Effect of food supplement constituents Quercetin, Silibinin and Luteolin on oral uptake of protease inhibitor saquinavir: synthetic meets natural
Saquinavir is the BCS class IV drug, it is a first protease inhibitor for HIV infection treatment, having poor permeability. The main purpose of this study was to study the effect of natural compounds on its bioavailability. In this work, binary systems of SQU with the natural bioenhancers were prepared using physical mixing method. The effect of these compounds were studied using different sophisticated experimental protocols. Firstly the compatability was tested for the three used bioenhancers quercetin (QU), silibinin (Sil), Luteolin (LT). Oral uptake was studied by analyzing the transport of SQU across the human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (Caco-2) cell lines. Permeation through the goat intestine tissue was also studied. Pharmacokinetic analysis was also performed in rabbits by administered SQU with different bioenhancers in the form of suspension, and the whole analytical studies for the estimation of SQU in different studies were conducted using LC-MS. In the compatibility studies, bioenhancers found to be showing no or minimal interaction with the SQU. Permeation in the intestinal tissue of goat was significantly increased as compared to the plain drug. The transport of SQU across the Caco-2 cell lines also found to be improved than the plain drug. Pharmacokinetic study showed there was increase in the Cmax by approx. 3 folds using the different bioenhancers. AUC was also found to be increase by more than 2 folds with the each bioenahncer. The maximum oral uptake enhancement was found with the QU following by the Sil and then LT.
Knowledge and Perceptions of Pharmacy Students about Pharmacovigilance in Oman
Background: In the modern world, patient safety and the safe use of medicines are of a high priority. Huge competition exists among pharmaceutical manufacturers resulting in medicinal products being registered and marketed in many countries simultaneously. Because of this, adverse drug reactions (ADR) may not always be readily identified or monitored systematically. In order to minimize or prevent harm to patients arising from their drugs, pharmacists can play a vital role in both ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance activities. Rates of ADR reporting can be improved by promoting awareness of its importance and the procedures for doing so, and this is best done during undergraduate pharmacy education. Pharmacy students must be trained well on how to recognize, prevent, and report ADRs. Lack of knowledge about ADR reporting process is associated with negative attitudes towards the pharmacovigilance. Objectives: We aim in this study to assess pharmacy students’ knowledge and perception towards pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction reporting. Methodology: a Cross-sectional study was conducted between in the period of February 2017 to April 2017 using a self-administered questionnaire to a sample population of 118 pharmacy students from University of Nizwa and Oman Medical College. Univariate analysis was done to the collected data. Results: The response rate of the survey was 79%. The study revealed that mean knowledge score of the pharmacy students for pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting was 8.65 (±2.91) Significant differences in the mean score of the knowledge in domains of study institution and nationality of the pharmacy students were observed. Majority of the respondents answered correctly the definitions of pharmacovigilance (61%) and ADRs (55.9%). About 81.35%of the respondents answered correctly about the question related to the required data that should be collected for the assessment of a suspected ADR. Almost 61 % of the pharmacy students had a correct knowledge about…
