ONGOING PROJECTS IN ALSHIFA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY.2011-2012

1. Study of patterns and preparation of guidelines for acute poisoning in a tertiary care hospital.

2. Adverse drug reaction monitoring in a tertiary level referral hospital.

3. A prospective observational study of medication error in General medicine department of a     tertiary care hospital.

4. Study on prevalence of nosocomial infection in a tertiary care hospital

5. Study on antibiotic prescription pattern and guideline preparation for the use of antibiotics in     surgical department of a tertiary care hospital.

6. A prospective study on effectiveness of clinical pharmacist’s intervention on smoking          cessation programme in a tertiary care hospital

7. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in psychiatric outpatient in a tertiary care hospital

8. Provision and evaluation of Drug Information Centre in a tertiary care hospital.

9. Study on cost effectiveness of thrombolytics in acute ischemic stroke patients

DILIP.C

ASSOCIATE PROF

ALSHIFA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY

AL SHIFA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY

NATIONAL SEMINAR ON “THE EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION OF PHARMACOVIGILANCE IN THE INDIAN SCENARIO”

29^TH JULY 2011, FRIDAY

National seminar on “The effective intervention of Pharmacovigilance in the Indian Scenario” was organized by Al Shifa College of Pharmacy, Perinthalmanna on 29^th July 2011.The Program started in the morning around 9.00AM with registration of delegates from various institutions, followed by inaugural function.  Dr.R.Saraswathi, Director, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy welcomes the gathering. Dr.K.Mohandas, Vice Chancellor was the chief guest of the function and delivered the inaugural address.   Presidential address was delivered by Managing Trustee Mr.P.Unneen, Shifa Medicare Trust, Perinthalmanna and he focused on the importance of Pharmacovigilance in the current clinical trial scenario.During the inaugural ceremony, Hospital formulary and Al Shifa health watch – a quarterly newsletter was released and Clinpharm india blog was launched by the dignitaries.

The Program was felicitated by Dr.Yahia, Al Shifa Hospital and Dr.Silviya Edison, Principal, Al Shifa College of Nursing.Dr.S.Durgaramani, Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice gave the departmental activity plan and the inaugural function concluded with the vote of thanks by Mr.K.Mohammed Haneefa, Vice Principal.Scientific sessions started by 11.00AM and the resource persons were Dr.S.Sriram, Professor & Head, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Paramedical Sciences, Coimbatore and Dr.M.Surulivel Rajan, Senior Lecturer, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal.  Dr.S.Sriram delivered a talk on “Patient medication safety and Pharmacovigilance” and Dr.M.Surulivel Rajan focused on “Pharmacovigilance in Clinical Trial and Clinical Practice”.

Around 160 delegates were registered for the seminar and poster and oral presentation were conducted successfully.  The sessions were evaluated by Mr.A.Vijayakumar, Assistant Professor, KMCH College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore and prizes were awarded for best poster and oral presentations.Best posters were bagged by NET College of Pharmacy, Karnataka and PSG College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore.  KMCH College of Pharmacy and Al Shifa College of Pharmacy received the best oral presentation awards.The programme concluded at 5.00PM with the Valedictory function and this seminar was well received by the delegates..

Dr. DURGA RAMANI

Head of the department

Pharmacy practice

Inauguration of Blog www.clinpharmindiablogspot

PHOTO GALLERY- SEMINAR ON PHARMACOVIGILANCE 29TH JULY 2011

PHOTO GALLERY- SEMINAR ON PHARMACOVIGILANCE 29TH JULY 2011

TURMERIC-BASED DRUG COULD HELP REBUILD BRAIN AFTER STROKE

According to researchers in the United States (US), studies on animals have revealed  that a new hybrid drug, made in part from the chemical in turmeric, could help regenerate brain cells after a stroke. The molecular compound is made with curcumin, a natural yellow pigment that originates from a perennial herb called Curcuma longa, which has been in use in Indian foods since ancient times.  Scientist Paul Lapchak of Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre said that human trials on the drug, which works by restoring pathways that feed neurons, could begin soon. The new drug does not attack clots, but if administered to rabbits in one hour, which translates to three hours in human time, it “reduced stroke-caused ‘motor deficits’ – problems of muscle and movement control,” the study said. The hybrid compound, CNB-001, “crosses the blood-brain barrier, is quickly distributed in the brain, and moderates several critical mechanisms involved in neuronal survival,” Lapchak said. The spice by itself has proven problematic because it could not absorb well in the body or reach its target in high concentrations. It was also naturally blocked from entering the brain by the protective mechanism called the blood-brain barrier. Currently there is only one approved drug treatment for ischemic stroke, which is caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain. Known as a tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), the drug is injected intravenously to dissolve clots and reinstate blood flow.

REFERENCES

1.    articles.mercola.com

2.    www.medinewsdirect.com

3.    www.emaxhealth.com

4.    www.naturalproductsinsider.com

5.    www.prohealth.com

EVELIN BABY

FIRST YEAR M PHARM

AL-SHIFA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY

NALMEFENE DOES WELL IN PHASE III CLINICAL STUDIES FOR THE TREATMENT OF ALCOHOL DEPENDANCE

NALMEFENE DOES WELL IN PHASE III CLINICAL STUDIES FOR THE TREATMENT OF ALCOHOL DEPENDANCE

The last study in its Phase 3 program evaluating nalmefene for the treatment of alcohol dependence has shown the encouraging results. Results from this 718 patient, double-blind, placebo controlled trial were consistent with the profile observed in previous clinical studies of nalmefene.Nalmefene is the first treatment that has been specifically developed to help patients reduce their harmful levels of alcohol consumption, therefore offering patients, physicians and payors a highly differentiated treatment option. Nalmefene builds on a novel principle of treating alcohol dependence. Unlike existing therapies, treatment with nalmefene is not aimed at keeping patients from drinking. Instead, nalmefene helps patients control and limit the intake of alcohol. This is supported by specialists as a valuable treatment option to increase willingness among patients to initiate treatment and to promote compliance. In addition, nalmefene distinguishes itself by being available as a tablet formulation to be taken only according to need, whereas existing pharmaceuticals must be taken continuously over a longer period of time and are aimed at maintaining abstinence.

Lundbeck assessed a wide range of primary and secondary endpoints in its Phase 3 program for nalmefene including: number of heavy drinking days per month, total alcohol consumption, proportion of responders based on drinking measures, alcohol dependence symptoms and clinical status, liver function and other laboratory tests, pharmaco-economic outcomes and treatment discontinuation effects. All assessments were consistently in favour of nalmefene compared to placebo, though some were not statistically significant at every single time point. Overall, nalmefene reduced heavy drinking days and total alcohol consumption by more than 50% compared to pre-treatment baseline. The effect was observed already during the first month of treatment and was maintained throughout the study period in the three trials.Nalmefene is a small molecule opioid receptor antagonist that inhibits the reward pathway in the brain that reinforces the desire and craving for alcohol and other addictive substances. As a result, nalmefene removes a person’s desire to drink.Alcohol dependence is a disease in which the afflicted person continually craves alcohol, is unable to limit his or her drinking, needs to drink greater amounts to get the same effect and has withdrawal symptoms after stopping alcohol use. Alcohol dependence also has potentially fatal consequences such as liver cirrhosis and cancer, among others. As a result, this disease is one of the most serious health concerns in the western world, both socially and economically, with estimated associated costs to society of at least EUR 200 billion per annum. 10% of deaths and 25% of all emergency room admissions in the western world are directly alcohol related. According to the World Health Organization, there are 60 million people inEuropealone who are ‘riskful’ consumers of alcohol, which is categorized as alcohol consumption of 40-60 grams (5-6 standard drinks) by females and 60-100 grams (7-8 standard drinks) by males on a single drinking day. Despite this, alcohol dependence tends to be severely under-diagnosed with only approximately 13% of alcohol dependants receiving treatment, characterizing it as a large unmet medical need.

Currently, conventional methods of treating alcohol dependence require abstinence from drinking as a starting point – a high hurdle for an alcohol dependent patient. There are only a few pharmaceutical compounds that have received marketing approval to help alcohol dependent patients maintain abstinence. All these treatments, including psychosocial counseling measures, cannot prevent patients from relapsing and the long term prognosis remains poor. There are no approved therapies on the market yet to proactively help curb a person’s urge to drink

REFERENCE

1. www.globalpharmasectornews.com

 2. www.nature.com

 3. www.the-alcoholism-guide.org

ASLAM ARGODN

FIRST YEAR M PHARM

AL-SHIFA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY

"DRACO" anti virus drug to cure all disease

DRACO -ANTIVIRUS DRUG TO CURE ALL DISEASES.

A group of researchers at Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Lexington, Massachusetts, United States of America headed by Todd H. Rider published an interesting research article on broad spectrum antiviral therapeutics at PLoS ONE, an online peer-reviewed scientific journal which publishes reports on primary research from any scientific discipline.The article explains a new broad spectrum antiviral approach called Double-stranded RNA Activated Caspase Oligomerizer (DRACO) which cured 15 different viral infections during clinical trials in mice. The viruses tested includes dengue flavivirus, Amapari and Tacaribe arenaviruses, Guama bunyavirus, and H1N1 influenza and the drug was even capable to rescue a mice challenged with H1N1 influenza, popularly know as Swine flu.

In contrast to the antiviral drugs in use nowadays, DRACO adopts a different approach in combating viral infection. It involves a two stage process. When a virus enters a host cell, it tries to multiply itself by multiplying their genetic material. This process produces baby viruses which then infects other cells, spreading the infection. During this process, virus creates a double stranded RNA (dsRNA) which forms the initial target of DRACO. dsRNA is not found in normal, healthy and uninfected cells.The first protein part of DRACO binds to the viral dsRNA.The second part of the drug induces a natural mechanism called apoptosis, which is a type of cell death in which the cell uses specialized cellular machinery to kill itself, a cell suicide mechanism that enables organisms to control cell number and eliminate cells that threaten the animal’s survival.The apoptosis mechanism is activated when two or more DRACOs crosslink on the same dsRNA. If viral dsRNA is present inside a cell, DRACOs will bind to the dsRNA and induce apoptosis of that cell. If viral dsRNA is not present inside the cell, DRACOs will not crosslink and apoptosis will not occur.As the mechanism used by DRACO is to target the viral host cells rather than the viral proteins or genetic material directly, it is believed that there are very rare chance for them to develop resistance against the new drug. DRACOs have the potential to be effective therapeutics or prophylactics for numerous clinical and priority viruses, due to the broad-spectrum sensitivity of the dsRNA detection domain, the potent activity of the apoptosis induction domain, and the novel direct linkage between the two which viruses have never encountered. Due  this novel model of operation, scientific community expects that this new drug could be effective against all viruses, at least in theory.

Researches have published the results of experiments on mice only and they are planning to go ahead with higher animals and if found promising, advance towards human trials. As the drug research takes a long time, it is expected that DRACOs will take another 10 years to be declared safe and effective in human beings.

References.

1.    www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232632.php

2.    www.huffingtonpost.com

3.    www.godlikeproductions.com

4.    www.sciencecodex.com

5.    www.topix.com

ASLAM ARGODAN

FIRST YEAR PHARMACY PRACTICE

ALSHIFA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY