Highlights The term “sebaceous cyst” has fallen into disuse, the current term is an epidermoid cyst. Other common synonyms include infundibular cyst, epidermal cyst, epidermal inclusion cyst, and epidermoid inclusion cyst. These cysts are slow-growing masses that elevate the skin and often have a central punctum. On radiology, they have round to oval structure, well-circumscribed, avascular mass; restricted diffusion is typical. Removal may be accomplished by simple excision or incision.

Abstract. To investigate the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of artesunate (ARTS) and its active metabolite dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in Plasmodium vivax infections, 12 male Vietnamese adults with slide-positive vivax malaria received either intravenous ARTS (120 mg; group 1) or oral ARTS (100 mg; group 2) with the alternative preparation given 8 hr later in a randomized, open, cross-over study. Following intravenous injection, ARTS had a peak plasma drug concentration (C max ) of 35.6 M (13.7 mg/L), an elimination half-life (t ½ ) of 2.2 min, a clearance (CL) of 3.0 L/hr/kg, and a volume of distribution (V) of 0.16 L/kg. Dihydroartemisinin had a C max of 7.7 M (2.2 mg/L), a t max of 8 min, a t ½ of 37 min, an apparent CL of 1.1 L/hr/kg, and an apparent V of 0.9 L/kg. Following oral ARTS, the mean relative bioavailability of DHA was 85%, the C max was 3.0 M (0.85 mg/L), the t max was 75 min, and t ½ was 40 min. The mean time to 50% reduction in the parasite count (PCT 50 ) and median fever clearance time were 3 hr and 16 hr, respectively. Following intravenous ARTS (group 1), the PCT 50 for total parasites, rings, trophozoites, and gametocytes was 3.3 hr, 3.2 hr, 4.0 hr, and 3.6 hr, respectively. This study confirms that ARTS is effective against P. vivax, with rapid clearance of sexual and asexual forms of the parasite. Artesunate is a suitable initial treatment for vivax malaria, or when the plasmodial species cannot be reliably identified.Artemisinin derivatives are often used first-line in the treatment of slide-positive falciparum malaria. Where microscopy is unavailable in the primary care setting or when there is doubt concerning the plasmodial species present in the blood film, artemisinin drugs can be given empirically. Preliminary evidence suggests that this practice is justifiable. Artemisinin is effective in the treatment of vivax malaria although, as in the case of falciparum malaria, recrudescence may occur. 1 Pharmacokinetic data for artesunate (ARTS) and its active metabolite dihydroartemisinin (DHA) have been reported recently in Vietnamese children 2 and adults 3 with uncomplicated falciparum malaria. Studies in healthy volunteers 4,5 have shown that peak plasma concentrations of DHA are significantly lower. There is, therefore, a need to determine the pharmacokinetic properties of ARTS in vivax and other benign human malarias to ensure that relatively low drug concentrations do not result from administration of the recommended dosing regimens used in falciparum malaria, a situation that might contribute to high recrudescence rates.Pharmacodynamic studies of ARTS in falciparum malaria demonstrate rapid parasite clearance, 6 but are limited by the fact that only parasite forms in the first half of the life cycle are present in peripheral blood. All stages of development can be seen in vivax malaria. This provides an opportunity to assess the effects of antimalarial drugs across the 48-hr parasite life cycle.The aims of the present study were to obtain pharmacokinetic data for ARTS ...

The pharmacokinetics of dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in a 5-day oral monotherapy regimen was investigated in ten adult Vietnamese patients with uncomplicated falciparum malaria. The patients were treated with a total dose of 900 mg DHA divided as single daily doses of 300, 300, 100, 100, and 100 mg from day 0 through day 4. There were no differences in the concentrations of DHA within the first two days of treatment. The pharmacokinetics of DHA in the acute phase, however, was significantly different from that in the convalescent phase of malaria. Reduced half-life (T(1/2z)) and lower area under concentration curve (AUC(infinity)) values were observed on the final day of treatment in comparison to those obtained on the first day. These decreases in T(1/2z) and AUC(infinity) were observed in concordance with increased drug clearance (CL/F). Furthermore, the time required to reach maximum plasma DHA concentration (T(max)) on day 4 was shorter than that on day 0. Together, these findings suggest that the change in pharmacokinetics of DHA is related to the physiological change in malaria patients between the acute and convalescent phases of the disease.

Hydrogel coatings have been proposed as a promising strategy to improve the biocompatibility of therapeutic cells and biomedical devices. However, developed coating methods are only applicable for simple geometries, typical sizes, and limited substrates. In addition, its applications in therapeutic cell encapsulation are hampered by inadequate construction of the hydrogel capsules such as off-center encapsulation, immense volume, and lack of control over the thickness of capsules. Here, a method called surface-triggered in situ gelation (STIG) for universal hydrogel coating of multiscale objects ranging from single cells to mini-organs to biomedical devices with arbitrary shapes and heterogeneous components is reported. By covering cells or devices with calcium carbonate particles, progressive propagation of alginate hydrogel from their surface under the stimulation of GDL is achieved. The thickness of the hydrogel layers can be easily controlled from several micrometers to hundreds of micrometers by adjusting the gelation time and the release rate of calcium ions. Importantly, STIG facilitates accurate, complete, and individual cell encapsulation, which potentially overcomes the pitfalls of conventional strategies. It is further proven that the low-cost and facile method can potentially lead to advances in different fields by rendering precisely controlled microscale alginate layers on a wide variety of biomedical substrates.

In article number 2010169, Simmyung Yook, Jee‐Heon Jeong, and co‐workers develop a simple and facile method for conformal hydrogel coating of living cells, mini‐organs, and biomedical devices. The thickness of the hydrogel layer can be precisely controlled from several to hundreds of micrometers. This method overcomes inevitable challenges in cell encapsulation and enables the engineering of 3D hydrogels for tissue engineering or delivery of therapeutic cells and drugs.

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