Alpha-tocopherol ameliorates nephrotoxicity associated with the use of colistin in rabbits.

The alarming rise in the rate of multi drug resistant, life threatening gram negative infections has brought renaissance in the use of Colistin for last two decades. The major constraint in its utilization is its nephrotoxicity. Therefore it is being underused which is favoring the development of resistance. This study assesses the prevention of nephrotoxicity associated with high and low toxic doses of Colistin by alpha-tocopherol. Thirty rabbits were randomly divided into five groups. Baseline serum urea, creatinine and electrolytes were estimated. A loading dose of colistin was given in the form of infusion followed by I.M injections for six days. In the preventive groups α-tocopherol was additionally given orally for two weeks. Rabbits were sacrificed 24 hours after the last dose. The kidney slides graded and statistically analyzed using "chi square". The results of serum analysis were compared using one way analysis of variance followed by post hoc tukey test. There was marked nephrotoxicity in high toxic group where as in low toxic group mild nephrotoxicity was evident. Alpha-tocopherol attenuated the renal insult in both the toxic groups. As damage induced by colistin is oxidative in nature, thus it was concluded that the protection offered by α- tocopherol is due to its antioxidant activity.

Use of concept mapping as a facilitative tool to promote learning in pharmacology.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether students find concept mapping a useful learning methodology to conceptualize and organize topics studied in CNS module of Pharmacology; and to evaluate whether addition of concept mapping assignment could help to improve examination scores. STUDY DESIGN: An analytical study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: College of Dentistry, Jinnah Medical and Dental College, Karachi, Pakistan, from March to May 2009. METHODOLOGY: A class of 50 BDS students was recruited for the study. Two randomly selected groups of 12 students each, prepared concept maps in topics from CNS pharmacology which were displayed and discussed during tutorial sessions. The other two groups (n = 25) following the traditional teaching methodology, served as controls. Scores from best choice questions and short essay questions were compared between the investigational and control groups using the student's t-test with significance at p < 0.05. Feedback obtained after completion of the study was evaluated as percent response. RESULTS: One-best-choice test of the control group showed a mean grade of 57.1 ± 16.7 vs. test group mean of 58.8 ± 13. For the short essay questions, control group obtained a mean of 52.3 ± 18.8 vs. test group mean grade of 53.8 ± 22.5. Both results were not significantly different (p > 0.05). However, feedback about concept mapping showed that the technique helped the students to conceptualize difficult topics in CNS pharmacology (86.36%). Concept mapping was particularly beneficial in preparing for exams as it provided a quick overview of the entire subject (68.68%). CONCLUSION: Students found concept mapping as a useful pedagogical tool which could potentially be used to acquire meaningful learning in Pharmacology as a supplement to traditional teaching techniques. It was not found beneficial in improving examination grades probably because standard examinations and concept mapping measure different cognitive domains.

Perceptions of students and faculty about conventional learning and community-oriented medical education.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the perceptions of the students and faculty to the conventional lecture and practical-based learning (LPBL) with community-oriented-Medical Education (COME). DESIGN: Descriptive longitudinal study based on evaluations of two different methods. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Dow Medical College, Karachi, March to June 2001. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: All the 364 students who were admitted to Dow Medical College in the year 2001, were taught for eight weeks by the conventional lecture and practical-based learning (LPBL) method. The perceptions of students and 63 faculty members to LPBL was found by a 14-item questionnaire (containing 11 questions on the Likert Scale and 3 open-ended questions). A four-week field trial of COME was carried out during which all other teaching was suspended. Similar questionnaires about COME were repeated for the 301 students (now present) and 63 faculty members. The responses for each question for the LPBL and COME questionnaires were compared by the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. RESULTS: Students and Faculty found COME significantly better (p<0.05) than LPBL in promoting community awareness, empathy, group interaction, life-long self-study skills, clinical relevance and not solely exam-oriented. The students also found it promotional for interest, retention of information, problem solving and communication skills. The faculty felt that clinical skills and research methodologies were learnt better by COME. Both, the students and the faculty found no significant difference by either method in understanding the topic or in the importance of the tutor's expertise. COME was perceived as more resource-intensive in terms of time, teachers and space. It was suggested that core lectures should continue side by side with COME. CONCLUSION: Both, students and faculty found COME a more clinically and socially relevant way of studying medicine than LPBL.