Surface contamination of the outer and blister packages of oral anticancer drugs: A multicenter study.

INTRODUCTION: All guidelines necessitate wearing personal protective equipment during dispensing of oral anticancer drugs. This study aims to measure the degree of contamination on the press-through-package strips of oral anticancer drugs in Japan. METHOD: Surface contamination of the external packaging of anticancer drugs was examined by performing wipe tests at four hospitals and two community pharmacies. The following commercially available drugs were examined: Xeloda®, TS-1®, and methotrexate tablets and SA-1® and Rheumatrex® capsules. RESULTS: The wipe tests' results revealed that the contamination levels of Xeloda® and TS-1® tablets and SA-1® capsules were within their detection limits. In some facilities, the contamination levels on the press-through-package strips of Rheumatrex® capsules were 3.27 × 10-1, which is close to its detection limit. However, across all facilities, the contamination level of methotrexate tablets was above its detection limit. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggested that adherence to oral anticancer drugs may not occur during manufacture or transportation. However, it may be due to the presence of pollutants in the facilities. Prevention of pollution in facilities might eliminate the need to wear personal protective equipment during dispensing of oral anticancer drugs.

Characterization and Transcriptional Regulation of n-Alkane Hydroxylase Gene Cluster of Rhodococcus jostii RHA1.

Gram-positive actinomycete Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 is able to grow on C10 to C19 n-alkanes as a sole source of carbon and energy. To clarify, the n-alkane utilization pathway-a cluster of 5 genes (alkBrubA1A2BalkU) which appeared to be involved in n-alkane degradation-was identified and the transcriptional regulation of these genes was characterized. Reverse transcription-PCR analyses revealed that these genes constituted an operon and were transcribed in the presence of n-alkane. Inactivation of alkB led to the absence of the ability to utilize n-undecane. The alkB mutation resulted in reduction of growth rates on C10 and C12 n-alkanes; however, growths on C13 to C19 n-alkanes were not affected by this mutation. These results suggested that alkB was essential for the utilization of C10 to C12 n-alkanes. Inactivation of alkU showed the constitutive expression of alkB. Purified AlkU is able to bind to the putative promoter region of alkB, suggesting that AlkU played a role in repression of the transcription of alk operon. The results of this study indicated that alkB was involved in the medium-chain n-alkanes degradation of strain RHA1 and the transcription of alk operon was negatively regulated by alkU-encoded regulator. This report is important to understand the n-alkane degradation pathway of R. jostii, including the transcriptional regulation of alk gene cluster.

Amino acid residues critical for DNA binding and inducer recognition in CbnR, a LysR-type transcriptional regulator from Cupriavidus necator NH9.

CbnR, a LysR-type transcriptional regulator from Cupriavidus necator NH9, activates the transcription of chlorocatechol-degradative enzymes. To activate the transcription, CbnR needs to bind not only to the cbnA promoter but also to the inducer. In this study, the transcriptional activity and DNA-binding activity of twenty-five mutants of CbnR were analyzed. Of the 17 mutants of the DNA-binding domain, 11 mutants lost their ability to activate transcription. While most mutants without transcriptional activation did not show DNA-binding activity, Asn17Ala, Gln29Ala, and Pro30Ala retained DNA-binding activity, suggesting that transcriptional activation by CbnR requires more than its binding to promoter DNA. Of the 8 mutants of the regulatory domain, 6 mutants changed their responses to the inducer, when compared with wild-type CbnR. Interestingly, Arg199Ala and Val246Ala induced constitutive expression of the cbnA promoter without the inducer, suggesting that these mutations brought about a conformational change mimicking that induced by the inducer molecule.