Recent Patents on Biotechnology - Volume 8, Issue 2, 2014

The special issue “Current topics in Pharmacogenomics”, will be wonderful reference for new generation pharmacists & future pharmacists to understand the current status of Pharmacogenomics (Future medicine or personalized medicine) and its future prospects. “No two individuals are alike” and diversities among the individuals can potentially contribute their reaction (positive or negative) to the drug. The main focus of Read More

Warfarin pharmacogenomic testing has become a prime example of the utility of personalized molecular testing in the modern clinical laboratory. Warfarin is a commonly used drug for the prevention and treatment of thromboembolic complications in a variety of clinical situations. However, a number of factors lead to a high interindividual variability in dose requirements. Among the primary factors in this variability are genetic Read More

Critically ill patients often are at high-risk for adverse drug reactions (ADRs), mainly due to alterations in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) parameters. These PK/PD differences in can also lead to inadequate therapeutic response to many commonly used drugs in this patient population. Frequently in the critically ill patient, medications are utilized based on a “trial-and-error” approach. Furthermore, drug dosin Read More

Heart disease is a major cause of death in US and worldwide. The complex interplay of the mechanisms between diabetes, obesity and inflammation raises concerns for therapeutic understanding and developing treatment options for patients. Recent advances utilizing pharmacogenomics has helped researchers to probe in to disease pathophysiology and physicians to detect and, diagnose the disease i Read More

Barth syndrome (BTHS) is a genetic, X-linked, rare but often fatal, pediatric skeletal- and cardiomyopathy occurring due to mutations in the tafazzin gene (TAZ). TAZ encodes a transacylase involved in phospholipid biosynthesis, also called tafazzin, which is responsible for remodeling the inner mitochondrial membrane phospholipid, cardiolipin (CL). Tafazzin mutations lead to compositional alterations in CL molecular species, ca Read More

The post genomic era has promised major breakthroughs in personalized medicine which will improve a patient’s health by selecting treatments including diet based on the patient’s unique DNA sequence. The post genomic era is allowing scientists and clinicians to examine an individuals’ DNA and then recommend the best diet in order to remain healthy and attenuate disease processes which the individual might be predi Read More

Psychotropic medications are used for numerous psychiatric and neurologic disorders, and are associated with in some cases life-threatening adverse effects, high acquisition costs, stringent monitoring requirements, and potential interactions with other medications. Because of the risks of adverse effects and need for adherence, risk mitigation strategies are being implemented to protect consumers. An understanding of re Read More

Diabetes is the common, exponentially growing, serious human health problem existing globally. Risk factors like genetic predisposition, lack of balanced diet, inappropriate and lethargic lifestyle, overweight, obesity, stress including emotional and oxidative and lack of probiotics in gut are found to be the causing factors either in isolation or in synergy predisposing Diabetes. High blood sugar is a common symptom in all typ Read More

The industrial production of recombinant proteins preferentially requires the generation of stable cell lines expressing proteins in a quick, relatively facile, and a reproducible manner. Different methods are used to insert exogenous DNA into the host cell, and choosing the appropriate producing cell is of paramount importance for the efficient production and quality of the recombinant protein. This review addresses the advances Read More

Since the time of Hippocrates, physicians have known that the odour of human breath can provide clues to diagnosis. In the past, hydrogen peroxide which is a marker of inflammatory diseases and oxidative stress was the most studied substance in the exhaled breath which was detectable in the liquid that obtained by condensing or cooling. The advantages of breath analysis are that it is convenient, non-invasive, Read More