Pharmacy and its offshoots

The discipline of pharmacy started off as the study of medical materials. In the Muslim tradition, the first person to have written down a text listing the medicinal uses of plants was the Prophet Sulayman ( �) (Solomon). Ibn Abi Usaybi’ah in his ‘Uyun al-Anba’ 1 relays the Prophetic narration2 that a plant emerged when the Prophet Sulayman (�) was in his prayer niche, upon which he asked its name and use. As other plants appeared, he made the same inquiry. He then had the edible ones taken to be cultivated, while those with medicinal properties were described in writing. This marks the beginning of pharmacy and the medical writing tradition ...

Sakti index: towards scientific evaluation of Malay medical manuscripts

Malay medical manuscripts have become new objects of study in recent years. Our research at IIUM has departed from common manuscript study by emphasising on the historical, philosophical and most importantly the practical and contemporaneous use of the manuscripts’ content. In order to accelerate scientific study on these manuscripts, a scientific index called Indeks Analisa Saintifik Kitab Tibb Melayu or the Scientific Analysis of Kitab Tib Index (SAKTI), has been developed to analyse Malay medical manuscript data. Four integral subindices of SAKTI include (i) index of manuscript selection (iMS), (ii) index of comparison with published contemporary scientific evidence (iComPSE), (iii) index of pharmaceutical prospectivity (iPharmaprospect), and (iv) index of consensus with other manuscripts (iConText). Manuscripts and their contents would be graded according to these indices and a priority list can be generated to help a researcher in identifying the formulation with the strongest overall value to undergo development into drug therapy. The recent outbreaks of diseases including COVID-19 pandemic reiterates the value of having such an index in quickly identifying possible new cur

Treatments of Eye Diseases in Malay Medical Manuscript Ramuan Obat EAP153/9/4

The Malay medical manuscript Ramuan Obat EAP153/9/4 is a Malay medical manuscript from Riau Archipelago in today’s Indonesia. It appears to focus on eye diseases and treatments. This study aims to evaluate if the traditional medicines and interventions in the manuscript can be supported scientifically. Critical transliteration and data extraction were performed by applying philological method in identifying and categorising the diseases and interventions. The materia medica was analysed by comparing scientific reports presented in PubMed and Google Scholar, and matching each ingredient to the intended purpose as indicated in the manuscript. The manuscript contains both physical and spiritual interventions amounting to 28 formulations for 7 different types of eye disease. Half of the materia medica and their use in Ramuan Obat EAP153/9/4 could be supported by contemporary scientific evidence. The lack of contemporary scientific evidence for other materia medica, on the other hand, could be attributed to the lack of scientific research on them rather and not necessarily a deficiency in effectiveness. More scientific studies would need to be carried out to validate the safety and efficacy of formulations contained in Malay medical manuscripts as the content could potentially lead to new drug discovery. Apart from scientific gains, the study could also contribute to the preservation of Malay medical culture and heritage

Confocal laser scanning microscope analysis on post-biofilm assessment of biofilmproducing osteomyelitic staphylococcus aureus treated with new gentamicin-nigella sativa fusion emulsion (GNFE)

Biofilm complicates osteomyelitis as there is antibiotic resistance and toxicity involved. In order to overcome the challenges of current treatment, gentamicin, the current antibiotic of choice for osteomyelitis, is fused with Nigella sativa oil to form an emulsion. Its efficacy as anti-biofilm agent is assessed using confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) against different strains of biofilm-producing Staphylococcus aureus. These strains of S.aureus were first allowed to express biofilm before being exposed for 24 hours to the emulsion with (0.1% (w/v) gentamicin; 40.2% (v/v) N.sativa. Later, the emulsion was removed and the biofilm was stained with fluorescence staining. The slides were viewed under CLSM at 100 times resolution. 3D images of biofilm were reconstructed, using Image J software, to measure the thickness of biofilm and viability of bacteria cells. Results revealed that the emulsion significantly reduced biofilm thickness compared to gentamicin and N.sativa alone in all strains of S.aureus (Tukey’s test p < 0.05). The emulsion was also able to produce more than 80% and 15% surface percentage (%) of non-viable (dead) bacteria in the sensitive and resistant strain, respectively, at a significant level when compared to gentamicin and N.sativa (Tukey’s test p < 0.05). As a conclusion, this new fusion of gentamicin-N.sativa may be effective towards the biofilm of S.aureus, and can be developed further as a new promising anti-biofilm agent in osteomyelitis