AL-KITAB JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES

Climate Change and Health Hazards: Where Pharmacy Students in Iraq Stand on the Way to Sustainability?

Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Background: Climate change is one of our most significant global health threats. In 2019, the United Nations Environment Program ranked Iraq as the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change and desertification. Climate change is already having a significant impact on human health. Understanding the level of awareness among Iraqi pharmacy students about climate change and its relationship with health issues can help to address this critical implication. Objectives: This study aims to assess the awareness of pharmacy students in Iraq regarding climate change and its associated health hazards. Methods: An online questionnaire consisting of dichotomous and five-point Likert-scale questions was designed. The questionnaire was distributed among various official Telegram groups of pharmacy students. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS software. Results: A total of 106 participants participated in the study, with the majority (63.2%) female. While 93.4% of the participants were aware of climate change, most of them learned about it through the Internet (77.4%) and television (61.3%). Despite the high awareness level, only 47.2% consider acting against climate change important. Regarding health, participants suggested that respiratory diseases and skin and infectious diseases are most likely to escalate due to climate change. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that pharmacy students in Iraq have excellent theoretical awareness of climate change and its associated health hazards; however, such awareness is not being translated into action. This issue could be addressed through national campaigns and some changes to the academic curriculum.

Iron vs non-iron containing oral contraceptive pills effect on iron status

Matin A. Mahmood, Zubaida SH. Mohammed — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Background: Contraceptives are generally the deliberate use of artificial methods to prevent pregnancy as a consequence of sexual intercourse. They can be divided into two types: hormonal contraceptives and non-hormonal contraceptives. A contraceptive pill inhibits ovulation by preventing the ovaries from releasing the ovum. Around 30% of the iron in the body is stored as ferritin or hemosiderin in the spleen, bone marrow, and liver. Menstruating women are known to be at risk of iron insufficiency, and the addition of iron in oral contraceptives have the benefit of increasing iron stores by decreasing menstrual iron loss as a novel strategy to manage iron deficiency. Iron containing oral contraceptives have the potential to be a cost-effective solution for the prevention and/or treatment of iron deficiency. Objectives: This study aims to assess Iron status in women using iron-containing oral contraceptives compared to that of non-iron-containing oral contraceptive users. Methods: the study was conducted on 48 female volunteers regularly visiting gynaecology clinics during the 4-month period. The study involved a questionnaire in addition to a laboratory test (serum ferritin test). Information about the type and duration of oral contraceptives used, demographic data, co-administration of iron supplements, history of major blood loss, tobacco use, and others were collected for each woman through a questionnaire in a face-to-face interview. Results: Comparison of serum ferritin results between iron and non-iron-containing oral contraceptive users, smokers and non-smokers was statistically significant. However, the comparison of serum ferritin results between all the subjects who consume meat, fish, tea and/or coffee shows no statistical significance. Conclusion: There was a significant difference in serum ferritin levels between subjects using iron-containing contraceptive pills and those using non-iron-containing contraceptive pills. The iron-containing contraceptive pills users had higher serum ferritin as an extra benefit to the known oral contraceptives’ general benefit of increasing iron stores by decreasing menstrual iron loss.

The prevalence of antibiotic resistance in hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan

Sinan Mohammed Abdullah Al-Mahmood, Nur Hartikah Hidayah Abd.Rahim — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Background: Antibiotic resistance is seriously threatening hospitals and the community. Improper antibiotic usage might increase the possibility of antibiotic resistance occurring and be more challenging to treat. The prevalence of antibiotic resistance needs to be reviewed so; a better plan can be made to tackle the issue. However, the factors associated with it need to be explored to tackle the issues. Hopefully, this study's outcome could give healthcare providers some input to control the problems and understand antibiotic usage properly. Objective: This study aimed to identify the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in HTAA. Thus, identify common antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance among them. Methods: The retrospective cohort study design was used to determine the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in HTAA. This study was conducted at the pathology laboratory of HTAA. All antibiotic-sensitive tests for 3707 patients were used and analysed using Microsoft Excel. Results: 3707 patients were infected, which are Klebsiella pneumonia (19.3%), Staphylococcus aureus (18.4%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (16.3%), Streptococcus Group B (15.8%), Escherichia coli (15.2%), Staphylococcus coagulase negative (13.5%), and others. Conclusion: Findings of the study present that Penicillin has a higher resistance rate against Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus coagulase-negative and Enterobacter aerogenes. Pseudomonas aeruginosa shows lower susceptibility against Carbapenem. Tetracycline has a high resistance rate to Streptococcus Group B and Enterococcus sp. Acinetobacter baumannii presents a higher resistance rate against most antibiotics except Polymixin B, but it has lower susceptibility against Proteus mirabilis.

In vitro comparative quality assessment of different brands of ciprofloxacin tablets available in Iraq

Matin Adil Mahmoud, Mohammed Qassim Kadhim — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Background: The in vitro quality assessment of different brands of the same drugs is essential in preventing substandard or counterfeit products, especially in developing countries, including Iraq. Ciprofloxacin, which is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, is used in the management of different types of infections. Objectives: In vitro comparative quality assessment of ciprofloxacin tablets for five different pharmaceutical companies. Methods: The present study compared five quality control parameters, including weight variation, hardness, thickness, diameter, and disintegration time of the five different brands of ciprofloxacin HCl 500 mg available in Iraq. Results: All five brands tested complied with the specifications for the quality tests except Brand B, which failed to comply with the requirements of the weight variation test. The average weight variation results ranged from 0.7319 g to 0.77265 g. The average hardness results ranged from 15.59 kp to 28.2 kp. The average thickness and diameter results ranged from 5.289 mm to 6.297 mm and 17.177 mm to 19.279 mm, respectively. All the brands showed disintegration times between 2.38 minutes to 4.46 minutes. Conclusion: The present study revealed that all five brands of ciprofloxacin HCl had complied with the quality control parameters according to pharmacopeial specifications except the weight variation test for Brand B. Also, the present study showed that the price of the brand does not necessarily reflect the quality of the drug. Also, the local Brand C met all the specifications regarding the five quality tests.

Synthesis of new coumarin derivatives containing aminobenzotriazole, triazole moieties and their antimicrobial activities

Riyadh Ahmed Atto AL-SHUAEEB — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Background: Coumarins are structural units of several natural products and feature widely in pharmacologically and biologically active compounds. Their derivatives are characterized by excellent chemical reactivity and different bioactivity. Objective: The present work aims to design and synthesise new coumarin derivatives bearing 2-aminobenzotriazole, 2-amino-5-mercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole moieties. Moreover, this study also includes testing of target compounds in order to assay their antibacterial and antifungal activities. Methods: This includes the synthesis of coumarin-3-carboxylic acid (compound 2), 2-aminobenzotriazole (compound 3), 2-amino-5-mercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole (compound 5) and followed by a challenge of coupling between steric heterocycles compounds (2 with 3) and (2 with 5). In this study, the chemical structures of these new coumarin derivatives were investigated and identified by their physicochemical properties, spectroscopic FTIR and CHNS &O elemental microanalysis techniques in France. Results: Coumarin-3-carboxylic acid, 2-aminobenzotriazole and 2-amino-5-mercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole are the key intermediates required to prepare the target products. Conclusion: The development of bacterial resistance has led to the synthesis of newer, more potent, and complex coumarin derivatives. It was observed that when an amine group containing a heterocyclic compound was introduced to the carboxylic side, comparable antimicrobial activity against organisms was achieved from the levofloxacin nucleus.

The prevalence of preeclampsia and eclampsia among pregnant women and its association with socio-demographic and anthropometric factors at hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan Pahang

Siti Nor Farhana Huda Edrus, Sinan Mohammed Abdullah Al-Mahmood — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Background: The main causes of maternal morbidity and mortality are preeclampsia and eclampsia. It is becoming the main public health issue nowadays. Preeclampsia and eclampsia can be affected by many factors. Objective: In this study, the researcher intended to explore the prevalence of preeclampsia and eclampsia in hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan Pahang. As well as the researcher also intended to identify the main factors that can increase the occurrence of preeclampsia and eclampsia among pregnant women. For this study, the association factors are the socio-demographic and anthropometric factors of pregnant women who had given birth at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan. A total of 380 pregnant women who had given birth at the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan were included in this study. The patient record has been explored to get information and data about pregnant women, which is the National Obstetrics Registry database (NOR). From all the pregnant women during the study period, the researcher classified these pregnant women into those who had preeclampsia and did not have preeclampsia. Next, the demographic and anthropometrics data about the pregnant women who had given birth in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan were collected from the patient record. Their association with preeclampsia and eclampsia was studied. Results: It was found that the prevalence of preeclampsia among pregnant women who had given birth at HTAA during the study period was 2.6%, while no patient got eclampsia. This study also showed an association between maternal age and preeclampsia; the p-value was less than 0.001. There was also an association between the body mass index (BMI) and preeclampsia; the p-value was 0.004, which is less than 0.05. Conclusion: The prevalence of preeclampsia in HTAA was lower than in other studies. Various factors can increase the risk of getting pre-eclampsia, such as older maternal age and obesity.