Pharmaceutics

[crit care]

This is probably a long shot, and possibly not even in the right section...

I have been asked by one of my consultants to gather information about pharmaceutics, shelf lives of drugs and general info about such matters. not very clear i know but it was a 10second chat in a corridor. I know i used a pharmaceutics book back in uni, can't think of name but was cream coloured, but does anyone know of any PJ articles which have been written about pharmaceutics and extemp preparation.

I had a quick look but nothing jumping out at me. I will find out more info in the mean time on what exactly he wants. He is in the process of writing a book, and he mainly has pharmacology books, but is after pharmaceutics info.

any help/direction muchly appreciated
thanks

[johnep]

Used to be Cooper and Gunn. Trust if you help you will be given accreditation.
johnep

[crit care]

ok, so i ahve advanced a little on what needs to be found out. Its not for a book. He is an examiner for the Primary anaesthetic exams down in Australia, and part of the syllabus consists of:

Define shelf life?
Factots that may influence drug potency?
Methods of preserving shelf life of drugs?
Describe mechanisms of action and potential side effects of buffers, anti-oxidants, anti-microbial and solubilizing agents added to drugs?

I'm not expecting for answers, but if you are aware of any good journal articles on any of the above, would be much appreciated!

[johnep]

a) Shelf life Probably a proper definition somewhere. I would have thought that this is the length of time that product has been found to be within potency/assay limits. Eg a vaccine would have relatively short shelf life, an inorganic molecule such as Magnesium Carbonate would have an indefinite shelf life. With regard to anaesthetics, the risk of peroxide formation in ether and chloroform a factor.
b) Potency can be affected by a multitude of factors according to the patient and external causes. Eg a solution of penicillin at room temperature would rapidly lose potency.
c) Shelf life improved by low moisture content and refrigeration.
Side effects I leave to others.
johnep

[Nik]

I suspect the cream coloured book may have been Pharmaceutics: the science of dosage form design. Quick google search showed a cream coloured book, although the newer edition is white and blue. Was a recommended pharmaceutics text at uni.

[grumpy jeff]

If Nik has the right book, the editor of pharmaceutics is Aulton.

[crit care]

yeah, thats the problem of no longer living at home and having the "useless" pharmacy etxt books back with the parentals! i guess you never know when you may need them!

[Nik]

I never bought that book, was one of the recommended texts so library had many copies. Good book to help you sleep though.

[grumpy jeff]

yeah, I bought it but didn't really use it much. It's only worth it if you're doing hard core pharmaceutics, which we didn't at uni.
i'm sure i learnt more at work anyway!

[crit care]

i'm now in posession of the book whihc i had at uni, and it still looks brand new! obviously i used very little of it, but a few gems in there which should keep the dr happy!