Cutaneous Adverse Drug Reactions in Sabah: A 3-year study between 2014 - 2016

Introduction:Cutaneous adverse drug reactions are one of the most common adverse drug reactions. Publicationson clinical correlation between cutaneous presentations and causative agents are limited among thelocal population. This study aims to determine the clinical presentations of cutaneous adverse drugreactions and the causative drugs in the local population.Methods:A retrospective, cross sectional study was conducted from the pharmacy cutaneous adverse drugreaction database from January 2014 to December 2016 in Tawau, Keningau & Queen Elizabeth (KotaKinabalu) Hospitals.Results:A total of 859 cases of cutaneous adverse drug reactions were identified. Out of these, 53.3% (n=458)were females and 46.7% (n=401) were males. The mean age was 36 years old. Majority of patients were20-29 years old (16.6%) followed by 50-59 years old (15.1%). Most of the cases were reported amongthe Chinese community (16.4%), followed by the Malay (15.9%), Dusun (14.7%) and Bajau (14.0%)populations. The most common cutaneous manifestations were urticaria and or angioedema (49%, n=421) and maculopapular rash (39.6%, n=340). Severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCAR) constituted2.8% in total. The major causative agent was antibiotic which accounted for 55.1% (n=473), followedby nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), 28.1% (n=241) and analgesics, 10.8% (n=93).Conclusion:The types of cutaneous manifestations and causative drugs in Sabah are similar to those reported inother states of the country and abroad. This study provides evidence of local cutaneous adverse drugreaction characteristics in different ethnic group.

Garcinia xanthochymus extract protects PC12 cells from HO-induced apoptosis through modulation of PI3K/AKT and NRF2/HO-1 pathways / 中国天然药物

The aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effects and underlying mechanisms of Garcinia xanthochymus, a perennial medicinal plant native to Yunnan, China, against HO-induced oxidative damage in rat pheochromacytoma PC12 cells. Preincubation of PC12 cells with fruit EtOAc fraction (fruit-EFr., 12.5-50 µmol·L) of G. xanthochymus for 24 h prior to HO exposure markedly improved cell viability and increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and heme oxygenase-1 [HO-1]), prevented lactate dehydrogenase release and lipid peroxidation malondialdehyde production, attenuated the decrease of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), and scavenged reactive oxygen species (ROS). Fruit-EFr. also reduced BAX and cytochrome C expression and improved BCL-2 expression, thereby decreasing the ratio of BAX to BCL-2. Fruit-EFr. activated the nuclear translocation of NRF2 to increase HO-1 and induced the phosphorylation of AKT. Its cytoprotective effect was abolished by LY294002, a specific inhibitor of PI3K. Taken together, the above findings suggested that fruit-EFr.of G. xanthochymus could enhance cellular antioxidant defense capacity, at least in part, through upregulating HO-1 expression and activating the PI3K/AKT pathway and that it could suppress HO-induced oxidative damage via PI3K/AKT and NRF2/HO-1 signaling pathways.

Determination of Aflatoxin B1 in Pharmaceutical Excipient Oil in Soft Capsules by LC-MS/MS / 中国药师

Objective:To assay aflatoxin B1 in the oil as a pharmaceutical excipient in soft capsules by LC-MS/MS. Methods:Aflatoxin B1 was extracted from the peanut oil in soft capsules by the solvent composed of methanol and 0. 1% formic acid solution, and then centrifuged and the supernatant was purified by neutral alumina cartridges and tested after the concentration with the mobile phase consisting of methanol and 0. 1% formic acid solution with gradient elution at the flow rate of 0. 3 ml·min-1 . 25μl of the tested solu-tion was injected for the analysis at the column temperature of 30℃. Electrospray ionization ( ESI) source was applied and operated in the position ion mode. Multiple reactions monitoring ( MRM) mode was used to quantify the samples. Results:Aflatoxin B1 was in good linearity within the range of 0. 098-1. 960 μg·L-1(r=0. 999 5). The limit of detection was 0. 05 μg·L-1. The average sampling recovery was 97. 73% (n=6) with RSD of 4. 625%. Conclusion:The method is proved to be sensitive, accurate, specified and re-producible, which is referential for the assay of aflatoxin B1 in oily preparations.

Qilin pills combined with bromocriptine for idiopathic hyperprolactinemic oligoasthenozoospermia / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the therapeutic effect of Qilin Pills combined with bromocriptine on idiopathic hyperprolactinemic (HPRL) oligoasthenospermia.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We conducted a randomized controlled study on 40 cases of idiopathic HPRL oligoasthenospermia, who were equally assigned to a trial group and a control group to be treated with Qilin Pills (6 g tid) combined with bromocriptine and bromocriptine alone, respectively, both for a course of 12 weeks. Then we observed the changes in the semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility and the levels of serum prolactin and testosterone, and compared the therapeutic results between the two groups before and after medication.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the parameters before medication, both the trial and the control group showed significant improvement after treatment in sperm concentration ([11.60 +/- 3.90] x 10(6)/ml vs [28.10 +/- 13.50] x 10(6)/ml and [12.03 +/- 4.10] x 10(6)/ml vs [18.85 +/- 8.50] x 10(6)/ml), the percentage of grade a sperm ([8.75 +/- 6.65]% vs [24.35 +/- 13.25 ]% and [8.70 +/- 6.70] % vs [19.65 +/- 10.05]%), the percentage of grade a + b sperm ( [28.45 +/- 11.35]% vs [45.80 +/- 16.55]% and [27.65 +/- 10.65]% vs [35.66 +/-13.25]%), and sperm motility ([38.22 +/- 16.35]% vs [60.05 +/- 20.65]% and [37.25 +/- 15.75 ]% vs [52.65 +/- 18.25 ]%) (all P<0.01). No significant differences were found in semen volume (P>0.05). The serum prolactin levels were significantly decreased in the trial and control groups ([152.00 +/- 22.32] and [160.45 +/- 26.65] mIU/L), as compared with premedication ([482.25 +/- 65.32] and [477.32 +/- 60.25] mIU/L) (P<0.01), while the serum testosterone levels were remarkably higher ([16.35 +/- 5.52] and [11.15 +/- 4.65] nmol/L) than before treatment ([3.75 +/- 1.10] and [4.05 +/- 1.30] nmol/L) (P<0.01). There were no statistically significant differences in the serum prolactin and testosterone levels between the two groups after treatment (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Qilin Pills combined with bromocriptine have a significantly better efficacy than bromocriptine alone in the treatment of idiopathic HPRL oligoasthenospermia.</p>

Synthesis of benzothiazole derivatives and their binding characteristics with beta-amyloid / 药学学报

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease endangering human health seriously. Recent reports have revealed that beta-amyloid aggregates play a key role in the pathogenesis of AD. Thus, targeting the Abeta plaques benzothiazole derivatives were synthesized with the scaffold of the most promising imaging agent PIB ([11C]-6-OH-BTA-1, [11C]-2-(4-(methylamino)phenyl)-6-hydroxybenzothiazole) and C = N as linker to study the binding characteristics with the target protein through surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique. These derivatives were synthesized through simple yet effective method with high yields and characterized by 1H NMR and FTIR. The binding properties (K(D)) were determined with Biacore X-100 instrument according to the fitting-plot curve. Compounds 3a and 3f showed high binding affinity for Abeta1-40. The results suggest that benzothiazole derivatives could be served as a scaffold to develop novel beta-amyloid imaging agents for the diagnosis of AD.