1 This study has examined the stereoselective disposition of the enantiomers of ibuprofen in four healthy male subjects following separate administration of racemic ibuprofen (800 mg) and of each enantiomer (400 mg). 2 A mean of 63 + 6% of an administered dose of R(-) ibuprofen was stereospecifically inverted to the S(+) enantiomer. There was no measurable inversion of the S(+) to R(-) ibuprofen. The kinetics of the individual enantiomers were altered by concurrent administration of the respective optical antipode. It is likely that this change reflects an interaction between the enantiomers at plasma protein binding sites. 3 It was found that formation of ester glucuronide conjugates stereoselectively favoured the S(+) enantiomer. 4 The data have demonstrated that the pharmacokinetics of ibuprofen and other amethylarylacetic acids cannot be interpreted adequately without studying the pharmacokinetics of the individual enantiomers.

Objective: To investigate framing strategies used by the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) and tobacco control groups to (respectively) resist or advocate laws providing smoke free bars. Methods: Online archives of Australian print media were searched 1996 to 2003. A thematic analysis of all statements made by AHA spokespeople and tobacco control advocates was conducted. Direct quotes or journalistic summaries of statements attributed to named people were coded into four broad themes and the slant of articles coded. Results: More than three times as many articles reported issues that were positive (n = 171) than negative (n = 48) for tobacco control objectives. The AHA emphasised negative economic issues and cultural/ ideological frames about cultural identity, while tobacco control interests emphasised health concerns as well as cultural/ideological frames about threats to inequitable workplace policies. Conclusions: Smoke free bars have now been secured, suggesting that health advocates' position prevailed. The inability of the AHA to avoid the core health arguments, its wildly exaggerated economic predictions, and its frequent recourse to claiming smoke bans threatened nostalgic but outmoded vistas of Australian day to day life were decidedly backward looking and comparatively easily dismissed as being out of touch with views held by many in contemporary Australia. Health groups' emphasis on the unfairness in denying the most occupationally exposed group the same protection that all other workers enjoyed under law was powerfully and consistently argued. Australia's recent success in securing dates for the implementation of smoke free pubs is likely to have owed much to the enduring media advocacy by health groups.

The pharmacokinetics of the enantiomers of ibuprofen were investigated after oral administration of a single 7.6 +/‐ 0.3 mg kg‐1 dose of the racemate in 11 infants. Mean (+/‐ s.d.) half‐lives were 1.6 +/‐ 0.5 h for S(+) and 1.5 +/‐ 0.5 h for R(‐) and mean (+/‐ s.d.) AUC values were 31.5 +/‐ 14.3 mg l‐1 h for S(+) and 36.6 +/‐ 13.8 mg l‐1 h for R(‐). Since plasma concentrations of the active S(+)‐isomer were lower than those reported in adults, a higher dosage might be required in infants.

1. Oral administration of trans- and cis-2-methyldecalin to rabbits increased the urinary glucuronide content. 2. The metabolite of the trans isomer was isolated and shown to be either trans-cis-6- or -7-methyl-2-decalol. The metabolite of the cis isomer was shown to be a 1:1 mixture of cis-6-methyl-2-decalol and cis-7-methyl-2-decalols, but the conformations of the hydroxyl groups were not determined. 3. It was concluded that a specific hydroxylase was responsible for the oxidations observed, and that this hydroxylase could be responsible for the metabolic oxidation of other simple alicyclic compounds.