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Fulltext Community pharmacists' knowledge, behaviors and experiences about adverse drug reaction reporting in Saudi Arabia

Mahmoud MA, Alsowaida Y, Alshammari T, Khan TM, Alrasheedy A, Hassali MA, et al.

Saudi Pharm J, 2014 11;22(5):411-8.
PMID: 25473329 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsps.2013.07.005

OBJECTIVE: To assess community pharmacists' knowledge, behaviors and experiences relating to Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) reporting in Saudi Arabia.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a validated self-administered questionnaire. A convenience sample of 147 community pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
RESULTS: The questionnaire was distributed to 147 pharmacists, of whom 104 responded to the survey, a 70.7% response rate. The mean age of participants was 29 years. The majority (n = 101, 98.1%) had graduated with a bachelorette degree and worked in chain pharmacies (n = 68, 66.7%). Only 23 (22.1%) said they were familiar with the ADR reporting process, and only 21 (20.2%) knew that pharmacists can submit ADR reports online. The majority of the participants (n = 90, 86.5%) had never reported ADRs. Reasons for not reporting ADRs most importantly included lack of awareness about the method of reporting (n = 22, 45.9%), misconception that reporting ADRs is the duty of physician and hospital pharmacist (n = 8, 16.6%) and ADRs in community pharmacies are simple and should not be reported (n = 8, 16.6%). The most common approach perceived by community pharmacists for managing patients suffering from ADRs was to refer him/her to a physician (n = 80, 76.9%).
CONCLUSION: The majority of community pharmacists in Riyadh have poor knowledge of the ADR reporting process. Pharmacovigilance authorities should take necessary steps to urgently design interventional programs in order to increase the knowledge and awareness of pharmacists regarding the ADR reporting process.
Fulltext Corrigendum to "Community pharmacists' knowledge, behaviors and experiences about adverse drug reaction reporting in Saudi Arabia" [Saudi Pharm. J. 22(5) (2014) 411-418]

Mahmoud MA, Alsowaida Y, Alshammari T, Khan TM, Alrasheedy A, Hasssali MA, et al.

Saudi Pharm J, 2018 01;26(1):144.
PMID: 29988824 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsps.2017.07.009

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.jsps.2013.07.005.].
Fulltext Challenges to and the future of medication safety in Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study

Aljadhey H, Mahmoud MA, Hassali MA, Alrasheedy A, Alahmad A, Saleem F, et al.

Saudi Pharm J, 2014 Sep;22(4):326-32.
PMID: 25161376 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsps.2013.08.001

BACKGROUND: Medication safety is a global concern among healthcare providers. However, the challenges to and the future of medication safety in Saudi Arabia have not been explored.
OBJECTIVES: We explored the perspectives of healthcare practitioners on current issues about medication safety in hospitals and community settings in Saudi Arabia in order to identify challenges to improving it and explore the future of medication safety practice.
METHODS: A total of 65 physicians, pharmacists, academics and nurses attended a one-day meeting in March 2010, designed especially for the purpose of this study. The participants were divided into nine round-table discussion sessions. Three major themes were explored in these sessions, including: major factors contributing to medication safety problems, challenges to improving medication safety practice, and participants' suggestions for improving medication safety. The round-table discussion sessions were videotaped and transcribed verbatim and analyzed by two independent researchers.
RESULTS: The round-table discussions revealed that major factors contributing to medication safety problems included unrestricted public access to medications from various hospitals and community pharmacies, communication gaps between healthcare institutions, limited use of important technologies such as computerized provider order entry, and the lack of medication safety programs in hospitals. Challenges to current medication safety practice identified by participants included underreporting of medication errors and adverse drug reactions, multilingualism and differing backgrounds of healthcare professionals, lack of communication between healthcare providers and patients, and high workloads. Suggestions for improving medication safety practices in Saudi Arabia included continuous education for healthcare professionals and competency assessment focusing on medication safety, development of a culture that encourages medication error and adverse drug reactions reporting, use of technology proven to decrease medication errors, and promotion and implementation of national patient safety initiatives.
CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare professionals have identified major challenges and opportunities for medication safety in Saudi Arabia. Policy makers and practitioners should consider these factors when designing future programs aimed at improving the safe use of medications.
Fulltext Zerumbone Induces Apoptosis in Breast Cancer Cells by Targeting αvβ3 Integrin upon Co-Administration with TP5-iRGD Peptide

E M Eid E, S Alanazi A, Koosha S, A Alrasheedy A, Azam F, M Taban I, et al.

Molecules, 2019 Jul 13;24(14).
PMID: 31337024 DOI: 10.3390/molecules24142554

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are highly promising tools to deliver therapeutic molecules into tumours. αVβ3 integrins are cell-matrix adhesion receptors, and are considered as an attractive target for anticancer therapies owing to their roles in the process of metastasis and angiogenesis. Therefore, this study aims to assess the effect of co-administration of zerumbone (ZER) and ZERencapsulated in hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin with TP5-iRGD peptide towards cell cytotoxicity, apoptosis induction, and proliferation of normal and cancerous breast cells utilizing in vitro assays, as well as to study the molecular docking of ZER in complex with TP5-iRGD peptide. Cell viability assay findings indicated that ZER and ZERencapsulated in hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (ZER-HPβCD) inhibited the growth of estrogen receptor positivebreast cancer cells (ER+ MCF-7) at 72 h treatment with an inhibitory concentration (IC)50 of 7.51 ± 0.2 and 5.08 ± 0.2 µg/mL, respectively, and inhibited the growth of triple negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) with an IC50 of 14.96 ± 1.52 µg/mL and 12.18 ± 0.7 µg/mL, respectively. On the other hand, TP5-iRGD peptide showed no significant cytotoxicity on both cancer and normal cells. Interestingly, co-administration of TP5-iRGD peptide in MCF-7 cells reduced the IC50 of ZER from 7.51 ± 0.2 µg/mL to 3.13 ± 0.7 µg/mL and reduced the IC50 of ZER-HPβCD from 5.08 ± 0.2 µg/mL to 0.49 ± 0.004 µg/mL, indicating that the co-administration enhances the potency and increases the efficacy of ZER and ZER-HPβCD compounds. Acridine orange (AO)/propidium iodide (PI) staining under fluorescence microscopy showed evidence of early apoptosis after 72 h from the co-administration of ZER or ZER-HPβCD with TP5-iRGD peptide in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The findings of the computational modelling experiment provide novel insights into the ZER interaction with integrin αvβ3 in the presence of TP5-iRGD, and this could explain why ZER has better antitumor activities when co-administered with TP5-iRGD peptide.