Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a complex disorder for which currently there is no accepted definition. Having a uniform standard for diagnosing and classifying AKI would enhance our ability to manage these patients. Future clinical and translational research in AKI will require collaborative networks of investigators drawn from various disciplines, dissemination of information via multidisciplinary joint conferences and publications, and improved translation of knowledge from pre-clinical research. We describe an initiative to develop uniform standards for defining and classifying AKI and to establish a forum for multidisciplinary interaction to improve care for patients with or at risk for AKI. Members representing key societies in critical care and nephrology along with additional experts in adult and pediatric AKI participated in a two day conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in September 2005 and were assigned to one of three workgroups. Each group's discussions formed the basis for draft recommendations that were later refined and improved during discussion with the larger group. Dissenting opinions were also noted. The final draft recommendations were circulated to all participants and subsequently agreed upon as the consensus recommendations for this report. Participating societies endorsed the recommendations and agreed to help disseminate the results. The term AKI is proposed to represent the entire spectrum of acute renal failure. Diagnostic criteria for AKI are proposed based on acute alterations in serum creatinine or urine output. A staging system for AKI which reflects quantitative changes in serum creatinine and urine output has been developed. We describe the formation of a multidisciplinary collaborative network focused on AKI. We have proposed uniform standards for diagnosing and classifying AKI which will need to be validated in future studies. The Acute Kidney Injury Network offers a mechanism for proceeding with efforts to improve patient outcomes.

Acute Kidney Injury Network: report of an initiative to improve outcomes in acute kidney injury

Fluorine substituents have become a widespread and important drug component, their introduction facilitated by the development of safe and selective fluorinating agents. Organofluorine affects nearly all physical and adsorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion properties of a lead compound. Its inductive effects are relatively well understood, enhancing bioavailability, for example, by reducing the basicity of neighboring amines. In contrast, exploration of the specific influence of carbon-fluorine single bonds on docking interactions, whether through direct contact with the protein or through stereoelectronic effects on molecular conformation of the drug, has only recently begun. Here, we review experimental progress in this vein and add complementary analysis based on comprehensive searches in the Cambridge Structural Database and the Protein Data Bank.

Fluorine in Pharmaceuticals: Looking Beyond Intuition.

It has become evident that fluorinated compounds have a remarkable record in medicinal chemistry and will play a continuing role in providing lead compounds for therapeutic applications. This tutorial review provides a sampling of renowned fluorinated drugs and their mode of action with a discussion clarifying the role and impact of fluorine substitution on drug potency.

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Fluorine in medicinal chemistry.

AACR Centennial Conference: Translational Cancer Medicine-- Nov 4-8, 2007; Singapore

PL02-05 

All cancers are due to abnormalities in DNA. The availability of the human genome sequence has led to the proposal that resequencing of cancer genomes will reveal the full complement of somatic mutations and hence all the cancer genes. To explore the nature of the information that will be derived from cancer genome sequencing we have sequenced the coding exons of the family of 518 protein kinases, ~1.3Mb DNA per cancer sample, in 210 cancers of diverse histological types. Despite the screen being directed toward the coding regions of a gene family that has previously been strongly implicated in oncogenesis, the results indicate that the majority of somatic mutations detected are “passengers”. There is considerable variation in the number and pattern of these mutations between individual cancers, indicating substantial diversity of processes of molecular evolution between cancers. The imprints of exogenous mutagenic exposures, mutagenic treatment regimes and DNA repair defects can all be seen in the distinctive mutational signatures of individual cancers. This systematic mutation screen and others have previously yielded a number of cancer genes that are frequently mutated in one or more cancer types and which are now anticancer drug targets (for example BRAF , PIK3CA , and EGFR ). However, detailed analyses of the data from our screen additionally suggest that there exist a large number of additional “driver” mutations which are distributed across a substantial number of genes. It therefore appears that cells may be able to utilise mutations in a large repertoire of potential cancer genes to acquire the neoplastic phenotype. However, many of these genes are employed only infrequently. These findings may have implications for future anticancer drug development.

Patterns of Somatic Mutation in Human Cancer Genomes

Human exposure to bisphenol A (BPA).

The use of co-trimoxazole in HIV-positive patients has been associated with a high frequency (40–80%) of hypersensitivity reactions. This has been attributed to the bioactivation of the sulphonamide component, sulphamethoxazole (SMX), to its toxic hydroxylamine and nitroso metabolites. The aim of th

Association analysis of drug metabolizing enzyme gene polymorphisms in HIV-positive patients with co-trimoxazole hypersensitivity.

The stereoselectivity of the pharmacokinetic interaction between warfarin and cimetidine was investigated in eight healthy volunteers. The warfarin enantiomers were given separately as single doses (15 mg) alone and during chronic administration of cimetidine (1 g day-1). Cimetidine did not interact with S warfarin but there was an interaction with the R enantiomer of warfarin. Cimetidine caused a significant increase in the mean plasma half-life of R warfarin (from 47.8 h to 57.8 h) and a significant decrease in its mean plasma clearance (from 2.3 to 1.7 ml h-1 kg-1) (P less than 0.02). Administration of a pharmacological dose of vitamin K1 together with the enantiomers of warfarin was necessary clinically and resulted in elevation of vitamin K1 2,3-epoxide concentrations, which were similar in each case.

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Stereoselective interaction between the R enantiomer of warfarin and cimetidine.

Genetic analysis of microsomal epoxide hydrolase in patients with carbamazepine hypersensitivity

1. Tacrine (1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-9-aminoacridine-hydrochloride: THA) underwent metabolism in vitro by a panel (n = 12) of human liver microsomes genotyped for CYP2D6, in the presence of NADPH, to both protein-reactive and stable metabolites. 2. There was considerable variation in the extent of THA metabolism amongst human livers. Protein-reactive metabolite formation showed a 10-fold variation (0.6 +/- 0.1%-5.2 +/- 0.8% of incubated radioactivity mg-1 protein) whilst stable metabolites showed a 3-fold variation (24.3 +/- 1.7%-78.6 +/- 2.6% of incubated radioactivity). 3. Using cytochrome P450 isoform specific inhibitors CYP1A2 was identified as the major enzyme involved in all routes of THA metabolism. 4. There was a high correlation between aromatic and alicyclic hydroxylation (r = 0.92, P < 0.0001) consistent with these biotransformations being catalysed by the same enzymes. 5. Enoxacin (ENOX), cimetidine (CIM) and chloroquine (CQ) inhibited THA metabolism by a preferential decrease in the bioactivation to protein-reactive, and hence potentially toxic, species. The inhibitory potency of ENOX and CIM was increased significantly upon pre-incubation with microsomes and NADPH. 6. Covalent binding correlated with 7-OH-THA formation before (r = 0.792, P < 0.0001) and after (r = 0.73, P < 0.0001) inhibition by CIM, consistent with a two-step mechanism in the formation of protein-reactive metabolite(s) via a 7-OH intermediate. 7. The use of enzyme inhibitors may provide a useful tool for examining the relationship between the metabolism and toxicity of THA in vivo.

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B.K. Park

Papers

Association analysis of drug metabolizing enzyme gene polymorphisms in HIV-positive patients with co-trimoxazole hypersensitivity.

Stereoselective interaction between the R enantiomer of warfarin and cimetidine.

Genetic analysis of microsomal epoxide hydrolase in patients with carbamazepine hypersensitivity

The effect of enzyme inhibition on the metabolism and activation of tacrine by human liver microsomes

Dexamethasone metabolism in vitro: Species differences