Efficacy evaluation of syringe pump developed for continuous drug infusion

BACKGROUND: In dental intravenous sedation, continuous intravenous infusion of a low-dose drug requires an infusion pump such as a syringe pump. To develop a new syringe pump for clinical use, the functions of the pump must meet certain international standards. Various safety and efficacy tests must be performed on the syringe pump, as stipulated by these standards, and an approval must be received from the approving agency based on such test results. METHODS: The authors of the present study developed a novel syringe pump and performed efficacy evaluation by testing its infusion speed at 1 and 25 ml/h, and infusion performance testing at 2 and 24 h. Moreover, performance evaluation was conducted by comparing the novel pump to an existing pump with the infusion speed varied from 1 to 5 ml/h. RESULTS: In the efficacy testing on the newly developed syringe pump, infusion with the infusion speed initially set to 1 ml/h resulted in infusion speeds of 1.00 and 0.99 ml/h in the 2- and 24-h assessment, respectively. Changing the infusion speed setting to 25 ml/h resulted in an infusion speed of 25.09 and 23.92 ml/h in the 2- and 24-h assessment, respectively. These results show no significant differences when compared with other commercially available pumps. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy testing of the newly developed syringe pump showed the accuracy to be within tolerance. Based on these findings, we believe that the newly developed syringe pump is suitable for clinical use.

Zerumbone, Sesquiterpene Photochemical from Ginger, Inhibits Angiogenesis

Here, we investigated the role of zerumbone, a natural cyclic sesquiterpene of Zingiber zerumbet Smith, on angiogenesis using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Zerumbone inhibited HUVECs proliferation, migration and tubule formation, as well as angiogenic activity by rat aorta explants. In particular, zerumbone inhibited phosphorylation of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 and fibroblast growth factor receptor-1, which are key regulators of endothelial cell function and angiogenesis. In vivo matrigel plug assay in mice demonstrated significant decrease in vascularization and hemoglobin content in the plugs from zerumbone-treated mice, compared with control mice. Overall, these results suggest that zerumbone inhibits various attributes of angiogenesis, which might contribute to its reported antitumor effects.