y sinuoso camino de la farmacia clinica en Chile / The long and winding road of the clinical pharmacy in Chile

Clinical pharmacy is a health discipline in which pharmacists provide patient care that optimizes rational medication use and promotes health, wellness and disease prevention. The beginnings of clinical pharmacy in Chile were inspired by the origin in the School of Pharmacy of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), in the mid-1960s. However, the historical development in our country, both in teaching and in the professional field, was accompanied by difficulties and success, which became a long and winding road. This article shares the events that gave rise to its beginnings in Chile, first through teaching, then in pharmacovigilance and clinical pharmacokinetics, to later describe its professional expansion and recognition as a specialty of pharmacy. This article briefly recounts the history of the Chilean clinical pharmacy to this day. Some names of people or institutions were not mentioned. Therefore the authors apologize in advance to pharmacists and organizations whose contribution cannot be recognized in this way. However, we know that this specialty has not been forged only by the names that appear, but by all those who love and respect the work of the clinical pharmacy.

IgA nephropathy: an overview of drug treatments in clinical trials.

INTRODUCTION: IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the commonest primary glomerulonephritis worldwide and may progress to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) within a 10-20 year period. Its slowly progressive course has made clinical trials challenging to perform, however the acceptance of proteinuria reduction as a surrogate end point has significantly improved the feasibility of conducting clinical trials in IgAN, with several novel and repurposed therapies currently undergoing assessment. Already, interim results are demonstrating value to some of these, offering great hope to those with IgAN. AREAS COVERED: This review explores the rationale, candidates, clinical precedents, and trial status of therapies that are currently or have recently been evaluated for efficacy in IgAN. All IgAN trials registered with the U.S. National Library of Medicine; ClinicalTrials.gov were reviewed. EXPERT OPINION: For the first time, effective treatment options beyond supportive care are becoming available for those with IgAN. This is the culmination of commendable international efforts and signifies a new era for those with IgAN. As more therapies become available, future challenges will revolve around deciding which treatments are most appropriate for individual patients, which is likely to push IgAN into the realm of precision medicine.

Ultrafiltration rate adjusted to body weight and mortality in hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Mortality among hemodialysis patients remains high. An elevated ultrafiltration rate adjusted by weight (UFR/W) has been associated with hypotension and higher risk of death and/or cardiovascular events. METHODS: We evaluated the association between UFR/W and mortality in 215 hemodialysis patients. The mean follow-up was 28 ±â€¯6.12 months. We collected patients' baseline characteristics and mean UFR/W throughout the follow-up. RESULTS: Mean UFR/W was 9.0 ±â€¯2,4 and tertiles 7.1 y 10.1 mL/kg/h. We divided our population according to the percentage of sessions with UFR/W above the limits described in the literature associated with increased mortality (10.0 ml/kg/h and 13.0 mL/kg/h). Patients with higher UFR/W were younger, with higher interdialytic weight gain and weight reduction percentage but lower dry, pre and post dialysis weight. Throughout the follow-up, 46 (21.4%) patients died, the majority over 70 years old, diabetic or with cardiovascular disease. There were neither differences regarding mortality between groups nor differences in UFR/W among patients who died and those who did not. Contrary to previous studies, we did not find an association between UFR/W and mortality, maybe due to a higher prevalence in the use of cardiovascular protection drugs and lower UFR/W. CONCLUSIONS: The highest UFR/W were observed in younger patients with lower weight and were not associated with an increased mortality.

The dirty little secret of urate-lowering therapy: useless to stop chronic kidney disease progression and may increase mortality.

Hyperuricaemia is frequent in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Observational studies have shown an association with adverse outcomes and acquired hyperuricaemia (meaning serum urate levels as low as 1.0 mg/dL) in animal models induces kidney injury. This evidence does not justify the widespread use of urate-lowering drugs for asymptomatic hyperuricaemia in CKD. However, promising results from small, open-label studies led some physicians to prescribe urate-lowering drugs to slow CKD progression. Two recent, large, placebo-controlled trials (CKD-FIX and PERL) showed no benefit from urate lowering with allopurinol on the primary endpoint of CKD progression, confirming prior negative results. Despite these negative findings, it was still argued that the study population could be optimized by enrolling younger non-proteinuric CKD patients with better preserved glomerular filtration rate (GFR). However, in these low-risk patients, GFR may be stable under placebo conditions. Additionally, the increased mortality trends already identified in gout trials of urate-lowering therapy were also observed in CKD-FIX and PERL, sending a strong safety signal: 21/449 (4.7%) and 10/444 (2.2%) patients died in the combined allopurinol and placebo groups, respectively [chi-squared P-value 0.048; relative risk 2.07 (95% CI 0.98-4.34); P = 0.06]. Given the absent evidence of benefit in multiple clinical trials and the potentially serious safety issues, the clear message should be that urate-lowering therapy should not be prescribed for the indication of slowing CKD progression. Additionally, regulatory agencies should urgently reassess the safety of chronic prescription of urate-lowering drugs for any indication.

Cytotoxicity and trypanocidal activity of nifurtimox encapsulated in ethylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles.

The aim of the present study was to study the trypanocidal activity of nanoparticles loaded with nifurtimox in comparison with the free drug against Trypanosoma cruzi, responsible for Chagas' disease. Ethylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles acted as the delivery system into cells. As the obligate replicative intracellular form is amastigote, in vitro studies were performed on this form of parasite as well as on cell culture derived trypomastigotes. The fluorescence method used here was very useful as it allowed for the simultaneous study of trypanocide activity and cytotoxicity by determining living or dead parasites within living or dead host cells. According to these results, the greatest trypanocide activity on cell culture-derived trypomastigotes was recorded for nifurtimox-loaded nanoparticles with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) twenty times less than that of the free drug. The cytotoxicity of unloaded nanoparticles at low concentrations was similar to that obtained by free drug when evaluated on Vero cells. Furthermore, nifurtimox-loaded nanoparticles showed increased trypanocide activity on intracellular amastigotes with an IC50 thirteen times less than that of nifurtimox. We also observed that the unloaded nanoparticles possess the previously-described trypanocide activity, similar to the standard solution of nifurtimox, although the mechanism for this has not yet been elucidated. In conclusion, it was possible to establish in vitro conditions using nifurtimox encapsulated nanoparticles in order to decrease the doses of the drug and thus to obtain high trypanocidal activity on both free trypomastigotes and intracellular amastigotes with low cytotoxicity for the host cell.

Reacciones adversas a medicamentos en pacientes geriátricos hospitalizados: estudio prospectivo / A prospective study of adverse drug reactions among hospitalized elders

Background: it is not clear if old age is a risk factor for adverse drug reactions. Aim: to study the incidence of adverse drug reactions and the effect of age n patients admitted to and Internal Medicine Service in an university hospital. Patients and methods: two hundred one patients, hospitalized at the Clinical Hospital of the Catholic University, were studied. These patients were followed using a prospective pharmacological surveillance method. For statistical purposes patients aged 65 years old or older were compared with those younger than 65 years old. Results: patients over 65 years old bad a 33 percent incidence of adverse drug reactions, mainly involving cardiovascular system and provoking metabolic disturbances. Younger subyects bad a 24 percent incidence of adverse drug reactions, mainly involving the gastrointestinal system and the skin. Sixteen percent of adverse drug reactions were classified as severe and the was a direct relationship between its frequency and the number of drugs prescribed, the hospitalization length and the presence of renal failure. Younger patients with adverse drug reactions bad lower serum albumin levels than those without adverse reactions. This relationship was not observed in older patients. Conclusions: the frequency of adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients, is related to the number of drugs prescribed and the lengib of hospitalization