TheChemLife

My name is Emily Tung and I am currently a fourth year undergraduate at UCSD as a chemistry major. About 3 years ago, I discovered that I have a pituitary adenoma, or more specifically, a prolactinoma. I was given 0.5mg of cabergoline in hopes that the tumor will shrink, but little or no change has occurred in terms of the size. This has fueled my desire to understand more about medication and their uses, along with my interest in becoming a pharmaceutical technician. This blog is dedicated to sharing information about pituitary adenomas as well as other disorders and their possible treatments. Note: This was for a class project and I am no longer updating/adding posts. (Procrastinated for 2 years before I decided I should add this note. lol)

[emitung-blog]

In an article written on July 24, 2012, a new class of drugs was developed to solve issues concerning Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and traumatic brain injury by reducing the inflamation caused by these problems in the brain. This neuroinflammation is highly believed to be a major factor of many degenerative brain conditions. Studies show that this new class of drugs, referred to as MW151 and MW189, can prevent the full-blown development of Alzheimer's disease in a mouse that was genetically engineered to develop this disease if taken early enough. Results showed that cytokine levels returned to normal and brain synapses were functioning properly in laboratory mice when the drugs were taken before Alzheimer's memory changes are at a late stage. 

MW151 and MW189 works by preventing the overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines, a type of brain protein. The overproduction of cytokine can cause the synapses of the brain to misfire, thus damaging the cortex and hippocampus responsible for memory storage and decision-making. 

In previous studies, the same drug reduced the damage caused by traumatic brain injury and prevented the development of multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is caused by the damage of protective covering of nerve cells called the myelin sheath when the body's own immune cells attack the nervous system, which then leads to the inflammation of anywhere on the brain, optic nerve, or spinal cord. In the case with multiple sclerosis, MW151 successfully inhibited the development of the disease in laboratory mice when taken orally. Now there are ongoing studies using lab mice to determine if MW151 can also prevent multiple sclerosis from reoccurring. 

With traumatic brain injury, the glial cells in the brain become hyperactive over time and release a continuous stream of proinflammatory cytokines that eventually lead to epilepsy and cognitive impairment. However, researchers found that if MW151 is given three to six hours after the injury, it inhibits glial activation, preventing the uncontrollable release of proinflammatory cytokines. This in turn minimizes the risk of epileptic seizures. 

This new class of drugs have shown promising results and a possible solution for preventing brain-related diseases and injuries in humans from developing or becoming worse. This may bring us closer to finding a permanent solution - a cure for these neurological problems. 

[emitung-blog]

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a contagious bacterial infection that normally infects the lungs, but may spread to other organs. You can contract TB from an infected person's cough or sneeze, or when they transmit their saliva through the air in general. There is a higher risk for contracting TB if you are near those who have TB, have poor nutrition, or live in unsanitary and/or crowded areas. Symptoms include coughing or coughing up blood, excessive sweating at night, fatigue, fever, and weight loss. TB has been becoming more and more antibiotic resistant to the point where it is nearly untreatable, causing a large number of deaths. There have been extensive research aimed primarily to finding a new drug that could effectively cure TB and at a faster, but also cheaper, rate. 

On July 27, 2012 an article was written about the discovery of a new drug combination that could kill more than 99 percent of patients' TB bacteria within two weeks, making it more effective than existing treatments. This new drug combination regimen consists of PA-824, moxifloxacin, and pyrazinamide.

PA-824 is a nitroimidazole that is effective against both drug-resistant and non drug-resistant TB. It works by inhibiting the synthesis of certain proteins and cell wall lipids necessary for the survival of TB bacteria. While PA-824 was originally designed to attack replicating, aerobic bacteria, it was later discovered that it was also active against latent (or inactive) TB bacteria. Latent TB bacteria tend to be anaerobic and either non-replicating or slow to replication. PA-824 kills latent bacteria by releasing nitric oxide, which is poisonous to these types of bacteria. Moxifloxacin is a synthetic fluoroquinolone antibacterial agent that has not yet been approved for use as first-line TB therapy. It is more of a last resort for it interacts with a number of other drugs. An additional warning label has also been included in 2011 for spontaneous tendon rupture and the worsening of myasthenia gravis symptoms. It works by inhibiting DNA gyrase enzymes that are necessary for bacteria cell replication.

Pyrazinamide is an existing TB drug that is only used in combination with other drugs to treat TB in the first two months of therapy. It is normally combined with other drugs such as isoniazid and rifampicin to accelerate the sterilizing effect of these drugs.

The combination of these three drugs are known as NC-001, or New Combination 1, and was successfully used in a two-week trial study at two centers in South Africa. This has proved to be a major advance in TB therapy by saving years of research in finding new, effective drugs and it is also affordable in poor countries.      

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The image above is my very own MRI taken in the year 2009. It is the very first MRI I had taken regarding my pituitary microadenoma and before I started on any medication. The following paragraphs are just simply information regarding pituitary tumors that I found interesting and useful. 

Pituitary adenomas are tumors that occur in the pituitary gland and can either be benign, invasive, or carcinogenic. About 10% - 15% of all brain tumors are pituitary tumors, making it the third most common type of brain tumor. They occur more frequently in women than in men and usually develop between the ages of 30 to 40. It is said that about 10% - 25% of people have these pituitary adenomas, but because some people never experience the symptoms, they can go undetected. Adenomas larger than 10mm in size are labeled as macroadenomas, while those smaller than 10mm are called microadenomas. Some tumors secrete hormones that are normally made by the pituitary gland and some are inactive. Those that secrete hormones are uncontrolled, which causes them to release large amounts of hormones, resulting in a hormone imbalance. The two most common types of hormone producing pituitary adenomas secrete prolactin, or otherwise known as prolactinoma, and growth hormones. Symptoms that may occur due to prolactinoma are lactation in the absence of pregnancy or breast feeding, or increased intracranial pressure. Growth hormone secreting adenomas cause rapid growth spurt, resulting in disorders such as acromegaly.

The most current and common treatments include radiation therapy, surgery, or in the case of prolactinomas, cabergoline or quinagolide. Surgery can remove the tumor possibly without damaging other parts of the brain. The medication, cabergoline, may be capable of reducing the size of the tumor, although a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) should be performed periodically to ensure the medication’s effectiveness.