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Biomedical subjects

M A Erickson

Publications and source records attributed to M A Erickson.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Stability of labetalol hydrochloride, metoprolol tartrate, verapamil hydrochloride, and spironolactone with hydrochlorothiazide in extemporaneously compounded oral liquids.

The stability of drugs commonly prescribed for use in oral liquid dosage forms but not commercially available as such was studied. Labetalol hydrochloride 40 mg/mL, metoprolol tartrate 10 mg/mL, verapamil hydrochloride 50 mg/mL, and spironolactone 5 mg/mL plus hydrochlorothiazide 5 mg/ mL were prepared in a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Sweet and Ora-Plus (Paddock Laboratories), a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Sweet SF and Ora-Plus (Paddock Laboratories), and cherry syrup and placed in polyethylene terephthalate bottles. The sources of the drugs were tablets. Six bottles were prepared per liquid; three were stored at 5 degrees C and three at 25 degrees C, all in the dark. A sample was removed from each bottle initially and at intervals up to 60 days and analyzed for drug concentration by stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography. At least 91% of the initial drug concentration was retained in all the oral liquids for up to 60 days. There were no substantial changes in the appearance or odor of the liquids, or in the pH. Labetalol hydrochloride 40 mg/mL, metoprolol tartrate 10 mg/mL, verapamil hydrochloride 50 mg/mL, plus hydrochlorothiazide 5 mg/ mL in three oral liquids compounded extemporaneously from sweetened vehicles and tablets were stable for up to 60 days when stored without light at 5 and 25 degrees C.

Antihypertensive Agents

Stability of baclofen, captopril, diltiazem hydrochloride, dipyridamole, and flecainide acetate in extemporaneously compounded oral liquids.

The stability of drugs commonly prescribed for use in oral liquid dosage forms but not commercially available as such was studied. Baclofen 10 mg/mL, captopril 0.75 mg/mL, diltiazem hydrochloride 12 mg/mL, dipyridamole 10 mg/mL, and flecainide acetate 20 mg/mL were prepared in a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Sweet and Ora-Plus (Paddock Laboratories), a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Sweet SF and Ora-Plus (Paddock Laboratories), and cherry syrup and placed in 120-mL amber, clear polyethylene terephthalate bottles. The source of all the drugs was tablets. Six bottles were prepared per liquid; three were stored at 5 degrees C and three at 25 degrees C, all in the dark. A sample was removed from each bottle immediately after preparation and at various intervals up to 60 days and analyzed for drug concentration by stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography. A mean of at least 92% of the initial drug concentration was retained for up to 60 days in the baclofen, diltiazem hydrochloride, dipyridamole, and flecainide acetate liquids at both 5 and 25 degrees C. There were no substantial changes in the appearance or odor of any of the liquids or in the pH. Baclofen 10 mg/mL, diltiazem hydrochloride 12 mg/mL, dipyridamole 10 mg/mL, and flecainide acetate 20 mg/mL were stable for up to 60 days at 5 and 25 degrees C in three extemporaneously compounded oral liquids.

Baclofen

Stability of ketoconazole, metolazone, metronidazole, procainamide hydrochloride, and spironolactone in extemporaneously compounded oral liquids.

The stability of drugs commonly prescribed for use in oral liquid dosage forms but not commercially available as such was studied. Ketoconazole 20 mg/mL, metolazone 1 mg/mL, metronidazole 50 mg/mL, procainamide hydrochloride 50 mg/ mL, and spironolactone 25 mg/mL were prepared in a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Sweet and Ora-Plus (Paddock Laboratories), a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Sweet SF and Ora-Plus (Paddock Laboratories), and cherry syrup and placed in 120-mL polyethylene terephthalate bottles. The sources of the drugs were powder, capsules, and tablets. Six bottles were prepared per liquid; three were stored at 5 degrees C and three at 25 degrees C, all in the dark. A sample was removed from each bottle immediately after preparation and at intervals up to 60 days and analyzed for drug concentration by stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography. At least 93% of the initial drug concentration was retained in all the oral liquids for up to 60 days. There were no substantial changes in the appearance or odor of the liquids, or in the pH. Ketoconazole 20 mg/mL, metolazone 1 mg/mL, metronidazole 50 mg/mL, procainamide hydrochloride 50 mg/ mL, and spironolactone 25 mg/mL were stable for up to 60 days at 5 and 25 degrees C in three extemporaneously compounded oral liquids. INDEX TERMS: Anti-infective agents; Antifungals; Capsules; Cardiac drugs; Cherry syrup; Compounding; Containers; Diuretics; Incompatibilities; Ketoconazole; Liquids; Metolazone; Metronidazole; Polyethylene terephthalate; Powders; Procainamide hydrochloride; Spironolactone; Stability; Storage; Suspending agents; Tablets; Temperature; Vehicles.

Administration, Oral

Stability of acetazolamide, allopurinol, azathioprine, clonazepam, and flucytosine in extemporaneously compounded oral liquids.

The stability of drugs commonly prescribed for use in oral liquid dosage forms but not commercially available as such was studied. Acetazolamide 25 mg/mL, allopurinol 20 mg/mL, azathioprine 50 mg/mL, clonazepam 0.1 mg/mL, and flucytosine 10 mg/mL were prepared in 1:1 mixture of Ora-Sweet and Ora-Plus (Paddock Laboratories), a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Sweet SF and Ora-Plus (Paddock Laboratories), and cherry syrup and placed in polyethylene terephthalate bottles. The sources of the drugs were capsules and tablets. Six bottles were prepared per liquid; three were stored at 5 degrees C and three at 25 degrees C, all in the dark. A sample was removed from each bottle initially and at intervals up to 60 days and analyzed for drug concentration by stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography. At least 94% of the initial drug concentration was retained in all the oral liquids for up to 60 days. There were no substantial changes in the appearance or odor of the liquids, or in the pH. Acetazolamide 25 mg/mL, allopurinol 20 mg/mL, azathioprine 50 mg/mL, clonazepam 0.1 mg/mL, and flucytosine 10 mg/mL were stable for up to 60 days at 5 and 25 degrees C in three extemporaneously compounded oral liquids.

Acetazolamide

3-dimensional auditory displays: development, applications, and performance.

Virtual or 3-D audio display technology has become a reality. This type of system has the capability of synthesizing signals presented over headphones that give the user the illusion that the sound is emanating from some external location. The development of this technology, its applications, and its performance in both laboratory and flight test situations are presented. Potential fighter aircraft applications include threat location warning, wingman location indication, spatially separated multi-channel communications, and audio target location indications. The laboratory performance data show an average localization error in azimuth of approximately 5 degrees, a minimum audible angle of approximately 5 degrees, and a speech intelligibility improvement of up to 28%. Flight test results demonstrated successful audio cued target acquisition, a subjective decrease in target acquisition times, a subjective improvement in speech intelligibility, a subjective increase in situational awareness, and a subjective decrease in pilot workload. A summary of both laboratory and flight test results is presented in addition to recommendations for future research.

Acoustics

Deactivation of visual transduction without guanosine triphosphate hydrolysis by G protein.

G proteins couple receptors to their target enzymes in many signal transduction cascades. It has generally been thought that deactivation of such cascades cannot occur without the hydrolysis of guanosine triphosphate (GTP) by G protein. This requirement has now been reexamined in both vertebrate and invertebrate phototransduction. Results indicate that GTP hydrolysis is not required for deactivation. Evidence is presented for an alternative model in which the target enzyme is deactivated by an inhibitory factor that is available even when GTP hydrolysis is blocked.

Animals

Mechanisms of amplification, deactivation, and noise reduction in invertebrate photoreceptors.

In this review we have discussed the problem of deactivation at both the rhodopsin and G protein levels. Of particular interest is the novel observation that rhodopsin deactivation can be modulated by light. This modulation is likely to play an important role in light adaptation by reducing the gain of transduction. One interesting possibility is that this modulation involves the phosphorylation of an arrestin-like molecule, but this remains to be tested. One of the experimental advantages of Limulus photoreceptors is the large size of the single photon responses and the fact that even single G proteins produce a detectable response. This made possible the observation that nonhydrolyzable GTP analogues produce discrete transient events rather than the step-like events that would be predicted by previous models. This observation led us to a new view of how enzyme deactivation is coupled to GTP hydrolysis on G protein. According to this view, enzymes are activated by G protein, but can be deactivated by processes that are not dependent on G protein or the hydrolysis of GTP. We have conducted several types of experiments, including some on the vertebrate rod system, that strongly support this hypothesis. A second major theme of this review is transduction noise. The available biochemical evidence suggests that both G protein and G protein-activated enzymes are likely to become spontaneously active and generate undesirable noise. Our measurements indicate, however, that this noise is orders of magnitude smaller than would be predicted by simple models, suggesting that special mechanisms must exist for suppressing this noise. We have proposed a specific mechanism by which enzymes regulated allosterically by multiple subunits could act as coincidence detectors to reduce transduction noise. Finally, there is the fundamental question of which second messengers have a direct role in invertebrate phototransduction. After Fesenko et al. (1985) showed that the light-dependent conductance in vertebrate rods was modulated by cGMP and not by Ca2+, there was rapid progress in understanding the vertebrate photoreceptor transduction mechanism. Now that it has been established that invertebrate light-dependent channels are regulated by cGMP and not by Ca2+, we can expect rapid progress in understanding invertebrate phototransduction. A key question that needs to be answered is whether the InsP3-Ca2+ pathway somehow triggers changes in cGMP or whether there is an altogether different pathway by which cGMP metabolizing enzymes are affected by light.

Adaptation, Physiological

Effects of caffeine, fructose, and glucose ingestion on muscle glycogen utilization during exercise.

Five competitive cyclists were used to determine the effects of fluid intake (16 ml.kg-1) consisting of: (i) non-nutrient control (CON); (ii) fructose (1 g.kg-1) before exercise (FRU); (iii) caffeine (5 mg.kg-1) before exercise (CAF); (iv) glucose (1 g.kg-1) during exercise (GLU); and (v) fructose/caffeine before and glucose during exercise (CFG) on blood glucose, free fatty acids, muscle glycogen, and other parameters. Exercise consisted of 90 min of cycling at 65 to 70% VO2max. Following exercise, blood glucose was found to be significantly (P less than 0.05) higher for CFG and GLU (117 and 109 mg%) compared to CON, CAF, and FRU (92, 89, and 86 mg%). Blood free fatty acids rose (P less than 0.05) further for CON (1,336), CAF (1,126), and FRU (1,034) over CFG (737) and GLU (714 mumol.l-1). Muscle glycogen utilization was greater (P less than 0.05) for CON (91) vs CAF (63) and GLU (62 mumol/g-1 wet muscle weight). It was concluded that GLU and CAF decrease muscle glycogen utilization, FRU is likely to cause gastric upset, and ingestion of multiple substances produces the greatest variability in muscle glycogen utilization and may provide added endurance benefits in some individuals.

Adult

Distribution of mass within native thick filaments of vertebrate skeletal muscle.

The distribution of mass within the vertebrate skeletal thick filament has been determined by scanning transmission electron microscopy. Thick and thin filaments from fresh rabbit muscle were mixed with tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), fixed with formaldehyde, dried onto thin carbon films and viewed in a computer-linked microscope. Electron scattering data from both TMV and thick filaments were analysed with reference to the long axis of the particles so that the distribution of mass within the particles could be determined. While TMV appeared to be a uniform rod at the resolution employed (4.3 nm), the thick filament was clearly differentiated along its length. M-line remnants at the centre of the filament were flanked by regions of low mass per unit length, corresponding to the bare zone of the filament, and then by the more massive cross-bridge regions. The mass per unit length was approximately constant through most of the cross-bridge zone and declined at the filament tips, in a manner consistent with a constant number of myosin molecules per 14.3 nm interval (crown) throughout the cross-bridge zone. Fourier analysis of the data failed to detect the expected 43 nm periodicity of C-protein. The total mass of the thick filament was 184 Mdalton (s.e.m., 1.6 X 10(6); n = 70). The mass of adhering M-line proteins was highly variable but, on average, was about 4 Mdalton. The total mass of the filament and the mass distribution in the cross-bridge zone are consistent with three myosin molecules per crown.

Actin Cytoskeleton