Introducing a performance-based objective clinical examination into the pharmacy curriculum for students of Northern Cyprus

Purpose: To describe how a formative Objective Structured Clinical Examination was applied to fourth year pharmacy students at a university in Northern Cyprus.Methods: A blueprint-guided performance-based objective clinical examination was implemented. Group-prepared case scenarios based on course objectives were used to develop 12 exam stations. Scenarios were discussed in common training sessions for both assessors (faculty members) and senior students (standardized patients). Pilot testing of all stations was carried out on the day of the examination. Competencies tested included medical history taking, pharmacotherapeutic  knowledge application, systemic client assessment, evidence-based drug  information (DI) manipulation, drug related problems (DRP) management, patient counseling and communication skills.Results: The exam revealed that students were better in performing patient  counseling (4.4 ± 0.23) and identification/resolution of DRPs (3.68 ± 0.18) than in DI tasks (2.00 ± 0.21) (p < 0.05). The students’ perceptions were positive with no significant differences in their average general performance compared to a written exam that had been previously carried out (p = 1.0).Conclusion: The evaluation revealed that undergraduate pharmacy students in a Turkish school of pharmacy were better in performing patient counseling and identification/ resolution of DRPs than in drug information manipulation tasks.  Student satisfaction with OSCEs was higher compared to the written examination. The design and implementation of the formative assessment was successful with minimum cost, using only the existing available space and personnel.Keywords: Objective structured clinical examination, Formative assessment,  Pharmacy students assessment, Competency, Examinatio

Antimicrobial Activity of the Essential oil of Thymus capitatus against Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) is an infective agent and the main resourceful factor of chronic, active ot type B gastritis, peptic and duodenal ulcer, gastric carcinoma and mucosa-associated lymphoid tumors. Nowadays, pharmological treatment of H. pylori infections attract attention beside antibiotic treatment. The aim of this study is to analyse the chemical composition of the essential oils of Thymus capitatus and the antimicrobial activity against H. pylori. Aerial parts of wild growing plant materials were collected during flowering stage from three different locations. Essential oil composition analyses were performed simultaneously by GC-FID and GC-MS systems. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil were tested by broth dilution method. The thymol percentage was determined as more than half of the essential oil composition of Thymus capitatus-Yedidalga (51.9%) and Thymus capitatus –Yıldırım (57.1%); however, the composition of thymol was 47.2% followed by 15.1% (p-cymene), 10.0% (-terpinene) and 5.7% (carvacrol) for Thymus capitatus-Boğaz/Girne.The essential oil from Thymus capitatus- Boğaz/Girne showed the lowest MIC and MBC values and the strongest bactericidal activity against H. pylori compared to the other tested essential oils. Bactericidal efficacy of essential oil of Thymus capitatus on H. pylori could have been affected due to the varied rates of major compounds. Thymus capitatus essential oil could be an alternative way for the treatment of H. pylori infections

Fatty acid composition and anticancer activity in colon carcinoma cell lines of Prunus dulcis seed oil

Context: Almond oil is used in traditional and complementary therapies for its numerous health benefits due to high unsaturated fatty acids content. Objectives: This study investigated the composition and in vitro anticancer activity of almond oil from Northern Cyprus and compared with almond oil from Turkey. Materials and methods: Almond oil from Northern Cyprus was obtained by supercritical CO2 extraction and analyzed by GC-MS. Almond oil of Turkey was provided from Turkish pharmacies. Different concentrations of almond oils were incubated for 24 and 48 h with Colo-320 and Colo-741 cells. Cell growth and cytotoxicity were measured by MTT assays. Anticancer and antiprolifetarive activities of almond oils were investigated by immunocytochemistry using antibodies directed against to BMP-2, β-catenin, Ki-67, LGR-5 and Jagged 1. Results: Oleic acid (77.8%; 75.3%), linoleic acid (13.5%; 15.8%), palmitic acid (7.4%; 6.3%), were determined as the major compounds of almond oil from Northern Cyprus and Turkey, respectively. In the MTT assay, both almond oils were found to be active against Colo-320 and Colo-741 cells with 1:1 dilution for both 24 h and 48 h. As a result of immunohistochemical staining, while both almond oils exhibited significant antiproliferative and anticancer activity, these activities were more similar in Colo-320 cells which were treated with Northern Cyprus almond oil. Discussion and conclusion: Almond oil from Northern Cyprus and Turkey may have anticancer and antiproliferative effects on colon cancer cells through molecular signalling pathways and, thus, they could be potential novel therapeutic agents