PATIENTS' PREFERENCES TOWARD THE GENDER OF PHARMACIST IN COMMUNITY PHARMACY IN AL AIN, UAE

Objectives: to explore customers' preferences toward gender of pharmacist in community pharmacy in Al Ain area, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Also, to study the effect of different socio-demographic determinants on their choices.Methods: A cross sectional survey has been carried out among 500 adult individuals randomly selected from Al Ain city, UAE.Results: many factors were taken into consideration in this study including gender, level of education, employment status and nationality. Sub analysis of the results has shown a statistically significant difference in choices between male and female participants. In general, almost half of participants are neutral toward the gender of pharmacist. Most of males lean toward no preferenceâ€, which is significantly higher than females same choice (55.1% VS 44.7% respectively, P = 0.029). Females' preferences toward the same gender service were significantly higher than male participants (46.2% VS 30.8% respectively. P<0.001). Level of education has a slight impact on participants' choices. Finally, employed participants were more neutral toward the gender of pharmacist compared to unemployed participants.Conclusion: Customers' preferences toward the gender of pharmacist in community pharmacy in Al Ain area were significantly different between males and females. Female customers are significantly more appreciative to same-gender pharmacy services compared to male customers.Â

THE PHARMACOLOGICAL EFFECT OF STILBENES ISOLATED FROM KANGAROO ISLAND PROPOLIS ON SIRT-1 ENZYME ACTIVITY

Objective: Resveratrol, a trihydroxystilbene, has been claimed to be a potent activator to SIRT-1 enzyme activity, which in turn could have a useful future application in the management of many chronic conditions such as metabolic syndrome and obesity. A group of novel tetrahydroxystilbene derivatives were isolated from Kangaroo Island propolis in Australia. Due to its structural similarities with resveratrol, the aim of this research was to explore the activity of Kangaroo Island prenylated stilbenes on SIRT-1 enzyme.Methods: In vitro fluorometry measurement of SIRT-1 enzyme activity using SIRT-1 assay kit (Cayman®).Results: None of the tested compounds had shown any activation to SIRT-1 enzyme, on contrary, they produced mild inhibition to the enzyme. Compound 3 (C20H22O4, 3,5,4'-trihydroxy-3'-methoxy-2-prenyl-E-stilbene) was the most potent inhibitor.Conclusion: Compound 3, in addition to compounds 2, 4, and 6 are candidate compounds for further investigation. A discussion of the results as well as the contradictory results in the literature has been presented in this article.Â

Computer-aided discovery of antimicrobial agents as potential enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase inhibitors

Purpose: To perform a virtual screening for a set of drug-like ligand library against the Staphylococcus aureus enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase, saFabI.Methods: The virtual screening was conducted based on a previously validated pharmacophoreconstrained docking. Consequently, the top list obtained was filtered using visual inspection where forty compounds were selected for experimental testing using disk-diffusion test and broth dilution method. The hits obtained were checked for their toxicity against human fibroblasts cell lines.Results: Three compounds were active against Staphylococcus aureus and other tested gram-positive bacteria. However, no significant inhibitory activity (p < 0.05) was detected against Escherichia coli or Candida albicans. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for the most active compounds were identified using the broth dilution method; all of them exhibited inhibitory activity within micromolar range.The docking results showed that the hits obtained exhibited a small size with a nice binding mode to saFabI enzyme, forming the important interactions with the key residues. Furthermore, the best three hits demonstrated good safety profile as they did not show any significant toxicity against human fibroblast cell line.Conclusion: Overall, the newly discovered hits can act as a good starting point in the future for the development of safe and potent antibacterial agents.Keywords: Enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase, saFabI, Antibacterial agents, Docking, Constraint, Virtual screening Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutica

A sedge plant as the source of Kangaroo Island propolis rich in prenylated p-coumarate ester and stilbenes

AbstractPropolis samples from Kangaroo Island, South Australia, were investigated for chemical constituents using high-field nuclear magnetic resonance spectral profiling. A type of propolis was found containing a high proportion of prenylated hydroxystilbenes. Subsequently, the botanical origin of this type of propolis was identified using a beehive propolis depletion method and analysis of flora. Ligurian honey bees, Apis mellifera ligustica Spinola, were found to produce propolis from resin exuded by the Australian native sedge plant Lepidosperma sp. Montebello (Cyperaceae). The plants, commonly known as sword sedge, were found to have resin that matched with the propolis samples identified as the most abundant propolis type on the island containing C- and O-prenylated tetrahydroxystilbenes (pTHOS) in addition to a small amount of prenylated p-coumarate. The isolation of five pTHOS not previously characterized are reported: (E)-4-(3-methyl-2-buten-1-yl)-3,4′,5-trihydroxy-3′-methoxystilbene, (E)-2,4-bis(3-methyl-2-buten-1-yl)-3,3′,4′,5-tetrahydroxystilbene, (E)-2-(3-methyl-2-buten-1-yl)-3-(3-methyl-2-butenyloxy)-3′,4′,5-trihydroxystilbene, (E)-2,6-bis(3-methyl-2-buten-1-yl)-3,3′,5,5′-tetrahydroxystilbene and (E)-2,6-bis(3-methyl-2-buten-1-yl)-3,4′,5-trihydroxy-3′-methoxystilbene. A National Cancer Institute 60 human cell line anticancer screen of three of these compounds showed growth inhibitory activity. The large Australasian genus Lepidosperma is identified as a valuable resource for the isolation of substances with medicinal potential

A sedge plant as the source of Kangaroo Island propolis rich in prenylated p-coumarate ester and stilbenes

Propolis samples from Kangaroo Island, South Australia, were investigated for chemical constituents using high-field nuclear magnetic resonance spectral profiling. A type of propolis was found containing a high proportion of prenylated hydroxystilbenes. Subsequently, the botanical origin of this type of propolis was identified using a beehive propolis depletion method and analysis of flora. Ligurian honey bees, Apis mellifera ligustica Spinola, were found to produce propolis from resin exuded by the Australian native sedge plant Lepidosperma sp. Montebello (Cyperaceae). The plants, commonly known as sword sedge, were found to have resin that matched with the propolis samples identified as the most abundant propolis type on the island containing C- and O-prenylated tetrahydroxystilbenes (pTHOS) in addition to a small amount of prenylated p-coumarate. The isolation of five pTHOS not previously characterized are reported: (E)-4-(3-methyl-2-buten-1-yl)-3,40,5-trihydroxy-30-methoxystilbene, (E)-2,4-bis(3-methyl-2-buten-1-yl)-3,30,40,5-tetrahydroxystilbene, (E)-2-(3-methyl-2-buten-1-yl)-3-(3-methyl-2-butenyloxy)-30,40,5-trihydroxystilbene, (E)-2,6-bis(3-methyl-2-buten-1-yl)-3,30,5,50-tetrahydroxystilbene and (E)-2,6-bis(3-methyl-2-buten-1-yl)-3,40,5-trihydroxy-30-methoxystilbene. A National Cancer Institute 60 human cell line anticancer screen of three of these compounds showed growth inhibitory activity. The large Australasian genus Lepidosperma is identified as a valuable resource for the isolation of substances with medicinal potential