Evaluation of a practical training program for drug information services for fifth-year pharmacy students in a hospital.

Drug information (DI) services is an essential resource for pharmacists to provide counseling to patients and guide appropriate medication use. We devised a DI practical training course that incorporated an inquiry-based practical training program and evaluated its effectiveness. A total of 91 fifth-year students in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Fukuoka University took part in the following DI sessions based on specific behavioral objectives (SBOs) for DI in the Model Core Curriculum for Practical Training: inquiry practice, simulated pharmacy and therapeutics committee, DI newsletter, use of emergency and safety information, off-label use in clinical trials, PRE-AVOID (Be prepared to avoid the adverse drug reactions), adverse drug reactions, and small group discussions about drug poisoning. The level of understanding of the SBOs for DI training was >4.2 for each item assessed, and the level of satisfaction for each practice was >3.9. This DI practical training successfully facilitated students' ability to provide DI. The number of students interested in DI services significantly increased (p<0.01). After the DI practical training, many students made statements such as "I realized that DI services is a very important job" and "I feel that pharmacists have much to contribute to DI services by evaluating the most appropriate information from a pharmacist's standpoint." It appears that students recognized the pharmacist's role and importance of DI services in clinical practice through the DI training. These results suggest that this DI practical training program was effective.

Fasting promotes the expression of SIRT1, an NAD+ -dependent protein deacetylase, via activation of PPARalpha in mice.

Calorie restriction (CR) extends lifespans in a wide variety of species. CR induces an increase in the NAD(+)/NADH ratio in cells and results in activation of SIRT1, an NAD(+)-dependent protein deacetylase that is thought to be a metabolic master switch linked to the modulation of lifespans. CR also affects the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs). The three subtypes, PPARalpha, PPARgamma, and PPARbeta/delta, are expressed in multiple organs. They regulate different physiological functions such as energy metabolism, insulin action and inflammation, and apparently act as important regulators of longevity and aging. SIRT1 has been reported to repress the PPARgamma by docking with its co-factors and to promote fat mobilization. However, the correlation between SIRT1 and other PPARs is not fully understood. CR initially induces a fasting-like response. In this study, we investigated how SIRT1 and PPARalpha correlate in the fasting-induced anti-aging pathways. A 24-h fasting in mice increased mRNA and protein expression of both SIRT1 and PPARalpha in the livers, where the NAD(+) levels increased with increasing nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) activity in the NAD(+) salvage pathway. Treatment of Hepa1-6 cells in a low glucose medium conditions with NAD(+) or NADH showed that the mRNA expression of both SIRT1 and PPARalpha can be enhanced by addition of NAD(+), and decreased by increasing NADH levels. The cell experiments using SIRT1 antagonists and a PPARalpha agonist suggested that PPARalpha is a key molecule located upstream from SIRT1, and has a role in regulating SIRT1 gene expression in fasting-induced anti-aging pathways.