Scientific Program

Conference Series Ltd invites all the participants across the globe to attend 6th Asia-Pacific Pharma Congress Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Day :

  • Track 8 & 9: Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Analysis
    Track 11 & 12: Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Speaker

Chair

Shih-Jen Liu

National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan

Speaker

Co-Chair

K Subramanian

Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, India

Session Introduction

Shih-Jen Liu

National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan

Title: Recombinant lipoprotein-based immunotherapy against human papillomavirus-associated cancer

Time : 09:30-09:50 AM

Speaker
Biography:

Shih-Jen Liu received his Ph.D. degree in life Science from National Defense Medical Center at 1998. He is now an Investigator at National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology in National health Research Institutes. His works have received numerous honors. The “Therapeutic HPV Vaccine” was awarded the ninth “National Innovation Award” by the Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry (2013). He has more than 60 publications and numerous patents. His work has had a tremendous impact on elucidating the vaccinology and immunology of development of therapeutic vaccines to HPV-associated cancers.

Abstract:

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) infection could account for the development of several cancers, in particular, the cervical cancer which is the second leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Although prophylactic HPV vaccines have been used in many countries, the vaccine coverage rate is still low and cost is high. Therefore, to control of HPV-associated cancer mortality, therapeutic medicine is still an urgent need. It is known that the E7 oncoprotein of human papillomavirus (HPV) is an ideal target for developing immunotherapeutic strategies against HPV-associated tumors. In our previous studies, we reported that the recombinant lipoprotein containing inactive E7 (E7m) biologically linking with bacterial lipid moiety was able to activate the maturation of mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells through toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), skew the immune responses toward the Th1, and induce the E7-specific CTL responses. However, the anti-tumor effects of rlipo-E7m are limited in small tumor. To increase the anti-tumor effects on large tumor, the innate receptor agonists were used for combination therapy. We found that a TLR9 agonist synergistically enhances CTL responses and eradicates large tumors (6-8 mm in diameter) when combined with rlipo-E7m. Furthermore, we observed that combined treatment with rlipo-E7m and CpG ODN effectively increases tumor infiltrating CTLs and reduces the numbers of immunosuppressive cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), macrophages and regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the tumor microenvironment. These findings suggest that the dramatic anti-tumor effects of the recombinant lipoprotein together with CpG ODN might be applied for the development of additional therapeutic cancer vaccines.

K Subramanian

Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, India

Title: Engineering of gelatin for controlled drug delivery applications

Time : 09:50-10:10 AM

Speaker
Biography:

K Subramanian ahs completed MSc in 1978, Madras University, PhD in Polymer Chemistry in 1996, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India & Hon. DSc in 2007, Yorker International University, Italy. He worked as a R&D Scientist from 1980-2002 on polymers, chemicals & materials for space applications, Indian Space Research Organization, Government of India, India. He was a Senior Professor since 2002 onwards, Department of Biotechnology, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, India. His current research focus are polymer carriers for controlled drug delivery, superabsorbent polymers, microbial fuel cell, effluent treatment, biofuel, polymer nanoparticle as drug carriers etc. He is a Member of American Chemical Society (2006 onwards) and was a Member of American Association for Advancement of Science, USA. He has published more than 30 original research papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

Gelatin has been extensively investigated as a delivery vehicle for many classes of drugs because of its inherent biocompatibility, nontoxicity, biodegradability, and improved pharmacokinetic profile and drug efficacy. Million pounds of gelatin is used annually for various pharmaceutical uses. Its digestive process confers very low antigenicity with the formation of harmless bioresorbable metabolic degradation products. Gelatin has also proven to be versatile by its intrinsic features that enable loading of various bioactive molecules either by alkaline or acidic treatment or by tailoring its structure, hydrophobicity and isoelectric point, based on the structure and properties of the desired drug. The aqueous high solubility, heterogeneity in molecular weight, poor structural and thermal stability of gelatin which may not promote a controlled drug delivery, can be fine- tuned independently to optimize drug loading, swellability and reproducible release kinetics by altering its molecular weight, hydrophobicity and crosslink density. This promoted gelatin as an exceptionally adaptable drug carrier as evidenced by its applications in controlled delivery, tissue engineering, cancer therapy, therapeutic angiogenesis and gene therapy. The presence of cell –recognition motif such as Arg-Gly-Asp in its structure which improves the final biological performance of gelatin over synthetic polymers, availability of a wide variety of bioactive agents, production of human recombinant gelatin and the synergistic use of gelatin with several other materials resulted in the development of more advanced gelatin based controlled release systems. It may serve as a potential carrier for controlled oral delivery of peptides and protein drugs for the treatment of numerous diseases. Gelatin based carrier matrices such as microparticles, nanoparticles, hydrogels, fibers etc. can be fabricated for controlled-release of drugs. The present lecture will review the studies on the gelatin and modified gelatin as controlled drug delivery vehicles along with our original research work on characterization and in vitro evaluation of the drug delivery features of diisocyanate crosslinked gelatin hydrogel as a carrier for controlled drug delivery taking 5-fluorouracil and theophylline as model drugs.

Speaker
Biography:

Uswatun Hasanah Zaidan has completed his PhD from Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM (Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science). She was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in 2012 at the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). She has pursued for Postdoctoral studies at School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom (2013-2015). She is a member of Enzyme and Microbial Technology Research Group (UPM) and Asian Federation of Biotechnology (AFOB).

Abstract:

Enzymatic processes offer an alternative for the synthesis of bio-surfactants through the employment of biocatalysts, which allow for a mild reaction condition and high selectivity. Fatty acid sugar esters, a group of biosurfactants, are produced by the esterification of sugars with fatty acids. They are odorless , non-toxic and non-irritant to the skin, making them suitable not only as emulsifiers for foods, but also in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Moreover, due to their high biodegradability and varied range of hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) values, the study and production of sugar esters have attracted keen attention from many researchers. A biochemical approach has been implemented through the use of lipase immobilized on an inexpensive carrier of mica clay as biocatalyst. The synthesis of fatty acid sugar esters or fatty acid sugar-based biosurfactants was optimized via various reaction parameters before conducting product characterization and validation. High enzyme stability and productivity were successfully performed through biocatalytic system. Furthermore, an optimized reaction parameters studied was achieved for the synthesis of fatty acid sugar sugar-based biosurfactants. The synthesized biosurfactant (or specifically lactose caprate, with molecular formula C22H40O12) was characterized to examine their efficacy for industrial application. This study showed that the biosurfactant derived from lactose and capric acid had an HLB value of 14.88, which is suitable for the preparation of oil-in-water emulsions. In addition, this non-ionic biosurfactant was found to behave like a water-soluble surfactant and an oil-in-water emulsifier which potentially used for food products, pharmaceuticals and detergent industries.

Speaker
Biography:

S Rajkumar Immanuel has completed his PhD in Biotechnology at Anna University. He was the recipient of the Young Scientist Award conferred by Tamilnadu State Science & Technology. He had received the International visiting scholar fellowship from Oberlin College, Ohio, USA. He has published number of papers in reputed journals. He is the Director-in-charge of post graduate Environmental Science program and has been serving as an associate professor in botany.

Abstract:

The conversion of plant cellulose biomass to fuel ethanol by microbial fermentation is the priority area of research, and the use of industrially suited microorganisms for the cost-effective biofuel production is the major technical challenge. Bioethanol is a promising renewable energy source, eco-friendly and causes maximum reduction of negative environmental impacts generated by the worldwide utilization of fossil fuels. India is amongst the largest banana (Musa balbisiana) producing countries and thus banana pseudo stem is commonly available agricultural waste to be used as lignocellulosic substrate. Present study focuses on exploitation of banana pseudo stem as a source for bioethanol production by using recombinant yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Various pretreatment techniques namely dilute hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide combined with high pressure steam treatment and steam autoclaving treatment were conducted for mechanically pretreated banana pseudo stem and sugarcane bagaasse (milled ~ 150 mesh) for different time intervals (5, 10 and 15 min). The recombinant S. cerevisiae strain expressing cellulase gene was used for ethanol production using 4% Nacl pretreated banana pseudo stem, 2% NaOH pretreated Coir Pith and 4% NaOH pretreated Sugarcane bagasse as substrates were used by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation method at the optimized process conditions to degrade hemicellulose and lignin to facilitate maximum release of reducing sugars. The hydrolysate obtained after acid, alkali and physical treatments was fermented by recombinant S. cerevisiae. It was observed that the recombinant S. cerevisiae strain was found to ferment ethanol from pretreated cellulosic substrates and produced ethanol 13% (using 4% NaOH pretreated banana pseudo stem), 6% (using 2%NaOH pretreated coir pith) and 8% (using 4% HCl pretreated sugarcane bagasse). The genetically engineered S. cerevisiae could surpass the traditional first generation bioethanol processes by promising for higher alcohol tolerance and conversion efficiency using pretreated banana pseudo stem as a cheaper substrate for ethanol production.

Break: Networking & Refreshment Break 10:50-11:10 @ La Plaza
Speaker
Biography:

Sawsan Mohamed Amer has completed her PhD from Cairo University and Postdoctoral studies from the same University, Faculty of Pharmacy. She is the Professor of Analytical Chemistry from 2003 till present & Head of Analytical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University from 2010 till present. She has published more than 50 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as a reviewer & Editorial Board Member of many journals. She supervised more than 10 master degree & more than 10 PhD degrees. She has contributed as an external examiner in more than 12 thesis discussion.

Abstract:

A hybrid development strategy of Quality by design (QbD) and one factor at time (OFAT) approaches was used to develop a stability indicating HPLC method for quantitative determination of cefditoren pivoxil (CTP) in bulk powder and pharmaceutical formulations. A forced degradation studies were performed under acid, alkaline, thermal and photolytic stress conditions. Chromatographic separation achieved in less than 10 min. using a RP C-18 column, mobile phase [methanol: acetate buffer pH4.5 (55:45, v/v)], flow rate 1.5mLmin-1 and UV detection at 225 nm. Optimization of column, pH, and wavelength implemented according to OFAT approach, while elution temperature and methanol content in the mobile phase considering QbD approach. The method was validated including specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy and robustness. The drug response was linear (r=0.9999) in range of 89-672 μgmL-1, the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) were 5.31 μgmL-1 and 16.1 μgmL-1, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precisions were 0.11%, 0.44% respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of CTP in bulk and tablets with acceptable accuracy and precisions. The results demonstrated that the method would have a great value when applied in quality control and stability studies for CTP.

Speaker
Biography:

R M Ezhilarasi is Associate Professor in the department of Chemistry, Guru Nanak College, Chennai, India. Her field of research is synthetic organic chemistry. She teaches graduate and post graduate students and guided a number of students in their projects. She is the co-author of the book ‘A simple approach to group theory in chemistry’. S Mahalakshmi is Associate Professor and Head, Department of Chemistry, Pachaiyappa’s College, Chennai. She has more than 30 years of teaching under graduate and post graduate students and research experience. Her field of research is organic chemistry. She has guided many students for the award of M.Phil. and Ph.D.

Abstract:

Pyrazolines are well known important bioorganic molecules. Some new pyrazolines were synthesized by the cyclocondensation of chalcones derived from substituted acetophenone and substituted benzaldehyde with (4-fluorophenylthio) acetic acid hydrazide. Cycocondensation was carried out by refluxing glacial acetic acid solution of reactants with a catalytic amount of polyphosphoric acid and also by subjecting the same reaction mixture to MWI. Both the reactions gave the same products with a yield of 65-70%. MWI required lesser reaction time for the completion of the reaction. Products synthesized were characterized by spectral data.

Khalid Mohammed Khan

University of Karachi, Pakistan

Title: Biochemical approaches for diabetic management

Time : 11:50-12:10 PM

Speaker
Biography:

Prof. Dr. Khalid Mohammed Khan has completed his Ph. D. at the age of 30 years from University of Karachi, Pakistan and postdoctoral studies from Tuebingen University, Germany. He is the senior professor at H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi. He has published more than 500 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute.

Abstract:

Diabetes mellitus is the most prevalent metabolic syndrome world-wide, characterized by hyperglycemia (increase in glucose level) resulting in various short-term metabolic changes in lipid and protein metabolism and long-term irreversible vascular changes. When proteins are exposed to elevated levels of glucose a series of non-enzymatic chemical reactions occur that lead to the gradual build-up of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in body tissues that cause various complications in the body. Hyperglycemia, affects eyes (cataract), blood vessels (atherosclerosis), nerves (neuropathy), kidney (nephropathy) and cause impaired wound healing. Postprandial hyperglycemia is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Non-enzymatic models for anti-glycation i.e; (BSA-MG) and enzymatic model α-glucosidase inhibition will be discussed. In glycation, reactive intermediate methylglyoxal (MG) binds with amino acid more easily than its carbohydrate precursor. Serum albumin, which is 80% of blood protein, is more prone to non-enzymatic glycation. Inhibition of protein glycation due to hyperglycemia is therefore an important and attractive approach towards the prevention and management of late diabetic complications. α-Glucosidase is an enzyme responsible for the conversion of complex carbohydrates to glucose. Keeping this in view, our group is working for investigation of novel anti-glycating agents.. Based on virtual screening results, we have synthesized several classes of compounds and evaluated them for their in vitro and in vivo α-glucosidase inhibitory potential and methylglyoxal binding potential. All these interesting results will be discussed in detail during talk.

Break: Lunch Break 12:10... @ La Plaza
Speaker
Biography:

Currently Jineetkumar B. Gawad is working as Assistant Professor at SJIPR, Maharashtra, India. He received his post-graduate degree in 2012 from North Maharashtra University. He has published over 30 papers in several national and international journals. His research title of M. Pharmacy has published by Lambert Academic Publications, Germany. His five research papers on HPTLC received certificate of participation by “Dr. P. D. Sethi Annual Best Research Paper Award for Chemical Analysis” in the 2014. He is an Advisory/Editorial Board Member of 07 journals and reviewer of 08 journals. Few of them are from Brazil and USA.

Abstract:

Simple, accurate, precise and sensitive liquid chromatographic methods have been developed for the determination of ibandronate sodium drug substance in bulk and tablet dosage form. The separation was achieved on Hypersil BDS C18 column (250mm X 4.6mm), 5μm particle diameter. The mobile phase consisted of Buffer: ACN (95:05) v/v; flow rate 1.0 ml min−1 at ambient temperature. The analytes were monitored by PDA detector. The average recoveries for ibandronate were in the range of 99.0–102.0%. The drug substance was subjected to stress conditions of hydrolysis, oxidation, photolytic, thermal and humidity degradation. Considerable degradation was achieved under thermal condition. Mass balance was demonstrated in all stress conditions. The method was validated for specificity, precision, linearity, solution stability and accuracy. Another method is developed for determination of impurities (phosphate and phosphite) of ibandronate sodium. The separation was achieved on AllsepTM anion column 150mm×4.6mm, 7μm particle diameter. The mobile phase consisted of 0.2% (v/v) aqueous formic acid with pH 3.1 and ACN 95:5% (v/v); flow rate 0.5 ml min−1 at ambient temperature. The analytes were monitored by refractive index detector. The drug substance was subjected to stress conditions of hydrolysis, oxidation, photolytic, thermal and humidity degradation. Considerable degradation was achieved only under oxidative condition. Mass balance was demonstrated in all stress conditions. The method was validated for specificity, precision, linearity, solution stability and accuracy. The average recoveries for impurities and ibandronate were in the range of 99.0–102.0% and both methods can be successfully applied for the routine analysis of ibandronate sodium.

Speaker
Biography:

Tamrat Balcha completed his B. Pharm from Jimma University, MSc in Pharmaceutics from Addis Ababa University.

Abstract:

Starch, as a natural polymer, is sought preferentially after either to semi-synthetic or synthetic ones in drug delivery. Taro Boloso-I is a new variety of Colocasia esculenta officially released in Ethiopia and its cultivation out yields the other varieties by 67%. The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize the starch from this plant and also to evaluate its potential tablet disintegrant properties. Starch was extracted from Taro Boloso-I using saline solution and sodium hydroxide. Various experimental methods were applied for its characterizations. Central composite design was used for optimization of concentration of the starch used as disintegrant and compression force as factors to have best combination of hardness, friability and disintegration time of the tablets. Yield of starch from Taro Boloso-I on dry weight basis was 83.5 ± 1.6%. The native Taro Boloso-I starch (NTB1S) showed lower amylose to amylopectin ratio (20.7 ± 1.8% to 77.3 ± 2.1%, w/w) higher onset, peak and endset temperatures of gelatinization than potato starch. Its granules are polyhedral/angular shape, A-type polymorph and cohesive. In all of these, Taro Boloso-I starch not only significantly differs from the previously reported taro varieties in Ethiopia but also shares more of properties of rice (cereal) starch. This study revealed that, if used as a disintegrant for fast dissolving tablets, NTB1S can result in better hardness and friability. It is a novel native starch in both its physicochemical properties and its potential disintegration effects.

Speaker
Biography:

John Paul T. Toting graduated with the degree BS Pharmacy on April 2015 at Centro Escolar University, Malolos, Bulacan. Currently, he is teaching professional pharmacy subjects in the same university and is currently pursuing his MS Pharmacy with specialization in Clinical and Hospital Pharmacy at Adamson University, Ermita, Manila. He was the former FJCPPhA National Asst. Secretary (2013), and National Auditor (2014), while at the same time serving as the president for the JPPhA Beta Chapter (2013-2015). Their undergraduate research entitled: Formulation of Hand Sanitizer Gel using the Semi-Purified Flavonoids from the outer coverings of the Red Creole variety of Allium cepa Linn. family Alliaceae, was already been presented in various research symposia inside the university and was been recognized as the Best Research during the 1st University Belt National Research Consortium.

Abstract:

This research focuses on the formulation of hand sanitizer gel using the semi-purified flavonoids from the outer coverings of the Red creole variety of Allium cepa L. fam. Alliaceae. This study utilizes the experimental method of research. The agar cup diffusion method was used in determining the antibacterial activity of formulation with 40% semi-purified extract as compared to the two (2) locally available leading hand sanitizer brands. Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Micrococcus luteus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Proteus vulgaris, Salmonella typimurium, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis, and Bacillus cereus were utilized as test organisms. The Formulation exhibited antibacterial activity against 8 of 10 bacteria used in the experiment, while Brand A exhibited antibacterial activity against 1 of 10 bacteria and Brand B manifested an antibacterial activity against 4 out 10 of bacteria utilized in the microbial assay. Moreover, based on the result of the primary skin irritation test, the formulation is perceptibly not capable of causing irritation to the skin when applied topically. The researchers recommends that thorough investigation of the semi – purified flavonoid extract using instrumental method of analysis and isolation of the pure flavonoid should be conducted in order to determine the specific flavonoid that exhibits the antibacterial activity.

Speaker
Biography:

Alyssa Marie P. Hizon is an undergraduate of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Pharmacy Major in Clinical Pharmacy and is a constant dean’s lister since her first year of college. She served as a class officer for three consecutive years until this year. She is also an active member of her organizations, The Clinical Pharmacy Society and Lingkod ER and manages to attend voluntary works. Having a young experience in the research field, she manages to present her other thesis paper in different conferences.

Abstract:

Immunization is one of the paramount achievements in public health during the 20th century (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Increasing cases of vaccine-preventable diseases and low vaccination rates had led the pharmacists in other countries to expand their roles in the administration of vaccines. In the Philippines, vaccine-preventable diseases continue to escalate. Moreover, vaccination among adults remains to be uncovered in the Expanded Program on Immunization of the Department of Health (Robles, 2015). Thus, the Philippine Pharmacists’ Association and Food and Drug Administration plan to implement a program authorizing FDA-trained community pharmacists to administer vaccines. This study aimed to describe the perceptions of the selected Filipino community pharmacists in Manila regarding the administration of adult vaccines. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed to licensed community pharmacists and a response rate of 87.67% was obtained. A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure their perception in each category. The collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19. Results showed that more than half (69%) supported the pharmacy-based immunization program. Most community pharmacists agreed on the statements regarding the competence of the pharmacist to immunize (mean = 4.19 + 0.564), the increased accessibility of vaccinations to the community (mean= 4.10 + 0.582), the positive effects of the program to their professional services (mean = 3.71 + 0.535) and the readiness of their pharmacy (mean= 3.72 + 0.793) to adapt the program. In conclusion, community pharmacists conveyed a high acceptance level towards pharmacy-based immunization program.

Speaker
Biography:

The paper is authored by Fourth year Pharmacy students of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Pharmacy in Manila, Philippines. They were advised by Faculty members from the same university. The research paper had been presented for defense on December 2015 in the above mentioned institution.

Abstract:

Previous in vitro study conducted on Blumea balsamifera leaf extract proved that it has a strong anti-obesity potential by inhibiting adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Blumea balsamifera aqueous (BBAE) and ethanolic (BBEE) leaf extracts in managing obesity of diet-induced obese Sprague-Dawley rats. Induction of obesity was done by feeding the groups with a high fat diet (HFD) for 21 days with the exception of one group that received a standard diet (SD). Administration of the treatment was given for 24 days via oral gavage with the following doses: 300mg/kg BBAE and BBEE, 600mg/kg BBAE and BBEE, and 21.6mg/kg Orlistat. The Lee’s index and lipid profile of the groups were compared during the post induction and post treatment period. 600mg/kg dose of BBAE and BBEE had greatly lowered the Lee’s index among the other doses. 300 mg/Kg dose BBEE, 600 mg/Kg BBAE, and 300 mg/kg BBAE lowered the total cholesterol level, LDL level, and VLDL and total triglyceride level respectively. The extracts, however, lowered the HDL level which was also exhibited by the standard drug, Orlistat.

Speaker
Biography:

Nicole Eileen M. Bagon, a constant dean’s lister, is currently studying at University of Santo Tomas - Faculty of Pharmacy. She is a member of UST Lingkod E.R., a public health-oriented organization in UST that promotes awareness and develops emergency care in both hospital and community settings.

Abstract:

Tinospora cordifolia (Menispermaceae), commonly known as “Makabuhay”, is known for its immense application in the treatment of various diseases in the traditional ayurvedic literatures. This medicinal plant, which is found in most or in all islands of the Philippines has wide array of physiological roles, thereby signifying the versatility of the plant [1]. However, there was no scientific evidence justifying the use of T. cordifolia as an anti-inflammatory and wound-healing gel formulation. Thus, this study was initiated to formulate, characterize and evaluate the effectiveness of crude plant extract incorporated in gel base, in concentrations of 5% (w/v) and 10% (w/v) as a wound healing and anti-inflammatory gel preparations. Seven gel formulations were prepared and the physical attributes were observed to identify one formulation with desirable characteristics. The viscosity, pH, spreadability, consistency, and homogeneity of the selected formulation were examined. Both gel concentrations were assessed using incision wound model in Sprague-Dawley rats and formalin-induced rat paw edema method, which showed significant increase in tensile strength (p<0.05) of the wound compared to Curiosin gel and decrease in mean paw size (p<0.001) of the rats compared to Voltaren as reference drugs, respectively. The 10% gel concentration has more enhanced wound healing and anti-inflammatory activity compared to the 5% gel concentration exhibited in both tests. In parallel, Scratch and Patch tests in albino rabbits were performed to determine primary skin irritation effect. Both 5% and 10% T. cordifolia gels exhibited negligible irritant property, thus, they can be used safely as topical preparation to treat wounds and inflammation.

Speaker
Biography:

The authors namely: Ms. Bettina Maria Acuna, Mr. Jan Michael Salcedo, Ms. Charisse Semillano, Ms. Mariel Sta Ana, Ms. Ida Maribeth Timbol, Ms. Imei Tiongco and Mr. Ranel Uy, are all 5th year students of BS Pharmacy Major in Clinical Pharmacy in University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines.

Abstract:

Hypertension is a condition in which the arteries have persistently elevated blood pressure. Diuretic based therapy has been proven effective in reducing morbidity and mortality in hypertensive patients. The goal of this study is to determine whether the methanolic extract of Pachyrhizus erosus tubers has diuretic and blood-pressure lowering effect. Pachyrhizus erosus exhibits a variety of pharmacological use including the utilization of its tubers through decoction which is said to be diuretic based on folkloric use. The study utilized 25 male Sprague-Dawley rats divided into five groups with five rats each. Hypertension was induced to all of the test subjects through the subcutaneous injection of Cyclosporin A with a dose of 25 mg/kgBW. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured using a Non-invasive Blood Pressure apparatus utilizing tail cuffs. Then, two groups were set as positive (Hydrochlorothiazide) and negative (water) controls. The other three were given varying doses of the methanolic extract of the tubers of Pachyrhizus erosus: 50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, and 200 mg/kg orally. During the whole course of treatment, the SBP of the subjects were consistently monitored. The urine output was also recorded based on schedule, 8 hours a day, using a metabolic cage. Statistical tests were used to determine significant changes. The methanolic extract of the tubers of Pachyrhizus erosus showed potential blood pressure lowering activity at a dose of 200 mg/kg and possibly on higher doses. The diuretic effect was only exhibited at the 50 mg/kg dose and cannot be suggestive of potential therapeutic activity.

Speaker
Biography:

Justine Tanael is currently taking up Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy Major in Clinical Pharmacy in the University of Santo Tomas. She was a member or of Junior Pharmacists’ Association Gamma Chapter in academic year 2012-2013, Red Cross Pharmacy Unit in 2013-2014, Rotaract Club of UST in 2014-2015, and currently a member of Clinical Pharmacy Society. She finished her secondary education in Ednas School of Dagupan City in Pangasinan where she graduated with high honors. She is also a consistent dean’s lister in the Faculty of Pharmacy.

Abstract:

Increasing cases of vaccine-preventable diseases and low vaccination rates among adults had led the pharmacists in other countries to become key players in disease prevention by expanding their roles in the administration of vaccines. In the Philippines, vaccine-preventable diseases continue to escalate. Moreover, vaccination among adults remains to be uncovered in the Expanded Program on Immunization of the Department of Health (Robles, 2015). Thus, the Philippine Pharmacists’ Association and Food and Drug Administration tailored a plan to implement a program authorizing FDA-trained community pharmacists to administer vaccines. This study aimed to describe the perceptions of the selected Filipino community pharmacists in Manila regarding the administration of adult vaccines. Through convenience and random sampling, a total of 300 questionnaires were distributed to licensed community pharmacists in the City of Manila and only 263 questionnaires returned which gave a response rate of 87.67%. A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure their perception in each category. The collected data were encoded and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19. Spearman’s Rank-Order Correlation, Mann-Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA and Fisher’s Exact Test were the biostatistical analyses used. Results showed that more than half of the respondents supported (69%) the pharmacy-based immunization program. Most community pharmacists agreed on the statements regarding the competence of the pharmacist to immunize (mean = 4.19 + 0.564), the increased accessibility of vaccinations to the community (mean= 4.10 + 0.582), the positive effects of the program to their professional services (mean = 3.71 + 0.535) and the readiness of their pharmacy (mean= 3.72 + 0.793) to adapt the program. In conclusion, community pharmacists conveyed a high acceptance level towards pharmacy-based immunization program.

Speaker
Biography:

Michelle S Tolentino is a student of Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy Major in Clinical Pharmacy in the University of Santo Tomas.

Abstract:

Artemisia vulgaris is a plant commonly found in the Philippines that is folklorically used for different ailments. Pharmacological studies have revealed that the methanolic extract of the plant exhibit significant antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory activity, which may contribute to wound healing property. This study aimed to evaluate the pharmacologic use of Artemisia vulgaris as a wound healing agent. The powdered leaves of the plant were percolated in 80% methanol and the crude methanolic extract was subjected to fractionation using chloroform, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol as solvents. The presence of tannins in the crude, ethyl acetate, and butanol fractions was confirmed using the ferric chloride test. The total phenolic content(TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) of the different fractions were measured using gallic acid and quercetin as standards, respectively. Results showed that ethyl acetate fraction yielded the highest phenol (418.556 mg GAE/g sample)and flavonoid (441.135 mg quercetin equivalent/g sample) content while Chloroform had the lowest phenol content and crude methanolic extract has the lowest flavonoid content. The ethyl acetate fraction was used in the in vivo testing and prepared into 25% w/v (Group C) and 50% w/v (Group D)of suspensions using Tween 80 as suspending agent. Wound healing capacity of the plant was assessed in the excision wound model and incision wound mode against 2% Mupirocin ointment (Group B) as standard drug and Distilled water (Group A) as the negative control. In the excision model, percent wound contraction which yielded a statistical difference within the group (p=0.011) but no significant statistical difference between groups (p=0.254).In the incision model, mean wound breaking strength of Group A (263.133 ± 10.90434), Group B (393.45 ± 11.79477), Group C (311.0333 ± 7.375947), and Group D (300.3333 ± 5.703332). Statistically significant difference on the wound breaking strength was observed among groups (p<0.001). The wound breaking strength of Group A was statistically significant with Group B (p>0.001), Group C (p=0.025), and Group D (p=0.004). Group B did not exhibit significant difference between Group C (p=0.101) and Group D (p=0.453). Group C did not show statistically significant difference with Group D (p=0.795). The wound breaking strength of the experimental groups is more likely similar to the positive control rather than the negative control. Histopathological examination was also performed in the incision models. The fibroblast proliferation (p=0.410), formation of new capillaries (p=0.384), collagen maturation (p=0.950) and granuloma tissue formation (p=0.396) data between groups did not exhibit statistical difference. Tensile strength and fibroblast proliferation exhibits a strong correlation (r=0.9137).There is no sufficient scientific evidence to prove the wound healing activity of Artemisia vulgaris based on the parameters observes.

Speaker
Biography:

The group is in their fourth year in college as BS Pharmacy students at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. Ms. Palma is a consistent dean’s lister and was an intern at several excellent companies like The Generics Pharmacy, East Avenue Medical Center, and Compact Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Ms. Perez became an intern at Mercury Drugstore, Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center, and at the Philippine Food and Drug Administration. Ms. Refuerzo interned at Mercury Drugstore, Quirino Memorial Medical Center, and at Hizon Laboratories. Ms. Reyes was an intern at The Generics Pharmacy, East Avenue Medical Center, and at the Philippine Food and Drug Administration. Ms. Romina is consistently in the dean’s list and was an intern at Watsons Drugstore, The Medical City, and at Parexel International. And Ms. Salvadora became an intern at Mercury Drugstore, East Avenue Medical Center, and at Hizon Laboratories.

Abstract:

Intestinal worm infestations caused by Ascaris lumbricoides have become one of the principal causes of malnutrition among Filipino children. These soil-transmitted helminths are developing resistance against commonly used anthelmintic drug treatments due to increased dosing and repeated use of the same drug. Reinfections with these helminths also occur over time. These alarming situations merit a search for alternative treatments. Studies have shown that the bark of Lansium domesticum is effective in treating pain in the gastrointestinal tract caused by intestinal worm infestations. This study evaluated the ovicidal activity of L. domesticum through in vitro testing against Ascaris lumbricoides. The methanolic bark extract of Lansium domesticum was obtained through percolation and the crude extract was fractionated using chloroform, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol. The extracts were found to contain tannins, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, and anthraquinones. The different fractions contain a variety of phytochemical constituents. The crude extract yielded the highest condensed tannin content of 147mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g sample, followed by ethyl acetate, chloroform and n-butanol fractions with 88mg GAE/g, 28.6mg GAE/g and 28.4 mg GAE/g, respectively. The Egg Hatch Test was used to assess the effect of each crude extract and fractions on the viability of Ascaris lumbricoides eggs. After 48 hours, Albendazole 60mg/mL and Crude 120mg/mL were found to have similar ovicidal effect (p=0.104). After 96 hours, Albendazole 60mg/mL, Crude 120mg/mL, Ethyl acetate 60mg/mL and Chloroform 120mg/mL exhibited comparable ovicidal effect (p=0.470). The other extractives did not show ovicidal effect. The Ova Analysis was used to assess the effect of the test materials on larvae development after incubation in soil set-up. The crude 120mg/ml, ethyl acetate 60mg/ml and chloroform 120mg/mL showed similar ovicidal effect on egg development (p=0.052), although the effect was not equivalent to that of standard drug. All the other extractives did not adversely affect egg development (p=0.321). In vitro studies revealed that the crude, ethyl acetate and chloroform extracts of L. domesticum at 120mg/mL possess ovicidal effect against A. Lumbricoides and may be explored as potential alternative to commercially-available anthelmintic agents.

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  • Track 4 & 5: Advancements in Pharmaceutics, Trends in Nanotechnology
    Track 7 & 3: Pharmacological Studies, Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry
Location: Ramada Plaza Dua Sentral
Speaker

Chair

Yiling Hong

Western University of Health Sciences, USA

Speaker

Co-Chair

Gautam Sethi

National University of Singapore, Singapore

Session Introduction

Ibrahim M El-Sherbiny

Zewail City of Science and Technology, Egypt

Title: Smart nano- and nano-in-microparticles carrier systems for controlled pulmonary drug delivery
Speaker
Biography:

Prof. El-Sherbiny has earned his PhD in Smart Drug Delivery in 2007 from Massey University, New Zealand. He joined the University of New Mexico as a post-doctoral fellow, then Texas University, USA as Research Assistant Professor. He is currently Professor of Nanomaterials and Director of the Center for Materials Science at Zewail City of Science and Technology. He has more than 50 papers in reputed journals, and same number in international conferences. He is the author of three books, twelve book chapters, and more than eight review articles. Besides, El-Sherbiny is a named inventor on more than fifteen patents.

Abstract:

A substantial body of research has focused recently onto pulmonary drug delivery as a well-accepted treatment for many lung diseases. This work was aiming to develop and evaluate (in-vitro and in-vivo) new series of carriers for controlled pulmonary drug delivery. The developed carriers combine the benefits of nanoparticles (NPs) and respirable/swellable microparticles while avoiding their shortcomings. The carriers are based on PEG-grafted-chitosan (PEG-g-CS) and crosslinked with sodium tripolyphosphate and/or sodium hyaluronate in form of hydrogel NPs. Drug-loaded hydrogel NPs were then used to develop respirable/swellable 2-5 microns size microparticles (MPs) through controlled spray drying of an aqueous suspension of the NPs and lactose as excipient. Particle size was determined by laser diffraction and DLS. Surface morphology was investigated by AFM and SEM. In-vitro aerosolization was performed using a next generation impactor. Dynamic swelling, in-vitro biodegradation, particle density and moisture contents were also determined. In-vitro release profile of the loaded drug was investigated in simulated body fluids. In-vivo investigation of the drug was also performed using insufflation method. The average sizes of the PEG-g-CS NPs and MPs were found to be 83.2±2.4 nm and 4.1±0.03 μm, respectively. The NPs-MPs carriers showed high swelling within few minutes, low aerodynamic density (0.2±0.03 g/cc), moisture content of 4.1-9.0%, good in-vitro biodegradation, high drug loading capacity exceeding 93%, and a promising sustained drug release both in-vitro and in-vivo. In conclusion, the newly developed NPs-MPs systems are very promising and could be utilized as potential carriers for sustained delivery of various drugs to the lung.

Wing Hin Lee

Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Australia

Title: Development of inhalable paclitaxel and curcumin formulation for lung cancer therapy

Time : 11:50-12:10 PM

Speaker
Biography:

Dr Wing Hin Lee is an Early Career Fellowship researcher funded by Cancer Institute New South Wales, and is based in Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. He obtained his PhD in 2013 on the modulation of protein adsorption on calcium phosphate-based biomaterials. During his PhD, he collaborated with Ultraceuticals Ltd in developing sunscreen for skin cancer prevention. He is highly interested in the treatment of cancer using nanotechnology approaches. Currently, he is actively devoting his efforts to develop potential lung cancer treatments via inhalation. He has published almost 40 peer reviewed articles and 1 book chapter. In addition, he serves as a reviewer for several well-known international scientific journals in the field of cancer therapeutics and pharmaceutical sciences.

Abstract:

Chemotherapy is a first-line treatment for advanced stage of lung cancer in which chemotherapeutic drugs are administered intravenously for systemic circulation. Even though the basic principle of chemotherapeutic drug is to inhibit the proliferation of cells growing at an abnormal state, it should not be overlooked that most chemotherapeutic drugs is toxic to neighbouring healthy tissues (pain, nerve damage, allergic reactions etc.). Owing the route of administration, the delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs is often not target-specific, hence the unavoidable toxic effects. Inhalation of chemotherapeutic agents could be an effective approach to deliver sub-optimal concentration of chemotherapeutic drugs at tumor region while significantly reduces the toxicity effects towards healthy local tissues or other organs. In this study, inhalable formulations containing paclitaxel (PAX) and curcumin (Cur) has been engineered via milling technique. Our results demonstrated that these formulations had superior aerosol performance as fine particle fractions (FPF) were above 60% while mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) ranged between 2 to 3 μm. In addition, the efficacies of mono-therapy (PAX or Cur alone) or co-therapy were evaluated with human lung carcinoma (A549), human lung adenocarcinoma (Calu-3) and non-cancerous human bronchial epithelial cells (Beas-2B). It was noted that co-formulation of PAX and Cur demonstrated synergistic killing against A549 cells compared to mono-therapy. In addition, the viability of Beas-2B cells was low when PAX alone was used based on MTS, apoptosis and cell cycle assays. The introduction of Cur significantly improved the viability of Beas-2B cells. In conclusion, PAX and Cur particles could be delivered via pulmonary administration for lung cancer treatment. The presence of Cur provided protective effects towards healthy cells.

Speaker
Biography:

Tian Hai-Yan has completed her PhD at the age of 27 years from China Pharmaceutical University and postdoctoral studies from Jinan University College of Pharmacy. Now, she is an associate professor of Jinan University. She has published more than 40 papers in reputed journals including Chemistry-A European Journal, Journal of Natural Products, etc. She has held two national funds and is the obtainer of the Special Support Young talent Plan of Guangdong Province, China.

Abstract:

Toad venom, locally called ChanSu, is the secretion of the postauricular and skin glands of toads Bufo bufo gargarizans Cantor or B. Melanostictus Schneider, has been widely used as a traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of superficial infection, odontalgia and skin cancer, and is also useful as a chemical weapon against the natural enemies of toads. During our system chemical investigation of ChanSu, three novel rearranged bufadienolides, bufogargarizins A-C (1-3) were isolated from the CH2Cl2 extraction of ChanSu. Their structures with absolute configurations were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, single crystal X-ray diffraction, and computational calculations. Compounds 1, 2 and 3 had unprecedented 7/5/6/5/6, 5/7/6/5/6 and 6/7/6/5/6 ring systems, respectively, instead of the 6/6/6/5/6 skeleton presented in common bufadienolides. Our proposed biosynthetic pathways as well as the identification of the key intermediates supported that they were biosynthesized from the normal bufadienolides.

Norhayati Ahmad

Universiti of Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam

Title: Evaluation of antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of several medicinal plants in Brunei Darussalam

Time : 12:30-12:50 PM

Speaker
Biography:

Norhayati Ahmad obtained her PhD from University of Warwick, United Kingdom. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Science, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Her current research work involves the study into the role of Nigella sativa and its active components in diabetes disease model and pancreatic islet regeneration. She is also interested in determination of cytotoxic activity of natural products on cancer cell lines.

Abstract:

In the current study, the antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of six plant species; Litsea elliptica Blume, Dillenia suffroticosa (Griff.) Mart, Dillenia excelsa, Aidia racemosa (Cav.) Tirveng., Vitex pinnata L., and Senna alata (L.)Roxb found in Brunei Darussalam were evaluated. The crude methanol, ethanol and aqueous extracts of the leaves of these plants plus the roots and bark of D. excelsa were evaluated for their total-phenolic-content (TPC), total-flavonoid-content (TFC) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-radical-scavenging activity. A majority of the methanol extracts produced the highest TPCs and DPPH radical scavenging activities while majority of ethanol extracts showed highest TFCs. L. elliptica, D. suffroticosa, D. excelsa and A. racemosa extracts showed the overall highest TPCs and radical-scavenging activities, while L. elliptica, S. alata, D. suffroticosa and A. racemosa extracts showed the overall highest TFCs. MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays were carried out on A549 (lung carcinoma) and CaSki (cervical carcinoma) cell lines. It was found that L. elliptica was the most cytotoxic against A549 cells followed by D. suffroticosa. For CaSki cells, A. racemosa was found to be the least cytotoxic while L. elliptica remained as the most cytotoxic followed by D. suffroticosa. Our findings have indicated that the extracts from the leaves of L. elliptica, D. suffroticosa, D. excelsa and A. racemosa showed antioxidant and anti-cancer properties against A549 and CaSki cells.

Break: Lunch Break 12:50-13:40 @ La Plaza
Speaker
Biography:

X Fatima Grace completed her Ph.D. from Sri Ramachandra University where she did her under and post graduation too. Additionally she had completed PG diploma in IPR from Anna University. Currently she is working as an Assistant Professor at SRU. She has published more than 35 papers in peer reviewed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of several reputed journals. She has attended and presented research papers in various national and international conferences. She has guided UG (9 students) and PG (3 students) projects. She has authored two books and a chapter in a book and has got two patents.

Abstract:

Arthritis, a leading cause of disability in adults all over the world which limits day-to-day activities for billions of people. Generally, NSAIDs and DMARDs are prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis, these drugs have to be given for long periods; they accumulate in tissues produce toxic effects which can be minimized by increasing bioavailability thereby lowering the dose of the drug. Both synthetic and herbal drugs face a problem of reduced bioavailability. Maximum bioavailability is attained by drugs administered intravenously, whereas drugs administered orally usually undergo first pass metabolism and are poorly bioavailable due to incomplete absorption. Such drugs which have not been utilized by the body may lead to drug resistance and adverse effects. The best way to achieve reduction in drug dosage, thereby drug toxicity and cost is by increasing the drugs bioavailability. One of the ways of increasing the bioavailability of drugs is by addition of molecules which do not have similar therapeutic activity but increase the bioavailability when incorporated in the formulation of another drug called as bioenhancers and they do not show synergistic effect with the drug. Based on this information, the present study was aimed to isolate the mucilage from aerial parts of Cardiospermum halicacabum, to incorporate with leflunomide as a bioenhancer and to develop a stable capsule thereby decreasing the adverse effects of the drug on long term use.

Yiling Hong

Western University of Health Sciences, USA

Title: Stem cell in nanotoxicity testing

Time : 14:00-14:20 PM

Speaker
Biography:

Yiling Hong is an Associate Professor at Western University of Health Sciences. She received her PhD degree from University of Kentucky in 1997. She had in depth training in molecular biology, and stem cell biology. As Principal Investigator of the National Institute of Health grant, her research interest is focus on stem cell differentiation and determination of cytotoxicity and genotoxocity of manufactured nanoparticle in stem cells. She had published over 35 papers.

Abstract:

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are used extensively as antimicrobial agents in cosmetics, food products and various medical tools, but little is known about their potential toxic effects. Our aims are to determine the effects of AgNPs embryonic stem cell self-renewal and differentiation, and use stem cell as cellular model for nanotoxicity testing. Our results indicated that AgNPs increased free radical productions and induced cell cycle arrest to stem cell via activation of p53, dephosphorylation of Rb proteins, and altered stem cell factors Oct4 expression. Furthermore we assessed neurotoxicity of AgNPs in human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived glutamatergic neurons (hGNs). Studies showed that citrate-coated AgNPs (AgSCs) with a zeta potential of -48 mV induced severe neurotoxicity, damaged neurite extensions and outgrowths and significantly reduced the expression of the neuronal marker MAP2, the post-synaptic density protein PSD95 and the vesicular glutamate transporter 1 at concentrations as low as 0.1 µg/ml. In contrast, polyvinlypyrrolidone (PVP)-coated AgNPs (AgSPs) with a zeta potential of -37 mV only exhibited neurotoxicity at a higher concentration (5 µg/ml). Therefore, our results indicated that proper coating and lower dosages of AgNPs could limit or reduce toxicity. Stem cell is an excellent cellular model to study the toxicity associated with nanoparticle exposure and the pharmaceutical drug screening.

Gautam Sethi

National University of Singapore, Singapore

Title: Potential role of pharmacological STAT3 inhibitors for cancer therapy

Time : 14:20-14:40 PM

Speaker
Biography:

After completion of his postdoctoral training at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Prof. Gautam Sethi joined Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore in 2008 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015. The focus of his research over the past few years has been to elucidate the mechanism(s) of activation of oncogenic transcription factors such as NF KB/STAT3 by carcinogens and inflammatory agents and the identification of novel inhibitors of these proteins for prevention of and therapy for cancer. From traditional Chinese and Indian medicinal plants, his group has identified numerous small molecules that can suppress various pro-tumorigenic signaling cascades involved in cancer initiation and promotion. The novel findings of his research work have so far resulted in more than one fifty scientific publications in high impact factor peer reviewed journals and several international awards. He currently serves as an Academic Editor for prestigious PLOS One journal and ad-hoc reviewer for several other international journals.

Abstract:

Conventional anti-cancer therapeutic strategies involve the use of chemically synthesized drugs and/or administration of high-energy radiation to circumvent tumor growth. However, these strategies are generally poorly tolerated, often resulting in adverse side effect. As such, there is an urgent need to develop novel anti-cancer therapeutic agents that not only overcome the chemoresistance barricade, but also elicit minimal side effects and is well tolerated amongst patients of diverse demographics. Plant-based natural drugs contributes to primary health care in approximately 80% of the world’s population, with uses dating back to the ancient times as traditional herbal medicine by physicians such as Hippocrates. Our group is currently exploring the role of STATs family of cytoplasmic transcription factors that transmit signals, mediate intracellular signaling usually generated at cell surface receptors and transmitted to the nucleus. There is a strong evidence to suggest that aberrant STAT3 signaling promotes development and progression of human cancers by either inhibiting apoptosis or inducing inflammation, cell proliferation, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. Suppression of activation of STAT3 results in the induction of apoptosis in tumor cells, and accordingly its inhibition by approaches such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors, antisense oligonucleotides, decoy nucleotides, dominant negative proteins, RNA interference and chemopreventive agents have been employed to suppress the tumorigenicity. However, the development of novel drugs for the targeting STAT3 that is both safe and efficacious remains an important scientific and clinical challenge. My talk will provide the evidence for critical roles of STAT3 in oncogenesis and discusses the potential for development of novel cancer therapies based on mechanistic understanding of STAT3 signaling.

Speaker
Biography:

Naglaa M El-Lakkany has completed her PhD from Ain Shams University, Faculty of Science. She is the Head of Pharmacology Dept., TBRI. She shared in establishment of “Drug evaluation and discovery unit”, and is one of the senior Staff of the “ANDI Centre of Excellence on anti-trematodal R&D”. She published 25 articles in peer review journals. She awarded the TBRI best research articles 2011, 2012 and the TBRI Excellence award 2014. She was included in Marquis Who’s Who in Medicine and Health care, 2009-2010, in the International Health Professional of The Year 2010 and Selected for the institute’s WOMAN OF THE YEAR 2011. She awarded in 2015 an appreciation certificate as a recognized reviewer in all Elsevier Journals.

Abstract:

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), activated during liver injury, constitute a prime target for antifibrotic therapy. The presence of phenolic compounds in fruit- and vegetable-rich diets has attracted researchers' attention due to their health-promoting effects. This study investigates the antifibrotic effect of gallic acid (GA) of Punica granatum L. on experimental liver fibrosis in vitro and in vivo and its possible mechanism. The anti-proliferative activity of GA on cultured HT-6 HSCs was determined by cell viability using sulforhodamine base (SRB) cytotoxicity assay. Preliminary data showed that cell viability of HSCs was significantly decreased when treated with 5, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, 150, 200, 400 and 500 µg/ml of GA for 24 and 48 hours, in a concentration and time-dependent manner, with IC50 equals 42 and 18 µg/ml respectively. Oral administration of GA in a dose of 50 mg/kg daily for 8 weeks successfully alleviated the thioacetamide (TAA)-induced rat liver damage, decreased collagen accumulation, serum ALT and AST activities, liver tissue TIMP-1, TGF-β1 and PDGF-BB levels, and liver fibrosis grade (from S4 to S2 with mild, thin fibrous bands). Additionally, immunohistochemistry of liver fibrosis related markers such as α-SMA and PCNA were reduced, and the activity of GSH as well as the MDA content was reversed in treated rats. These results suggested that GA decreased HSCs viability and could act against TAA-induced liver injury and fibrosis in rats by a mechanism related to its antioxidant properties, anti-inflammatory effect and its ability to attenuate HSCs activation and proliferation.

Speaker
Biography:

Peter Gal has completed his PhD at the age of 30 years from The University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Kosice, Slovak Republic. He is doing his second PhD thesis at the Charles University, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic. He has published more than 35 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

It is well known that wound repair efficiency in elderly is reduced, and the skin becomes more fragile and susceptible to trauma. Estrogen deprivation in post-menopausal women can be responsible for many age-related processes including poor wound healing. Guided by previous observations that estradiol accelerates re-epithelialization via the estrogen receptor (ER)-β, the question whether selective ER agonists (PPT – ER-α agonist; DPN – ER-β agonist) affect the expression of basic proliferation and differentiation markers (Ki-67, keratins-10, -14, and -19, galectin-1, Sox-2) of keratinocytes was answered using the model of HaCaT cells. In parallel, ovariectomised rats were treated daily with ER modulator, and wound tissue was removed 21 days after wounding and routinely processed for basic histology. Our study revealed that HaCaT keratinocytes express both ER-α and -β, thus being suited for study of ER agonists on epidermis regeneration. Stimulation of ER-α led to a protein expression pattern as seen in control culture with moderate expression of Ki-67. On the other hand, activation of ER-β led to an increase in cell proliferation and keratin-19 expression as well as to a decrease of galectin-1 expression. Fittingly, rat wounds treated with the ER-β agonist showed the most prominent progress of epidermis regeneration. Thus, we herein add information on how estrogens affect expression patterns of selected markers en route to modulate keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation with direct impact on wound healing.

Speaker
Biography:

Sayed H Seif el-Din has completed his PhD from Ain Shams University. He is now a Professor of Pharmacology in TBRI. He shared in establishment of “Drug Evaluation and Discovery Unit”, and is one of the senior staff of the “ANDI Centre of Excellence on anti-trematodal R&D”. He has published 25 articles in reputed journals and is serving as a reviewer for many peer journals. He was awarded the TBRI best research article in 2012. He was included in Marquis Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, 2011 and 2015 editions. He was also selected by the American Biographical Institute (ABI) to be inducted into the Professional Hall of Fame 2011 and by the International Biographical Centre (IBC) to be included in the “2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st century” 2012 edition.

Abstract:

Insulin resistance and oxidative stress are key pathophysiological mechanisms in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study was conceived to explore the effect of treatment with the insulin sensitizer, pioglitazone (PGZ) and/or the antioxidant, β-carotene (βC) on regression of NAFLD, in a rat experimental model induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) for twelve weeks. For an additional four weeks, rats were either maintained on HFD or switched to standard regular diet (RD) along with PGZ, βC alone or in combination. Serum lipid levels, liver function and antioxidant enzymes, adipocytokine markers were measured and liver injury was evaluated by histopathological examination. Liver sections of NAFLD-HFD rats revealed steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis. In addition, liver index, activities of serum liver enzymes ALT, AST, ALP, gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), LDL and VLDL were elevated (P<0.05) versus normal. This was coupled with an increase in hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) and serum leptin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-) and transforming growth factor-1 (TGF-1) and depletion (P<0.05) of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, GSH content in liver, serum HDL and adiponectin compared with normal. These changes were to a less extent in NAFLD-RD group. Treatment with PGZ and/or C almost improves all previously mentioned parameters. Moreover, PGZ+C treatment decreased hepatic steatosis and markedly ameliorated inflammation than groups treated with each drug alone. In conclusion, data in this study indicate that βC can be used as promising adjuvant therapy to PGZ in treatment of NAFLD.

Break: Networking & Refreshment Break 15:40-16:00 @ La Plaza
Speaker
Biography:

Abbah Okpachi Christopher completed degree in Biochemistry at the Kogi State University, Anyigba, Nigeria in 2003, and a Master's degree in Biochemistry (parasite biochemistry and ethnopharmacology) from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria in 2008. For his PhD, he is currently studying the efficacy and safety of extracts of Annona muricata L. (soursop) fruit pulp in animal models with experimental benign prostate hyperplasia at the Biochemistry Department of Kogi State University, Anyigba, Nigeria, where he works as Lecturer. He has over 15 papers in reputable journals to his credit. His research interests are medicinal plants, toxicology, environmental management and nanotechnology.

Abstract:

Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is becoming a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in human male adults aged 50 years and above. The study was set out to undertake phytochemical screening and proximate analysis of the pulp of A. muricata fruit - soursop; to determine the acute toxicity of the fruit pulp extract and its effect on male albino Wistar rats with concurrent induction of experimental BPH. All rats were dosed aqueous A. muricata extract orally. Tumor was induced with exogenous Testosterone propionate:Estradiol valerate at 300µg:80µg/kg b.w. respectively in olive oil as vhicle, administered subcutaneously in the inguinal region of the rats on alternate days for 21 days. Administration of the fruit pulp at graded doses up to 5000mg/kg resulted in no lethality even after 72 hours. Results from tumor studies revealed that the administration of the fruit extracts significantly (p<0.05) reduced the relative prostate weight of the Test Group compared with the Hormone Control. Treatment with vehicle, soursop and vehicle with soursop caused no significant (p>0.05) change in prostate size, compared with Test Group. Also, treatment with A. muricata fruit extract significantly decreased (p<0.05) serum prostate specific antigen in Test Group compared with Hormone Control. The preventive property of soursop against experimental BPH was corroborated by histological evidence in this study. The study concludes that A. muricata fruit holds a great potential for benign prostate tumor prevention and, possibly, management.

Speaker
Biography:

Ligong Chen has completed his PhD from University of California at Berkeley and Postdoctoral studies from UCSF School of Medicine and Pharmacy. He is the principal investigator in pharmacology and toxicology of Tsinghua University School of Medicine, a premier University in China. He has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals including Nature Genetics, PNAS, and JBC et al. He is an expert in transporter physiology and pharmacology. His lab is working on various transporters’ role in human diseases, using metabolomics, genomics and proteomics as major tools.

Abstract:

Organic cation transporter 3 (OCT3) mediates the uptake of the neurotransmitters epinephrine, norepinephrine and histamine and the neuromodulators agmatine, Cyclo (His-Pro) and salsolinol. It also plays a role in the therapeutic action of anti-diabetic drug metformin. Recent studies have identified OCT3 as a strong susceptibility gene for coronary artery disease (CAD) and prostate cancer. OCT3 exhibits a broader tissue distribution and is found relatively high-expressed in prostate,skeletal muscle,liver,adipose, yet the roles of OCT3 in adipose are largely unknown. Here,we used the pre-adipocyte 3T3-L1 to study the role of OCT3 in adipogenesis. We found that overexpression of mouse oct3 enhanced 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation, as evidenced by increased lipid accumulation by oil red o staining and elevated mRNA levels of both CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-α (C/EBPα), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ), and adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (aP2). We also uncovered two novel isoforms of human SLC22A3 gene during cloning of OCT3 from human tissues and cell lines, which lack of exon 6 and exon 6,7 respectively. Transportation capacity of MPP+ by those truncated OCT3 isoforms were significantly decreased compared with that of transfected full-length OCT3 HEK293 cells. GFP-tagged OCT3 novel isoforms revealed that truncated OCT3 retained in cytoplasm while full-length OCT3 is detected on cell plasma membrane.

Speaker
Biography:

Elisabeth Zeukoo Menkem is working in Antimicrobial Agents Unit at Laboratory for Phytobiochemistry and Medicinal Plants Studies, Department of Biochemistry in University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon.

Abstract:

Uvariodendron calophyllum is a plant of the Annonaceae family used in the treatment of microbial infections in the Centre region of Cameroon. However, little scientific evidence exists in literature on the safety of this plant. The present study was carried out to evaluate the safety of the ethanolic leaf extract of Uvariodendron Calophyllum by the acute and subacute toxicity.The acute and sub-acute toxicity study was conducted in 8 weeks old mice by using OECD 425 and OECD 407 guidelines respectively. In the acute toxicity study, mice were administered a single dose of 2000 mg/kg orally and then observed individually for the first four hours, then over a period of 24 hours and at least once daily for 14 days. In the subacute toxicity studies, ethanolic leaf extract of Uvariodendron Calophyllum (UCL EtoH) was given orally at doses of 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg body weight daily for 28 days to male and female mice respectively. General behaviour, adverse effects and mortality were observed throughout the experimental period. Food intake, water intake, body weight, organ weight, hematological and biochemical parameters, histopathological changes were evaluated.The results of acute toxicity of UCL EtoH showed LD50 value >2000 mg/kg by oral route and did not cause any mortality or signs of acute toxicity in the mice tested during the observation period. The subacute toxicity of the UCL EtoH extract revealed no major adverse reactions on the organs and the hematological parameters at the treatment doses of 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg. The oral lethal dose of ethanolic leaf extract of UCL is >2000 mg/kg and no observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of the extract for both male and female mice at 400 mg/kg per day for 28 days.

Speaker
Biography:

Lenka Varinska has completed her PhD at the age of 27 years from Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice, Slovak Republic. She is the postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Kosice, Slovak Republic. She has published more than 19 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

The tumor microenvironment is formed by both malignant and non-malignant cells as well as by extracellular matrix (ECM) components. Stromal cells located in the tumor are primarily considered as sources of promalignant factors. Toward this end, we here address the issue of testing whether ECM affects vessel growth, considering the impact of a potent effector for conversion of fibroblasts to myofibroblasts and ECM production, i.e. the adhesion/growth-regulatory galectin-1. This endogenous lectin, known for triggering diverse cellular responses such as growth modulation, invasion or motility and production of vascular endothelial growth factor-C, is here studied for its impact on the qualities of ECM to sustain proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Fibroblasts had been cultured for 10 days with the lectin, followed by removing cellular constituents after an osmotic shock. Freshly isolated HUVECs were placed on the ECM. In parallel, HUVECs were seeded on untreated and gelatin-coated surfaces as controls. A positive control for growth of HUVECs culture using medium supplemented with vascular endothelial growth factor completed the test panel. Cells were kept in contact to the substratum for two days and then processed for immunocytochemistry. HUVECs seeded on fibroblast-generated ECM presented a comparatively high degree of proliferation. Furthermore, contact to substratum produced by tumor-associated fibroblasts led to generation a meshwork especially rich in fibronectin. Galetctin-1 is apparently capable to trigger ECM production favorable for growth of HUVECs, prompting further work on characterizing structural features of the ECM and in situ correlation of lectin presence, ECM constitution and neo-angiogenesis.

Speaker
Biography:

Anil Kumar Saxena obtained his undergraduate degree from G.S.V.M. Medical College, Kanpur, India. Subsequently, he attained MD (Pharmacology) from K.G. Medical University, Lucknow, India. He worked as Research Associate, Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor at K. G. Medical University, India from 1975 to 2007. Currently he is Professor in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, IIUM, Kuantan, Malaysia. He is actively involved in teaching Undergraduate and Postgraduate students and is deeply involved in research and has published about 70 research papers in journals of repute. He is a Member of International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) and Life Member of Indian Pharmacological Society.

Abstract:

Introduction: Reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF) is associated with aging and neurodegenerative disorders. CBF-induced neurodegeneration is related with the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is fatal to neurons at high concentration. To study the neuropathological consequences of a reduced CBF, a similar condition has been created in rats by common carotid artery occlusion (2 vessel occlusion, 2VO). Since vitamin E is known to be a potent antioxidant, the present study, therefore, was designed to assess the effects of vitamin E as an antioxidant and neuroprotective agent in 2VO rat model. Materials & Methods: After acclimatization, twenty four Sprague Dawley rats weighing 200-250 g were equally divided into three groups. Group A – sham control, Group B–2VO, and Group C–2VO+E (treated daily with Vit E, 100 mg/kg, orally following 2VO). On the 8th week, all the rats were euthanized and the hippocampi were isolated. Viable neuronal cell count in the hippocampal CA-1 region was estimated. The Isoprostane F2 (Iso-F2) levels were also measured in the brain homogenates to quantify the oxidative stress levels. Results: There was significant difference in neuronal cell death in 2VO group as compared to sham group. In 2VO+E rats, the viable neuronal cell count of the hippocampal CA-1 region was significantly higher (p<0.05) as compared to the 2VO group. Moreover, Iso-F2 levels in 2VO group was significantly higher (p<0.05) as compared to 2VO+E group, implying high oxidative stress in 2VO group and reduction of oxidative stress levels in 2VO+E group. Conclusion: This study clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of Vit E as a neuroprotective and antioxidant agent in chronic cerebral hypoperfusion induced-neurodegeneration in rats.

Speaker
Biography:

A J Halim is currently Professor of Pediatrics at Lincoln University College, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia and is a Consultant Pediatrician at KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital, 24. He was formerly Director of the Reproductive Research Centre, the National Population and Family Development Board. He is currently active in research on fetal precursor stem cells since 2006 and on the use of eco-ultrafiltrates for treatment of genetic and chromosomal abnormalities in children. He is currently senior medical consultant/scientist to Fetal Cell Technologies International and is the author of 4 books on child health and 3 books on live cell therapy.

Abstract:

Tissue extracts (placenta, bones) have been used from 5000 years ago in China for revitalization and rejuvenation. The latest in molecular technology, traditional ultrafiltrates have been produced in Germany since 1940s. Extracts of tissues and cells were obtained by hot processes and filtered to yield proteins and peptides. The very successful treatment of an 8 year old girl who sustained deep burns to the upper right side of her body and face following a petroleum stove explosion. Some 40 years ago practically gave impetus to the research and development of eco-ultrafiltrates. Thereafter cell extracts of other organs have been manufactured all derived from closed colony animals such as rabbits. These organ and system-specific eco-ultrafiltrates, all derived from closed colony animals such as rabbits are now manufactured by cold enzymatic process and filtered to yield nano dimensional peptides < 3 nanometer and of molecular weight <10,000 daltons. These peptides, the building blocks for corresponding organs and tissues are easily absorbed by the mucosal layer of the mouth and will penetrate the skin, the pores of which are 50-100 nanometers in size. Optimum effectiveness of fetal precursor stem cells is bound in the whole cell. Though eco-ultrafiltrates are not as potent as fetal precursor stem cells, they complement the effects. Even when used by themselves the results are sometimes remarkable. The range and therapeutic use of eco- ultrafiltrates such as in diabetes type II, in anti aging and as a complement to the protocol of live cell therapy for currently untreatable medical disorders will be highlighted and discussed.

Speaker
Biography:

Daishun Ling is currently working as a Professor in College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, PRC. He did his Ph.D. during 2009-2013 in School of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Seoul National University. He is a Senior Researcher at Center for Nanoparticle Research, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), ROK.

Abstract:

Nanotechnology has received extraordinary attention recently due to its burgeoning role in pharmaceutical research. The materials composing the nanoparticles produce fascinating and diverse functionalities as a result of their exceptionally small size. Size control, both during synthesis and in particle suspensions, is a sine qua non for functionality. This can be accomplished by masking the particle surface with a multitude of different ligands. Ligands are essentially fungible and can be exchanged at various times to confer the desired properties to the particle. This can include protecting the particle from harsh aqueous conditions, such as pH extremes, maximizing optical properties for diagnostics or shielding the particle from potentially hostile conditions found in the body. The design of the ligand can have crucial effects on bio-distribution as well as evasion of biological defenses. Ligands can even be designed to provide new functionality in response to various environmental stimuli to improve their therapeutic or diagnostic capabilities. Clever combination of different nanoscale materials via ligand directed self-assembly will lead to the development of multifunctional nano-biomedical platforms for advanced drug delivery system such as simultaneous targeted delivery, fast diagnosis, and efficient therapy.

Ahmad Nazrun Shuid

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

Title: Targeted deliveries of Tocotrienol and Statin accelerate healing of osteoporotic fracture

Time : 16:40-17:00 PM

Speaker
Biography:

Dr Ahmad Nazrun Shuid is a Professor of Pharmacology at the Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Medicine UKM (University Kebangsaan Malaysia). He graduated with a medical degree from Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1997 and completed his PhD in UKM in 2005. Currently, he is a lecturer and researcher at UKM. He is a member of the Bone Metabolism Research Group with interest on the use of natural product for treatment of osteoporosis and study on drug delivery to bone.

Abstract:

Combination of oral tocotrienol and oral statin has been shown to be effective in the prevention of osteoporosis. In this study, tocotrienol and statin were combined with their carriers and delivered directly to the fracture site (controlled drug delivery system) of osteoporosis fracture model. Forty-eight Sprague-Dawley female rats were divided into 6 groups. The first group was sham-operated (SO), while the others were ovariectomized. After two months, the right tibiae of all rats were fractured at proximal upper third area and fixed with plates and screws. The SO and ovariectomized-control rats (OVxC) were given two single injections of carriers. The estrogen group (OVx+ERT) was given daily oral gavages of Premarin®. The Lovastatin treatment group (OVx + Lov) was given a single injection of lovastatin particles. The tocotrienol group (OVx + TT) was given a single injection of tocotrienol particles. The combination treatment group (OVx+ Lov+ TT) was given two single injections of lovastatin particles and tocotrienol particles. After 4 weeks of treatment, the fractured tibiae were dissected out for micro-CT and biomechanical assessments. Only combined treatment group (OVx+ Lov+ TT) showed significantly better callous structure but all treatment groups showed better callous strength than OVxC group. In conclusion, combined lovastatin and tocotrienol may promote better fracture healing of osteoporotic bone.

Speaker
Biography:

Huda G Hameed has completed her MSc at the age of 29 years from Al mustansiriya University College of medicine, Iraq. She has published one paper in Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal.

Abstract:

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) inhibit the growth of several cancer cell lines. The aim of this study is to compare the cytotoxic effect of aspirin with diclofenac on the growth of HeLa cell, mammary cell carcinoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and fibroblast cell lines in the culture media. The cells are cultured in RPMI-1640 culture media supplemented with 5% fetal calf serum and antibiotics. Aspirin (5 mg/well) and diclofenac (0.625 mg/well) significantly inhibit the growth of HeLa, rhabdomyosarcoma and fibroblast cells. The cytotoxic effect of aspirin against rhabdomyosarcoma is significantly (p < 0.001) higher than that of diclofenac with a potency approximated 2.6. It concludes that aspirin and diclofenac inhibit the growth of fibroblast and cancer cell by inhibiting the up-regulation of cyclooxygenases enzymes in cancer cells. Aspirin is more effective than diclofenac against the growth of rhabdomyosarcoma cell line.

Speaker
Biography:

Mr. Muhammad Imran Khan has completed his PhD at the age of 34 years from The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. During his PhD research, he has been awarded 6 month research grant for Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki. He is assistant professor in subject of Pharmaceutics at department of Pharmacy, Akhtar Saeed Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan. He has published 10 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

Niosomes have potential to act as a drug carrier with improved solubility and dissolution profile and, hence, enhanced bioavailability. In this study, the feasibility of less utilized ultrasonic processor (UP) technique for niosome production was evaluated as an alternative green preparation method instead of thin film hydration (TFH) process. Also effect of different surfactant systems on niosomes’ characteristics were analyzed with diacerein as a model drug. The studied surfactant systems were Span 20, Pluronic L64 and their mixture (Span 20 and Pluronic L64). Niosomes were prepared using both the TFH technique, which involves organic solvents i.e. chloroform and methanol, and the UP technique. Both the production techniques produced well defined spherical vesicles, while the UP technique produced smaller and more monodisperse niosomes than TFH. The entrapment efficiencies with the UP method were little lower than with TFH, but still at a feasible level. All the niosomal formulations released diacerein faster than the dissolution of pure drug, and the drug release rates from the niosomes produced by the UP method were higher than from the TFH produced niosomes. With UP technique the optimum process conditions for small niosomal products with low PDI values and high entrapment efficiencies were obtained when 70% amplitude and 45 minutes sonication time were used. The overall results demonstrated the potency of UP technique as an alternative fast, cost-effective and green preparation approach for niosome production.

Speaker
Biography:

Deepak S Mohale completed his PhD from PRIST University, Vallam Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India. Deepak S Mohale published 27 research and review articles in reputed journals. Deepak S Mohale presented research paper in international conference at Dubai for that he have received international travel grant from Indian Council of Medical Research, Delhi, India. He is serving as Editorial Board Member for Reputed journals. He has nearly about 9 years of teaching experience in the mean while guided 9 Post graduate students and guiding 2 Post graduate students, also guided 34 undergraduate students.

Abstract:

Present work demonstrates the applicability of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV-Vis detection for the quantification of malondialdehyde as malondialdehyde-thiobarbituric acid complex (MDA-TBA) in-vivo in rats. The HPLC method for MDA-TBA was achieved by isocratic mode on a reverse-phase C18 column (250 mm×4.6 mm) at a flow rate of 1.0 mLmin−1 followed by detection at 532 nm. The chromatographic conditions were optimized by varying the concentration and pH of water followed by changes in percentage of organic phase optimal mobile phase consisted of mixture of water (0.2% triethylamine pH adjusted to 2.3 by ortho-phosphoric acid) and acetonitrile in ratio (80:20 v/v). The retention time of MDA-TBA complex was 3.7 min. The developed method was sensitive as limit of detection and quantification (LOD and LOQ) for MDA-TBA complex were (standard deviation and slope of calibration curve) 110 ng/ml and 363 ng/ml respectively. Calibration studies were done by spiking MDA into rat plasma at concentrations ranging from 500 to 1000 ng/ml. The precision of developed method measured in terms of relative standard deviations for intra-day and inter-day studies was 1.6–5.0% and 1.9–3.6% respectively. The HPLC method was applied for monitoring MDA levels in rats subjected to chronic treatment of levofloxacin (LEV) (5 mg/kg/day) for 21 days. Results were compared by findings in control group rats. Mean peak areas of both study groups was subjected for statistical treatment to unpaired student t-test to find p-values. The p value was <0.001 indicating significant results and suggesting increased MDA levels in rats subjected to chronic treatment of LEV of 21 days.

Speaker
Biography:

Nasrin Takzaree is working as an Assistant professor in Anatomy Department, School of Medicine at Tehran University of Medical Sciences ,Tehran, Iran.

Abstract:

Accelerating wound healing is now considered as a principle clinical treatment and increasing the quality and speed of healing which has always been emphasized by the scientists. Propolis and honey are natural bee products with wide range of biological and medicinal properties. This study was aimed to determine the synergistic effect of honey and propolis in wound healing of rat skin. 75 Wistar rats weighing 200 -250 gr were placed under general anesthesia and sterile conditions. Then a square shape wound with 1.5×1.5 mm dimension was made on the back of the neck. Animals were randomly divided into control, honey, propolis, combined honey propolis and phenytoin 1% groups, respectively. Rats were randomly divided into the following groups: 4th, 7th and, 14th days of treatment in each period of study. Wound area in the experimental group were covered once daily with a fixed amount of thyme honey, propolis, propolis and honey and phenytoin cream (1%), control group did not receive any treatment. For histological studies, during the fourth, seventh and fourteenth day’s rats were sacrificed and samples were taken from the wound and adjacent skin. After histological staining fibroblast, neutrophils, macrophages and vascular sections were counted in wound bed. The macroscopic and microscopic evaluations showed that the percentage of wound healing on different days in the experimental and control groups were significant (p< 0.05). The macroscopic and microscopic evaluation showed that the percentage of wound healing on different days in combined propolis and honey experimental group was significantly different with the control group (Multivariate ANOVA test) (p <0.05). Combined application of propolis and honey on the open wound healing in rats has a synergistic effect.

Harun Rashid

Huazhong Agricultural University,College of Plant Science and Technology, P.R China

Title: Total polyphenols and DPPH free radicals scavenging activity of Six leafy vegetables of Bangladesh
Speaker
Biography:

Harun Ar Rashid has completed his bachelor from Khulna University ,Bangladesh and has been awarded the Chinese goverment scholarship and studing mastars in the Huazhong Agricultural University. Now he is working in the molecular cytogenetics lab under the key laboratory of crop genetic and improvement Wuhan,China. He has published a article in the international journals and try to publish more article in the reputated journals.

Abstract:

Total Polyphenols and DPPH Free Radicals Scavenging Activity of Six Leafy Vegetables of Bangladesh: Vegetables are the most important sources of essential bioactive compounds providing health benefits.It is also cheap and available in most of the country. To seek out the potential cheap sources of dietary bioactive compounds, ethanol extracts of six commonly consumed Bangladeshi leafy vegetables were screened for polyphenols and DPPH free radical scavenging activity. Among the extracts, Lagenaria siceraria showed the highest total polyphenol content (21.45 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g extract), followed by Basella alba (15.51 mg GAE/g) and Coriander sativum (14.37 mg GAE/g) whereas Centella asiatica showed the lowest polyphenol content (9.62 mg GAE/g extract), aftreward Chenopodum album (12.93 mg GAE/g) and Pisum sativum (13.17 mg GAE/g). Pisum sativum showed the most potent DPPH free radical scavenging activity with an IC50 76.64 μg/ml subsequently Lagenaria siceraria 123.78 μg/ml. From the given results it can be concluded that Pisum sativum followed by Lagenaria siceraria are most potential sources of antioxidants among the six leafy vegetables.

Speaker
Biography:

Dr. Neeraj Mishra is working as Associate Professor in Department of Pharmaceutics at ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga (Punjab) since July 2012. He has completed his B. Pharm (2000), M. Pharm (2003) and Ph.D. (2011) in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. H.S. Gour Central University, Sagar (M.P.). He was qualified in National Level Test GATE conducted by IIT, Kanpur in 2001. He is having 12.5 years teaching experience at post graduate and under graduate level. He is also having four years of research experience in Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. H.S. Gour Central University, Sagar (M.P.). (2006-2010). He is also having one year of industry experience as production chemist in Symbiotec Pvt. Ltd., Indore (2000-2001). He was recipient of ICMR- SRF (New Delhi, India) during his Ph.D. tenure. He has also filed two Indian patents. He is having 38 International and 14 National Publication typically in recent concept of novel drug delivery system, particularly in vaccine delivery and drug targeting. He is also written 4 book chapter in national and International publisher (Nova Science Publishers). He is having membership of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association (Life Time membership). He also guided 17 students for their M. Pharm project work. He has published book on Impurity profiling of a new drug entity: Experimental Insights by Lambert Academic Publishing House, Germany (2014).

Abstract:

The liver diseases such as viral hepatitis, liver cirrhosis,and hepatotoxicity need immediate attention to sustain life and as a result are often exposed to the prolonged treatment with drugs/herbal medications. The ligand decorated nanoparticles play important roles to the specific target drug delivery to the liver sites. Glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) conjugated to the PLGA for effective liver targeting.Preparation of surface modified Embelin loaded GA-PEG-PLGA nanoparticles for specific drug delivery. Surface modified Embelin loaded GA-PEG-PLGA NPs were prepared using nanoprecipitation method and conjugation of GA-PEG-PLGA was attained through hemisuccinate chemistry. These nanoparticles were evaluated by NMR, FTIR, TEM techniques and in vitro release tudies. These surface modified nanoparticles were further evaluated for its targeting mechanism for uptake in liver cells line (Hep G2), liver enzymes and biodistribution studies in liver respectively. The biodistribution of the nanoparticles was assessed by High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and the cellular uptake study was evaluated using Hep G2 cells (liver cells lines). The hepatoprotecttive effect of the Embelin-loaded nanoparticles (GA-PEG-PLGA) was also investigated in-vitro and in-vivo. The surface modified Embelin loaded GA-PEG-PLGA nanoparticles significantly increases the uptake of drug in liver by 2.5 folds more than plain drug. So it can be attributed that Glycyrrhetinic acid has the ligand properties for the receptors presents in the liver, so can be used for liver targeting, as well as it is efficient against hepatotoxicity.

Speaker
Biography:

Shrirao A V has completed his MPharmacy from NMIMS University, Mumbai. He has completed his dissertation work in the field of BABE. He has an experience of 1.5 years in Clinical R & D, Cadila Healthcare Ltd., mumbai. Currently, he is working as Assistant Professor at P Wadhwani College of Pharmacy, Yavatmal. Three students have completed MPharm under his guidance and supervision. Currently, two students of MPharm are completing dissertation work under his supervision.

Abstract:

The flower extract of Butea monosperma herb has been used traditionally in India for medicinal purposes. The plant has been reported to treat hyperglycemia and associated hyperlipidemia. Hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress are known to accelerate coronary artery disease and progression of atherosclerotic lesions. The present work was undertaken to investigate the possible antihyperlipidemic and antioxidative effect of Butea monosperma flowers on hyperlipidemic rats. Hyperlipidemia was induced in rats by a single intraperitonial (i.p.) injection of Triton WR 1339 (400 mg/kg) and it showed sustained elevated levels of serum cholesterol and triglyceride. Ethanolic extract of Butea monosperma flowers (Et-BM) (250 and 500 mg/kg/day) was administered to normal and hyperlipidemic rats for 14 days. Serum and liver tissue were analyzed at three different time intervals for lipid profile and antioxidants enzymes and the activity were compared to the cholesterol-lowering drug, Atorvastatin (10 mg/kg). Parameters were altered during hyperlipidemia and reverted back to near normal values after Et-BM treatment or standard drug Atorvastatin. Lipid peroxidation decreased whereas the activities of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase increased in Et-BM treated rats. Pronounced changes were observed at 500 mg/kg of Et-BM for 2 weeks and it was comparable to the standard drug Atorvastatin. The current study provides strong evidence that Et-BM has a remarkable beneficial effect in treating hyperlipidemia and ROS without any side effects at the dosage and duration studied.

Speaker
Biography:

Ouahab Ammar has completed his PhD from China Pharmaceutical University. He is an Assistant Professor in the department of Pharmacy at Batna University. He has succefully developped a novel oral delivery system of indomethacin for Roche hoffman when he was a master student. He has been active in research on new smart drug delivery systems and has published 12 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

It is somehow easy to understand why it is still so controversial the mechanisms of cellular uptake of cell-penetrating peptides (CPP). Although there is evidence that these peptides are capable of directly crossing the plasma membrane without any intermediate step, still several researchers claim that endocytosis is an intermediate step required for entry into the cells. It is well known that ionic interactions play a critical role for the binding to the plasma membrane and translocation of CPPs. A simulation of the interaction between arginine-glycine (RG)5 and histidine-glutamic acid (HE)5, as well as with DOPC of the lipid bilayer was conducted in order to calculate the free binding energy. The results supported the data obtained in the in vitro release, cell uptake and cytotoxicity studies. The absolute value of binding energy of (RG)5 with (HE)5 was the highest, however a decrease in the pH was found to diminish this strong bond. Interestingly, the conjugation of (RG)5 to PEG-PLA copolymer increased the binding energy to DOPC. In summary, the peptides tend to interact with the cell membrane which facilitates the uptake in an energy and receptor independent manner as postulated by many researchers.

Speaker
Biography:

Alok Shiomurti Tripathi has submitted his PhD from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Jharkhand, India. He has published 29 research and review articles in reputed journals and also have two chapters in Elsevier publication. He has presented research paper in international conference at Japan & Dubai for that he has received international travel grant from ICMR & DST, Delhi, India. He has nearly about 7 years of teaching experience in the mean while guided 8 Post graduate students and guiding 2 Post graduate students.

Abstract:

The present study evaluates the possible drug interaction between glimepiride (GLIM) and sildenafil citrate (SIL) in streptozotocin (STZ) induced in diabetic nephropathic (DN) animals and also postulates the possible mechanism of interaction by molecular modeling studies. Diabetic nephropathy was induced by single dose of STZ (60 mg/kg, ip) and confirms it by assessing the blood and urine biochemical parameters on 28th day of its induction. Selected DN animals were used for the drug interaction between GLIM (0.5 mg/kg, p.o.) and SIL (2.5 mg/kg, p.o.) after 29th and 70th day of protocol. Drug interaction was assessed by evaluating the plasma drug concentration using HPLC-UV and also determines the change in the biochemical parameter in blood and urine. Mechanism of the interaction was postulated by molecular modeling study using Maestro module of Schrodinger software. DN was confirmed as there was significant alteration in the blood and urine biochemical parameter in STZ treated groups. The concentration of SIL increased significantly (p<0.001) in rat plasma when co administered with GLIM after 70th day of protocol. Molecular modeling study revealed few important interactions with rat serum albumin and CYP2C9.GLIM has strong hydrophobic interaction with binding site residues of rat serum albumin compared to SIL. Whereas, for CYP2C9, GLIM has strong hydrogen bond with polar contacts and hydrophobic interactions than SIL. Present study concludes that bioavailability of SIL increases when co-administered chronically with GLIM in the management of DN animals and mechanism has been supported by molecular modeling studies.

Govind shukla

Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, India

Title: Natural remedies: The futuristic therapy for antibiotic resistant superbugs
Speaker
Biography:

Govind Shukla is a Research Scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad, India.

Abstract:

Imagine being sick in the hospital with a bacterial infection and doctors can't stop it from spreading. This so-called "superbug" scenario is not science fiction. It's an urgent, worldwide worry that is prompting swift action. Antibiotic-resistant illnesses currently kill an estimated 700,000 people a year globally. By 2050, these illnesses are expected to kill 10 million people. Based on recent research, it could be even worse—and coming even sooner. Ancient remedies, including essential oils and their components, have been explored as a source of new antimicrobials. Many are known to possess significant antimicrobial activity against a wide range of microorganisms. Additionally, combination of existing drugs with essential oils and/or components may provide an alternative approach to combat emerging drug resistance. Since antibiotic resistance is currently outpacing research and development to find new drugs, humanity is facing a return to the ‘pre-antibiotic era’. Perhaps the remedies of the past combined with scientific study may provide the antibiotics of tomorrow. The present paper emphasized the role of Natural Remedies for Antibiotic Resistant superbugs.

Speaker
Biography:

Nazia Hoque is a PhD student of Centre of Natural Product Research, Department of Pharmacy, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has completed her MS in Pharmaceutical science and B. Pharm from the same institution. She is now working as a senior Lecturer in the Department of Pharmacy, East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Abstract:

The objective of the study was to evaluate the presence of different phytoconstituents and investigate in vitro bioactivities of pet ether extract, chloroform extract and methanol extract of Thysanolyna maxima available in Bangladesh. Phytochemical screening was conducted using specific standard procedure. Antioxidant activity of the extracts was evaluated using DPPH radical scavenging assay, determination of total phenolic content, determination of total flavonoid content and reducing power assay. Antibacterial and cytotoxic activities were investigated using disc diffusion method and brine shrimp lethality bioassay respectively. The methanol extract of T. maxima showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity and highest phenolic content (IC50 value for DPPH is 37.76μg/ml and total phenolic content is 74.39±2.87 in mg/g, Gallic acid equivalents) compared to the pet ether and chloroform extract. On the other hand, chloroform extract possess maximum flavonoid content (81±7.542 in mg/g, Quercetin equivalents) and highest reducing power compare to other extracts. In antibacterial study, all the extracts showed mild to moderate activity against 5 gram positive and 6 gram negative bacteria with zone of inhibition ranging from 7 mm to 15 mm. In Brine shrimp lethality bioassay, the LC50 values for pet ether, chloroform and methanol extract were 1351.9μg/ml, 975.6μg/ml and 1136.74μg/ml respectively which revealed very weak cytotoxic potential of the extracts. The results indicate that T. maxima could be a very potent source of natural radical scavenger and antimicrobial agents. Further studies are needed to be conducted to identify the compounds responsible for producing such bioactivities.

Speaker
Biography:

Otun K.O. has completed his MSc at the age of 22 and he is currently serving as an assistant lecturer in the department of chemistry, Kwara State University, Nigeria. He specialized in medicinal/organic chemistry and he has more than five publications to his credits.

Abstract:

The search for effective drugs to treat HIV/AIDS has been the major task of most researchers since several years of its discovery. Most synthetic drugs such as Efavirenz, Tenofovir, Emtricibatine among others are employed in the antiretroviral treatment which have dangerous effects on patients. Thus, herbal medicine can be used as an alternative source of treatment for HIV positive patients as they exhibit little or no side effects when compared to synthetic drugs. This research work sought to examine whether plant diterpene lactones isolated from Andrographis paniculata exhibit anti-HIV activity using molecular docking studies. The HIV-1 env gp120 was docked by two diterpene lactones namely; andrographolide and neoandrographolide using docking tool (igemdock v2.1) after retrieving protein structure from Protein Data Bank (PDB). The result indicates that neoandrographolide is a more promising drug against HIV-1 than andrographolide due to its low interaction energy for the formation of ligand-receptor complex.

G Poovi

Mother Theresa Post Graduate and Research Institute of Health Sciences, India

Title: Challenges and advances in solid lipid nanoparticle drug delivery systems
Speaker
Biography:

G Poovi is currently working as Asst. Professor, Department of Pharmaceutics in College of Pharmacy, Mother Theresa Post Graduate and Research Institute of Health Sciences, (A Govt. of Puducherry Institution), Puducherry, India. She has 6 years of academic and research experience in the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Her current areas of interest for research are formulation and development of novel and conventional pharmaceutical products, nanomedicine and novel drug delivery systems. She has guided 16 B. Pharm and 3 M. Pharm graduate students in various projects. She has published 17 research paper and 2 review paper in reputed national and international journals along with 18 presentations in national and international Conferences/ Seminar. She served as the Recruit committee member of Vector Control Research Centre, Indian Council of Medical Research, Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India, and Puducherry, India.

Abstract:

In recent decades, a variety of pharmaceutical research projects have been conducted to develop new dosage forms, but the field of drug development experiences very low success rates with regards to drugs that enter the market, also it has become more and more evident that the development of new drugs alone is not sufficient to ensure progress in drug therapy. Exciting experimental data obtained in vitro are very often followed by disappointing results in vivo. Main reasons for the therapeutic failure include poor drug solubility leading to lowered bioavailability, insufficient drug concentration, high fluctuation of drug plasma levels, toxicity of the therapeutic compounds and thus reduced efficacy. Various approaches have been explored to address these challenges with little success. Scientific community believe that nanotechnology based drug delivery system offers new ways to address residual scientific concerns for the treatment of many diseases. In nanotechnology based drug delivery system, the Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLNs) are a new form of interesting nanoparticulate or lipid based drug delivery carriers in addition to the more conventional ones such as liposomes, lipid emulsions and polymeric nanoparticles. The potential advantages include: the possibility of controlled, sustained or prolonged drug release and drug targeting, increased drug stability, high drug payload, non - biotoxicity of the carriers, avoidance of organic solvents, suitability for large scale production and sterilization. Moreover, SLN promotes the oral absorption of poorly water soluble lipophilic drugs and enhances the bioavailability. The addition of PEGylation molecules prevents immune-protein adsorption and minimizes phagocytic uptake by macrophages, thus increasing blood plasma circulation time. An additional advantage involves the production of SLN in a powder form, which may be loaded into pellets, capsules or tablets for further enhancement of drug delivery.

Speaker
Biography:

Narhari Das is currently working as Faculty of Pharmacy in Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology at University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Abstract:

Objective: To evaluate acute and sub-acute toxicity of methanol extract of Terminalia citrina leaves belonging to Combretaceae family in Sprague Dawley rats. Methods: The acute toxicity studies were conducted where the limit test dose of 3200 mg/kg body weight used. Observations were made and recorded systemically on 1, 2, 4, 24 and 48 h after dose administration for behavior, breathing, cutaneous effects, sensory nervous system response or gastrointestinal effects. For the sub-acute toxicity, four groups of 10 female rats were received; distilled water (control), 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg of extracts respectively every 24 h orally for 28 days. Results: No significant variation in the body and organ weights between the control and the treated group was observed after 28 days of treatment. Haematological analysis and biochemical parameters revealed no toxic effects of the extract. Pathologically, neither gross abnormalities nor histopathological changes were observed. No mortality was recorded in 28 days. Conclusions: It was safer and non toxic to rats even at higher doses and therefore could be well considered for further investigation for its medicinal and therapeutic efficacy.

Speaker
Biography:

Mitali Shrimanker is presently working as an Assistant Professor in Department of Pharmacognosy at Saraswati Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, India with an experience of 5.5 years. Also published papers in various journals and attended conferences.

Abstract:

Diabetes mellitus is interminable metabolic issue that influence human body as far as physical, mental and social wellbeing. It is characterized as a gathering of clutters lipids, starches and proteins. It is turning into the third "executioner" of the soundness of humanity alongside malignancy, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular ailments. As we travel through life, the extent of each of the three doshas continually varies as indicated by your surroundings, our eating regimen, the seasons, the atmosphere, our age, and numerous different elements. As they move into and out of parity, the doshas can influence your wellbeing, vitality level, and general temperament. Gymnema sylvestre is a woody, climbing plant of tropical backwoods of focal and southern India and in parts of Africa. Costus igneus normally known as blazing costus, Step stepping stool or Spiral banner or Insulin plant, is local to South and Central America. Both the arrangement is utilized as a part of to diabetes. This research separate both the anti-diabetic plant by their pharmacognostic mean. Both the plants were studied for Morphological, Microscopically evaluation for leaf and stem part showed their inner cellular structure differed from each other. Physical evaluation includes ash value, extractive value, pH, Moisture content showed the quality of both the drug were upto the standard. Preliminary phytochemical examination through the chemical tests explains about the chemical nature of the plants and also explains the correlation between the chemical moiety and their pharmacological activity. TLC and HPTLC showed the quality and the quantity of the active compounds which are actively involved into the activity. Oxidation also one of the cause for the diabetes. Antioxidant activity of both the plants was studied through the in-vitro models; DPPH model, Ferric reducing model and H2O2 which showed the good oxygen scavenging activity of both plants said Gymnema sylvestre and Costus igneus.

Speaker
Biography:

Muhammad Imran Khan has completed his PhD at the age of 34 years from The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. During his PhD research, he has been awarded 6 month research grant for Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki. He is assistant professor in subject of Pharmaceutics at department of Pharmacy, Akhtar Saeed Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan. He has published 10 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

Niosomes have potential to act as a drug carrier with improved solubility and dissolution profile and, hence, enhanced bioavailability. In this study, the feasibility of less utilized ultrasonic processor (UP) technique for niosome production was evaluated as an alternative green preparation method instead of thin film hydration (TFH) process. Also effect of different surfactant systems on niosomes’ characteristics were analyzed with diacerein as a model drug. The studied surfactant systems were Span 20, Pluronic L64 and their mixture (Span 20 and Pluronic L64). Niosomes were prepared using both the TFH technique, which involves organic solvents i.e. chloroform and methanol, and the UP technique. Both the production techniques produced well defined spherical vesicles, while the UP technique produced smaller and more monodisperse niosomes than TFH. The entrapment efficiencies with the UP method were little lower than with TFH, but still at a feasible level. All the niosomal formulations released diacerein faster than the dissolution of pure drug, and the drug release rates from the niosomes produced by the UP method were higher than from the TFH produced niosomes. With UP technique the optimum process conditions for small niosomal products with low PDI values and high entrapment efficiencies were obtained when 70% amplitude and 45 minutes sonication time were used. The overall results demonstrated the potency of UP technique as an alternative fast, cost-effective and green preparation approach for niosome production.

  • Track 13 & 14: Clinical Pharmacy, Hospital Pharmacy
    Track 1, 2 & 15: Regulatory Affairs, Pharma Compliance, World Pharmaceutical Market
Speaker

Chair

Abdelmoneim Ismail Awad

Kuwait University, Kuwait

Speaker

Co-Chair

Aref Alabed

International Medical Training Academy Limited, UK

Session Introduction

Young-Ger Suh

Seoul National University, Korea

Title: Development of novel antiangiogenic agents for the treatment of retinal neovascularization

Time : 10:00-10:30 AM

Speaker
Biography:

Young-Ger Suh is a Professor of College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Korea. He graduated from Seoul National University with a B.S. degree in Pharmacy in 1975 and received Ph.D. degree from University of Pittsburgh in 1987. Currently, he is a President of Korean Society of Organic Synthesis, a full member of The Korean Academy of Science and Technology, a Fellow of Asian Federation for Medicinal Chemistry, and a Vice President of The Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies. He has published more than 150 papers in reputed journals and presented more than 200 papers at Scientific Meetings.

Abstract:

Hypoxia is a special feature occurring in vascular diseases and induces the transcriptional genes involved in glycolysis, haematopoiesis, invasion and angiogenesis. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), which is a key mediator of angiogenesis, is overexpressed under hypoxic condition and transcripts various genes. Our initial studies confirmed that deguelin, a rotenoid, disrupts ATP binding to hsp90 and consequently induces destabilization of HIF-1α. We have identified novel hsp90 inhibitors through the SAR studies including structure truncation of deguelin. The new hsp90 inhibitors exhibited excellent antiproliferative and antiangiogenic activities, which are applicable for treatment of the angiogenesis-related ocular diseases. In particular, two representative hsp90 inhibitors exhibited suppression of hypoxia-mediated retinal neovascularization and vascular leakage in diabetic retina. They effectively suppressed expression of target genes of HIF-1α including vegfa in the retina of oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) mice, but do not induce definite toxicity. We will report our recent progress on the development of antiangiogenic agent with detailed discussions.

Speaker
Biography:

Mervat El-Borhamy has completed her MD at the age of 32 years from Faculty of Medicine, Ain-Shams University and postdoctoral studies from Faculty of Medicine, Ain-Shams University. She is the head of Microbiology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Misr International University. She has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an Infection Control and Clinical Microbiology Consultant in International Medical Center, Cairo.

Abstract:

Antimicrobial stewardship is a multidisciplinary development of evidence-based practice guidelines incorporating local microbiology data and resistance patterns to improve antimicrobial utilization. The objective of the speech is to emphasize on the following crucial points: abuse of antibiotics and development of multidrug resistant bacteria (MDR) versus rational use of antibiotics, statistical data on MDR and how do we get started to implement local antibiotic policy, restricted antibiotic policy, recommendations to improve antimicrobial stewardship and recommendations to minimize the development of MDR.

Christina Yuen Ki Leung

University of Hong Kong, China

Title: Advanced clinical pharmacy system in a reformed hospital in China

Time : 11:40-12:00 Noon

Speaker
Biography:

Christina Leung completed two Bachelor degrees in England, Management Sciences degree followed by the Pharmacy degree at the University of Nottingham. Following the registration as a pharmacist, she had worked in different London Teaching Hospitals. In the last 12 years, she has specialised in Paediatrics (especially in PICU and Paediatric Liver), Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She published two articles in the UK magazine relating to drugs use in paediatric liver diseases. Ms Leung is a registered pharmacist in HK and she is currently working as the Senior Pharmacist (Clinical Pharmacy Service) at the HKU-SZH in China. She is also the Honorary Lecturer at the University of Hong Kong. She delivers lectures to the Master and Undergraduate Pharmacy students relating to Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Abstract:

HKU-SZH has adopted the good pharmacy practices from the West and has implemented an advanced clinical pharmacy system within Pharmacy Department. We hope to use near-patients and near-doctors approach to provide high quality of clinical pharmacy service to patients and the healthcare professionals to ensure safe and effective of drugs use. The clinical pharmacists join the doctor-led ward rounds regularly on selected clinical areas such as ICU and NICU. For all newly admitted in-patients, the clinical pharmacists take drug histories and carry out medication reconciliation, and the information is recorded in the electronic prescribing system. They also check all the in-patient prescriptions for clinical appropriateness using approved and updated reference sources. In addition, pharmacists involve actively in the warfarin patient counselling service and stroke clinical pathway patient care contributions on the wards. Since early 2015, clinical pharmacists have participated in the smoking cessation clinic, paediatric and adult respiratory out-patient clinics, diabetic clinic to provide patient counselling services. In addition, clinical pharmacists play a role in the cardiac rehabilitation centre to deliver cardiac drugs educational talk. Furthermore, clinical pharmacists have delivered talks to patients regarding drugs use for smoking cessation, safe use of insulin injections, effective use of inhalation devices, and medication safety in children such as use of oral syringes and tablet cutter in the out-patient forum. All these quality improvement plans are to enhance medication safety and optimistation of drugs. Clinical pharmacists in China find this experience rewarding and we think this cannot be achieved without an effective multi-disciplinary teamwork.

Speaker
Biography:

Abdelmoneim Awad has completed his Ph. D at the age of 31 years from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. He is a Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kuwait University. He has published 40 peer-review papers and presented 35 abstracts in international conferences, and serving as an editorial board member of reputed journals. Scopus citation overview of his indexed publications in April 2016 is h-Index (12) and total citations (406). Prof Awad is a reviewer of 24 professional journals. He is a member of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, Gulf College of Clinical Pharmacy, and the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy.

Abstract:

Identification of individuals with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and those who are at risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) is vital to delay or even prevent the development of T2D and modify the CHD risk levels. The present study was designed to determine the prevalence of MetS, and to estimate the 10-year risk for developing T2D and CHD among the general population in Kuwait. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was undertaken in 1800 individuals without diabetes or a history of cardiovascular disease. The questionnaire was developed using the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score, Framingham Risk Score and the 2009 Joint Statement criteria for diagnosis of MetS as a framework. The response rate was 89.4%. Sixty one percent of responders were either overweight or obese. Twelve percent had BP ≥ 140/90 mm Hg. Twenty eight percent had fasting plasma glucose levels ≥ 5.6 mmol/l, of whom 86.0 % and 14.0% had impaired fasting glucose and screen detected T2D, respectively. MetS was present in 31.8%. Almost 30% were at moderate, high, or very high risk of developing T2D, while 17.6% were at moderate/high risk of developing CHD. Almost 9% were at moderate/high/very high risk of developing both T2D/CHD. T2D risk was higher for females compared to males (p < 0.001); however, the pattern was reversed in terms of the risk of developing CHD or T2D/CHD. The risk of developing T2D, CHD, or T2D/CHD was greater among those aged ≥ 45 years, and those having MetS (p<0.001). The current findings highlight the need for multifaceted interventions for prevention.

Speaker
Biography:

Namrata Singh graduated as a MBBS in 1996 and got trained as a pediatrician from one of the premium hospitals in India, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. She has a rich clinical experience of handling patients, patients’ data and contributing to research. She has been working as a medical writer for 8 years in different roles as an employee, as freelancer and currently as head of a team of medical writers at Turacoz Healthcare Solutions. Being on both sides of the table makes her an expert on the requirements of both authors and journals. She has written for all major therapies and provided support for all publication documents like original research, review, case reports, case series, systematic reviews and meta-analysis.

Abstract:

Background: Disclosure and publishing of results is critical for advancement of science whether the trial results are positive or negative. The disclosures are important because they are the legal requirements, ethical responsibilities, industry commitments, impacts ability to publish, supports research and avoids duplication of research. Currently the disclosures are voluntary and the scene is changing every day to accommodate and streamline the requirements and execution by healthcare, pharmaceutical companies, clinical research organizations and medical communication companies. The current presentation enumerates all the documents that are required in this rapidly changing space and what are the recent advancements in this area which can expedite the documentation and transparency methods. Role of a Medical Communication Company. This changing atmosphere and surroundings has contributed to an additional responsibility for the medical communication companies to develop medical and regulatory documents which can support the regulatory bodies, pharmaceutical and biotech companies to fulfil the disclosure requirements and maintain the required transparency. The key documents that fall under this category are: 1. Clinical trial registration and status reporting 2. Trial results posting 3. Redaction of confidential company information 4. Publication of trial results in journals 5. Lay summaries for public 6. Clinical overview and clinical summary Way Forward: Automatic Authoring and Artificial Intelligence If all this documentation is done manually, then the amount of time and resource required is magnanimous. There are some new technologies available like automatic authoring and artificial intelligence which can play a great role in expediting these document requirements and reaching the goals of complete transparency and public disclosures globally and regionally. Now is the time for the whole research community to join hands and contribute in this ambitious endeavor to gain the best from the drug research and development and contribute to improved patient care and quality of life.

Speaker
Biography:

Gnanaprakash is 37 years old and completed his M. Pharm (Pharmaceutics), graduated from Tamil Nadu Dr M.G.R Medical University, Chennai (TNMMU). He is having 8 years of experience in training and peer education and has developed professional capabilities by facing inspections, attending conferences & organizing inter-college events etc.

Abstract:

The pulmonary route, owing to a noninvasive method of drug administration, for both local and systemic delivery of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) forms an ideal environment for APIs acting on pulmonary diseases and disorders. Isoniazid is an antibiotic utilized as a first-line specialist for the prevention and treatment of both latent and active tuberculosis. Low levels of isoniazid obtain entrance into plasma following oral administration because of its high aqueous solubility, low permeability and rapid first pass hepatic metabolism with small t1/2 of 1–4 hrs demonstrates its short stay in plasma and the requirement for repetitive or high doses which may subsequently result in hepatotoxicity and neurotoxicity connected with its utilization. The PLGA nanoparticles (NPs), known for their superb oral bioavailability and furthermore in other route of administration they are chosen to conquer the above obstacle in medication achieving the blood plasma. Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is a standout amongst the most effectively created biodegradable polymers. It has pulled in extensive consideration because of its biodegradability and biocompatibility, defense of drug from degradation and sustained release, target and focus the effect to specific organs and cells. The preparation of Isoniazid PLGA Nanoparticle conditions were optimized by varying the formulation and process variables , to get a stable Nanoparticle with less particle diameter of 178.5 nm, PI of 0.856 and zeta potential of -36.1mV, which shows best stable nanoparticle. The encapsulation efficiencies and drug content were around 80.56 ± 2.54 % and 86.92 ± 3.42 %. According to structural and morphological analysis by SEM studies the particle demonstrates spherical, smooth surfaced multilamellar nanoparticles. Furthermore, in vitro diffusion studies shows desired release characteristics. From the above results it was inferred that the emulsion solvent evaporation technique was an optimized formulation for Isoniazid PLGA Nanoparticle.

Break: Lunch Break 13:00-13:40 @ La Plaza

Aref Alabed

International Medical Training Academy Limited, UK

Title: Soft skills needed for pharmacists. How can we gain these skills!

Time : 13:40-14:00 PM

Speaker
Biography:

Aref Alabed graduated as a qualified Dentist in the Ukraine during 2005, setting up his own dental clinic in Jordan that he operated for 3 years. He was then offered a position in a Dental clinic in KSA. He held two roles there; in the evening he worked as a dentist and during the day as the center manager. The 5 years spent in the management role gave him an opportunity to begin to understand business operation and he decided to study for a Master’s in Business Administration. He was awarded my MBA with Merit from the University of Northampton in England. Then he moved to Jordan to work as a Director for Marketing for the largest chains of pharmacies in Jordan (105 pharmacies) and during his trips all over the world he opened the International Medical Training Academy based in London which focus at the interpersonal skills for the healthcare professionals with a wide range of courses for the Pharmacists.

Abstract:

It is a known fact that Pharmacists are largely encouraged to develop the scientific areas of their career, adding value and new benefits to our lives. Less encouragement, however, is given to their personal development; understanding how to connect, build valuable relationships with others and manage the team, the communication in the pharmacy. Management and interpersonal skills are rarely included in the Pharmaceutical curriculum at universities and yet these skills are crucial when faced with the responsibility of managing teams. Systems and processes have to be implemented to lead a team successfully and without an understanding of leadership and communication skills this can be extremely challenging. A very well know that: " In order to be a good professional, a pharmacist should possess “a combination of comprehensive therapeutic knowledge, experience, problem-solving skills, and judgment” (Burke, et al., 2008). And in a recent survey soft skills were rated as more important than the hard skills (Aasheim & Williams, 2009). And lastly Hewitt Sean (2008) and Tobin (2006), quoted in (John, 2009), state that soft skills are non-technical, intangible, personality specific skills which determines an individual's strength as a leader, listener and negotiator, or as a conflict mediator. Soft skills are the traits and abilities of attitude and behaviour rather than of knowledge or technical aptitude. Here in the UK, the NHS is aware of the importance of the soft skills, that's why the requirements for the pharmacist's job is to have an excellent communication skill, good customer skills, willing to supervise others, team work, have leadership skills, able to deliver knowledge to the new employees. And all these skills have to be up to date with annual continuing professional development ( CPD). I believe that the balance between technical excellence and interpersonal skills is what truly makes a difference in the experience for service users and staff.

Speaker
Biography:

Gopal Natesan has completed his Doctoral degree (PhD) in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Hamdard University (Jamia Hamdard) New Delhi, India in 2000 and currently serving as Professor of Medicinal Chemistry & Deputy Dean of Research & Innovation and Students Affairs in Faculty of Pharmacy, MAHSA University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His research focuses on the synthesis of newer small chemical entities, quinazolinones heterocyclic pharmacophore and their preliminary screening in both in-vivo and in-vitro models mainly focusing on pain & inflammation and also for newer microbial agents. He has published >40 articles in indexed journals and presented >80 papers in conferences and invited speaker at international scientific meetings and conferences and serves as reviewer for several scientific international journals and also as Editorial/Advisory board of various journals.

Abstract:

Antibacterial resistance is one of the major global health issues and many infectious organisms have adapted to the drugs designed to kill them, making the products less effective. In view of these emerging resistance problems, there is an urgent need for new anti-resistance compounds. Benzimidazole is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound and is a constituent of many bioactive compounds that are of wide interest, because of their diverse biological and clinical applications. A series of novel schiff base of Benzimidazole derivatives were synthesised and evaluated for antibacterial property. The title compound, 1-[(1H-benzo[d]imidazole-1-yl) (4’-substituted phenyl) methylene]-2-[4”- substituted benzylidene] hydrazine derivatives were synthesised by condensing benzimidazole with substituted benzoyl chloride followed by hydrazonation, further the final Schiff base was prepared by reacting with different substituted aromatic aldehydes and the structure of newly synthesised compounds were characterised by using 1H NMR & MASS spectral data. The antibacterial activity of the newly synthesized benzimidazole hydrazine derivatives (IIIa, IIIb) and schiff bases (IVa-h) were evaluated against the gram positive (S. aureus and B. cereus) and gram negative bacteria (P. aeruginosa and E. coli) by using the agar well diffusion method at a concentration of 100μg/mL using Norfoloxacin as reference drug. From the study, it has been observed that substitution on the parent hydrazine derivative alter the antibacterial activity and the parent hydrazine derivatives showed very lower degree of activity against S. aureus and B. cerus. Among the benzimidazole Schiff base derivatives, 1-[(1H-benzo[d]imdiazol-1-yl) (4-methoxyphenyl) methylene]-2-(2,3,4-trimethoxy benzylidene) hydrazine (IVb) showed better antibacterial activity against gram positive bacteria and while remaining all the synthesized compounds showed moderate in action. None of the compounds showed any activity against gram negative bacteria.

Yu Zong Chen

National University of Singapore, Singapore

Title: Finding drug discovery clues from the informatics analysis of traditional medicines

Time : 14:20-14:40 PM

Speaker
Biography:

Professor Yu Zong Chen obtained his PhD in University of Manchester (UK) in 1989. He then worked at Purdue University as a postdoc and at Ionis pharmaceuticals to conduct antisense drug design, Since 1997, he has been working at the National University of Singapore as a lecturer, senior lecturer, Associate Professor, Department head, and Professor. He pioneered the inverse docking method for target discovery, led the development of the popular therapeutic target database, revealed the distribution patterns of drug productive species in nature, and is among the first few scientists who explored machine learning methods for predicting protein function, drug target, ADME-Tox, bioactive compounds and multi-target agents.

Abstract:

The discovery of Artemisinin by Tu YouYou gives a good example of drug discovery based on the clues from the traditional medicines. A question is whether Tu’s miraculous discovery tale can be repeated by the modern informatics analysis of the traditional medicines. We investigated this question by examining to what extent the known drug-productive herbs in the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can be indicated by comparative analysis of the traditionally described medicinal functions with respect to the targeted therapeutic symptoms. We found that the drug-productive herbs may be indicated at lower false rate by coupling the analysis of the TCM functions together with the knowledge of the phylogenetically clustered distribution patterns of drug-productive species. Traditional medicines also offer new therapeutic approaches based on synergistic combination of low-potency natural products. We quantitatively studied the potency gaps between the approved drugs and the natural products of the same therapeutic classes, and evaluated the questions of whether, at what probability, and by what mechanisms these potency gaps can be overcome by the synergistic combinations of the natural products.

Peggy Berry

Synergy Consulting LLC, USA

Title: Managing a global regulatory affairs strategy
Speaker
Biography:

Peggy J. Berry, MBA, RAC, is the President & CEO at Synergy Consulting where she provides consulting services to companies in all aspects of drug development. She also provides group and one-on-one training in drug development, regulatory affairs and project management topics. Prior to founding Synergy Consulting in 2015, she was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Insmed where she was responsible for the development and implementation of global regulatory strategies and the management and oversight of the regulatory affairs department. Prior to Insmed, she was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Quality at Amarin. She has also held a variety of senior level positions at Dyax (now Shire), MGI Pharma (now Eisai), AstraZeneca, and Dey Pharma (now Mylan). She has also held Regulatory Affairs roles within two clinical contract research organizations (ILEX Oncology and Cato Research Ltd) and has worked in review divisions at the FDA. In addition, Ms. Berry consults for a number of companies in the regulatory and quality area, conducts a number of training courses, and is active in the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society. She is the editor of the 2010 book “Choosing the Right Regulatory Career” (RAPS, MD) and author of the 2011 book “Communication & Negotiation” (RAPS, MD).

Abstract:

Having a solid, global regulatory affairs strategy is essential to efficient and effective approval and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. This presentation will review similar and divergent regulatory strategies in key areas around the world and provide practical advice on managing a timely and high quality program to achieve success.

Hetal Shah

Independent Medical Writing Consultant, India

Title: Developing an original research manuscript
Speaker
Biography:

Dr Hetal Shah is a Pharmacologist with over 12 years of first-hand experience in the field of Medical writing and Clinical Research Project Management. A Gold medalist and PhD awarded by the Gujarat University, she has 20 odd publications to her credit including book chapters, research papers and review articles in national as well as international journals. A medical writing expert with high standards for quality and work ethics, Dr Shah is extensively involved in developing scientific and regulatory documentation & publications for various international and national Pharmaceuticals & CROs. Dr Shah’s writing sphere currently ranges from preparation of clinical trial documents to clinical study reports; compilation of clinical modules for marketing authorization dossiers to Scientific Publications for Journals. Dr Shah is also an experienced trainer with practical approach to coaching, and conducts medical writing workshops customized for various topics and audiences’ needs. She is a member of the executive committee of All India Medical Writers Association (AIMWA) and the DIA Medical Writing group of India.

Abstract:

In the field of research, it is always emphasized that either Publish or Perish!. As important it is to conduct a research activity, so it is to have the findings of your work informed to others via the means of a publication. Original research article or manuscript, is by far, one of the most common type of article being published in journals. Unlike other article formats like narrative review articles, short communications, or case reports, research manuscripts traditionally have a systematic and structured format. The body of a manuscript follows the ‘IMRAD’ pattern – Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussions. A manuscript should also have a proper title to its start and conclusion to its end. Other important aspects are Abstract, Keywords, acknowledgements and References. In this presentation, salient features of all these sections of the manuscript mentioned above, will be discussed in details and how to draft each of them will be demonstrated. Common errors involved in manuscript development and steps to avoid them will also be discussed. Overall, the presentation will provide A to Z step-wise approach for drafting an original research paper.

Speaker
Biography:

Muhammad Abdul Qadir has completed his PhD at the age of 30 years from University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. He is working as Professor of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Punjab, Lahore. His main field of research is Drug designing, drug delivery and Imaging, Environmental Analytes and Agriculture. He has more than 70 research publications in the journals of international repute.

Abstract:

Gemifloxacin, a novel, 4th generation fluoroquinolone derivative, was labeled with99mTc; its freeze dried kits were prepared and used for infection imaging. Kits showed great stability with higher labeling efficiency. Kits were synthesized through a simple method; developed at room temperature without HCl and heating with low colloidal content. Reaction conditions were optimized in order to get maximum radiochemical purity. Highest labeling efficiency (99 ±0.05)% was achieved when 1.0 mg gemifloxacin was labeled with 10 mCi sodium pertechnetate in the presence of 50 lg SnCl2 and 300 lg D-penicillamine at room temperature. Radiolabeled antibiotic kits were preclinically assessed such as in-vitro stability, lipophilicity, protein binding, in-vitro binding with bacterial strains and pharmacokinetic investigations in animals. Kits were found highly stable for 6 h both at room temperature and at 37 _C in serum. Biodistribution showed excellent uptake of activity at infection site (in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and Klebsiella pneumoniae). Biodistribution data showed that 99mTc-gemifloxacin has the potential and may be used for infection imaging.

Speaker
Biography:

Maha Al draimly is an Ambulatory care clinical pharmacist at national guard comprehensive specialized clinic, Riyadh. She did her bachelor degree of pharmacy from KSU, Master degree of clinical pharmacy, KSU. She is a Cpd coordinator, member of family medicine research committee, established CDC clinic. She has participated in more than 160 international symposiums as a speaker. She is an Assistant Professor at King Saud University and Prince Noura University, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract:

Hypertension and dyslipidemia are main complications of diabetes. Hypertension prevalence 28.7% in US, Diabetes prevalence 7%, while prevalence of diabetes in SA is 27% and HTN is 26%. Clincal pharmacist is health science discipline in which pharmacist provide patient care that optimizes medication therapy and promotes health, wellness and disease prevention. Intervention of clinical pharmacist with Family medicine physician in managing and education of uncontrolled hypertensive, diabetic, dyslipidemic patients is expected to improve compliance with drug therapy, chronic disease outcome parameters and patient quality of life. 300 patients of uncontrolled hypertensive, diabetic and dyslipidemic are enrolled in this observational cohort study held in 3 ambulatory care centers at King Abdulaziz Medical city in Riyadh, 200 patients as sample, 100 as control. Quality of life measured at the base line and at the end of study for sample patients. Hba1c measured for each patients with BP and LDL with follow up with clinical pharmacist every 3 to 4 month for 5 visits, during this visit clinical pharmacist revise all of lab parameters for patients with medications file, doing education for patients, after finishing all visits of patients BP, Hba1c and LDl will be measured to measure the outcome and improvement of quality of life, to show the effect of clinical pharmacist intervention and education on upper parameters.

Speaker
Biography:

Zayed Nama Alsulami is a paediatric clinical pharmacologist working for Alkharj Military Hospital in Alkharj City, Saudi Arabia. Zayed has completed his PhD from University of Nottingham in 2013. His main role is to conduct research into paediatric drug therapy and medication errors including the medication errors in the Middle East countries, Nurses adherence to double check process and medication administration errors in children.

Abstract:

Background: Children are more susceptible to medication errors than adults [1]. Medication administration process is the last stage in the medication treatment process and most of the errors occurred in this stage [2]. Little research has been undertaken about medication errors in children in the Middle East countries [3]. Aim: To evaluate how the paediatric nurses adhere to the medication administration policy and also to identify any medication preparation and administration errors. Method: This was a prospective direct observational study of medication administration process, from when the nurses preparing patient medication until administration in the patient room in the paediatric ward (May to August 2014). Also, the observers were documented any medication administration errors occurred during the study period. Main outcomes were adherence rate of each step of preparation and administration process, number of errors and associated risk factors. All data collected was anonymous and was recorded on a data collection form which was designed specifically for this purpose. Results: Fourteen paediatric nurses serving for 90 paediatric patients were observed. 456 drug administered doses were evaluated. Seven steps out of 16 steps with lower adherence rate. Patient allergy information, dose calculation, drug expiry date were the steps in medication administration with lowest adherence rate. 63 medication preparation and administration errors were detected with error rate 13.8% of medication administration. No potentially life-threating errors were witnessed. Few technical and administrative factors were identified. Conclusion: Medication administration policy and procedure need an urgent revision. Nurses’ knowledge and skills regarding to the medication administration process should be improved.

Speaker
Biography:

D. Ayman K.M. Hassan has completed his interventional cardiology Ph.D. at the age of 33 years from Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands after finishing this Master studies from Assiut University School of Medicine. He was nominated as the vice director of Assiut University Hospitals and the head of a new health care quality unit. He has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute. He is the founder of E-learning courses for under-and post-graduate students. Also as an experienced interventional cardiologist he pushed the field forward by practicing difficult cases.

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of polypharmacy and high doses of amoxicillin/clavulanate on warfarin response in hospitalized patients. This was a prospective cross-sectional observational study on 120 patients from July 2013 to January 2014. Potentially interacting drugs were classified according to their tendency of increasing international normalized ratio (INR) or bleeding risk. The 87.5% of patients prescribed high-dose amoxicillin/clavulanate (10–12 g daily) compared with 28.9% of patients prescribed a normal dose (up to 3.6 g daily) had INR values ≥ 4 during the hospital stay (P≤.001). Increased number of potentially interacting drugs that are known to increase INR was a significant predictor of having INR values ≥ 4 (OR, 2.5; 95%CI, 1.3–4.7), and increased number of potentially interacting drugs that are known to increase bleeding risk was a significant predictor of experiencing bleeding episodes (OR, 3.1; 95%CI, 1.3–7.3). High doses of amoxicillin/clavulanate were associated with a higher risk of over-anticoagulation when combined with warfarin than were normal doses. Increased risk of having INR ≥4 and bleeding events was associated with increased numbers of potentially interacting drugs prescribed, indicating that polypharmacy is a problem of concern. Frequent monitoring of warfarin therapy along with patients’ medications is necessary to avoid complications.

Rashid Mahmood

Surge Laboratories Private Limited, Pakistan

Title: Quality Risk Management System
Speaker
Biography:

Rashid mahmood has 13 years diversified experience of Quality Control, Quality Assurance, Registration Affairs, NDA, ANDA, BLA, GMP Requirements, Drugs Laws, Statistical Methodology, Method Validation, Process & Cleaning Validation, Equipment Validation etc. Currently he is working as a Senior Executive Manager Quality Assurance & Quality Management Representative for Surge Labs.

Abstract:

In the pharmaceutical industry every product and every process associated with risks. To maintain product quality throughout the product life cycle, too much time and resources are allocated. Risk is described in-recent guidance as a combination of the probability of occurrence of harm and the severity of that harm. The Quality Risk Management (QRM) approach initiated by regulatory agencies with recognized tools along with support of statistical tools in combination allows for a risk-based approach to quality management, thus ensuring that resources are deployed in a timely and expeditious manner to areas that need them most. QRM improves risk awareness and accelerates detection of potential issues by analyzing and comparing existing data from a quality perspective to manage product quality, manufacturing processes, validation and compliance within a risk based Quality Management System. In addition quality risk management improves decision making if a quality problem arises. It should include systemic processes designated to co-ordinate, facilitate and improve science-based decision-making with respect to risk. Quality Risk Management can be applied not only in the manufacturing environment, but also in connection with pharmaceutical development and preparation of the quality part of marketing authorization dossiers. The guideline applies also to the regulatory authorities in the fields of pharmaceutical assessment of the quality part of the marketing authorization dossier, GMP inspections and the handling of suspected quality defects. ICH Q9 - Quality Risk Management provides an excellent high-level framework for the use of risk management in pharmaceutical product development and manufacturing quality decision making applications. It is a landmark document in acknowledging risk management as a standard and acceptable quality system practice to facilitate good decision-making with regard to risk identification, resource prioritization, and risk mitigation/elimination, as appropriate.

Speaker
Biography:

Dr. Barna Ganguly completed M.B.B.S (1987) from Calcutta University & M. D - Pharmacology (1994) from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. She has also done PG Diploma – Bioethics (2012-13) IGNOU, supported by ICMR – NIH (USA). Presently she is working as Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacology and Head, UNESCO Bioethics Unit of Gujarat under UNESCO Chair in Bioethics, (University of Haifa), in P.S. Medical College, Karamsad, Gujarat, India. She has got total teaching experience of 23 years (approx) with several publications at various national and international level with authorship in chapter of book in CRC publication. She has presented posters and papers at all levels of conference getting scholarships from PRIM & R Conferences and 12th World Congress with full scholarships from NIH. She is a life member of six associations, was President of Society of Pharmacovigilance, India for 2014-2015 and reviewer of many journals. She is a member of International Forum of Teachers of Bioethics, UNESCO. Her area of interest is Clinical Pharmacology and Bioethics.

Abstract:

Origin of pharmacovigilance in India goes back to 1986, when a formal adverse drug reaction (ADR) monitoring system consisted of 12 regional centers, each covering a population of 50 million. India is a hub for clinical trials flooded with more than 6,000 licensed drug manufacturers and 60,000 branded formulations. Though Pharmacovigilance is plays a significant role in clinical research and practice, yet there is an immense gap in understanding its importance in such areas. The Pharmacovigilance Programme of India was launched with an objective to safe guard the health of people of India. While major advancements in this discipline have taken place in Western countries, implementation and compliance still remain as challenge in India. So, it is important to address various challenges of pharmacovigilance. In India, the events are not properly reported due to lack of time, low motivation, ignorance. Lack of continuing medical education on pharmacovigilance and dearth of drug information and updates particularly at the level of primary health centres and private practitioners lead to underreporting of ADR. The practice of self-medication and use of traditional medicines pose other challenges as adverse events in such cases often go unreported. In addition, there are lacunae like lack of communication among healthcare professionals, shortage of trained personnel and inadequate training on pharmacovigilance at undergraduate level. Another challenging area of ADR monitoring is with that of clinical trials where there are always certain risks for the participants in such trials, which involve healthy volunteers and patients. The safety of the trial subjects is the sole responsibility of the investigator. S/he should conduct the trial strictly abiding by Indian GCP guidelines and ICH-GCP Guidelines if the requirement is by USFDA or EU regulatory agencies. Different kinds of research (epidemiological studies, post marketing surveillance, other pharmacovigilance studies, clinical trials, product development) have their own particular scientific requirements and specific ethical challenges. These can be addressed by incorporating changes like making pharmacovigilance reporting mandatory at all levels and introducing pharmacovigilance inspections. Intensive training should be given in all aspects of pharmacovigilance to various stake holders including the patients, efficient system of communication, creating a clinical trial database for SAEs and ADRs for signal detection and access to relevant data for various stakeholders. Thus it can help in proper implementation and compliance of the programme.

Sergey Altarev

Research Institute for Complex Issues of Cardiovascular Diseases, Russian Federation

Title: Clinicians’ motivations to actively participate in industry-sponsored clinical trials
Speaker
Biography:

Sergey Altarev has completed his PhD from Kemerovo State Medical Academy, Kemerovo, Russian Federation. He is now a senior staff researcher of Rehabilitation Laboratory in Research Institute for Complex Issues of Cardiovascular Diseases, Kemerovo, Russian Federation, and works as a Subinvestigator in clinical trials in a field of cardiology. He has published more than 10 papers in reputed journals and had an opportunity to orally present his research in Russian and international conferences.

Abstract:

Aim: The aim of the study was to elaborate on motivational profile of doctors actively engaged in industry-sponsored clinical research. Methods: The study participants comprised clinicians of 4 hospitals from the different parts of Russia. The doctors were invited to complete a questionnaire comprising questions on the number of simultaneously managed clinical trial patients during the previous year and on what attracts them to take part in clinical research. Answers to the latter were summarized into 9 different motivational factors. We conducted a factor and a discriminant analyses to describe the relationship between motivation factors and doctors’ engagement in clinical trials. Results: The factor analysis allowed us to reduce the number of motivational factors to 4 groups of factors (Bartlett's Test’s of Sphericity p=0.038). The first one included having new responsibilities and liking the investigational process per se, the second financial aspect and being not independent, the third being able to travel and to communicate with people, and the fourth having scientific/professional interest and having an opportunity to help patients. Discriminant analysis was applied to describe the relationship between each of the 4 groups of factors and the number of simultaneously managed clinical trial patients during the previous year. The final model included only Factor 4 (Wilks' Lambda=0.806, p=0.002) with area under the curve of 0.712 (p=0.013). Conclusions: The analysis of doctors’ motivations to take part in clinical trials showed that only the desire to help patients and/or having professional/scientific interest in a trial could increase doctors’ engagement in clinical research.

Speaker
Biography:

Irfan Bashir is working in The Islamia University of Bhawalpur, Pakistan. He is the Chairman of Foundation for Young Researchers and also Author & Chief Editor for Concise & Conceptual Series of Books.

Abstract:

Hypertension is a most common cardiovascular disease and a precursor to other major diseases like brain stroke, heart attack, kidney failure as well as myocardial infarction etc. Limited studies have been carried out to check the prevalence of hypertension among student community who are in striving phase of their life. So information about prevalence and risk factors for hypertension among student community is desirable. With a clinically validated sphygmomanometer and stethoscope, resting blood pressure values were measured in 400 respondents. The study population consisted of boys and girls of age 15 to 25 years, who participated in the survey conducted in various educational institutes. Survey was based upon various questions to evaluate dietary habits, obesity factor, routine blood pressure values, and socioeconomic status and personality factors. During the study period, there was an upward trend in B.P. among students community in the locality of Lahore, Pakistan. After adjustment for gender, age and weight status, the prevalence of pre-hypertension and hypertension was found to be 19%. Being overweight was strongly associated with pre-hypertension and hypertension in comparison with those having normal weight. A considerable rise in cases of hypertension in students can be attributed to their lifestyle, habits and attitude which usually affect them in the form of abnormally high weight and mental stress. Blood pressure can be kept under control by maintaining normal BMI, adapting a healthy lifestyle and having positive reaction to critical circumstances.

Speaker
Biography:

Namrata Singh is an INSPIRE fellow of the DST (India). She is currently associated with CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata aiming for Ph.D. from the University of Calcutta. She is involved in characterizing an immune-stimulatory drug. She participated in the 7th HOPE meeting with Nobel Laureates as JSPSFellow in Japan, 2015. She is a recipient of several national awards and also been felicitated for excellence in academic background. Publication of 4 papers with good citations has initiated her research career and a reviewer of applied medical research.

Abstract:

An ether extract of nine different bacterial metabolites combined with two step (ether followed by ethanol) extract of bovine bile lipid is used as an immune stimulatory drug. While characterizing the drug, we observed fibrinolytic activity in the extract through fibrinogen plate assay and fibrin zymography.Background literature emphasized major role of fibrinolytic enzymes in activating immune systems. This increased our curiosity to understand the role of these enzymes in this drug in human physiology. This fibrinolytic enzyme/s has no similarity with plasmin in terms of cross reactivity in immunoblotassay and hydrolysis of the specific substrate S-2251. In RP-HPLC analysis, the lipid extract was fractionated into several components. Interestingly, fibrinolytic activity was confined to all the fractions. To purify the enzyme, it was extracted from the lipid by aqueous buffer extraction and applied to CNBr activated fibrinogen substrate affinity column. Purified enzyme was tested for activation of complement system and wound healing through C3 binding andin-vivo wound healing assay respectively. The enzyme will be identified by mass-spectrometric analysis. Also, we propose to finger-print protein components present in bile lipid by MS analysis to have a better insight of the functionality of the lipid component of the drug.

Hafiz Muhammad Abdul Qayyum

University of the Punjab, Pakistan

Title: bvjvdhjvdkjvn
Speaker
Biography:

Abstract:

Prostate cancer is the most common fatal cancers in men, and exposure to toxic elements is the most important factor in the aetiology for prostate cancer. Selected elements (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) were analyzed in the blood, scalp hair and nails of prostate cancer patients and counterpart healthy donors by atomic absorption spectrometry. Average concentrations of Cd, Mn, Ni and Pb were found to be significantly higher (p<0.05) in the blood, scalp hair and nails of the patients compared with those of the healthy subjects who exhibited significantly higher concentrations of Zn. The correlation study revealed significantly diverse relationships of the elements in the blood, scalp hair and nails of the two donor groups. Variations in the elemental concentrations were also noted for various types of prostate cancer (adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma and small cell carcinoma), as well as for different stages of the cancer. Multivariate apportionment of trace elements in the blood, scalp hair and nails of the patients was also significantly different than that in the healthy donors. The study evidenced considerably divergent variations in the elemental concentrations in prostate cancer patients in comparison with healthy subjects.

Sravankumar Gunda

Jeevan Scentific Technology Ltd, India

Title: Friendly reporting system in Pharmacovigilance: iCURE
Speaker
Biography:

Sravan Kumar Gunda completed Masters in Analytical chemistry at Teesside University. He started his career as a Pharmacist technician in 2012 and moved on to Product Market programmer by the end of 2012. He is a registered Pharmacist at Andhra Pradesh pharmacist council (India). He worked at Synowledge as Drug Safety Associate from Mar 2013 to Jul 2015. From Aug 2015, he started with Quintiles as Operational Specialist till the end of the 2015. Currently, he is working as Team lead at Jeevan Scientific technology from Feb 2016.

Abstract:

Pharmacovigilance plays a major impact on public health, reducing patients, increasing quality of life and decreasing risk factors of the drugs. Under current conditions the Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR) are reported less than 5 %, when compared to the occurrence of the ADR’s. According to many surveys conducted by NGOs, it was reported that about 95% of the health care professionals (HCP) are not interested to report any ADR’s due to lack of time & facilities, poor reporting systems, lack of proper laws, lack of knowledge on pharmacovigilance and its importance in public health and etc. In order to make reporting for more user friendly, quick and translucent, iCURE adverse event mobile application was developed and this application was live in android play store from 25, Nov 2015. This mobile application would really help the HCP’s for reporting ADR’s. Page 1: New complaint, verification of your compliant and suggestions to the company Page 2: Reporter Identification Page 3: Patient details Page 4: Drug information Page 5: Event description and document attachment When a user raises a complaint, it first reaches to the common mail box which is controlled by the application (iCURE) holder and from there it will be distributed to the individual company folders (like GSK, Pfizer, Ranbaxy etc. based on the product manufacture). This complaint will be then distributed to the concerned MAH or manufacturing company of the country where the drug was manufactured, along with a duplicate copy to the concerned health authority. Currently we had around 50 plus downloads and around 25 users who had registered in our application database. In future, this mobile interface will be contacted to eCRF (electronic case report form). By this, usage of paper form will be reduced, timelines for reporting and be met more efficiently.

  • Young Researchers Forum
Location: Ramada Plaza Dua Sentral
Speaker
Biography:

Priyanka Karolia obtained her M.Sc Degree in Environmental Chemistry in 2010. She has submitted her thesis to School of Studies in Chemistry, Jiwaji University, Gwalior at the age of 28 years. She is a recipient of Junior Resarch Fellowship from Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India for excellent academic. She has published three papers in the journals of international repute. At present, she is involved in research and teaching.

Abstract:

Voltammetric sensor is an effective tool for pharmaceutical analysis due to its simplicity, specificity, sensitivity, fast, cost-effective and repetitive measurements. A highly sensitive and selective sensor is fabricated based on polyaniline modified glassy carbon electrode (PANI/GCE). It is demonstrated that this sensor can be used for determination of a pharmaceutically important compound tinidazole (TNZ) using square wave voltammetry (SWV), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The electrode surface was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The developed sensor also exhibited good reproducibility and long-term stability. Polyaniline nanofibers are expected to be promising material for sensing applications because of the ease of fabrication, excellent electrochemical performance, and high electroactive surface area.

Speaker
Biography:

Vishnu Vardhan Reddy Beeram pursuing PhD from Vignan’s University at Vadlamudi, Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, India. He has Completed Master of pharmacy in Pharmaceutics from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health and Sciences at Bengaluru in Karnataka, India. He has published more than 10 papers in reputed scientific journals.

Abstract:

Inhalable anti Tubercular therapy is gaining interest in day to day research. Rifampicin PLGA nanoparticle was formulated in order to decrease the dose, adverse effects and to enhance the target-ability to desired organ. The aim of the current study is to select an optimized method for design of Rifampicin loaded PLGA Nanoparticles by altering the product and process variable in the formulation. Optimization of method was done by Box Behnken Design by investigating the effect of independent variables like polymers, surfactant and sonication time on dependent variables like particle size, entrapment efficiency, drug release profile and zeta potential etc. Based on the obtained results it has been concluded that the trial formulation RIFPG013 with their independent variable shows desired effect on dependent variable i.e. particle size 200nm, entrapment efficiency 80%, sustained drug release above minimum inhibitory level up to 48 hours and better zeta potential -32.3mV with Poly dispersibility index of 0.279, which shows good stability of nanospheres. Thus it was concluded that the emulsion solvent evaporation technique with 7.5% w/w of polymer, 2% w/w surfactant and 30min of sonication time was found to be a best technique for the formulation of Rifampicin loaded PLGA nanospheres.

Speaker
Biography:

Abdul Hafeez has completed his M Pharm in Pharmaceutics from Teerthankar Mahaveer University, Moradabad and pursuing doctoral studies from Glocal Unversity, Saharanpur in Pharmaceutics department ,Glocal School of Pharmacy, a premier rising university. He has published more than 5 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute.

Abstract:

The objective of the present study was to optimize Cefpodoxime proxetil microsphere in order to achieve an extended retention in the upper GIT which may result in enhanced absorption and thereby improved bioavailability. Cefpodoxime proxetil microspheres were prepared using hydroxy propyl methyl and ethyl cellulose in different ratios taking into account emulsion solvent diffusion method. The formulations were characterized for various physicochemical studies and in vitro drug release mechanism. The morphology of the particle was visualized using photoelectric microscope adjusted with micrometer tools and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The particle size was found to be in the range of 228.80µm - 296.21µm, percentage yield between 65.92 - 79.20%, drug entrapment efficiency 50.91- 79.42% and buoyancy percentages 52.59- 64.69%, respectively. The maximum release was achieved in formulation composition HPMCK15M: Ethylcellulose in the ratio of 0.5:0.25:0.75 with release of 70.45% with diffusion mechanism. Finally, it could be concluded that the Cefpodoxime proxetil microsphere accentuates the floating efficiency of Cefpodoxime proxetil and could be used as a carrier for effective floating delivery.

Speaker
Biography:

Hassan Saeiahan is the last semester student of animal biology (B.Sc.) in University of Tabriz. He is 20 years old and is the member of talented students of the University. He has several articles under review in reputed journals about diabetes and herbal treatment. He has attended several international congress such as 13 Iranian International congress of Toxicology, 6th International Conference of Cognitive Science.

Abstract:

Methotrexate (MTX) is an antineoplastic drug. Some of the best-known side effects of MTX are hepatotoxicity and kidney failure. Therefore, the current study was designed to investigate the probable therapeutic effects of Cornus mas fruit extract (CMFE) in MTX-induced acute toxicity in liver and kidney of rats. Male wistar rats were divided into six groups; Control, CMFE, MTX (single dose 20mg/kg) and three MTX (20mg/kg) + CMFE (300, 700, 1400mg/kg) groups. After termination of experimental days, liver and kidney tissue dissected to measure activity of some antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and lipid peroxidation (MDA) by spectrophotometer. The levels of Urea, Creatinine, Total- Direct and indirect bilirubin, Aspartate transaminase (AST), Alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured in a biochemistry auto analyzer. The levels of Uric acid were measured enzymatically and the content of albumin in blood sample were measured by electrophoresis (ELCIA) method and the levels of Na/K were measured by Ion Selective electrode (ISE) method. This study revealed that administration of CMFE (700 and 1400mg/kg) significantly prevented MTX-induced alterations in these biochemical parameters, that is, AST, ALT, ALP, Direct bilirubin and LDH activity (P<0.05) and significantly prevented MTX-induced alterations in Serum concentration of Urea, Uric acid, Creatinine, K (P<0.05) and kidney and liver lipid peroxidation level was significantly decreased compared to MTX group (P<0.05). The present study indicated the nephroprotective and hepatoprotective effect of CMFE against methotrexate induced liver and kidney injury.

Break: Networking & Refreshment Break 16:00-16:20 @ La Plaza
Speaker
Biography:

Muhammad Majid Aziz has completed his Bachelor of pharmacy at the age of 22 years from Gomal University and Master studies from The Islamia University of Bhawal pur, Department of pharmacy. He is the PhD candidate at Xi'an Jiaotong University, a top ranked univeristy in P.R.China. He has published more than 6 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as pharma industry and academia in pakistan.

Abstract:

It had been reported that in many developing and under developed economically deprived countries most episodes of illness are treated by self-medication and is common practice due to quality concerns related to healthcare delivery systems. However, there are few studies in Pakistan which has explored the health seeking behavior, medicinal use and self medication in rural and urban areas. Our study aims to explore the public opinion about the control of self medication. Current study was conducted in Multan; Pakistan in March 2016.This was a qualitative study. The data from purposefully selected community was collected by in-depth interviews. The sample size was limited by applying the saturation criteria. All interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Inductive thematic content analysis was applied to analyze the data and draw conclusions. Out of the total 16 participants, 2 were female, and 5 were illiterate. Analysis of the data yielded 8 themes; Prevent the supply of medicines without prescription, Awareness and education regarding implications of self-medication, Enforcing strict rules regarding misleading pharmaceutical advertising, Working towards making health care facilities easily available, Availability of health care provider, Control toward rational diagnostic tests, Control of prescriber’s consultation fee, Control on laboratory fee for tests.

Speaker
Biography:

S Poonguzhali is a post graduate student currently pursuing her M Phil (Pharmacy) at Taylor’s university lakeside campus, Malaysia. She has experienced in working in the management as well as working as a lecturer at a well-known university in Malaysia. She has also got the experience of developing “Diploma in pharmacy programme” at the Higher Education Institution.

Abstract:

The present study is aimed to prepare and evaluate the supersaturated self nanoemulsifying drug delivery (S-SNEDDS) system of a poorly water soluble drug dutasteride in order to achieve a better dissolution rate which would further help in enhancing oral bioavailability compared to the SNEDDS. The present research work describes SNEDDS and S-SNEDDS of dutasteride using Capryol PGMC, Cremophor EL, PEG400 and HPMC as precipitation inhibitors. The pseudo-ternary phase diagrams with presence and absence of drug were plotted to check for the emulsification range and also to evaluate the effect of dutaseride on the emulsification behavior of the phases. The mixtures consisting of oil (Capryol PGMC) with surfactant (Cremophor EL), co-surfactant (PEG 400) in 2:3 ratios were found to be optimum formulations. HPMC 0.5 mg was added in the S-SNEDDS preparation along with the above mentioned oil, surfactants and co-surfactants. Prepared formulations were evaluated for its particle size distribution, nanoemulsifying properties, robustness to dilution, self-emulsification time, drug content and in-vitro dissolution. The optimized formulations were further evaluated for heating cooling cycle, centrifugation studies, freeze thaw cycling, particle size distribution and zeta potential were carried out to confirm the stability of the formed S-SNEDDS formulations. The prepared S-SNEDDS formulation revealed some excellent physicochemical characteristics such as mean particle size of <100 nm and percentage of drug dissolved within 5 min, >90% in dissolution media of pH 1.2 and 6.8. The preliminary results from our study suggest that the dutasteride-loaded self-nanoemulsifying formulation shown a significant improvement in terms of the drug dissolution as compared with raw drug. Thus, this greater dissolution of dutasteride from formulations could lead to higher absorption and higher oral bioavailability in clinical application.