Book Description:
Severe hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) to anticancer drugs often make it difficult to continue treatment, especially in paclitaxel, even when treated with prophylactic medication. The authors of this book analyzed severe HSRs incidence in patients treated with modified premedication protocol and historically compared to that using standard premedication before 2004. It was found that the modified premedication protocol could successfully reduce the incidence of severe HSRs in patients treated with paclitaxel. Furthermore, substandard and faked formulations are a global burden of virtually all countries. The collapse of the former Soviet Union (FSU) in the nineties lead to the retardation of the formerly remarkable pharmaceutical industry and drug quality control system of FSU. This book describes the pharmacopoeial quality of three EU registered and three Russian Federation registered aciclovir formulations. The data indicates that the pharmacopoeial quality of the antimicrobial and antiviral formulations from the Russian Federation drug market is similar to the European competitors. Other chapters in this book evaluate bioequivalence in order to establish the interchangeability of generic drugs, describe the most important aspects of the cholinergic neurotransmission, as well as natural and synthetic compounds that are able to influence it as therapeutic or experimental drugs. The authors also provide a comprehensive overview of the clinical and practical aspects of corticosteroids-induced delayed hypersensitivity and its consequences on anti-inflammatory therapeutic choices.

Table of Contents:
Preface

Chapter 1. Bioequivalence: Some Relevant Clinical and Biopharmaceutic Aspects, pp. 1-45
(Francisco J. Flores-Murrieta, Miriam del C. Carrasco-Portugal, Héctor León-Molina and Miguel Luján, Sección de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación, Escuela Superior de Medicina del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México, D.F., México)

Chapter 2. Advances in Drug Discovery to Assess Cholinergic Neurotransmission, pp. 47-97
(David R. da Rocha, Vitor F. Ferreira, Kátia G. Lima Araújo, Wilson C. Santos, Departamento de Química Orgânica, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, Brazil, and others)

Chapter 3. Method Suitability for Models of Intestinal Drug Permeability, pp. 99-127
(Donna A. Volpe, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Silver Spring, MD)

Chapter 4. Stevens-Johnson Syndrome with Ocular Complication, pp. 129-150
(Mayumi Ueta, Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan, Research Center for Regenerative Medicine, Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan)

Chapter 5. Prophylactic Effect of Rescalmin, an Antiallergic Agent, Against Hypersensitivity Reactions to Anticancer Drugs: Paclitaxel and Beyond, pp. 151-164
(Shinji Sasada, Department of Thoracic Malignancy, Osaka Prefectural Medical Center for Respiratory and Allergic Diseases, Osaka, Japan)

Chapter 6. Pharmacopoeial Quality of Antimicrobial and Antiviral Formulations from Former Soviet Union Republics: Focus on Aciclovir, pp. 165-176
(Andres Meos and Vallo Matto, Institute of Pharmacy, University of Tartu, Estonia)

Chapter 7. The Interaction of the Prion Protein with Triazine-based Biomimetic Affinity Ligands, pp. 177-190
(Giannis Mavridis and Nikolaos E. Labrou, Laboratory of Enzyme Technology, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece)

Chapter 8. Downstream Processing Strategies for the Purification of Recombinant Proteins from Transgenic Maize. Chromatographic Evaluation of the Synthetic Affinity Ligand 4-Amino-phenyl-oxanilic acid, pp. 191-215
(Dimitris Platis and Nikolaos E. Labrou, Laboratory of Enzyme Technology, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology,
Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece)

Chapter 9. A Critical Approach to an Allergic Paradox: Allergic and Allergic-Like Reactions to Glucocorticoids: Delayed Hypersensitivity Mechanisms, pp. 217-241
(M.T. Ventura, R. Buquicchio, G.F. Calogiuri, Department of Internal Medicine, Immunology and Infectious Diseases (MIDIM), University of Bari Medical School, Italy, and others)*

Index