Soft drinks and in vitro dental erosion.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine to what extent the in vitro exposure of healthy teeth to various commonly consumed carbonated soft drinks may precipitate dental erosion. Forty-two healthy, extracted, previously unerupted human molars were weighed prior to, during, and after suspension in various sugared and diet or zero-calorie carbonated beverages for 20 days; the specimens were stored at room temperature while being stirred at 275 rpm. The percentage decrease in tooth weight from before to after exposure represented the weight loss due to enamel erosion; values in the experimental groups varied from 3.22% to 44.52% after 20 days' exposure. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and post hoc Scheffe testing at a level of α = 0.05. Nonsugared drinks (diet and zero-calorie) as a whole were more erosive than sugared beverages. A significant positive correlation was found between the amount of titratable acid and percentage of tooth erosion, while a significant negative correlation was revealed between the beverage pH and percentage of tooth erosion. No significant correlations were found between calcium or phosphate ion concentrations and the amount of erosion. It appears that enamel erosion is dependent on not only the beverage flow rate, pH, and amount of titratable acid, but also whether the soft drink is of the diet or zero-calorie variety, which reflects the type of artificial sweetener present.

Heterogeneity in the expression of receptors in the human breast cancer metastasized to the brain.

Assessment of the human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (Her2/ErbB2) and estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expression in breast cancer has been an accepted standard to predict clinical outcome. Expression of these receptors in primary breast cancer has also been an important predictor of visceral organ metastasis. Many studies of breast cancer have reported risk factors for brain metastasis that include Her2/ErbB2 positivity, ER negativity, and negativity for all the above three receptors. However, it is not clear whether expression of these receptors would persist subsequent to brain metastasis. To address this possibility, we analyzed different breast cancer brain metastases (BCBM) for the expression of Her2/ErbB2, ER, and PR by immunohistochemistry procedure. The results showed that BCBM are heterogeneous in the receptor expression: Five BCBMs were Her2/ErbB2-positive and one negative; four BCBMs were ER-positive, and two were negative; five BCBMs were PR-positive and one negative. However, expression of these receptors in their combination is also heterogeneous: Four BCBMs were positive for all of the Her2/ErbB2, ER, and PR; one BCBM was positive for Her2/ErbB2 and PR but negative for ER; one BCBM was positive for PR but negative for Her2/ErbB2/ER. Similar heterogeneity in the expression of these receptors was also observed in primary tumors. Importantly, BCBM tumors that were assigned as ER- and PR-positive contained tumor cells that lacked expression of these receptors in other regions of the biopsies. Taken together, our findings indicate that the BCBM exhibit heterogeneity in the expression amounts of Her2/ErbB2, ER, and PR, which could be a result of the influence of tumor microenvironment in the brain or different tumor cells populating the metastatic region.

A Simplified, Specific HPLC Method of Assaying Thiamine and Riboflavin in Mushrooms.

Mushrooms have been used as part of the average diet and as a nutraceutical for thousands of years due to their immense health benefits. The purpose of this study was to develop a simple, fast, accurate, specific, reproducible, and robust chromatographic method to identify and quantify two water-soluble vitamins: thiamine (B1) and riboflavin (B2) in mushrooms. The method employed for qualitative and quantitative analysis of these vitamins was Reversed Phase-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) equipped with Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) Detector. The extraction process involved acid hydrolysis followed by enzymatic dephosphorylation with takadiastase enzyme. Chromatographic separation was achieved with a Shimadzu prominence HPLC system using isocratic elution mode on a Waters Xterra® MS C-18 column (4.6mm × 150mm, 5 µm) integrated with a XBridge® BEH C-18 Guard column (2.1mm × 5 mm, 5 µm). The mobile phase of this study consisted of buffer and methanol in the ratio of 80:20, where the buffer contained sodium-1-hexanesulfonate, glacial acetic acid, methanol, and pH adjusted to 3.0 with diethylamine. Vitamins were detected simultaneously at their lambda max wavelengths B1: 245nm and B2: 268nm using dual-wavelength UV detection technique to get their highest response. The proposed method was found to be specific, linear R>1.0, accurate, precise (% recovery ± SD; B1:104.45±4.5 and B2: 104.88±2.04), sensitive, (limit of detection for B1 and B2 was 0.043 and 0.029 µg/mL, respectively), and robust for mushrooms analysis. No coeluting peaks were observed at the retention time of the vitamins and all the peaks were spectrally homogenous. The standard and sample solutions were found to remain stable at cold temperature for 72 hours. In summary, our data suggest that the proposed method could be used in food industries to monitor the product quality during routine quality control purposes.

Strategies for implementation of an effective pharmacogenomics program in pharmacy education.

Sequencing of the human genome and the evidence correlating specific genetic variations to diseases have opened up the potential of genomics to more effective and less harmful interventions of human diseases. A wealth of pharmacogenomics knowledge is in place for the practice of precision medicine. However, this knowledge is not fully realized in clinical practice. One reason for this impasse is the lack of in-depth understanding of the potential of pharmacogenomics among the healthcare professionals. Pharmacists are the point-of-care providers and are expected to advise clinicians on matters relating to the implementation of pharmacogenomics in patient care. However, current pharmacogenomics instruction in pharmacy schools fails to produce pharmacists with the required knowledge or practical training in this discipline. In this perspective, we provide several strategies to overcome limitations faced by pharmacy schools. Once implemented, pharmacy schools will produce precision medicine-ready pharmacists.

Neonatal nutrition: a focus on parenteral nutrition and early enteral nutrition.

No population has benefited more from the development and advancement of specialized nutrition support than pediatric patients. Today, neonates comprise the largest group of pediatric patients receiving parenteral nutrition (PN). Nutrient needs of neonates differ substantially from other populations, presenting unique challenges in optimizing nutrition care. Neonates are highly susceptible to catabolic stress because of reduced energy stores and markedly increased energy needs. Immature organ systems and metabolic pathways further complicate the delivery of adequate nutrition in the preterm neonate. Early nutrition support is essential to improve survival, reduce catabolism, promote growth, and limit developmental complications. This article discusses feeding strategies for PN and early enteral nutrition in neonates, particularly the preterm neonate.

Pharmacy students' attitudes toward geriatric nursing home patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the attitudes of second-year pharmacy students toward older people in general and geriatric patients in particular after attending an Early Pharmacy Practice Experiences 2 course. METHODS: One hundred forty-four second-year pharmacy students completed the Geriatrics Knowledge Test and Attitudes Survey between 2008 and 2010. RESULTS: On 11 of 14 items, most students had a favorable opinion of older people and providing geriatric care (mean > 3.0 on a 5-point scale). For example, students believed that treatment of chronically ill elderly patients is not hopeless ( 4.2 ± 1.0) and that most older people are pleasant to be with ( 3.8 ± 1.0). Gender, age, race/ethnicity, marital status, having children, and rural or non-rural upbringing were not related to the students' attitudes for most items. CONCLUSION: Although the majority of second-year pharmacy students had favorable attitudes toward older people and geriatric care, the lack of research in this area suggests that further studies are needed.