Romana Zelko

Semmelweis University | SOTE · University Pharmacy Department of Pharmacy Administration

Introduction Glioblastoma (GB) is one of the most challenging central nervous system (CNS) tumors in treatment options and response, urging the development of novel management strategies. The anti-alcoholism drug, disulfiram (DS), has a potential anticancer activity, and its complex mechanism of action is assumed to be well exploited against the he...

The aims of this systematic review are to explore the possibilities of using the positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) method in the pharmaceutical industry and to examine the application of PALS as a supportive, predictive method during the research process. In addition, the review aims to provide a comprehensive picture of additional...

Nepafenac is a highly effective NSAID used for treating postoperative ocular inflammation and pain after cataract surgery and its advantage over conventional topical NSAIDs has been proved many times. However, Nevanac® is a suspension eye drop, which clearly lacks patient compliance causing irritation, blurred vision, foreign body sensation along w...

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived, membrane-enclosed particles with the potential for a wide range of future therapeutic applications. However, EVs have almost always been administered by direct injection, likely hindering their efficacy because of rapid clearance from the injection site. The present study aimed to incorporate medium-si...

Several applications of nanofiber-based systems are based on their corresponding functionality-related properties, which often cannot be satisfied by a fiber web with a monolithic structure because of the various physicochemical properties and amounts of embedded compounds. Therefore, one of the main directions in the development of fiber systems i...

It is well known that one of the most accessible health providers are community pharmacists; hence, their role in sanitarian programs should not be neglected. Although they were not present in the first pilot trial of the Hungarian Health Planning Application (HHPA) made by the National Healthcare Services Center, they were involved in the latter p...

Type 2 diabetes mellitus has been assessed as a widespread disease globally. Unfortunately, this illness can occasionally go undetected and without symptoms until it reaches the emergency condition, and this can be notably true in patients who do not receive routine medical care. Pharmacists are the foremost accessible health care providers. They c...

The in situ application of the combination of different types of drugs revolutionized the area of periodontal therapy. The purpose of this study was to develop nanocomposite hydrogel (NCHG) as a pH-sensitive drug delivery system. To achieve local applicability of the NCHG in dental practice, routinely used blue-light photopolymerization was chosen...

Background: Preventing infectious diseases has become particularly relevant in the past few years. Therefore, antiseptics that are harmless and insusceptible to microbial resistance mechanisms are desired in medicine and public health. In our recent work, a poly(ethylene oxide)-based nanofibrous mat loaded with sodium chlorite was formulated. Met...

Introduction: We reviewed and compared current drug shortages and shortage management practices in six selected countries (Hungary, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, United States) based on the most comprehensive national shortage databases for each country, for four Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) groups, to analyze the criticality of...

The vertical diffusion cell is an in vitro laboratory device for the study of drug release and permeation of semi-solid topical formulations and topical patches. Both static and dynamic versions of the diffusion cell are used in practice, the operation of which can be automated. The device is available at a reasonable cost for smaller, mainly trans...

Topically applied antiviral creams and patches are the commercially available options for the treatment of herpes labialis. The nanofibrous patches could be a new direction in the formulation. The project aimed to formulate core-shell type nanofibrous scaffolds loaded with dexpanthenol (shell) and acyclovir (core). To achieve the fast dissolution o...

The unique anatomy and physiology of the eye, makes the targeting of ocular diseases a very difficult and challenging process. Conventional administration of eye drops and ointments has limited bioavailability, while systemic administration is associated with severe toxicity. Direct administration of the drug to the site of action can be done invas...

In this study, scaffolds were prepared via an electrospinning method for application in oral cavities. The hydrophilicity of the fiber mesh is of paramount importance, as it promotes cell spreading; however, the most commonly used polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and other hydrophilic fiber meshes immediately disintegrate in aqueous media. In contrast, the...

Currently, ocular inserts and nanoparticles have received much attention due to the limited bioavailability of conventional eye preparations and the toxicity problems of systemic drug administration. The current systematic review aims to present recent studies on the use of electrospun nanofiber-based ocular inserts to improve the bioavailability o...

The in-situ used combination of different types of drugs revolutionized the area of periodontal therapy. The purpose of this study was to develop biodegradable nanocomposite hydrogel (NCHG) as a pH-sensitive drug delivery system. To reach the local applicability of the NCHG in dental practice routinely used blue-light photopolymerization was chosen...

Conductive education originated in Hungary in the late 1940s as a unique form of education and rehabilitation for children with neurological motor disorder. The basic idea of András Pető's unique system (conductive pedagogical system) was that our nervous system, despite being damaged, has reserved the possibility of building new connections, which...

Enzyme replacement therapies (ERT) have been of great help over the past 30 years in the treatment of various lysosomal storage disorders, including chronic pancreatitis and its common complication, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Research shows that difficulties in designing such drugs can be overcome by using appropriate additives and various...

Objective The study examined the Drug-Related Problems (DRPs) of patients with polypharmacy in 78 Hungarian community pharmacies, especially the interaction risks in terms of their clinical severity. Also, the objective was to analyze pharmacists’ interventions to solve the identified interaction risks. Methodology The research was carried out in...

Pharmaceutical compounding enables the preparation of unlicensed medicine to meet specific patient needs that do not have a licensed medicine available on the market. It must be performed in the best possible circumstance by certified pharmacists using validated standard operating procedures to obtain the highest quality medicinal product. The vari...

Recently, the electrospinning (ES) process has been extensively studied due to its potential applications in various fields, particularly pharmaceutical and biomedical purposes. The production rate using typical ES technology is usually around 0.01–1 g/h, which is lower than pharmaceutical industry production requirements. Therefore, different comp...

Objectives The research aimed to support the effectiveness and necessity of the communication training and methodology introduced in the postgraduate pharmacy training and community pharmacy practice in Hungary. Design Two cross-sectional questionnaire surveys before and after the introduction of a methodological recommendation. Setting 69 Hungar...

In our current research, sucrose palmitate (SP) was applied as a possible permeation enhancer for buccal use. This route of administration is a novelty as there is no literature on the use of SP in buccal mucoadhesive films. Films containing SP were prepared at different temperatures, with different concentrations of SP and different lengths of hyd...

The production of polymer microfibres and nanofibres using rotary jet spinning as platforms for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications has been explored. The aligned orientation of fibres and consequent improvement in the mechanical properties of the scaffold are essential in several pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, where elas...

Core-shell nanofibrous drug delivery systems have increasing attention in the last eyars due to their potential to incorporate two or more active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) individually into the desired layer (either core or sheath) and thus finely tune the release profile of even incompatible drugs in one system. This study aimed to formula...

Fenofibrate-loaded electrospun microfibrous sheets were prepared in an attempt to enhance the dissolution of the poorly soluble antihyperlipidemic agent and to improve its bioavailability. Physicochemical changes that appeared during the electrospinning process were monitored using a wide array of solid-state characterization techniques, including...

The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of medication review by pharmacists in the Hungarian community pharmacies. Patients using an ACE inhibitor (Angiotensin-Converting-Enzyme Inhibitors) and NSAID (Non-Steroidal Anti-Infl ammatory Drug) together were included in the study. In addition, patients’ knowledge of the use of...

Electrospun nanofibers were prepared from furosemide-containing hydroxypropyl cellulose and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) aqueous solutions using different solubility enhancers. In one case, a solubilizer, triethanolamine, was applied, while in the other case a pH-modifier, sodium hydroxide, was applied. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was carried out...

Electrospinning is one of the most widely used techniques for the fabrication of nano/microparticles and nano/microfibers, induced by a high voltage applied to the drug-loaded solution. The modification of environmental conditions, solution properties or operation parameters results in different fiber properties, thus enabling the fine-tuning of fu...

Electrospinningisoneofthemostwidelyusedtechniquesforthefabricationofnano/microparticles andnano/microfibers,inducedbyahighvoltageappliedtothedrug-loadedsolution. Themodification of environmental conditions, solution properties or operation parameters results in different fiber properties, thus enabling the fine-tuning of functionality-related characteri...

Aceclofenac-loaded poly(vinyl-pyrrolidone)-based nanofiber formulations were prepared by electrospinning to obtain drug-loaded orally disintegrating webs to enhance the solubility and dissolution rate of the poorly soluble anti-inflammatory active that belongs to the BCS Class-II. Triethanolamine-containing ternary composite of aceclofenac-poly(vin...

3D printing is attracting considerable interest for its capacity to produce prototypes and small production runs rapidly. Fused deposit modeling (FDM) was used to produce polyvalent test plates for investigation of the physical, chemical, and in-vitro biological properties of printed materials. The polyvalent test plates (PVTPs) are poly-lactic aci...

Background Pharmaceutical care is the pharmacist’s contribution to the care of individuals to optimize medicines use and improve health outcomes. The primary tool of pharmaceutical care is medication review. Defining and classifying Drug-Related Problems (DRPs) is an essential pillar of the medication review. Our objectives were to perform a pilot...

Chlorine dioxide, the so-called “ideal biocide” can be successfully applied as an antiseptic agent based on its rapid and safe antimicrobial property. One of the significant limitations of its topical or oral use is that the chlorine dioxide residence time in aqueous solution is very short due to the volatility of the gas. Therefore, the primary pu...

Approaches investigating cancer patientsí quality of life have been conducted intensely but most approaches either focusing on the quality of life analysis of patients living in the same country or suffering from the same cancer type. The aim of this study was to compare cancer patientsí quality of life in Hungary and Germany. A self ñ developed qu...

Accurate knowledge of the safety of the combined use of hyper-pure chlorine dioxide (ClO2, Solumium) with different endodontic agents is not known. The objective was to investigate the possible interactions between hyper-pure ClO2 and Chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX) as well as hyper-pure ClO2 and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in vitro. Hig...

The electrospun nanofiber-based orally dissolving webs are promising candidates for rapid drug release, which is due to the high surface area to volume ratio of the fibers and the high amorphization efficacy of the fiber formation process. Although latter is responsible for the physical and/or chemical instability of these systems. The primary aim...

Papaverine hydrochloride loaded gels, films and electrospun fibers were prepared for buccal drug delivery with the aim of improving the oral bioavailability of the crystalline drug, which can be achieved by the increased solubility and by the circumvention of the intensive first pass metabolism. The water soluble hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) was c...

Along with the development of novel drug delivery systems the material science is also advancing. Conventional and novel synthetic or natural excipients provide opportunities to design dosage forms of the required features including their bioavailability. Emerging trends in the design and development of drug products indicate an increasing need for...

In the Western world cancer expands to the most common cause of premature death and disability. National health systems struggle with a shortage of financial capabilities and staff resources. To limit this rapid emerging problem it is necessary to develop new ideas. Community pharmacists' skills represent a qualified source, which isn't exhausted y...

Furosemide loaded electrospun fibers were prepared for buccal administration, with the aim of improving the oral bioavailability of the poorly soluble and permeable crystalline drug, which can be achieved by the increased solubility and by the circumvention of the intensive first pass metabolism. The water soluble hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) was...

For the creation of scaffolds in tissue engineering applications, it is essential to control the physical morphology of fibres and to choose compositions which do not disturb normal physiological function. Collagen, the most abundant protein in the human body, is a well-established biopolymer used in electrospinning compositions. It shows high in-v...

The division of tablets and adequate methods of splitting them are a complex problem in all sectors of health care. Although tablet-splitting is often required, this procedure can be difficult for patients. Four tablets were investigated with different external features (shape, score-line, film-coat and size). The influencing effect of these featur...

Electrospun papaverine hydrochloride-loaded nanofibrous sheets consist of hydroxypropyl cellulose/poly(vinyl alcohol) composite were prepared for buccal administration for cerebral ischemia. The nanofibrous drug delivery system was subjected to accelerated stability test for four weeks in order to scrutinize the solid state changes relating to the...

A multilayer mat for dispensing colistin sulfate through a body surface was prepared by electrospinning. The fabricated system comprised various polyvinyl alcohol fibrous layers prepared with or without the active ingredient. One of the electrospun layers contained water-soluble colistin sulfate and the other was prepared from the same polymer type...

Papaverine hydrochloride loaded electrospun fibers were prepared for buccal drug delivery with the aim of improving the oral bioavailability of the crystalline drug, which can be achieved by the increased solubility and by the circumvention of the intensive first pass metabolism. The water soluble hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) was chosen as a mucoa...

Although patient' adherence related to the application of transdermal patches is relatively high compared to the other dosage forms, the lack of the correct use could decrease the effectiveness of the therapy. Therefore, the primary aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of a Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) concerning the adequate use of m...

Objective: The intention of the present study was to demonstrate the postauthorization changes of adalimumab (European trade name: Humira), evaluating the variations in its safety, efficacy, and quality profile. Methods: Type-II, major variations of the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) from September 8, 2003 to November 19, 2015, were a...

Transdermal therapy with medical patches is a simple possibility in home medication. As the correct use of patches has a decisive impact from the point of its modulator effect.A questionnaire survey was developed to explore level of patients' knowledge of the correct use of transdermal patches. A survey was administered in thirteen Hungarian commun...

Terbinafine hydrochloride-loaded nanofibrous buccal films were formulated with the aim to improve the solubility and dissolution behavior thus the local effectiveness of the antifungal agent. Polyvinyl alcohol and chitosan polymer composites were selected as delivery base in order to enhance the mucoadhesion of the fibrous films. The dissolution of...

Stability of a dosage form is its ability to preserve its quality attributes within preset limits. The time span over which these attributes remain within specifications is the shelf-life of the drug product. Stability is a very complex feature and is influenced not only by the stability of the drug substance but also by the stability of excipients...

Nebivolol-loaded electrospun nanofibrous sheets were prepared for the dissolution enhancement of the active with the aim of improving its oral bioavailability. Physicochemical characterization of nanofibers including differential scanning calorimetry, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and positron annihilation lif...

In this study, potassium chloride (KCl) containing matrix pellets were compressed into tablets using powder or pellet form of partially spray dried lactose as filler-binder excipient. The spatial distribution of potassium chloride pellets within the tablets was examined by non-destructive microfocus X-ray imaging (MFX) and image analysis technique....

Background One-third of all deaths in Europe each year are attributable to cancer. Issues relating to cancer care, therefore, will continue to expand. To manage the increased challenges-including doctor shortages, an ageing population, and rural distribution of supplies-community pharmacists will likely be required to assume responsibility within o...

The nano- and micro fibrous systems in the textile- and plastics industry have already been used, although the opportunity for using them as medical devices has only come in recent years into view. Since then in medical sciences they have shown promise in different therapeutic purposes. The manuscript summarizes the opportunities for medical use of...

The responsibility of pharmacists as medical experts is giving as broad information to their patients as possible to avoid the medicational problem that is endangering both the patient and the efficacy of the drug-treatment. In most cases, the medication error could be avoided by proper attention and co-operation with the patients and their doctors...

Although the non-conventional dosage forms (e.g. modified release per oral systems or transdermal patches) have more significant advantages than other conventional dosage forms, the patients have to apply them correctly in their home medicine using to reach the effective and safe therapy. A guideline of relevant application instructions contribute...

Although the non-conventional dosage forms (e.g. modified release per oral systems or transdermal patches) have more significant advantages than other conventional dosage forms, the pa- tients have to apply them correctly in their home medicine using to reach the effective and safe therapy. A guideline of relevant application instructions contribut...

Physical, chemical and microbiological stability of total parenteral nutrient (TPN) admixtures was studied as a function of storage time and temperature. Particle size analysis and zeta potential measurements were carried out to evaluate the possible changes in the kinetic stability of the emulsions as a function of storage time and temperature. Th...

Native and designer cationic antimicrobial peptides are increasingly acknowledged as host defense molecules rather than true antimicrobials. Due to their ability to activate the innate immune system, these structures are used to treat uninfected and bacterially-infected wounds, including those harboring Acinetobacter baumannii. Previously we docume...

Despite several therapeutic possibilities the morbidity and mortality of thromboembolic disorders remain high. Improving drug compliance - i. e. keeping up the doctor's prescriptions - may be an effective tool to reach better results. To improve patients' compliance, the risk factors of non-compliance should be recognized. Among these patients' fea...

Physicochemical characterization of microfibers including powder X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and positron annihilation spectroscopy were used to track the crystalline-amorphous transition of carvedilol during formulation and stability testing. The applie...

Nano drug delivery systems are considered as useful means to remedy the problems of drugs of poor solubility, permeability and bioavailability, which became one of the most troublesome questions of the pharmaceutical industry. Different types of nanosized drug delivery systems have been developed and investigated for oral administration, providing...

Previous analysis of US FDA Medwatch safety alerts for monoclonal antibody therapeutics demonstrated that premarketing clinical trials can predict more than half of safety concerns. We expanded this analysis to assess whether the predictable alerts are detected sooner than the unpredictable alerts. Times to alert were compared using Mann-Whitney te...

Background Vitamin C is perceived by the public as a “miracle-pill” capable to heal various illnesses, even cancer. Several in vitro and in vivo studies suggest that ascorbic acid in pharmacologic concentration exerts anticancer effect, however current clinical evidence (mainly based on case studies) about the therapeutic effect of high-dose intrav...