We report here for the first time that GIP infusion may impact on resting EE and subjective appetite sensations in normal weight healthy subjects and further studies with larger numbers of subjects are required to help define more conclusively the precise role of GIP in energy balance in humans.

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) plays an important role in water and sodium homeostasis. It acts via three receptor subtypes—V1a, V1b, and V2—distributed widely throughout the body. Vaptans are nonpeptide vasopressin receptor antagonists (VRA). By property of aquaresis, VRAs offer a novel therapy of water retention. Conivaptan is a V1a/V2 nonselective VRA approved for euvolemic and hypervolemic hyponatremia. Tolvaptan is the first oral VRA. Other potential uses of this new class of drugs include congestive heart failure (CHF), cirrhosis of liver, syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone, polycystic kidney disease, and so on. These novel drugs score over diuretics as they are not associated with electrolyte abnormalities. Though much remains to be elucidated before the VRAs are applied clinically, the future holds much promise.

Incidence of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), the most common skin cancer in humans, is rising. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment but there is no standard of care for locally advanced or metastatic disease. Hedgehog signaling proteins are critical for cell growth and differentiation during embryogenesis; Hh pathway is silenced in adults. Dysregulated or aberrant Hh signaling has been implicated in the pathogenesis of BCC. This hyperactive pathway can be inhibited by use of smoothened inhibitors such as vismodegib. Food and drug administration approved this oral, once-daily medication in 2012 to treat adults with metastatic BCC or locally advanced, recurrent BCC after surgery and also for patients with locally advanced BCC who are not candidates for surgery or radiation treatment. Clinical studies have shown it to be highly efficacious and the most common adverse effects include, muscle spasms, alopecia and dysgeusia. Use of targeted biologic modifiers, exemplified by Hh directed therapeutics offer a new hope to patients with high-surgical morbidity or inoperable tumors.

Leftover and expired drugs, an indirect measure of wasted healthcare resources, reflect lost opportunities to achieve therapeutic outcomes (either due to incorrect choice or noncompliance) and a burden for the environment. In addition, medication waste is costly to national health systems because The questionnaire assessed disposal of leftover and expired drugs by pharmacists and their knowledge of drug disposal by the distributors. The awareness of the correct method of drug disposal, ways to minimize the pharmaceutical waste and extent of dissemination of information about drug disposal to patients was also evaluated. Results: The response rate was 56%. Although majority of the pharmacies have a system to dispose expired and leftover drugs, the knowledge about disposal was found to be incomplete. Most of the leftover drugs belonging to different dosage forms were returned to the distributor. One-third pharmacists did not know the correct method to dispose drugs. Majority of them did not advise patients about disposal of unused drugs. Only 58% believed that improper drug disposal is intimately connected to environmental pollution. Conclusion: Pharmacists have new roles and responsibilities to function as collaborative members of healthcare team by disseminating information about correct ways to dispose unused drugs.

The global incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer is rising. Significant morbidity leading to unacceptable cosmetic outcomes and/or functional impairment is a major concern. Search for non-surgical, non-invasive and tissue-sparing treatment modalities has led to development of new therapeutic agents. Actinic keratoses (AK) are one part of a continuous spectrum of benign sun damage to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Although it is not possible to predict which AK might progress to SCC, the presence of AK is a biomarker of risk for patients and must be treated to avoid possible morbidity and mortality. Ingenol mebutate is a novel topical drug from the latex sap of a plant-Euphorbia peplus that acts by chemoablative and immunostimulatory properties. Clinical studies have proven it to be safe and efficacious, leading to FDA approval of this chemotherapeutic agent for field therapy of AK in 2012. Current topical agents for field therapy of AK must be applied for weeks, whereas ingenol needs to be applied for three days. Ingenol offers a new therapeutic option that is convenient, safe, effective, acceptable and well-tolerated.