The 21st century will witness the unprecedented marketing of therapeutic drugs developed from cannabinoids and the endocannabinoid system. Cannabinoids is a timely volume, which represents a comprehensive review of the most important issues in cannabinoid research as well as those of most likely therapeutic relevance. For the first time, the multi-faceted aspects of cannabinoid chemistry, biology and medicine are presented in one volume.
Key topics of discussion:

-major families of phytocannabinoids;
-pharmacological activity of phytocannabinoids;
-interactions of phytocannabinoids with their proposed molecular target;
-components of the endocannabinoid system;
-molecular mechanisms of the endocannabinoid system;
-Physiological and pathological role of endocannabinoids;
-industrial applications of studies on the cannabinoids;
-therapeutic uses of agonists and antagonists of cannabinoids receptors. This book is a must for graduate and pre- and post-doctoral students in disciplines ranging from organic and natural product chemistry, pharmacology, biochemistry and medicine.

Chronic pain is a complex phenomenon, which continues to remain undertreated in the majority of affected patients thus representing a significant unmet medical need, but the development of cellular, subcellular, and molecular methods of approaching this epidemic of pain shows great promise. In Analgesia: Methods and Protocols, experts in the field present thorough coverage of molecular analgesia research methods from target discovery through target validation and clinical testing to tolerance and dependence, with extensive chapters on emerging receptor classes as targets for analgesic drugs and innovative analgesic strategies. As a volume in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, the chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and notes sections with tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.

Comprehensive and essential, Analgesia: Methods and Protocols promises to aid and enrich the research of all those scientists and clinicians who are interested in what the increasingly molecular future has in store for analgesia research, from the molecular research bench through the animal laboratory to the bedside.

The book targets new advances in areas of treatment and drug delivery sciences for tuberculosis. It covers advances in drug therapy and drug targeting that focus on innovative trend defining technologies and drug delivery platforms in the understanding of host-pathogens relationship for providing better therapy. A wide variety of novel and nano-formulations using promising technologies are being explored to deliver the drug via different administration routes. This book It addresses the gap between new approaches and old treatment modalities and how they are superior in pharmacological performance when tested in in-vitro and in-vivo. Audience from wide range group like from researchers to regulatory bodies can benefit from the compiled information to find out patient needs and current research advances in the field of tuberculosis research.

This unique volume traces the critically important pathway by which a "molecule" becomes an "anticancer agent. " The recognition following World War I that the administration of toxic chemicals such as nitrogen mustards in a controlled manner could shrink malignant tumor masses for relatively substantial periods of time gave great impetus to the search for molecules that would be lethal to specific cancer cells. Weare still actively engaged in that search today. The question is how to discover these "anticancer" molecules. Anticancer Drug Development Guide: Preclinical Screening, Clinical Trials, and Approval, Second Edition describes the evolution to the present of preclinical screening methods. The National Cancer Institute's high-throughput, in vitro disease-specific screen with 60 or more human tumor cell lines is used to search for molecules with novel mechanisms of action or activity against specific phenotypes. The Human Tumor Colony-Forming Assay (HTCA) uses fresh tumor biopsies as sources of cells that more nearly resemble the human disease. There is no doubt that the greatest successes of traditional chemotherapy have been in the leukemias and lymphomas. Since the earliest widely used in vivo drug screening models were the murine L 1210 and P388 leukemias, the community came to assume that these murine tumor models were appropriate to the discovery of "antileukemia" agents, but that other tumor models would be needed to discover drugs active against solid tumors.

Marijuana is the prototypical cannabinoid, and is one of the most widely used drugs in the world. Cannabinoids are molecules found naturally in the human body and brain as well as in cannabis.
This book provides an extensive reference on the biology of marijuana and the role of molecular techniques in elucidating neuropharmacological aspects of cannabinoid receptors and the endogenous compounds that act upon them. Contributions from experts from around the world describe the interaction of cannabinoids and endocannabinoids on a wide range of biological functions including movement, memory and learning, pain, emotions, endocrine functions and many more. The Biology of Marijuana will be of interest to all scientists and clinicians interested in the biological effects and pharmacology of this drug.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203219139

Contents:
1. Shengmai San - A Renowned Traditional Chinese Medicine 2. Pharmacological Studies on Shengmai San 3. Clinical Studies on Shengmai San 4. Side Effects of Shengmai San 5. Phytochemistry and Pharmacology of Component Herbs of Shengmai San 6. Contemporary Applications of a Traditional Formula: Manufacturing of Shengmai San (SMS) Preparations and their Applications

The Essential Reference for Professionals Working with Breastfeeding Mothers - Now Published by Springer Publishing Company Medications & Mothers' Milk is the worldwide-bestselling drug reference on the use of medications in breastfeeding mothers, providing you with the most current, complete, and evidence-based information. Extensively updated throughout, the 17th Edition includes hundreds of new drugs, diseases, vaccines, and syndromes. The appendices provide information on radioactive drugs and tests, and over-the-counter drugs. Written by world-renowned Clinical Pharmacologist, Dr. Thomas Hale, and assisted by Dr. Hilary Rowe, this drug reference provides everything that is known about the transfer of various medications into human milk, the use of radiopharmaceuticals, the use of chemotherapeutic agents, and vaccines in breastfeeding mothers. Features: Updated throughout with new data on 1,115 drugs, syndromes, vaccines, and herbals. Contains new tables to compare the suitability of psychiatric medications and pain medication. Includes many new radiocontrast agents and other diagnostic procedures.

Clinical trials have two purposes -- to treat the patients in the trial, and to obtain information which increases our understanding of the disease and especially how patients respond to treatment. Statistical design provides a means to achieve both these aims, while statistical data analysis provides methods for extracting useful information from the trial data. Recent advances in statistical computing have enabled statisticians to implement very rapidly a broad array of methods which previously were either impractical or impossible. Biostatisticians are now able to provide much greater support to medical researchers working in both clinical and laboratory settings. As our collective toolkit of techniques for analyzing data has grown, it has become increasingly difficult for biostatisticians to keep up with all the developments in our own field. Recent Advances in Clinical Trial Design and Analysis brings together biostatisticians doing cutting-edge research and explains some of the more recent developments in biostatistics to clinicians and scientists who work in clinical trials.

Progress in Drug Research is a prestigious book series (founded in 1959) which provides extensive expert-written reviews on a wide spectrum of highly topical areas in current pharmaceutical and pharmalogical research. Each volume contains fully cross-referencing indexes which link the volumes together, forming a virtually encyclopaedic work. The series thus serves as an important, time-saving source of information for researchers concerned with drug research and all those who need to keep abreast of the many recent developments in the quest for new and better medicines.

Volume 50 in the series includes:

P.N. Kaul: Drug discovery: Past, present and future

M. Rohmer: Isoprenoid biosynthesis via the mevalonate -- independent route, a novel target for antibacterial drugs

G. Edwards and A.H. Weston: Endothelium, -derived hyperpolarizing factor -- a critical appraisal

R.W. Rockhold: Glutamatic involvement in psychomotor stimulant action

J.M. Colacino and K.A. Staschke: The identification and development of antiviral agents for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection

T.D. Johnson: Polyamines and cerebral ischemia

CRC Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of GRAS Herbs and Other Economic Plants is a unique catalog that includes more than 15,000 phytochemical constituents from over 1,000 higher plant species. This volume covers all of the generally-recognized-as-safe (GRAS) herbs and at least 250 important food and medicinal plants. Each entry features the scientific name, one or more common names, a listing of phytochemical constituents, a single datum or range of quantitative data (wet-weight to dry-weight in parts per million), two-letter abbreviation identifying the plant part, and three-letter abbreviation(s) indicating the source(s) of the data.

The extraordinary amount of data compiled into an easy-to-use tabular format makes the CRC Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of GRAS Herbs and Other Economic Plants a volume useful to all pharmacologists, toxicologists, nutritionists, pharmacognicists, and food scientists.

This comprehensive volume discusses approaches for a systematic selection of delivery systems for various classes of therapeutic agents including small molecule, protein, and nucleic acid drugs.

Specific topics covered in this book include: Solution, suspension, gel, nanoparticle, microparticle, and implant dosage formsRefillable and microneedle devicesIntravitreal, suprachoroidal, intrascleral, transscleral, systemic, and topical routes of deliveryPhysical methods including iontophoresis for drug deliveryRational selection of routes of administration and delivery systemsNoninvasive and continuous drug monitoring Regulatory path to drug product developmentClinical endpoints for drug product developmentEmerging and existing drugs and drug targets

"Drug Product Development for the Back of the Eye" is authored by renowned ocular drug delivery experts, representing academic, clinical, and industrial organizations and serves as indispensable resource for ophthalmic researchers, drug formulation scientists, drug delivery and drug disposition scientists, as well as clinicians involved in designing and developing novel therapeutics for the back of the eye diseases. This book is also relevant for students in various disciplines including ophthalmology, pharmaceutical sciences, drug delivery, and biomedical engineering. Refillable and microneedle devicesIntravitreal, suprachoroidal, intrascleral, transscleral, systemic, and topical routes of deliveryPhysical methods including iontophoresis for drug deliveryRational selection of routes of administration and delivery systemsNoninvasive and continuous drug monitoring Regulatory path to drug product developmentClinical endpoints for drug product developmentEmerging and existing drugs and drug targets

"Drug Product Development for the Back of the Eye" is authored by renowned ocular drug delivery experts, representing academic, clinical, and industrial organizations and serves as indispensable resource for ophthalmic researchers, drug formulation scientists, drug delivery and drug disposition scientists, as well as clinicians involved in designing and developing novel therapeutics for the back of the eye diseases. This book is also relevant for students in various disciplines including ophthalmology, pharmaceutical sciences, drug delivery, and biomedical engineering. Refillable and microneedle devicesIntravitreal, suprachoroidal, intrascleral, transscleral, systemic, and topical routes of deliveryPhysical methods including iontophoresis for drug deliveryRational selection of routes of administration and delivery systemsNoninvasive and continuous drug monitoring Regulatory path to drug product developmentClinical endpoints for drug product developmentEmerging and existing drugs and drug targets

"Drug Product Development for the Back of the Eye" is authored by renowned ocular drug delivery experts, representing academic, clinical, and industrial organizations and serves as indispensable resource for ophthalmic researchers, drug formulation scientists, drug delivery and drug disposition scientists, as well as clinicians involved in designing and developing novel therapeutics for the back of the eye diseases. This book is also relevant for students in various disciplines including ophthalmology, pharmaceutical sciences, drug delivery, and biomedical engineering. "

This edition of the companion volumes Muscle Pain: Understanding the Mech- isms and Muscle Pain: Diagnosis and Treatment is essential reading for those interested in clinical approaches to acute and chronic pain conditions involving muscle tissues and in the mechanisms underlying these conditions. The volumes cover a very important topic in pain medicine, since muscle pain is very common and can often be dif?cult to diagnose and treat effectively. Furthermore, chronic pain involving muscle and other components of the musculoskeletal system increases with age, such that it is a common complaint of those of us who are middle-aged or older. Indeed, as changing population demographics in "west- nized" countries result in higher proportions of the population living longer and being middle-aged and elderly, chronic muscle pain will likely become even more of a health problem. In the case of acute muscle pain, this can often be very intense, and in the short term can limit or modify the use of components of the musculoskeletal system associated with the sensitive muscle. Chronic muscle pain can also be intense, as well as unpleasant and disabling, and it is in many cases the over-riding symptom of most musculoskeletal disorders that are associated with long-term deleterious changes in musculoskeletal function.

Cutting-edge researchers describe their efforts to design, synthesize, and evaluate the biological activities of farensyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs); geranylgeranyltransferase inhibitors (GGTIs) are also discussed as potential anticancer drugs. The authors survey in detail such inhibitors as CAAX box peptidomimetics, FPP mimics, and bisubstrate transition state analogs, and critically review their uses in combination with radiation and other cytotoxic agents, such as gemcitabine, cisplatin, and taxanes. Illuminating and richly detailed, Farnesyltransferase Inhibitors in Cancer Therapy constitutes today's standard reference for the pathbreaking use of FTIs and GGTIs in anticancer therapy and offers basic and clinical investigators a comprehensive treatment of the scientific and medical aspects of farnesyltransferase inhibitors.

Sage, the Genus Salvia is one of the most famous and used herbs in the world. This volume, containing over twenty chapters written by leading experts in the field, presents a comprehensive coverage on all aspects of Salvia. Topics covered include the presentation of the most known Salvia species (approximately 400 of them), the distribution of the genus, its chemotaxonomy, ecophysiology, cultivation technology and breeding methods, information on the extraction, isolation, characterisation and structure of a large number of bioactive components, the various pharmacological properties of the species, the share of Salvia products in aromatherapy and the natural cosmetics market, biotechnological techniques, and commercial aspects.

This comprehensive volume on Salvia should be of interest to everyone involved in medicinal and aromatic plant applications and research.

The 20th Anniversary of a Learned Society is a momentous event in its af fairs, and it is fitting that, in the Appendix to the Proceedings of the 20th An niversary Meeting, the history of the Society for Drug Research is outlined. The aim of the Society, to encourage an interdisciplinary approach and to act as an organisation freed from any specific scientific branch of knowledge, was achieved and is exemplified by the publication of these proceedings of the Anniversary Meeting held at the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. In only two other cases have the Society's proceedings been published, main taining the original decision and policy to allow membership to enjoy com munications from those who may not have agreed to speak had publication been mandatory. The papers presented at the Anniversary Meeting covered a wide range of scientific disciplines, and it is fitting that work of such calibre should have been published under the able editorship of Stuart and Bryan Walker. They should prove invaluable to those who are interested in Drug Research."

In this completely updated and expanded edition of a classic bench manual, hands-on experts take advantage of the latest advances in ribozyme, DNAzyme, and RNA interference technologies to describe in detail the exciting and successful methods now available for gene inactivation in vitro and in vivo. Their optimized techniques employ hairpain ribozymes, DNAzymes, hammerhead ribozymes and derivatives, group I intron ribozymes, Rnase P ribozymes, and siRNAs, as well as general methods for RNA structure analysis, delivery of oligonucleotides, and gene therapy. Also provided are novel methods for identifying accessible cellular mRNA sites; group I intron and RNAse P ribozymes protocols for effective design, selection, and therapeutic applications; and the latest RNAi methods for sequencing-specific gene silencing in a wide variety of organisms. Comprehensive and up-to-date, Ribozymes and siRNA Protocols synthesizes for experienced and novice investigators alike the exciting advances in understanding nucleic acid enzymes and demonstrates how they may be used to analyze gene function and target validation, and to productively develop new therapeutics for human diseases.

The Handbook of Pharmaceutical Controlled Release Technology reviews the design, fabrication, methodology, administration, and classifications of various drug delivery systems, including matrices, and membrane controlled reservoir, bioerodible, and pendant chain systems. Contains cutting-edge research on the controlled delivery of biomolecules! Discussing the advantages and limitations of controlled release systems, the Handbook of Pharmaceutical Controlled Release Technology -covers oral, transdermal, parenteral, and implantable delivery of drugs -discusses modification methods to achieve desired release kinetics -highlights constraints of system design for practical clinical application -analyzes diffusion equations and mathematical modeling -considers environmental acceptance and tissue compatibility of biopolymeric systems for biologically active agents -evaluates polymers as drug delivery carriers -describes peptide, protein, micro-, and nanoparticulate release systems -examines the cost, comfort, disease control, side effects, and patient compliance of numerous delivery systems and devices -and more!

This volume brings together contributions from experts in the field of Pasteurella research. Its covers areas such as comparative genomics, pathogenic mechanisms, bacterial proteomics, as well as a detailed description and analysis of PMT and its interaction with host tissues, cells, immune system, and signalling pathways.

Capsaicin is a principal pungent ingredient of red chili peppers, first isolated in the early nineteenth century by Christian Friedrich Bucholz. Widely consumed as a spice in South Asia and Latin America, Capsaicin has been used to treat pain and inflammation associated with a variety of diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, diabetic neuropathy, post-masectomy pain, cluster headaches, and herpes zoster. Although recent studies have evaluated capsaicin as a novel anti-cancer agent, and mechanisms of capsaicin in preventing cancer have been described sporadically, the literature lacks a comprehensive review of capsaicin as a chemo-preventive agent. Role of Capsaicin in Oxidative Stress and Cancer offers a thorough exploration of the preventive and therapeutic effects of capsaicin in cancer models such as melanoma, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, gastric cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer, multiple myeloma and glioma. The contributors, all internationally recognized researchers, identify various molecular and cellular targets of capsaicin, and show the critical role of mitochondria in capsaicin-mediated therapeutic effects. Readers will learn how capsaicin prevents or may treat cancer, how different cells respond to capsaicin, how environmental carcinogen-induced carcinogenesis can be prevented by capsaicin and the mechanism of oxidative stress caused by capsaicin. This book will benefit medical students, oncologists and cancer researchers everywhere.

Topical and transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDs) have several advantages over traditional drug delivery methods, as they can be less invasive, more sanitary, more cost-effective, and may result in better patient compliance. TDDs play a significant role in therapeutics with a variety of preparations and approaches designed by expert formulation scientists. This volume integrates a wide variety of case studies, research, and theories to reveal their diversity and capture the novel approaches of transdermal and topical drug delivery employed by developers and content experts in the field. It provides an abundance of important information and state-of-the-art research on topical and transdermal drug delivery systems and addresses the basics of drug delivery systems, strategies to enhance permeation across membranes, and formulation and evaluation of diverse dosage forms. The volume presents an evaluation of the pros and cons of conventional drug delivery systems against TDDs and discusses the nuances of micro- and nano-systems in TDDs. The extraordinary packages of nano systems (vesicular systems, polymeric nanoparticles, nanoemulsion and dendrimers) are broadly discussed, and their applications are reviewed through a transdermal route. The book looks at TDDs and the main nanoparticles used in skin diseases and lesions of the aging, such as psoriasis, vitiligo, cancer, lesions of the aging and others. Chapters also discuss polymeric micelles in topical and transdermal delivery; microneedles; emulsion, nanoemulsion and microemulsion; TDDs in pulmonary drug delivery systems; nanoencapsulated nasal drug delivery systems; skin sensitivity and irritation testing for transposing transdermal drug delivery systems; and regulatory aspects of drug development for dermal products. Topical and Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems: Applications and Prospects will be a valuable resource for pharmaceutical scientists and researchers, industry professionals, and academicians and students of the pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences.

This volume contains the proceedings of the 1986 annual meeting and conference of the Society for Risk Analysis. It provides a detailed view of both mature disciplines and emerging areas within the fields of health, safety, and environmental risk analysis as they existed in 1986. In selecting and organizing topics for this conference, we sought both (i) to identify and include new ideas and application areas that would be of lasting interest to risk analysts and to users of risk analysis results, and (ii) to include innovative methods and applications in established areas of risk analysis. In the three years since the conference, many of the topics presented there for the first time to a broad risk analysis audience have become well developed-and sometimes hotly debated-areas of applied risk research. Several, such as the public health hazards from indoor air pollutants, radon in the home, high-voltage electric fields, and the AIDS epidemic, have been the subjects of headlines since 1986. Older areas, such as hazardous waste site ranking and remediation, air emissions dispersion modeling and exposure assessment, transportation safety, seismic and nuclear risk assessment, and occupational safety in the chemical industry, have continued to receive new treatments and to benefit from advances in quantitative risk assessment methods, as documented in the theoretical and methodological papers in this volume. A theme of the meeting was the importance of new technologies and the new and uncertain risks that they create.