Identifying the core concepts of pharmacology education: A global initiative.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In recent decades, a focus on the most critical and fundamental concepts has proven highly advantageous to students and educators in many science disciplines. Pharmacology, unlike microbiology, biochemistry, or physiology, lacks a consensus list of such core concepts. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: We sought to develop a research-based, globally relevant list of core concepts that all students completing a foundational pharmacology course should master. This two-part project consisted of exploratory and refinement phases. The exploratory phase involved empirical data mining of the introductory sections of five key textbooks, in parallel with an online survey of over 200 pharmacology educators from 17 countries across six continents. The refinement phase involved three Delphi rounds involving 24 experts from 15 countries across six continents. KEY RESULTS: The exploratory phase resulted in a consolidated list of 74 candidate core concepts. In the refinement phase, the expert group produced a consensus list of 25 core concepts of pharmacology. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This list will allow pharmacology educators everywhere to focus their efforts on the conceptual knowledge perceived to matter most by experts within the discipline. Next steps for this project include defining and unpacking each core concept and developing resources to help pharmacology educators globally teach and assess these concepts within their educational contexts.

Biguanide-transition metals complexes as potential drug for hyperglycemia treatment.

Coordination compounds of Cu(ii), Ni(ii), Co(ii), and Zn(ii) with a type of biguanide (known commercially as metformin) have been synthesized and characterized using spectroscopic techniques (FT-IR, UV/VIS), X-ray diffraction techniques and thermal analysis. For all compounds, single crystals were obtained for single-crystal X-ray diffraction. For the first time, an octahedral cobalt compound with the formula [Co(C4H11N5)3]Cl2·2H2O that crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/c with one molecule in the asymmetric unit has been obtained. Also, a novel nickel compound with the formula [Ni(C4H11N5) (C4H10N5)]Cl·H2O that crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c with two molecules in the asymmetric unit was obtained. Finally, we obtained copper and zinc compounds that crystallize in the monoclinic space groups P21/n and P21/c with the general formula [Cu(C4H11N5)2]Cl2·H2O and [Zn(C4H12N5)Cl3], respectively. A structural and supramolecular analysis was developed for all compounds using Hirshfeld surface analysis and electrostatic potential maps. The cell viability of the obtained compounds was evaluated in C2C12 (ATCCCRL-1772™) mouse muscle cells and HepG2 (ATCC HB-8065™) human liver carcinoma cells by the MTT assay to determine the potential of the compounds as new safe drugs. The results demonstrate that the compounds exhibit low cytotoxicity at doses less than 250 µg mL-1 with a cell viability greater than 80%.

Mangiferin: Possible uses in the prevention and treatment of mixed osteoarthritic pain.

Osteoarthritis (OA) pain has been proposed to be a mixed pain state, because in some patients, central nervous system factors are superimposed upon the more traditional peripheral factors. In addition, a considerable amount of preclinical and clinical evidence has shown that, accompanying the central neuroplasticity changes and partially driven by a peripheral nociceptive input, a real neuropathic component occurs that are particularly linked to disease severity and progression. Hence, innovative strategies targeting neuroprotection and particularly neuroinflammation to prevent and treat OA pain could be introduced. Mangiferin (MG) is a glucosylxanthone that is broadly distributed in higher plants, such as Mangifera indica L. Previous studies have documented its analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, neuroprotective, and immunomodulatory properties. In this paper, we propose its potential utility as a multitargeted compound for mixed OA pain, even in the context of multimodal pharmacotherapy. This hypothesis is supported by three main aspects: the cumulus of preclinical evidence around this xanthone, some preliminary clinical results using formulations containing MG in clinical musculoskeletal or neuropathic pain, and by speculations regarding its possible mechanism of action according to recent advances in OA pain knowledge.