Biomedical subjects

F Oner

Publications and source records attributed to F Oner.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Differences between asthma and COPD in the elderly.

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are both characterized by the presence of airflow obstruction. Both diseases are not rare in the elderly population. Distinguishing between these diseases is difficult and may be impossible in some older patients. The aim of the study was to investigate clinical and functional characteristics and the presence of atopic status in elderly subjects compared to COPD patients. Fifty-one patients over 60 years of age were selected for the study (27 patients with late-onset asthma, 24 patients with COPD). Atopy was defined by skin prick test and serum total IgE concentrations which were measured in all patients. Pulmonary function tests including airflow rates, lung volumes, airway resistance, diffusing capacity, and arterial blood gases analysis were performed in all patients. The rate of skin prick test positivity in asthmatics was significantly higher than that of the COPD patients. FEV1 was lower in COPD patients than in asthmatic patients. Bronchial reversibility in asthmatics became significantly higher than in COPD patients. While FRC and RV were increased in both groups showing same degree of pulmonary hyperinflation, patients with COPD demonstrated significantly decreased DLCO when compared to asthmatic patients. The level of both PO2 and PCO2 in patients with COPD significantly differed from asthmatics. In conclusion, a history of heavy smoking, decreased diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide, the presence of more prominent lung hyperinflation and chronic hypoxemia favour the diagnosis of COPD, whereas atopy and significant bronchodilator responsiveness favour the diagnosis of asthma.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

The safety of allergen immunotherapy (IT) in Turkey.

Allergen immunotherapy (IT) has encouraging therapeutic outcomes but its safety is still being questioned because of possible severe systemic reactions. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of systemic reactions (SR), and to identify their correlation with the characteristics of therapy, such as allergen composition and IT schedule, and diagnosis. We analyzed the data of 126 patients who received IT between 2000-2003, and suffered from respiratory allergy or hymenoptera venom anaphylaxis. IT was given by rush, clustered or conventional schedules. The standardized allergen extracts used were grass pollen, house dust mite and hymenoptera venom in 88, 18 and 20 patients, respectively. None of the patients received premedication. A total 4705 injections were administered. One hundred and twenty-three adverse events (AE) (2.6% per injection) were documented in 46 patients. Sixty-one of them were SRs (1.3% SRs per injection) and they were seen in 28 patients. Asthmatics had more tendency to SRs (p=0.05). Rush (1.8%) and clustered (2.8%) IT protocols were associated with a higher rate of SRs (per injection) when compared to conventional schedule (0.9%) (rush vs conventional; p=0.013, clustered vs conventional; p=0.001). The majority of SRs corresponded to grade 3 (49%). Forty-nine (80%) of the 61 SRs were observed during the build-up phase, and mostly with pollen extracts (75.5%). Patients showed more severe SRs during the build-up phase (p<0.05). Twenty-six (42.6%) of the SRs were immediate, whereas 35 (57.4%) SRs appeared within 2 hours. Delayed SRs were significantly more frequent in polysensitized patients when compared to monosensitized subjects (p=0.018). Our data indicate that rapid IT regimens and the presence of asthma represent a greater risk for SR development. Since the late SRs occur as frequently as the early ones, we suggest a longer waiting period beyond 30 minutes, especially in polysensitized and asthmatic patients.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Approaches to education of pharmaceutical biotechnology in faculties of pharmacy.

Pharmaceutical biotechnology is developing rapidly both in academic institutions and in the biopharmaceutical industry. For this reason, FIP Special Interest Group of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology decided to develop a questionnaire concerning pharmaceutical biotechnology education. After preliminary studies were completed, questionnaires were sent to the leading scientists in academia and research directors or senior managers of various Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Companies in order to gather their views about how to create a satisfactory program. The objectives of this study were as follows: -To review all of the graduate and undergraduate courses which are presently available worldwide on pharmaceutical biotechnology in Faculties of Pharmacy. -To review all of the text books, references and scientific sources available worldwide in the area of pharmaceutical biotechnology. When replying to the questionnaires, the respondents were asked to consider the present status of pharmaceutical biotechnology education in academia and future learning needs in collaboration with the biotechnology industry. The data from various pharmacy faculties and biotechnology industry representatives from Asia, Europe and America were evaluated and the outcome of the survey showed that educational efforts in training qualified staff in the rapidly growing field of pharmaceutical biotechnology is promising. Part of the results of this questionnaire study have already been presented at the 57th International Congress of FIP Vancouver, Canada in 1997.

Biotechnology↗

PubMed2000

Oral multiple w/o/w emulsion formulation of a peptide salmon calcitonin: in vitro-in vivo evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Salmon calcitonin (sCT) is a polypeptide hormone consisting of 32 amino acid residues (MW approx. 3400 Da), which can be used successfully for the treatment of osteoporosis, Paget's disease and hypercalcaemia. Only nasal and parenteral preparations of sCT are currently available, and as injections are poorly accepted by patients, nonparenteral preparations for oral, rectal and nasal administration are highly desirable. However, oral sCT is poorly bioavailable, being susceptible to enzymatic degradation in the gastrointestinal tract. OBJECTIVES: To design a formulation of sCT suitable for oral use. METHOD: A water/oil/water (w/o/w) type multiple emulsion formulation was designed for oral application of sCT. sCT was placed in the inner water phase, and a protease inhibitor, aprotinin, was included in the outer water phase of this system to investigate the influence of protease inhibitors in the presence of sCT. The effectiveness of the formulation was evaluated in vitro by placing emulsion samples in a dialysis medium and in vivo by using a rat model. RESULTS: Incorporating sCT in the inner aqueous phase of a w/o/w emulsion appears to protect the peptide from enzymatic degradation. sCT was further protected by incorporating the protease inhibitor, aprotinin, in the outer aqueous phase. CONCLUSION: w/o/w emulsion formulations appear to be promising carrier systems for peptide-protein drugs.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed1998

Naproxen incorporated lipid emulsions. I. Formulation and stability studies.

BACKGROUND: Intravenous lipid emulsions stabilized with phospholipids have been an attractive alternative as vehicles for drug delivery, particularly for the parenteral administration of drugs with solubility problems. METHODS: Naproxen (a poorly aqueous soluble non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent) emulsions were formulated with different types of emulsifiers (soybean lecithin, synperonic PEF-127 and a 50:50 mixture of these). The stability of the various emulsion systems was evaluated at different temperatures (4, 25 and 40 degrees C) for a period of 6 months by measuring changes in pH, droplet size, viscosity and percentage oil separation. The percentage of naproxen incorporation and the degree of haemolysis induced by the different types of emulsion systems was also determined. RESULTS: The emulsifier type showed a pronounced effect on the physicochemical properties of the emulsion systems, whereas storage temperature and time did not. Irrespective of emulsifier type, storage temperature and time, the percentage incorporation of naproxen in emulsions was between 80 and 100%. The degree of haemolysis induced by other emulsion components (dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and naproxen solution in DMSO) was about 10 times higher than that induced by emulsion systems. CONCLUSION: Choice of emulsifier is the most important factor in the stability of the naproxen emulsions.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal↗

PubMed1998

The exuT gene of Erwinia chrysanthemi EC16: nucleotide sequence, expression, localization, and relevance of the gene product.

Galacturonic acid (GalUA) is a major component of pectin and polygalacturonic acid in the plant cell wall. In the phytopathogen Erwinia chrysanthemi, the uptake of molecules derived from degradation of these polymers is an important early step in the events preceding induction of pectinases, ultimately leading to plant tissue maceration. Uptake systems for GalUA and dimers of GalUA have been described and shown to be inducible in E. chrysanthemi. The GalUA uptake gene (exuT) was cloned and sequenced. Nucleotide sequence analysis identified an open reading frame encoding a 345-amino-acid polypeptide with a calculated mass of 37,825 Da. This polypeptide is predicted to be an integral membrane protein based on its high nonpolar amino acid content and hydropathic profile. Localization studies with the labeled polypeptide in the T7-RNA polymerase system also suggest that ExuT is a membrane protein. This evidence is further supported by the observation of hybrid ExuT-PhoA proteins in the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane following immunoblot analysis. Northern (RNA) analysis indicated that the gene is inducible in the presence of the monomer, GalUA. A targeted mutation in the exuT gene affected the utilization of GalUA as a role carbon source for growth. Maceration of potato tuber tissue by this mutant was delayed and reduced, when compared with the parental strain EC16.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1997

Preparation and properties of a stable intravenous lorazepam emulsion.

Lorazepam is normally administered as a solution in organic solvents such as propylene glycol. This type of formulation is undesirable. This study describes the development of a parenteral emulsion formulation for lorazepam. The stability of lorazepam in the emulsion was examined. Ten per cent corn oil emulsions stabilized with egg lecithin, Pluronic F68 and Pluronic F88 were used. The incorporation of lorazepam does not appear to destabilize the emulsion, and lorazepam itself appears to be stable for at least 1 year in this liquid formulation. Haemolysis caused by emulsion formulations containing lorazepam and different emulsifiers was evaluated using human and rabbit blood to assess their safety as parenteral drug carriers. The results show that the emulsions did not have any significant haemolytic activity whereas organic solvents and solutions of lorazepam in organic solvents caused substantial haemolysis.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

In vivo evaluation for rhGM-CSF wound-healing efficacy in topical vehicles.

The wound-healing efficacy of recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) was studied in a mouse model. Full-thickness wounds were treated with liquid crystalline, emulsion, and niosome vehicles alone and with rhGM-CSF. The control group was non-medicated. Observation of the vehicle groups with and without the rhGM-CSF displayed better healing profiles than the control group. The vehicles were also evaluated among themselves and it was noted that emulsion base and niosome base groups gave significantly better healing profiles and histological results than the liquid crystalline base group. Among the rhGM-CSF containing groups, emulsion formulation displayed a stronger wound-healing effectiveness compared to the other formulations. In vitro release characteristics of the recombinant protein from the three vehicle formulations were demonstrated with diffusion cells. Histological and immunohistochemical evaluation was performed on biopsies taken on the last day of the experiment.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Isolation of a fibronectin-binding tryptic peptide from the antigen 85A protein of Mycobacterium bovis BCG.

Antigen 85A, a major secreted mycobacterial fibronectin-binding protein, was isolated from culture fluids of the Tice substrain BCG vaccine. Tryptic digestion of this protein and passage of the digest through a fibronectin affinity chromatographic column resulted in the identification of a polypeptide fragment of molecular weight < or = 6.5 kD, which had marked fibronectin-binding activity. The identity of a 62-residue polypeptide was deduced from the amino-terminal sequence, indicating that the primary structure may define the integrin-binding capability.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1994

Characterization of the antigen 85 complex fibronectin-binding proteins derived from aged culture filtrates of Mycobacterium bovis BCG, Tice substrain.

The antigen 85 complex are major T-cell and B-cell antigens and fibronectin-binding proteins secreted by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. leprae and attenuated M. bovis (BCG vaccine). The Ag 85 complex was found to comprise a high proportion of the extracellular protein in filtrates of surface-pellicle cultures of Tice-substrain BCG vaccine, attaining a maximum of 25%. This proportion began to decrease prior to the end of the logarithmic growth phase, about 3 weeks after the start of the culture, mainly due to apparent degradation of the Ag 85 complex. Isolation of the main Ag 85 protein and determination of the first 36 residues of the NH2-terminus showed identity with the 85A protein isolated by others from various mycobacteria. Both the Ag 85A and B components were secreted in nearly constant proportions over a 6-week period. No Ag 85C protein was detected.

Amino Acids↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Defective serum opsonization activity in children aged 6-48 months having acute purulent otitis media.

Serum opsonization of yeast (Saccharomyces) was investigated in 51 patients whose ages were between six and 48 months (median 15 months) with acute purulent otitis media and in an age-matched control group (median 13 months). Opsonization was assessed by measuring yeast particle uptake in an assay based on an electronic count of the unphagocytosed particles in serum by polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Despite normal levels of CH50 and serum immunoglobulins, a defective opsonization was determined in 13.7 percent of the patients (7 in 51). The corresponding figure was 2.9 percent in 103 healthy controls (p < 0.001). On the other hand, 218 percent (5 in 23) of the children having a history of recurrent purulent otitis media showed defective opsonization (p < 0.001). Previously, the presence of an opsonization defect has been linked to low levels of mannan binding lectin (MBL), a calcium dependent serum lectin that acts as an opsonin. Therefore, our findings indirectly support the idea that MBL has an important role as host defense, particularly in the earlier period of life when the antibody repertoire is restricted.

Case-Control Studies↗