Currents in Pharmaceutical Research

Call to Pharmacists to Report Quality Control and Quality Assurance Test Results on Labels

Muhammad Ahmer Raza — 2023-06-28

Assessment of Human Interleukin-24 Expression in Thalassemic Patients and Investigation of Current Prescription Pattern in Thalassemia

Babar Saeed — 2023-06-28

Interleukin (IL)-24 or melanoma differentiation-associated gene-7 (MDA7) belongs to the family of cytokines initially obtained from malignant tissues and manifests itself in various types of cells (of a large size). Thus, they play a crucial part in anemias. The current study aims to analyze the activation and involvement of IL-4 in thalassemia patients. For this purpose, a study population of 50 patients was randomly selected to study the prescription pattern and blood samples for the activation of IL-24 by utilizing the RT-PCR procedure. Extraction of mRNA was followed by cDNA synthesis, further followed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Based on RNA extraction, 31 samples were selected to study the expression of MDA-7 gene in blood samples. Patients were randomly divided into two groups based on the number of transfusions at the time of blood sampling. Group 1 comprised patients with more than 100 transfusions, while Group 2 comprised patients with less than 100 transfusions. Prescription patterns showed the recommendation of approximately the same classes of drugs which are particularly used for thalassemic patients. The findings from gel electrophoresis were analyzed visually. These showed the IL-24 expression in the majority of patients included in Group 1, while no expression was found in individuals included in Group 2. The results revealed the relationship of IL-24 with thalassemia owing to its expression; however, the exact mechanism and contributing factors still remain unknown. Hence, further investigation is needed to rule out the involvement of IL-24 in thalassemia.

Evaluating Frontiers in Nanotechnology: A Review of Novel Nanoparticle Technology in Drug Delivery Systems (DDS)

Zainab Naeem — 2023-06-28

Nanotechnology is a groundbreaking field that manipulates materials at the nanoscale, enabling unprecedented control over their properties. In medicine, nanoparticles enable targeted drug delivery and precise diagnostics. In electronics, they contribute to miniaturized devices and high-performance sensors. Additionally, nanoparticles also encompass their role in environmental remediation techniques. The current review article aims to provide a comprehensive and updated overview of recent developments in nanotechnology by highlighting the key advancements, novel applications, and future directions. Moreover, this article also contributes to the current understanding and impact of nanotechnology on multiple sectors by providing valuable insights for future researchers. For this purpose, different preparation methods can be used to prepare nanoparticles and offer various advantages due to their varying size, as they can cross the blood- brain barrier and skin, they are used in cosmetics, and they have many applications in drug therapy and diagnostics.

Evaluation of Near-Infrared Chemical Imaging (NIR-CI) for the Authentication of Antibiotics

Sulaf Assi — 2023-06-28

Counterfeit medicines represent a public health threat that results in treatment failure and may even have lethal effects in the worst-case scenario. Near-infrared Chemical Imaging (NIR-CI) offers an informative and in-depth tool for several applications in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly for medicine authentication. The current study aimed to authenticate antibiotic tablets using NIR-CI. These tablets were measured non-destructively using a near-infrared microscope within their blister packaging, without their blisters, sectioned and crushed. The results showed that there was no marked difference in measuring the tablets within or without their blister packaging. The mean spectra of tablets showed high correlation coefficient values against the active pharmaceutical ingredient, in case of authentic tablets. On the other hand, counterfeit tablets showed key differences from their authentic alternatives with low correlation coefficient values. More specifically, counterfeit tablets showed poor distribution of the active pharmaceutical ingredient and excipients. It has been proved from the results that NIR-CI process is an authentic process for the evaluation of counterfeit tablets, non-destructively.

Current Pharmacotherapy Trends for Hepatitis C in the Hospitals of Faisalabad, Pakistan

Madeeha Fatima — 2023-06-28

Hepatitis C infection is a global health issue. It is a growing challenge in Faisalabad, Pakistan, where at least 24% of the population is currently suffering from hepatitis C. If left untreated, HCV infection may lead to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The current study aimed to describe the various prescription trends of hepatitis C medication therapy in Faisalabad, Pakistan. It also aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of therapy and the satisfaction level of patients with their treatment. A comparative cross-sectional survey was carried out among patients receiving HCV medication therapy. For this purpose, a structured and close-ended questionnaire was completed by 270 patients. Comparative data analysis was performed based on selected variables, namely age, gender, marital status, current medication and its adverse effects. The prevalence of HCV in age group >40 was 63.3% and in age group <40, it was 36.7%. While, the prevalence of HCV in married individuals was 91% and its prevalence in unmarried individuals was 8.5%. Moreover, it was found that sofosbuvir was used by 24.8% of patients, daclatasvir was used by 24.4% of patients, entacavir was used by 0.4% of patients, acyclovir was used by 0.7% of patients, ribavirin was used by 7.8% of patients, and pegylated alpha 2b was used by 1.5% of patients. The trend of using combination therapy comprised interferon+ribavirin (1.5%) and velpatasvir+sofosbuvir (38.9%). The use of combination drug was found to be more common in patients of age group >40 (34.1%) than patients in age group <40 (8.8%). It was observed that lack of constant medical care and cost of therapy are major problems in the eradication of disease.

Comparative Analysis of the Impact of Positional Release Technique (PRT) and Ischemic Compression (IC) on Headache Disability and Pain in Cervicogenic Headache (CGH) Patients

Shahbaz Ahmad — 2023-08-24

Headache originating from the bony structures or soft tissues of the neck is commonly known as cervicogenic headache. This study was conducted to determine the effects of the positional release technique (PRT) and ischemic compression (IC) on pain and headache disability among patients with cervicogenic headache (CGH). For this purpose, a randomized clinical trial was conducted. Data was collected from the Physiotherapy Department of Sharif Medical Complex, Lahore. A total of 36 CGH patients were assigned into two groups, randomly. The first group was treated with PRT and the other with IC. Both groups were given 12 sessions of therapy over a span of 4-weeks. HDI (Headache Disability Index) and NPRS (Numeric Pain Rating Scale) were used to measure the treatment effect on pain and headache disability before and after treatment. Among the participants (N = 36), the mean age of Group A and Group B was 26.22 ± 2.90 and 24.55 ± 2.55, respectively. A significant difference was found between the mean values of pre- and post-HDI and NPRS, with p-values 0.025 and 0.031, respectively and after treatment p value was 0.001 & 0.00 respectively. The results favoured the use of PRT because there was more variation in the mean values of PRT as compared to IC. Also, the mean values of pre- and post-HDI and NPRS scores varied significantly. Notably, a significant difference was not found between the mean values of both techniques at the beginning of treatment (pre-treatment). However, a significant difference was observed between the mean values of both techniques following treatment (post-treatment) in favour of PRT, since the mean values of PRT varied more than those of IC.