Browse publications by year: 2017

Fulltext Prevalence of Salmonella spp. in chicken and beef from retail outlets in Malaysia

Son, R., Shafini, A.B., Mahyudin, N.A., Rukayadi, Y., Tuan Zainazor, T.C.

International Food Research Journal, 2017;24(1):437-449.
MyJurnal

The prevalence of Salmonella in chicken and beef sold in retails outlets in Malaysia was
determined by analysing 312 raw beef and chicken meat samples including their processed
products. Samples purchased from supermarkets, butcher shops and wet market, which being
classified into raw, minced and processed chicken and beef. A total of 86 (27.6%) samples were
found positive for Salmonella spp., with chicken meat samples (40.4%) showed greater presence
compared to beef (15.4%). Highest presence of Salmonella were detected from wet market
samples (35.4%), followed by supermarket (26.9%) and butcher shop (21.3%). The prevalence
of Salmonella were higher in unpacked chicken meat (84.8%), followed by unpacked beef
(27.8%). Salmonella serovars were identified as S. Enteritidis, S. Hadar, S. Dublin, S. Anatum,
S. Stanley, S. Gallinarum, S. Choleraesuis and S. Typhimurium. Detection of 8 Salmonella
serovars showed possibilities of cross contamination in various sources either at slaughtering
house, processing plant or until storage at retails level. Improper cooking method on meats and
hygiene practices prior to consume should be avoided in order to ensure food safety before
ingestion.
Fulltext Self-efficacy of foot care behaviour of elderly patients with diabetes

Ahmad Sharoni SK, Mohd Razi MN, Abdul Rashid NF, Mahmood YE

Malays Fam Physician, 2017;12(2):2-8.
PMID: 29423123 MyJurnal

Introduction: Elderly patients with diabetes are at a high risk of contracting diabetic foot problems. Self-efficacy is essential to help improve foot care behaviour.
Aim: To identify levels of self-efficacy and foot care behaviour and their relationship with demographic characteristics in elderly patients with diabetes.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two general hospitals in Malaysia from May to June 2015. Diabetes patients aged 60 years with specific inclusion criteria were invited to participate in this study. The respondents were interviewed using a set of validated questionnaires. Data were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics (multiple linear regression) using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20.0.
Results: Levels of foot self-efficacy (mean+31.39; standard deviation=7.76) and foot care behaviour (mean=25.37; SD=5.88) were high. There was a positive significant relationship between foot self-efficacy (β = 0.41, p < 0.001) and gender (β = 0.30, p < 0.001) with foot care behaviour.
Conclusion: Self-efficacy can be incorporated in diabetes education to improve foot care behaviour. High-risk patients should be taught proper foot inspection and protection as well as the merits of skin care to prevent the occurrence of diabetic foot problems.

MeSH terms: Aged; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demography; Diabetes Mellitus; Foot; Health Education; Hospitals, General; Humans; Malaysia; Middle Aged; Surveys and Questionnaires; Social Sciences; Linear Models; Skin Care; Diabetic Foot; Self Efficacy
Fulltext Gestational diabetes mellitus: The prevalence, associated factors and foeto-maternal outcome of women attending antenatal care

Logakodie S, Azahadi O, Fuziah P, Norizzati B, Tan SF, Zienna Z, et al.

Malays Fam Physician, 2017;12(2):9-17.
PMID: 29423124

Objective: The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), its associated risk factors, foeto-maternal outcomes and prevalence of postnatal diabetes mellitus (DM).
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using retrospective data from existing antenatal records of new antenatal women who registered at 72 public health clinics in Selangor in January 2014.
Results: A total of 745 antenatal records were reviewed. The prevalence of GDM women was 27.9% (n = 184). GDM risks were higher in women aged 35 years old and above and in those with maternal obesity. GDM women had a higher risk of having a non-spontaneous vaginal delivery compared to non-GDM women. The prevalence of postnatal DM among GDM mother was 12.1%. Working GDM mothers were at higher risk of developing postnatal DM.
Conclusion: The prevalence of GDM among newly registered women attending antenatal public health care in Selangor was higher than previous studies. Health care personnel need to be vigilant in screening women with risk factors.

MeSH terms: Adult; Ambulatory Care Facilities; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Malaysia; Pregnancy; Women; Diabetes, Gestational*
Fulltext Management of T1DM in children and adolescents in primary care

Hong Y, Hassan N, Cheah YK, Jalaludin MY, Kasim ZM

Malays Fam Physician, 2017;12(2):18-22.
PMID: 29423125

The Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Children & Adolescents was developed by a multidisciplinary development group and approved by the Ministry of Health Malaysia in 2015. A systematic review of 15 clinical questions was conducted using the evidence retrieved mainly from MEDLINE and Cochrane databases. Critical appraisal was done using the Critical Appraisal Skills. Recommendations were formulated on the accepted 136 evidences using the principles of Grading Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation tailored to the local setting. Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease, which usually occurs at an early age, and is associated with various complications including retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy and cardiovascular morbidity. Good glycaemic control early in the disease results in lower frequency of chronic diabetes complications, which in turn reduces the healthcare cost. Accurate classification of diabetes and optimum management with the aim to achieve glycaemic targets is of utmost importance.

MeSH terms: Adolescent; Blood Glucose; Child; Chronic Disease; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Humans; Malaysia; MEDLINE; Health Care Costs; Diabetes Complications
Fulltext A rare case of a sharp foreign body on the vocal cord

Nor Hisyam CI, Misron K, Mohamad I

Malays Fam Physician, 2017;12(2):23-25.
PMID: 29423126 MyJurnal

A foreign body (FB) in the upper aerodigestive tract is a common clinical problem that presents as as acute emergency. Sharp FB, such as fish bone or chicken bone, commonly lodges in the tonsil, base of tongue, vallecula or pyriform fossa. Dislodgement of a FB into the laryngopharynx is very rare and specifically onto the vocal cord is extremely uncommon. This case report illustrates a rare case of a sharp FB that was dislodged into the airway and stuck on to the right vocal cord, which was removed under local anaesthesia.

MeSH terms: Anesthesia, Local; Animals; Chickens; Foreign Bodies; Hypopharynx; Respiratory System; Tongue; Palatine Tonsil; Vocal Cords; Seafood
Fulltext Bezold's abscess: A rare complication of acute otitis media

Nasir F, Asha'ari ZA

Malays Fam Physician, 2017;12(2):26-28.
PMID: 29423127

Otitis media is a common disease encountered in the primary practice. Most cases are successfully treated with antibiotics without any sequelae. Because of these, potential serious complications of otitis media may be overlooked. We report a rare case of Bezold's abscess, as a complication of otitis media and discuss its pathophysiology and management.

MeSH terms: Abscess; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Mastoiditis; Otitis Media; Disease Progression
Fulltext An association of myasthenia gravis with Hashimoto's thyroiditis in a patient with a multinodular goitre

Mohamed N, Mohd Zin F, Mohd Yusoff SS

Malays Fam Physician, 2017;12(2):29-31.
PMID: 29423128

Introduction: The association of myasthenia gravis (MG) with other autoimmune diseases including autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD) is well recognised, although rare. The occurrence of both diseases can occur in two ways: either disease preceding the other, or concurrently. The presentation of MG in association with ATD can range from ocular to generalised disease.

Case Summary: A 26-year-old Malay female with persistent hyperthyroidism secondary to Hashimoto's thyroiditis in multinodular goitre was diagnosed with generalised MG after 2 years. She presented with right eye ptosis (ocular) and difficulty in swallowing and chewing (bulbar). The diagnosis of MG was confirmed by fatigability testing, electromyography and the presence of AChR antibodies. Her symptoms showed improvement with pyridostigmine (Mestinon) 60 mg 6-hourly. Her antithyroid drug was tapered down according to her thyroid function test. Throughout a year of follow-ups, her hyperthyroidism and fatigability symptoms improved with treatment. She was later counselled for total thyroidectomy and thymectomy.

Conclusion: Myasthenia gravis and hyperthyroidism may present with similar symptoms such as dysphagia due to neuromuscular weakness or fatigue. When the diseases occur together, one of the diagnoses may be missed. Therefore, the occurrence of new symptoms in a patient with underlying ATD should should trigger the early identification of other autoimmune diseases by primary care doctors.

MeSH terms: Blepharoptosis; Deglutition; Deglutition Disorders; Electromyography; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Goiter; Humans; Hyperthyroidism; Malaysia; Mastication; Myasthenia Gravis; Primary Health Care; Pyridostigmine Bromide; Thymectomy; Antithyroid Agents; Thyroid Function Tests; Thyroidectomy; Thyroiditis, Autoimmune
Fulltext In the finger it lingers

Mohd AW, Mohamad I, Wan Ghazali WS, Johan KB

Malays Fam Physician, 2017;12(2):32-33.
PMID: 29423129 MyJurnal

A previously healthy 80-year-old woman presented with a history of a thorn prick injury over the
distal phalange of her left finger obtained while gardening two months ago. She claimed to have a
non-healing cut with a nodular lesion, which progressively increased in size, extending upwards
towards the region of her left arm. There was no fever or palpable lymph nodes in the axillary region.
She had been prescribed antibiotics from the local hospital but her condition did not improve.

MeSH terms: Aged, 80 and over; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Axilla; Female; Fever; Hospitals; Humans; Lymph Nodes; Women's Health; Gardening
Fulltext Microbiological quality of cooked meat products sold in Kelantan, Malaysia during ramadhan month

Ain Auzureen, M. Z., Erkihun Aklilu, Mohd Azam Khan, G. K., Ruhil Hayati, H., Al Sultan, I.I., Soon, J.M.

International Food Research Journal, 2017;24(1):414-421.
MyJurnal

The Ramadhan fast is a form of worship where Muslims spend the daylight hours in a complete
fast. During the month of Ramadhan, a large number of people tend to purchase food from
stalls or bazaars for breaking fast. It is crucial that the foods prepared and sold are handled in
a clean and safe manner. Thus, this research focused on evaluating the microbiological quality
of cooked meat products (beef and chicken) from food bazaars and street-vended foods in
10 districts throughout the state of Kelantan. A total of 100 samples were collected from all
10 districts in Kelantan and were tested for coliform, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and
Staphylococcus spp. Microbiological analysis of the meat samples showed unsatisfactory
results where a total of 42% of the samples were found unsatisfactory for coliform. The overall
prevalence for Staphylococcus spp. in beef and chicken were 19.6% and 12.9%. Escherichia
coli were detected in 23.9% of beef and 12.9% of chicken. Non-compliances for Salmonella
were found in 13% and 9.3% of beef and chicken samples. This study determined the presence
of foodborne pathogen in cooked meat products and indicated the possibilities of cross
contamination and lack of hygiene during food handling.
Fulltext Parametric tracking across multiple cameras

Sebastian, Patrick, Yap, Vooi Voon, Comley, Richard

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2017;25(101):159-168.
MyJurnal

This paper presents a tracking method based on parameters between colour blobs. The colour blobs
are obtained from segmenting the overall target into multiple colour regions. The colour regions are
segmented using EM method that determines the normal colour distributions from the overall colour
pixel distribution. After segmenting into different regions on the different colour layers, parameters
can be generated between colour regions of interest. In this instance, the colour regions of interest are
the top and bottom colour regions. The parameters that are generated from these colour regions are
the vector magnitude, vector angle and the value difference between colour regions. These parameters
are used as a means for tracking targets of interest. These parameters are used for tracking the target
of interest across an array of cameras which in this instance are three cameras. Three cameras have
been set up with different background and foreground conditions. The summarised results of tracking
targets across three cameras have shown that the consistency of colour regions across different cameras
and different background settings provided sufficient parameters for targets to be tracked consistently.
Example of tracking performance across three cameras were 0.88, 0.67 and 0.55. The remaining tracking
performances across three cameras are shown in Table 2. The tracking performance indicate that the
parameters between colour regions were able to be used for tracking a target across different cameras
with different background scenarios. Based on results obtained, parameters between segmented colour
regions have indicated robustness in tracking target of interest across three cameras.

MeSH terms: Animals; Color; Disease Vectors; Excipients; Normal Distribution; Law Enforcement
Real-time path-integral approach for dissipative quantum dot-cavity quantum electrodynamics: impure dephasing-induced effects

Nahri DG, Mathkoor FH, Raymond Ooi CH

J Phys Condens Matter, 2017 Feb 08;29(5):055701.
PMID: 27966466 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/29/5/055701

A dissipative quantum dot (QD)-cavity system, where the QD is initially prepared in the excited state with no photon in the cavity, coupled to a longitudinal acoustic (LA) phonon reservoir is studied using a numerically exact real-time path-integral approach. Three distinct dynamical regimes of weak (WC), strong (SC), and coherent coupling (CC) are discussed and more accurate conditions identifying them are presented. Our results show that to have the CC regime, which is characterized by clear vacuum Rabi oscillation (VRO), vacuum Rabi splitting (VRS) should be larger than the sum of the widths of the corresponding peaks. In order to distinguish between contributions of population decay and impure dephasing, induced by LA phonon bath and the dissipations, we propose a two-part phenomenological expression, corresponding to the population decay and impure dephasing, which fits the QD-cavity decay curves perfectly and is used to calculate the corresponding spectra. We demonstrate that the effective population decay rate (the emission rate) increases from the carrier recombination rate to a maximum value, which is the mean of the QD and cavity dissipation rates, with QD-cavity coupling strength. To study the role of the effective impure dephasing rate on the width of the central peak of the spectra we introduce a quantity that can also be applied in determining the distinct coupling regimes. This quantity enables us to identify the onset of the SC regime as the point where the impure dephasing term begins to contribute to the central band of the spectrum significantly, as a result of the existence of VRO with a very small frequency (unclear VRO) at the corresponding decay curve. Its contribution to the width of the central peak increases with the coupling strength up to the onset of the CC regime, then reduces as a result of the appearance of sidebands in the spectra, which originates from clear VRO. The effective population decay and impure dephasing rate contribute solely to the width-of the central and sideband peaks of the triplet spectra respectively-only beyond a very large coupling strength which is the same across the considered temperature range. For higher temperatures, the maximum achievable emission rate can be obtained at larger coupling strengths.
Fulltext Novel Genetic Variants of Hepatitis B Virus in Fulminant Hepatitis

Chook JB, Ngeow YF, Tee KK, Peh SC, Mohamed R

J Pathog, 2017;2017:1231204.
PMID: 29410920 DOI: 10.1155/2017/1231204

Fulminant hepatitis (FH) is a life-threatening liver disease characterised by intense immune attack and massive liver cell death. The common precore stop codon mutation of hepatitis B virus (HBV), A1896, is frequently associated with FH, but lacks specificity. This study attempts to uncover all possible viral nucleotides that are specifically associated with FH through a compiled sequence analysis of FH and non-FH cases from acute infection. We retrieved 67 FH and 280 acute non-FH cases of hepatitis B from GenBank and applied support vector machine (SVM) model to seek candidate nucleotides highly predictive of FH. Six best candidates with top predictive accuracy, 92.5%, were used to build a SVM model; they are C2129 (85.3%), T720 (83.0%), Y2131 (82.4%), T2013 (82.1%), K2048 (82.1%), and A2512 (82.1%). This model gave a high specificity (99.3%), positive predictive value (95.6%), and negative predictive value (92.1%), but only moderate sensitivity (64.2%). We successfully built a SVM model comprising six variants that are highly predictive and specific for FH: four in the core region and one each in the polymerase and the surface regions. These variants indicate that intracellular virion/core retention could play an important role in the progression to FH.
Fulltext Antibacterial Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Syzygium polyanthum L. (Salam) Leaves against Foodborne Pathogens and Application as Food Sanitizer

Ramli S, Radu S, Shaari K, Rukayadi Y

Biomed Res Int, 2017;2017:9024246.
PMID: 29410966 DOI: 10.1155/2017/9024246

The aim of this study was to determine antibacterial activity of S. polyanthum L. (salam) leaves extract foodborne pathogens. All the foodborne pathogens were inhibited after treating with extract in disk diffusion test with range 6.67 ± 0.58-9.67 ± 0.58 mm of inhibition zone. The range of MIC values was between 0.63 and 1.25 mg/mL whereas MBC values were in the range 0.63 mg/mL to 2.50 mg/mL. In time-kill curve, L. monocytogenes and P. aeruginosa were found completely killed after exposing to extract in 1 h incubation at 4x MIC. Four hours had been taken to completely kill E. coli, S. aureus, V. cholerae, and V. parahaemolyticus at 4x MIC. However, the population of K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis, and S. typhimurium only reduced to 3 log CFU/mL. The treated cell showed cell rupture and leakage of the cell cytoplasm in SEM observation. The significant reduction of natural microflora in grapes fruit was started at 0.50% of extract at 5 min and this concentration also was parallel to sensory attributes acceptability where application of extract was accepted by the panellists until 5%. In conclusion, S. polyanthum extract exhibits antimicrobial activities and thus might be developed as natural sanitizer for washing raw food materials.

MeSH terms: Ethanol/chemistry*; Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology*; Bacteria/drug effects*; Bacteria/ultrastructure; Food Microbiology*; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Plant Extracts/pharmacology*; Time Factors; Plant Leaves/chemistry*; Syzygium/chemistry*; Vitis/drug effects
Fulltext A corrective action scheme for contingency monitoring of transmission line overloading

Mohammad Lutfi Othman, Mahmood Khalid Hadi, Noor Izzri Abdul Wahab

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2017;25(101):129-138.
MyJurnal

Special Protection Schemes (SPSs), are corrective action schemes that are designed to protect power
systems against severe contingency conditions. In planning of SPSs, protecting transmission network from
overloading issue due to critical situations has become a serious challenge which needs to be taken into
account. In this paper, a Special Protection and Control Scheme (SPCS) based on Differential Evolution
(DE) algorithm for optimal generation rescheduling has been applied to mitigate the transmission line
overloading in system contingency conditions. The N-1 contingency has been performed for different
single line outages under base and increased load in which generation rescheduling strategy has been
undertaken to overcome the overloading problem. Simulation results are presented for both pre-and
post system emergency situations. The IEEE 30-bus test system was utilised in order to validate the
effectiveness of the proposed method.

MeSH terms: Algorithms; Mortuary Practice; Paper
Fulltext Classification of aromatic herbs using artificial intelligent technique

Che Soh, A., Mohamad Yusof, U.K., Radzi, N.F.M., Ishak, A.J., Hassan, M.K.

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2017;25(101):119-128.
MyJurnal

Herbs have unique characteristics such as colour, texture and odour. In general, herb identification is
through organoleptic methods and is heavily dependent on botanists. It is becoming more difficult to
identify different herb species in the same family based only on their aroma . It is because of their similar
physical appearance and smell. Artificial technology, unlike humans, is thought to have the capacity to
identify different species with precision. An instrument used to identify aroma is the electronic nose.
It is used in many sector including agriculture. The electronic nose in this project was to identify the
odour of 12 species such as lauraceae, myrtaceae and zingiberaceae families. The output captured by the
electronic nose gas sensors were classified using two types of artificial intelligent techniques: Artificial
Neural Network (ANN) and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). From the result, ANFIS
has 94.8% accuracy compared with ANN at 91.7%.
Fulltext Statistical optimisation of process parameters on the efficiency of N-TiO2 dye sensitised solar cell using response surface methodology (RSM)

Samaila, Buda, Suhaidi Shafie, Suraya Abdul Rashid, Haslina Jafaar, Ali Khalifa

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2017;25(101):111-118.
MyJurnal

In this study, nitrogen doped titanium dioxide-based dye-sensitised solar cell was successfully fabricated
using screen printing technique to discover the optimisation of process parameters for the solar cell
efficiency using response surface methodology (RSM). Parameter optimisation has been a major concern
in solar cell fabrication. The selected parameters were: nitrogen concentration (15-25 mg of urea), the
film thickness (25-60 µm) and dye loading time (12-24 hours), the optimum condition which yields the
highest efficiency of 3.5% was at 15 mg nitrogen concentration, 25 µm film thickness and 24-hours dye
loading time. Film thickness was found to have a significant influence on efficiency while the loading
time exceeding 18 hours has the least significant effect.

MeSH terms: Nitrogen; Phosphatidylethanolamines; Printing; Solar Energy; Titanium; Urea
Fulltext Factors Contributing to Exacerbating Vulnerabilities in Global Clinical Trials

da Silva RE, Amato AA, Guilhem DB, de Carvalho MR, Lima EDC, Novaes MRCG

Front Pharmacol, 2017;8:999.
PMID: 29403381 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00999

Background: Although policies and guidelines make use of the concept of vulnerability, few define it. The European Union's directive for clinical trials does not include explanations for or the reasoning behind the designation of certain groups as vulnerable. Emerging economies from lower middle-income countries have, in recent years, had the largest average annual growth rate, as well as increase, in number of clinical trials registered in the US government's database. Nevertheless, careful supervision of research activities has to be ensured. Objective: To describe and analyze the features of the clinical trials involving vulnerable populations in various countries classified by development status and geographic region. Methods: Retrospective study that involved analysis of data obtained from the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) database between 01/2014 and 12/2014 from countries with (i) highest trial densities during 2005 to 2012, (ii) highest average growth rate in clinical trials, and (iii) greatest trial capabilities. Results: Statistical analysis of this study showed that patients incapable of giving consent personally are 11.4 times more likely to be vulnerable patients than patients who are capable, and that patients in upper-middle-income countries are 1.7 times more likely to be vulnerable patients than patients from high-income countries when participating in global clinical trials. Malaysia (21%), Egypt (20%), Turkey (19%), Israel (18%), and Brazil (17%) had the highest percentages of vulnerable populations involving children. Conclusions: Although the inability to provide consent personally was a factor associated with vulnerability, arbitrary criteria may have been considered when classifying the populations of clinical trials as vulnerable. The EU Clinical Trials Register should provide guidance regarding exactly what aspects or factors should be taken into account to frame given populations as vulnerable, because vulnerability is not applicable to all risk situations.
Fulltext Fabrication of an electrochemical sensor for determination of doxorubicin in human plasma and its interaction with DNA

Hajian R, Tayebi Z, Shams N

J Pharm Anal, 2017 Feb;7(1):27-33.
PMID: 29404015 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpha.2016.07.005

In this work, an electrochemical sensor was fabricated for determination of an anthracycline, doxorubicin (DOX) as a chemotherapy drug in plasma based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes modified platinum electrode (Pt/MWCNTs). DOX was effectively accumulated on the surface of modified electrode and generated a pair of redox peaks at around 0.522 and 0.647 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in Britton Robinson (B-R) buffer (pH 4.0, 0.1 M). The electrochemical parameters including pH, type of buffer, accumulation time, amount of modifier and scan rate were optimized. Under the optimized conditions, there was a linear correlation between cathodic peak current and concentration of DOX in the range of 0.05-4.0 µg/mL with the detection limit of 0.002 µg/mL. The number of electron transfers (n) and electron transfer-coefficient (α) were estimated as 2.0 and 0.25, respectively. The constructed sensor displayed excellent precision, sensitivity, repeatability and selectivity in the determination of doxorubicin in plasma. Moreover, cyclic voltammetry studies of DOX in the presence of DNA showed an intercalation mechanism with binding constant (Kb) of 1.12×105 L/mol.
Fulltext DNA-binding studies of valrubicin as a chemotherapy drug using spectroscopy and electrochemical techniques

Hajian R, Hossaini P, Mehrayin Z, Woi PM, Shams N

J Pharm Anal, 2017 Jun;7(3):176-180.
PMID: 29404035 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpha.2017.01.003

In this study, the molecular interactions between valrubicin, an anticancer drug, and fish sperm DNA have been studied in phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.4) using UV-Vis spectrophotometry and cyclic voltammetry techniques. Valrubicin intercalated into double stranded DNA under a weak displacement reaction with methylene blue (MB) molecule in a competitive reaction. The binding constant (kb) of valrubicin-DNA was determined as 1.75×103 L/mol by spectrophotometric titration. The value of non-electrostatic binding constant ([Formula: see text]) was almost constant at different ionic strengths while the ratio of [Formula: see text]/kb increased from 4.51% to 23.77%. These results indicate that valrubicin binds to ds-DNA via electrostatic and intercalation modes. Thermodynamic parameters including ΔH0, ΔS0 and ΔG0 for valrubicin-DNA interaction were determined as -25.21×103 kJ/mol, 1.55×102 kJ/mol K and -22.03 kJ/mol, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry study shows a pair of redox peaks for valrubicin at 0.45 V and 0.36 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). The peak currents decreased and peak positions shifted to positive direction in the presence of DNA, showing intercalation mechanism due to the variation in formal potential.
Fulltext Development and validation of a high throughput LC-MS/MS method for simultaneous quantitation of pioglitazone and telmisartan in rat plasma and its application to a pharmacokinetic study

Sengupta P, Chatterjee B, Mandal UK, Gorain B, Pal TK

J Pharm Anal, 2017 Dec;7(6):381-387.
PMID: 29404063 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpha.2017.05.004

Management of cardiovascular risk factors in diabetes demands special attention due to their co-existence. Pioglitazone (PIO) and telmisartan (TLM) combination can be beneficial in effective control of cardiovascular complication in diabetes. In this research, we developed and validated a high throughput LC-MS/MS method for simultaneous quantitation of PIO and TLM in rat plasma. This developed method is more sensitive and can quantitate the analytes in relatively shorter period of time compared to the previously reported methods for their individual quantification. Moreover, till date, there is no bioanalytical method available to simultaneously quantitate PIO and TLM in a single run. The method was validated according to the USFDA guidelines for bioanalytical method validation. A linear response of the analytes was observed over the range of 0.005-10 µg/mL with satisfactory precision and accuracy. Accuracy at four quality control levels was within 94.27%-106.10%. The intra- and inter-day precision ranged from 2.32%-10.14 and 5.02%-8.12%, respectively. The method was reproducible and sensitive enough to quantitate PIO and TLM in rat plasma samples of a preclinical pharmacokinetic study. Due to the potential of PIO-TLM combination to be therapeutically explored, this method is expected to have significant usefulness in future.

External Links