MyMedR

Fulltext A Review on Current Trends of Polymers in Orthodontics: BPA-Free and Smart Materials

Hassan R, Aslam Khan MU, Abdullah AM, Abd Razak SI

Polymers (Basel), 2021 Apr 27;13(9).

PMID: 33925332 DOI: 10.3390/polym13091409

Polymeric materials have always established an edge over other classes of materials due to their potential applications in various fields of biomedical engineering. Orthodontics is an emerging field in which polymers have attracted the enormous attention of researchers. In particular, thermoplastic materials have a great future utility in orthodontics, both as aligners and as retainer appliances. In recent years, the use of polycarbonate brackets and base monomers bisphenol A glycerolate dimethacrylate (bis-GMA) has been associated with the potential release of bisphenol A (BPA) in the oral environment. BPA is a toxic compound that acts as an endocrine disruptor that can affect human health. Therefore, there is a continuous search for non-BPA materials with satisfactory mechanical properties and an esthetic appearance as an alternative to polycarbonate brackets and conventional bis-GMA compounds. This study aims to review the recent developments of BPA-free monomers in the application of resin dental composites and adhesives. The most promising polymeric smart materials are also discussed for their relevance to future orthodontic applications.

Fulltext Fabrication of Bilayer Nanofibrous-Hydrogel Scaffold from Bacterial Cellulose, PVA, and Gelatin as Advanced Dressing for Wound Healing and Soft Tissue Engineering

Khan R, Aslam Khan MU, Stojanović GM, Javed A, Haider S, Abd Razak SI

ACS Omega, 2024 Feb 13;9(6):6527-6536.

PMID: 38371763 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c06613

Tissue engineering is currently one of the fastest-growing areas of engineering, requiring the fabrication of advanced and multifunctional materials that can be used as scaffolds or dressings for tissue regeneration. In this work, we report a bilayer material prepared by electrospinning a hybrid material of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and bacterial cellulose (BC NFs) (top layer) over a highly interconnected porous 3D gelatin-PVA hydrogel obtained by a freeze-drying process (bottom layer). The techniques were combined to produce an advanced material with synergistic effects on the physical and biological properties of the two materials. The bilayer material was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and a water contact measurement system (WCMS). Studies on swelling, degradability, porosity, drug release, cellular and antibacterial activities were performed using standardized procedures and assays. FTIR confirmed cross-linking of both the top and bottom layers, and SEM showed porous structure for the bottom layer, random deposition of NFs on the surface, and aligned NFs in the cross section. The water contact angle (WCA) showed a hydrophilic surface for the bilayer material. Swelling analysis showed high swelling, and degradation analysis showed good stability. The bilayer material released Ag-sulfadiazine in a sustained and controlled manner and showed good antibacterial activities against severe disease-causing gram + ive and -ive (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacterial strains. In vitro biological studies were performed on fibroblasts (3T3) and human embryonic kidneys (HEK-293), which showed desirable cell viability, proliferation, and adhesion to the bilayer. Thus, the synergistic effect of NFs and the hydrogel resulted in a potential wound dressing material for wound healing and soft tissue engineering.

Fulltext Healthcare Professionals' Awareness, Knowledge, Attitudes, Perceptions and Beliefs about Ebola at Gondar University Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia: A Cross-sectional Study

Abebe TB, Bhagavathula AS, Tefera YG, Ahmad A, Khan MU, Belachew SA, et al.

J Public Health Afr, 2016 Dec 31;7(2):570.

PMID: 28299161 DOI: 10.4081/jphia.2016.570

A poor understanding of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) among Health Care Professionals (HCPs) may put our lives at risk. We aimed to assess the awareness, knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, beliefs of HCPs towards Ebola at Gondar University Hospital (GUH) in Northwest Ethiopia. We conducted a hospital based, cross-sectional survey among 245 randomly selected HCPs working at GUH from August-October, 2015. A validated, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. We calculated descriptive statistics with P<0.05 being statistically significant. Of the 245 participants, 211 (86.1%) completed the study. The majority had heard about EVD and used news media (62%) as a source of information. Still, many were afraid of getting EVD (56.4%; P=0.001). A significant number of HCPs thought EVD can cause paralysis like polio (45%) and can be treated with antibiotics (28.4%). In addition, 46.4% of the HCPs felt anger or fear towards Ebola infected patients (P=0.006). We identified poor knowledge and negative incorrect beliefs among doctors and allied health professionals. There is a need for intensive training for all HCPs reduce EVD risk.

Fulltext Polio vaccination in Pakistan

Khan MU, Ahmad A

Lancet, 2015 Jul 25;386(9991):337.

PMID: 26227462 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)61405-2

Fulltext Self-medication practices among female students of higher educational institutions in Selangor, Malaysia: A quantitative insight

Jamshed SQ, Wong PS, Yi HC, Yun GS, Khan MU, Ahmad A

J Pharm Bioallied Sci, 2016 Jul-Sep;8(3):217-22.

PMID: 27413350 DOI: 10.4103/0975-7406.172662

World Health Organization has defined self-medication as the selection and use of medications (including herbal and traditional product) by individuals to treat self-recognized illnesses or symptoms. The prevalence of self-medication is reported to be higher among female students.

Availability and affordability of life-saving vaccines

Khan MU, Ahmad A

Lancet Infect Dis, 2017 02;17(2):136-137.

PMID: 28134107 DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30014-2

Fulltext Are healthcare workers ready for Ebola? An assessment of their knowledge and attitude in a referral hospital in South India

Ahmad A, Khan MU, Jamshed SQ, Kumar BD, Kumar GS, Reddy PG, et al.

J Infect Dev Ctries, 2016 Aug 02;10(7):747-54.

PMID: 27482807 DOI: 10.3855/jidc.7578

INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic to be a public health emergency of international concern. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at the highest risk of infection, as they may come into contact with patients' blood or fluids. This study was conducted to assess knowledge and attitudes of HCWs towards EVD in India.
METHODOLOGY: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in a multispecialty public sector referral hospital of Telangana, India. Knowledge and attitude of HCWs were evaluated using a pre-validated questionnaire. A sample of 278 participants was selected to participate in this study. The Chi-squared test was used to assess the relationship between attitudes and demographic characteristics. Logistic regression was used examine the association between knowledge and study variables.
RESULTS: Of 257 participants who responded (92.4% response rate), 157 (61.1%) were females. The majority of the respondents were physicians (n = 117, 45.5%). Radio and television were the major sources of information about EVD reported by participants (89%). Overall knowledge of HCWs was poor (mean knowledge score: 6.57 ± 2.57). Knowledge of physicians and experienced workers (≥ 10 years) was significantly higher than their respective groups. The overall attitude of the participants was positive (mean attitude score: 1.62 ± 0.57). Significant positive correlations between knowledge and attitude were observed.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that participants lack basic understanding of EVD. We recommend future studies be conducted across India to identify and subsequently bridge the knowledge gaps among HCWs.

Fulltext Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Osteoarthritic Patients: A Review

Khan MU, Jamshed SQ, Ahmad A, Bidin MA, Siddiqui MJ, Al-Shami AK

J Clin Diagn Res, 2016 Feb;10(2):JE01-6.

PMID: 27042482 DOI: 10.7860/JCDR/2016/15211.7169

INTRODUCTION: One of the most important indications of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) is in arthritis. The popularity of CAM in arthritis is consistently on the rise because of the potential side effects of the conventional therapy (Methotrexate) of arthritis. In view of this, it was important to summarize the information, for healthcare professionals and the patients, about the safety and effectiveness of various CAM use in arthritis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This comprehensive review is based on the content derived through a thorough literature search using 5 electronic databases such as Science direct, Springer link, PubMed, Jet P and Google scholar. Equivalent terms in thesauruses or Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) browsers were used whenever possible. We included all the articles those are used CAM medications for the treatment of arthritis around the globe and searched for the required articles published in English in peer reviewed journals from January 1999 to February 2014. Reports were then arranged and analysed on the basis of country specific studies.

RESULTS: Initially, a total of 156 articles were retrieved, after further screening, 27 articles were selected according to meet objectives of the study and those articles which did not qualify, were excluded. Seventeen appropriate studies were finally included in the review. Indeed most of the studies that fulfilled the objective of this review were carried out in US (n=8, 47%), then in India (n=2, 11.76%), UK (n=1, 5.88%), Canada (n=1, 5.88%), Australia (n=1, 5.88%), Korea (n=1, 5.88%), Thailand (n=1, 5.88%), Turkey (n=1, 5.88%) and Malaysia (n=1, 5.88%).

CONCLUSION: The review revealed that family, friend, past experiences and lack of effectiveness of conventional therapy are the major factors that influenced patients' decision of initiating and persisting with CAM therapy. The review highlighted the need to conduct future studies by using some more specific health related outcome measures.

Fulltext Recent Advances in Biopolymeric Composite Materials for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicines: A Review

Aslam Khan MU, Abd Razak SI, Al Arjan WS, Nazir S, Sahaya Anand TJ, Mehboob H, et al.

Molecules, 2021 Jan 25;26(3).

PMID: 33504080 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26030619

The polymeric composite material with desirable features can be gained by selecting suitable biopolymers with selected additives to get polymer-filler interaction. Several parameters can be modified according to the design requirements, such as chemical structure, degradation kinetics, and biopolymer composites' mechanical properties. The interfacial interactions between the biopolymer and the nanofiller have substantial control over biopolymer composites' mechanical characteristics. This review focuses on different applications of biopolymeric composites in controlled drug release, tissue engineering, and wound healing with considerable properties. The biopolymeric composite materials are required with advanced and multifunctional properties in the biomedical field and regenerative medicines with a complete analysis of routine biomaterials with enhanced biomedical engineering characteristics. Several studies in the literature on tissue engineering, drug delivery, and wound dressing have been mentioned. These results need to be reviewed for possible development and analysis, which makes an essential study.

Fulltext Development of Biopolymeric Hybrid Scaffold-Based on AAc/GO/nHAp/TiO2 Nanocomposite for Bone Tissue Engineering: In-Vitro Analysis

Aslam Khan MU, Al-Arjan WS, Binkadem MS, Mehboob H, Haider A, Raza MA, et al.

Nanomaterials (Basel), 2021 May 17;11(5).

PMID: 34067844 DOI: 10.3390/nano11051319

Bone tissue engineering is an advanced field for treatment of fractured bones to restore/regulate biological functions. Biopolymeric/bioceramic-based hybrid nanocomposite scaffolds are potential biomaterials for bone tissue because of biodegradable and biocompatible characteristics. We report synthesis of nanocomposite based on acrylic acid (AAc)/guar gum (GG), nano-hydroxyapatite (HAp NPs), titanium nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs), and optimum graphene oxide (GO) amount via free radical polymerization method. Porous scaffolds were fabricated through freeze-drying technique and coated with silver sulphadiazine. Different techniques were used to investigate functional group, crystal structural properties, morphology/elemental properties, porosity, and mechanical properties of fabricated scaffolds. Results show that increasing amount of TiO2 in combination with optimized GO has improved physicochemical and microstructural properties, mechanical properties (compressive strength (2.96 to 13.31 MPa) and Young's modulus (39.56 to 300.81 MPa)), and porous properties (pore size (256.11 to 107.42 μm) and porosity (79.97 to 44.32%)). After 150 min, silver sulfadiazine release was found to be ~94.1%. In vitro assay of scaffolds also exhibited promising results against mouse pre-osteoblast (MC3T3-E1) cell lines. Hence, these fabricated scaffolds would be potential biomaterials for bone tissue engineering in biomedical engineering.

Pharmaceutical waste and antimicrobial resistance

Ahmad A, Patel I, Khan MU, Babar ZU

Lancet Infect Dis, 2017 06;17(6):578-579.

PMID: 28555576 DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30268-2

Patient inaccessibility to antifungal drugs in developing nations: The case of Pakistan

Saleem A, Khan A, Ahmad A, Khan MU, Babar ZU

Res Social Adm Pharm, 2017 Nov;13(6):1218.

PMID: 28768574 DOI: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2017.07.010

Fulltext Fixed-dose combination antibiotics in India: global perspectives

Ahmad A, Khan MU, Balkrishnan R

Lancet Glob Health, 2016 08;4(8):e521.

PMID: 27443777 DOI: 10.1016/S2214-109X(16)30093-6

Polio and cross-border management

Khan MU, Ahmad A, Balkrishnan R

Lancet Infect Dis, 2017 02;17(2):136.

PMID: 28134106 DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30012-9

Could an automated machine replace the pharmacist?

Khan MU, Ahmad A, Malik S, Balkrishnan R

Res Social Adm Pharm, 2016 11 18;13(2):399.

PMID: 27884658 DOI: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2016.10.019

Fulltext Exploring the intentions of pharmacy students towards pharmacy ownership by using theory of planned behaviour

Khan MU, Ahmad A, Fayyaz M, Ashraf N, Bhagavathula A

BMC Res Notes, 2016;9(1):183.

PMID: 27005815 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-016-1996-4

The objective of this study was to assess the association of the constructs of theory of planned behaviour (behavioural beliefs, normative beliefs, control beliefs) and demographic variables with the intentions of pharmacy students to become pharmacy owner.

Fulltext Knowledge, awareness, and perception of contraception among senior pharmacy students in Malaysia: A pilot study

Elkalmi RM, Khan MU, Ahmad A, Srikanth AB, Abdurhaman NS, Jamshed SQ, et al.

J Res Pharm Pract, 2015 Apr-Jun;4(2):94-8.

PMID: 25984548 DOI: 10.4103/2279-042X.155760

OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to assess the knowledge, awareness, and perception of contraception among senior pharmacy students of a public sector university in Malaysia.
METHODS: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted among senior pharmacy students. The pretested questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants over the period of 1-month. The questionnaire was divided into four sections, for gathering the information about students' demographic data, and their knowledge, attitudes, and perception toward contraception. Data were statistically analyzed using SPSS version 20.
FINDINGS: The response rate was 68.6%. The results showed that the contraceptive knowledge was comparatively higher in year four students (P < 0.001), married respondents (P < 0.001) and those taking elective courses (P = 0.022) as compared to their respective counterparts. Majority of the students were well aware and had a positive perception about contraception.
CONCLUSION: Overall findings reflect that the majority of the students had good knowledge, perception, and awareness about contraception. The study recommends future studies to be conducted covering different pharmacy schools across the country to further establish the results.
KEYWORDS: Awareness; contraceptive; knowledge; perception; students

Fulltext Can Pharmacy Doctors act as valuable assets in rural areas with a physician shortage?

Ahmad A, Patel I, Khan MU, Chang J

J Res Pharm Pract, 2014 Oct;3(4):109-11.

PMID: 25535617 DOI: 10.4103/2279-042X.145345

Fulltext Knowledge, attitude and practice of B.Sc. Pharmacy students about antibiotics in Trinidad and Tobago

Ahmad A, Khan MU, Patel I, Maharaj S, Pandey S, Dhingra S

J Res Pharm Pract, 2015 Jan-Mar;4(1):37-41.

PMID: 25710049 DOI: 10.4103/2279-042X.150057

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of B.Sc. Pharmacy students about usage and resistance of antibiotics in Trinidad and Tobago.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study involving B.Sc. Pharmacy students. The questionnaire was divided into five components including Demographics data, knowledge about antibiotic use, attitude toward antibiotic use and resistance, self-antibiotic usage and possible causes of antibiotic resistance. Data were analyzed by employing Mann-Whitney and Chi-square tests using SPSS version 20.
FINDINGS: The response rate was 83.07%. The results showed good knowledge of antibiotic use among students. The overall attitude of pharmacy students was poor. About 75% of participants rarely use antibiotics, whereas self-decision was the major reason of antibiotic use (40.7%) and main source of information was retail pharmacist (42.6%). Common cold and flu is a major problem for which antibiotics were mainly utilized by pharmacy students (35.2%).
CONCLUSION: The study showed good knowledge of pharmacy students regarding antibiotic usage. However, students' attitude towards antibiotic use was poor. The study recommends future studies to be conducted with interventional design to improve knowledge and attitude of pharmacy students about antibiotic use and resistance.
KEYWORDS: Antibiotics; Trinidad and Tobago; knowledge; pharmacy students; resistance

Fulltext Evaluation of Potential Drug-Drug Interactions with Antidepressants in Two Tertiary Care Hospitals

Rafi MS, Naqvi SB, Khan MU, Fayyaz M, Ashraf N, Khan MA, et al.

J Clin Diagn Res, 2015 Jul;9(7):FC05-8.

PMID: 26393139 DOI: 10.7860/JCDR/2015/13437.6207

Limited resources of healthcare system and high use of antidepressants have raised some serious concerns regarding proper surveillance system of prescribed medicines. Not much literature is available from Pakistan regarding the potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) associated with antidepressants.

Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 46 in total