Granulation of core particles suitable for film coating by agitation fluidized bed II. A proposal of a rapid dissolution test for evaluation of bitter taste of ibuprofen.

To prepare powdered drugs that do not have a bitter taste, a film coating covering the surfaces of the core particles is required. The dissolution rate of ibuprofen from the coated particles changes according to the physical properties of the core particles. In this study, the effects of the physical properties of granules prepared by using several scales of agitation fluidized beds on the drug dissolution rate were investigated. The dissolution rate of ibuprofen decreased when the apparent density and shape factor of the granules increased. In contrast, the dissolution rate of the drug increased with the friablility of the granules increased. Thus, the structures of the granules appear to affect the dissolution rate of the drug to a large degree. A rapid dissolution test that can be used to investigate the early dissolution rate of ibuprofen in vitro was proposed to evaluate the taste-masking level of the coated particles. The bitter taste-masking level of the coated particles was successfully confirmed by using this novel test method.

Acute myelogenous leukemia following treatment with cyclosporin A in a nephrotic patient.

We report here a very rare case of a nephrotic patient who developed acute myelogenous leukemia (AML, M2) 8 months after receiving cyclosporin A (CsA) therapy. A 30-year-old man with nephrotic syndrome had been taking diphenylhydantoin (DPH, 300 mg/day) for 6 years for treatment of convulsion and then received treatment of prednisolone and CsA (75 mg/day) for a nephrotic syndrome. Approximately 4 months after CsA therapy began, myeloblasts appeared in his peripheral blood at a ratio of 1%. Four months later, bone marrow aspiration and a biopsy confirmed a diagnosis of AML M2, showing hypercellular bone marrow with 60% leukemic cells. He received induction chemotherapy, which led to a complete remission.