Drug-related hospital admissions in a generic pharmaceutical system

1. Generically based pharmaceutical systems exist in a few countries of the world, such as Iran. Most developed countries have free market pharmaceutical systems. Drug-related problems (DRP) have been reported mostly in the Western world but few data are available for generic systems. In this study, we tried to measure the prevalence of drug-related problems leading to hospital admissions in Isfahan, Iran. 2. One thousand consecutive hospital admissions in three major teaching hospitals were studied for a period of 6 months for the presence of DRP as a cause of hospital admissions. Two subcategories of DRP were considered: (i) drug therapy failure; and (ii) adverse drug reactions. Preventability and outcome measures were also assessed. Medications responsible for DRP were classified according to the Anatomic Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification of the World Health Organization. 3. Of the 1000 admissions studied, 115 (11.5%) were owing to DRP, 81% as a result of drug therapy failure and 19% as adverse drug reactions. A total of 106 out of the 115 DRP cases (92%) were either preventable or probably preventable, most of which had to do with either prescriber or patient error. An overview of DRP showed that 58.3% resulted in complete recovery, 33.9% in relative recovery and 7.8% in death. Close to 1% of hospital admissions resulted in DRP-related deaths. 4. The overall prevalence of hospital admissions caused by DRP is similar to that in free market pharmaceutical systems. The high preventability rate of these problems should alert clinicians and policy makers to design strategies to curtail this. Also, reasons for differences in subtypes of DRP between the results of this study and those of the literature from free market systems needs to be investigated further.     

Synthesis,Molecular Docking and Biological Evaluation of Diaryl Pyrimidine Derivatives as Urease Inhibitors

Pharmaceutical Chemistry Journal - Urease is a dinickel enzyme that is responsible for the hydrolysis of urea to ammonia and carbon dioxide. A series of bacteria like Helicobacter pylori produce...     

Gum resin extract of Boswellia serrata attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation and oxidative damage in hepatic and renal tissues of rats

Objective:To explore the effect of ethyl acetate gum resin extract of Boswellia serrata on lipopolysaccharide(LPS)induced inflammation and oxidative damage in hepatic and renal tissues of rats.Methods:The rats were divided into four groups:control,LPS,LPS+Boswellia serrata extracts(100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg).LPS(1 mg/kg)and the extract(100 and 200 mg/kg,30 min before LPS)were administered intraperitoneally for 3 weeks.The levels of liver enzymes,albumin,total protein,creatinine,blood urea nitrogen(BUN),interleukin(IL)-6,malondialdehyde(MDA),and total thiol groups and superoxide dismutase(SOD)and catalase(CAT)activities were measured.Results:The levels of liver enzymes,creatinine,and BUN,IL-6,MDA in the LPS group were markedly increased(P<0.001)while albumin,total protein,and total thiol concentration,as well as SOD and CAT activities,were decreased compared with the control group(P<0.05 or 0.01).Boswellia serrata extracts diminished the levels of liver enzymes,creatinine,BUN,IL-6,and MDA(P<0.01 and P<0.001),and elevated the concentration of total protein and total thiol and SOD and CAT activities(P<0.05 or 0.01).Conclusions:The ethyl acetate gum resin extract of Boswellia serrata reduces LPS-induced inflammatory reactions and oxidative damage,thus ameliorating hepatic and renal function.     

Effects of dietary red clover on blood factors and cardiovascular fatty streak formation in hypercholesterolemic rabbits

Phytoestrogens with a biological activity like estradiol are naturally found in many plants. This study was designed to investigate the effect of red clover, a phytoestrogen-rich member of the legume family (Trifolium pratense) on the development of atherosclerosis in male hyperlipidemic rabbits. Twenty rabbits were semi-randomly distributed into four groups of five each. Two groups received either normal diet or normal diet supplemented with red clover. Two other groups received similar diets to both of which 1% cholesterol was added. Dietary use of red clover (RC) in hyperlipidemic rabbits significantly decreased C-reactive protein (CRP), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) whereas, HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) was significantly increased in those animals (p < 0.05). Fatty streak formation was also significantly lower in aorta and left and right coronary arteries in the same animals due to use of dietary RC supplementation. These findings suggest that dietary RC may reduce cardiovascular risk factors.