Knowledge, skills and attitudes of hospital pharmacists in the use of information technology and electronic tools to support clinical practice: A Brazilian survey.

This study aimed to identify the knowledge, skills and attitudes of Brazilian hospital pharmacists in the use of information technology and electronic tools to support clinical practice. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent by email to clinical pharmacists working public and private hospitals in Brazil. The instrument was validated using the method of Polit and Beck to determine the content validity index. Data (n = 348) were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's Chi-square test and Gamma correlation tests. RESULTS: Pharmacists had 1-4 electronic devices for personal use, mainly smartphones (84.8%; n = 295) and laptops (81.6%; n = 284). At work, pharmacists had access to a computer (89.4%; n = 311), mostly connected to the internet (83.9%; n = 292). They felt competent (very capable/capable) searching for a web page/web site on a specific subject (100%; n = 348), downloading files (99.7%; n = 347), using spreadsheets (90.2%; n = 314), searching using MeSH terms in PubMed (97.4%; n = 339) and general searching for articles in bibliographic databases (such as Medline/PubMed: 93.4%; n = 325). Pharmacists did not feel competent in using statistical analysis software (somewhat capable/incapable: 78.4%; n = 273). Most pharmacists reported that they had not received formal education to perform most of these actions except searching using MeSH terms. Access to bibliographic databases was available in Brazilian hospitals, however, most pharmacists (78.7%; n = 274) reported daily use of a non-specific search engine such as Google. This result may reflect the lack of formal knowledge and training in the use of bibliographic databases and difficulty with the English language. The need to expand knowledge about information search tools was recognized by most pharmacists in clinical practice in Brazil, especially those with less time dedicated exclusively to clinical activity (Chi-square, p = 0.006). CONCLUSION: These results will assist in defining minimal competencies for the training of pharmacists in the field of information technology to support clinical practice. Knowledge and skill gaps are evident in the use of bibliographic databases, spreadsheets and statistical tools.

Preliminary in vitro evaluation of the anti-proliferative activity of guanylhydrazone derivatives.

Guanylhydrazones have shown promising antitumor activity in preclinical tumor models in several studies. In this study, we aimed at evaluating the cytotoxic effect of a series of synthetic guanylhydrazones. Different human tumor cell lines, by including HCT-8 (colon carcinoma), MDA-MB-435 (melanoma) and SF-295 (glioblastoma) were continuous exposed to guanylhydrazone derivatives for 72 hours and growth inhibition of tumor cell lines and macrophages J774 was measured using tetrazolium salt (MTT) assay. Compounds 7, 11, 16 and 17 showed strong cytotoxic activity with IC50 values lower than 10 µmol L(-1) against four tumor cell lines. Among them, 7 was less toxic to non-tumor cells. Finally, obtained data suggest that guanylhydrazones may be regarded as potential lead compounds for the design of novel anticancer agents.

Estudo do potencial efeito inibitório do composto sintético CPO001 sobre a quinesina Eg5 análises in vitro com validação de cálculos em bioquímica quântica

Pterocarpanos representam a maior classe de isoflavonóides, depois das isoflavonase estudos recentes tem revelado que os representantes deste grupo podem agir em alvos específicos da mitose. O presente estudo avaliou o potencial citotóxico, genotóxico e mutagênico, do composto CP001,em célulasnormais e linhagens tumorais humanas, além do efeito inibitório sobre a quinesina Eg5fazendo uso de ensaios in vitro e com cálculos de bioquímica quântica.Os ensaios de citotoxicidade mostraram que o CP001apresentou efeito significativo sobre as linhagens tumorais testadas (HL-60, HCT-116, OVCAR-8, SF-295)com IC50 variandoentre 0,2 e 3,61 μM. Efeito confirmado na curva de crescimento cinético em tempo real, onde o CP001inibiu o crescimento da linhagem OVCAR-8 na concentração de 4 μM, semelhante ao paclitaxel (0,5 μM).Desta forma, a fim de determinar o mecanismo de ação envolvido, uma sequência de experimentos in vitroforam realizados.A avaliação do conteúdo de DNA nuclear foi mensurada em células OVCAR-8, para analisar o efeito do pterocarpano sobre as fases do ciclo celular, revelando que o CP001 é capaz de parar o ciclo celular na fase G2/M, na concetração de 5 μM, e com efeito potencializador, quando colocado em conjunto com o paclitaxel. A parada do ciclo celular na fase G2/M pode estar relacionado a ação do composto na tubulina. O ensaio da polimerização da tubulina foi conduzido e mostrou-se que o CP001 possui velocidade de polimerização (Vma = 80.95 mOD/min), inferior a do paclitaxel (Vmax = 100 mDO/min) e próxima a do monastrol (Vmax = 88.46 mOD/min). Estes dados mostram que a interferência na polimerização da tubulina não é tão significativa quanto aquela apresentada no paclitaxel. A ação em proteínas específicas da mitose foi outra possibilidade testada...

Pterocarpans represented the largest isoflavonoid class after isoflavones and recent studies have revealed that representatives of this group can act on specific targets of mitosis.This study evaluated the potential cytotoxic , genotoxic and mutagenic of the CP001 in tumoral and normal human cell lines. The inhibitory effect in Eg5 kinesin and quantum biochemistry calculation has been peformed as well. Cytotoxicity tests showed that CP001 hads ignificant effect on the tested tumoral lines (HL-60, HCT-116, OVCAR-8, SF-295) with IC50 ranging between 0.2 and 3.61 μ M. Effect confirmed bykinetic growth curve in real time, where the CP001inhibit growth of OVCAR-8 cell line at a concentration of 4 uM , similar to paclitaxel (0.5 mM). Thus, in order to determine the mechanism of action involved a sequence of in vitro experiments were per formed .The assessment of nuclear DNA content was measured in OVCAR-8 cells to examine the effect of pterocarpanon the cellcycle phases , showing that CP001is capable to arrest cell cycle at the G2/ M phase, concentration of 5 uM , and potentiating effect when added in combination with paclitaxel.The cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase may be related to action of the compound on tubulin.The tubulin assay polymerization was conducted and revealed that CP001 has polymerization rate (Vmax = 80.95 mOD / min ) b elow paclitaxel(Vmax = 100 mOD / min) and close tomonastrol ( Vmax = 88.46 mOD / min).These data suggest that interference with tubulin polymerization is not as significant as that shown in paclitaxel.Specific action mitosis proteins was another possibility tested...

Development of nanoaptamers using a mesoporous silica model labeled with (99m)tc for cancer targeting.

The use of mesoporous silica in targeted cancer therapy is increasing daily. The combination of a rigid model of nanoparticles like mesoporous silica and biological compounds with an affinity for oncological diseases is the most promising drug-targeting system nowadays. In this study, we used the mesoporous silica SBA-15 combined with aptamer (functionalized for tumor with MUC1). The results obtained were of interest and showed the formation of the silica mesoporous structure. The impregnation methodology of mesoporous silica with the aptamer was also confirmed. Cytotoxicity results demonstrated that the particle associated with the aptamer has no cytotoxicity. We conclude that although further studies are required, the mesoporous silica nanoparticle model loaded with aptamer is very functional and can be used for other applications, especially in nuclear medicine.