ABSTRACT
Millions of people are affected globally by alzheimer’sdisease and it is regarded as a dangerous progressive medical and socio-economic burden. The drug delivery to brain is hindered due to the presence of blood brain barrier. Nanoparticle mediated drug delivery is a promising approach in this regard. Chitosan is a hydrophilic polysaccharide polymer of N-acetylglycosamine and glucosamine. Owing to its biodegradability, nontoxicity and biocompatibility it is regarded as a safe excipient. The aim of the study was to fabricate donepezil-loaded sustained release chitosan nanoparticles as a simple way to deliver nano-drugs to the brain. The nanoparticles were fabricated using ionic gelation method using different concentrations of Sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) and chitosan. The fabricated nanoparticles were assessedfor particle size, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency and in vitrodrug release. The effect of sonication time on the particle size of nanoparticles was also studied. The nanoparticles exhibited mean particle size (between 135-1487nm) and zeta potential (between +3.9-+38mV) depending on chitosan and TPP concentration used. The rise in the sonication time from 25 to 125 sec exhibited a decrease in particle size. The encapsulation efficiency was found to be in the range of 39.1-74.4%. Sustained and slow release of donepezil at a constant rate was exhibited from nanoparticles. The nanoparticles show potential to deliver donepezil to brain with enhanced encapsulation efficiency
ABSTRACT
Background:Statins perceived to have favorable safety profile. Although many people on statin therapy do well but no drug is without potential for side effects. Awareness about risks as well as benefits of drugs is needed particularly drugs which are used on wide scale like statins because even uncommon side effects can have significant health impact. Objectives of the Study: To determine side effects occurrence among Saudi patients taking statins and to evaluate drug-drug interactions in Saudi patients taking statins.Methodology:Self administered cross sectional study conducted during a period of four months from October 2018 to January 2019 in Turaif general hospital, Saudi Arabia on random sample of 500 Saudi patients out of which 330 participants were included in the study which were taking different types of statins medication using self-administered questionnaire in Arabic language specially designed for the research purpose after obtaining verbal consent and the data analyzed by SPSS program.Results:A total of 330 patients; 128 (39%) females and 202 (61%) males—participated in the study. The majority 165 (50%) were in the age-group of 50 –59 years. Simvastatin was the most commonly used statin among study participants 136 (41%) followed by rosuvastatin114 (35%). Among the participants, there were some patients who take drugs which have drug interactions with statins; there were 64 (19%) take Amlodipine with simvastatin, 13 (4%) and 6 (2%) take esomeprazole and ompeprazole respectively with statins. Only 9 (3%) reported that they were advised by pharmacist to avoid grape fruit. Majority of participants 309 (94%) reported neck pain, difficulty in walking, frequently fatigue after starting on statin. Also majority of participants 320 (97%) suffer from muscle pain after starting statins medications. Conclusion:The percentage of statin related side effects in this study population is high especially myopathy. Also some patients in this study taking medications that have drug interaction with statins, Counseling to patient regarding statin therapy appear to be insufficient. So, this study indicate that there's a need for more efforts from the physicians and pharmacist to avoid prescribing or dispensing medication that have drug-drug interaction with statins and provide counseling to patients regarding their statin therapy
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Analgesics are substances which work in various ways to relieve different types of pain experienced in the body. Non-prescription over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are widely used by patients to control pain and fever. Study Objective: To evaluate of knowledge, attitudes and practices about analgesic and their side effects.Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted during a period of three months from September to December 2017 in Rafhaand Riyadh -Saudi Arabia on a random sample of 237 Saudi people, the data was collected by using a self-administered questionnaire in the Arabic language. Statistical analysis was done by using MS EXCEL using descriptive statistics and chi-square test. Results: A total of 237 participants out of 260 consented to be interviewed and completed the questionnaire with a response rate (91%). Their ages ranged between 18 years and 54 years with a mean (28) and standard deviation (7.9). Majority of participants were females (92%) and about two thirds (66%) were highly educated. A quarter of study participants (25%) do not read leaflet of analgesic before use. About one-fifth of respondents (20%) reported that they cannot stop taking analgesic even if the pain is mild. 12% and 36% of respondents always and sometimes, respectively, use more than one type of analgesic for pain relief. 10% of respondents reported the occurrence of side effects from analgesic. The respondents use analgesic mainly for headache (43%) andtoothache (25%). The chronic disease for which participants take analgesic were mainly arthritis (39%) and migraine (30%).About three-quarters of respondents (74%) were aware that the use of analgesic is accompanied by side effects. The respondents believed that the reasons for analgesic misuse are that analgesic easily obtained without a medical prescription (40%) and there is no educational or awareness program regarding analgesic use (33%). Majority of participants believed that there is no sufficient awareness about analgesic. The source of information about analgesic for participants is physician (24%). Panadol analgesic is the most commonly used analgesic (48%) reported by participants.Results showed that there is a significant statistical difference between male and female regard analgesic use (P=0.048) and between different level of educations and analgesic use (P=0.334). Also, there is a highly significant statistical difference between male and female regard reading the leaflet before taking analgesic (P=0.0001) and between the educational level of participants regarding reading the leaflet before analgesic use (P=0.0008).Conclusion: The over-the-counter (OTC) analgesic drugs are commonly used and many patients are unaware of their side effects.The findings of this study showed that people's knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding analgesic use is poor. Also, it is important to improve people's knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding analgesic use to reduce the misconceptions and misguided expectations contributing to inappropriate analgesic use. Therefore, health professional practice should play a major role in people's awareness of the appropriate use of OTC analgesic drugs