Kajian Kelengkapan Informasi Mengenai Indikasi dan Dosis Obat Antihipertensi Tunggal yang Digunakan secara Peroral pada Berbagai Sumber Literatur Tersier

Sumber informasi obat tersier dapat digunakan sebagai acuan dalam pemilihan maupun pencarian informasi obat guna mendukung pengobatan yang rasional pada pasien. Sumber informasi obat yang baik harus menyediakan sumber informasi yang lengkap, diantaranya adalah informasi indikasi dan dosis obat. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memperoleh informasi mengenai tingkat kelengkapan indikasi dan kesesuaian dosis pada sumber informasi tersier. Penelitian dilaksanakan dengan metode studi pustaka melalui pengumpulan informasi indikasi dan dosis obat pada sumber informasi tersier ISO, MIMS, dan IONI serta Drug Information Handbook sebagai acuanya. Nilai dari kelengkapan indikasi menggunakan sistem skoring. Interval 1 s/d 2 adalah klasifikasi rendah, > 2 s/d 3 adalah klasifikasi sedang, dan > 3 s/d 4 adalah klasifikasi tinggi. Kesesuaian dosis dihitung dengan presentase yang menunjukkan kesesuaian dosis literatur rujukan terhadap literatur acuan. Hasil analisis nilai kelengkapan indikasi untuk ketiga sumber informasi tersier ISO, MIMS, dan IONI berturut-turut sebesar 2,629; 2,854; dan 2,920 yang termasuk kedalam klasifikasi sedang. Sedangkan hasil analisis kesesuaian dosis mulai dari yang presentase kesesuaianya paling tinggi adalah IONI sebesar 74,67%; kemudian MIMS sebesar 72,50%; dan terakhir ISO sebesar 58,23%

Metode Pervaporator-Flow Injection (PV-FI) Untuk Penentuan Nitrogen Dalam Sampel Pupuk Secara In-Line

Dalam melakukan analisis bahan padat hampir selalu diperlukan penanganan sampel awal yangseringkali melibatkan proses destruksi, destilasi atau ekstraksi yang banyak menyita waktu, tenaga,dan bahan kimia. Oleh karena itu terwujudnya metode analisis yang memungkinkan analisis bahanpadat secara inline sangatlah dinantikan untuk efisiensi ketiga hal tersebut. Pada penelitian ini,metode Pervaporator-Flow Injection (PV-FI) dioptimasi untuk penentuan nitrogen dalam sampelpadat pupuk. Parameter yang diamati meliputi variabel kimiawi dan operasional, yaitu lamaperendaman sampel dalam NaOH, konsentrasi NaOH, dan lama pemanasan. Hasil penelitianmenunjukkan bahwa pemanasan sangat berpengaruh terhadap perolehan kembali nitrogen dari60,54 % hingga 87,31 %. Kondisi optimum yang telah dicapai adalah lama perendaman 5 menitdan konsentrasi NaOH 10 % dengan ketepatan 87,31±0,98 % dan ketelitian 98,88 % serta limitdeteksi sebesar 0,228 μg

Avian β-defensin variation in bottlenecked populations : the Seychelles warbler and other congeners

β-defensins are important components of the vertebrate innate immune system responsible for encoding a variety of anti-microbial peptides. Pathogen-mediated selection is thought to act on immune genes and potentially maintain allelic variation in the face of genetic drift. The Seychelles warbler, Acrocephalus sechellensis, is an endemic passerine that underwent a recent bottleneck in its last remaining population, resulting in a considerable reduction in genome-wide variation. We genotyped avian β-defensin (AvBD) genes in contemporary (2000–2008) and museum samples (1876–1940) of the Seychelles warbler to investigate whether immunogenetic variation was lost through this bottleneck, and examined AvBD variation across four other Acrocephalus species with varying demographic histories. No variation was detected at four of the six AvBD loci screened in the post-bottleneck population of Seychelles warbler, but two silent nucleotide polymorphisms were identified at AvBD8 and one potentially functional amino-acid variation was observed at AvBD11. Variation in the Seychelles warbler was significantly lower than in the mainland migratory congeneric species investigated, but it similar to that found in other bottlenecked species. In addition, screening AvBD7 in 15 museum specimens of Seychelles warblers sampled prior to the bottleneck (1877–1905) revealed that this locus possessed two alleles previously, compared to the single allele in the contemporary population. Overall, the results show that little AvBD variation remains in the Seychelles warbler, probably as a result of having low AvBD diversity historically rather than the loss of variation due to drift associated with past demographic history. Given the limited pathogen fauna, this lack of variation at the AvBD loci may currently not pose a problem for this isolate population of Seychelles warblers, but it may be detrimental to the species’ long-term survival if new pathogens reach the population in the future

Malaria morbidity and mortality following introduction of a universal policy of artemisinin-based treatment for malaria in Papua, Indonesia: A longitudinal surveillance study

Background Malaria control activities can have a disproportionately greater impact on Plasmodium falciparum than on P. vivax in areas where both species are coendemic. We investigated temporal trends in malaria-related morbidity and mortality in Papua, Indonesia, before and after introduction of a universal, artemisinin-based antimalarial treatment strategy for all Plasmodiumspecies. Methods and findings A prospective, district-wide malariometric surveillance system was established in April 2004 to record all cases of malaria at community clinics and the regional hospital and maintained until December 2013. In March 2006, antimalarial treatment policy was changed to artemisinin combination therapy for uncomplicated malaria and intravenous artesunate for severe malaria due to any Plasmodium species. Over the study period, a total of 418,238 patients presented to the surveillance facilities with malaria. The proportion of patients with malaria requiring admission to hospital fell from 26.9% (7,745/28,789) in the pre–policy change period (April 2004 to March 2006) to 14.0% (4,786/34,117) in the late transition period (April 2008 to December 2009), a difference of −12.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] −13.5% to −12.2%). There was a significant fall in the mortality of patients presenting to the hospital with P. falciparum malaria (0.53% [100/18,965] versus 0.32% [57/17,691]; difference = −0.21% [95% CI −0.34 to −0.07]) but not in patients with P. vivax malaria (0.28% [21/7,545] versus 0.23% [28/12,397]; difference = −0.05% [95% CI −0.20 to 0.09]). Between the same periods, the overall proportion of malaria due to P. vivax rose from 44.1% (30,444/69,098) to 53.3% (29,934/56,125) in the community clinics and from 32.4% (9,325/28,789) to 44.1% (15,035/34,117) at the hospital. After controlling for population growth and changes in treatment-seeking behaviour, the incidence of P. falciparum malaria fell from 511 to 249 per 1,000 person-years (py) (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.49 [95% CI 0.48–0.49]), whereas the incidence of P. vivax malaria fell from 331 to 239 per 1,000 py (IRR = 0.72 [95% CI 0.71–0.73]). The main limitations of our study were possible confounding from changes in healthcare provision, a growing population, and significant shifts in treatment-seeking behaviour following implementation of a new antimalarial policy. Conclusions In this area with high levels of antimalarial drug resistance, adoption of a universal policy of efficacious artemisinin-based therapy for malaria infections due to any Plasmodium species was associated with a significant reduction in total malaria-attributable morbidity and mortality. The burden of P. falciparum malaria was reduced to a greater extent than that of P. vivaxmalaria. In coendemic regions, the timely elimination of malaria will require that safe and effective radical cure of both the blood and liver stages of the parasite is widely available for all patients at risk of malaria.</p

A Sialyltransferase Mutant with Decreased Donor Hydrolysis and Reduced Sialidase Activities for Directly Sialylating Lewis x

Glycosyltransferases are important catalysts for enzymatic and chemoenzymatic synthesis of complex carbohydrates and glycoconjugates. The glycosylation efficiencies of wild-type glycosyltransferases vary considerably when different acceptor substrates were used. Using a multifunctional Pasteurella multocida sialyltransferase 1 (PmST1) as an example, we show here that the sugar nucleotide donor hydrolysis activity of glycosyltransferases contributes significantly to the low yield of glycosylation when a poor acceptor substrate is used. With a protein crystal structure-based rational design, we generated a single mutant (PmST1 M144D) with decreased donor hydrolysis activity without significantly affecting its α2–3-sialylation activity when a poor fucose-containing acceptor substrate was used. The single mutant also has a drastically decreased α2–3-sialidase activity. X-ray and NMR structural studies revealed that unlike the wild-type PmST1 which changes to a closed conformation once a donor binds, the M144D mutant structure adopts an open conformation even in the presence of the donor substrate. The PmST1 M144D mutant with decreased donor hydrolysis and reduced sialidase activity has been used as a powerful catalyst for efficient chemoenzymatic synthesis of complex sialyl Lewis(x) antigens containing different sialic acid forms. This work sheds new light on the effect of donor hydrolysis activity of glycosyltransferases on glycosyltransferase-catalyzed reactions and provides a novel strategy to improve glycosyltransferase substrate promiscuity by decreasing its donor hydrolysis activity