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Background and Objectives: Overprescribing of antibiotics is one of the important contributors of antimicrobial resistance globally. A high proportion of antibiotics prescribed in community settings are unnecessary or inappropriate. This study assesses the prescribing practices and factors related to antibiotic prescribing in community pharmacies in United Arab Emirates (UAE). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study utilizing a quantitative approach was carried out in the community pharmacies of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), UAE. Six hundred and thirty prescription encounters from 21 randomly selected community pharmacies were investigated using World Health Organization (WHO) core prescribing indicators. Factors related to antibiotic prescribing were identified using logistic regression analyses. Results: In 630 prescription encounters, a total of 1814 drugs were prescribed. Out of these, the most commonly prescribed drug class was antibiotics (43.8% prescriptions) and the antibiotic was amoxicillin/clavulanic-acid (22.4%). The average number of drugs per prescription was 2.88, which was higher than the WHO recommended value of 1.6–1.8. In addition, more than half of the prescriptions (58.6%) had drugs by generic names and the majority of the drugs prescribed (83.8%) were from the essential drug list, which were lower than the optimal values of 100%. The majority of the antibiotics prescribed in the study were from the WHO’s Access group antibiotics. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified patient age (children—OR: 7.40, 95% CI: 2.32–23.62, p = 0.001 and adolescent—OR: 5.86, 95% CI: 1.57–21.86, p = 0.008), prescriber qualification as general practitioner (OR: 1.84, 95% CI:1.30–2.60, p = 0.001), and number of drugs per prescription (OR: 3.51, 95% CI: 1.98–6.21, p < 0.001) as independent factors associated with antibiotic prescribing. Conclusions: This study reveals considerable variations from the WHO recommendations for the different prescribing indicators in the community pharmacies of RAK, UAE. In addition, the study reports overprescribing of antibiotics in the community setting, indicating the need for interventions to promote rational use of antibiotics in a community setting.

Systemic inflammation results in physiological changes, largely mediated by inflammatory cytokines. The present investigation was performed to determine the effect of Rhododendron arboreum (RAP) on inflammatory parameters in the animal model. The RAP (100 and 200 mg/kg) were pre-treated for animals, given orally for one week, followed by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection. Body temperature, burrowing, and open field behavioral changes were assessed. Biochemical parameters (AST, ALT, LDH, BIL, CK, Cr, BUN, and albumin) were done in the plasma after 6 h of LPS challenge. Oxidative stress markers SOD, CAT, and MDA were measured in different organs. Levels of inflammatory markers like tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β) and, interleukin-6 (IL-6) as well as VEGF, a specific sepsis marker in plasma, were quantified. The plasma enzymes, antioxidant markers and plasma pro-inflammatory cytokines were significantly restored (p < 0.5) by RAP treatment, thus preventing the multi-organ and tissue damage in LPS induced rats. The protective effect of RAP may be due to its potent antioxidant potential. Thus, RAP can prevent LPS induced oxidative stress, as well as inflammatory and multi-organ damage as reported in histopathological studies in rats when administered to the LPS treated animals. These findings indicate that RAP can benefit in the management of systemic inflammation from LPS and may have implications for a new treatment or preventive therapeutic strategies with an inflammatory component.

The present investigation aimed to evaluate the protective effect of Zingerone (ZIN) against lipopolysaccharide-induced oxidative stress, DNA damage, and cytokine storm in rats. For survival study the rats were divided into four groups (n = 10). The control group was treated with normal saline; Group II received an intraperitoneal (i.p) injection (10 mg/kg) of LPS as disease control. Rats in Group III were treated with ZIN 150 mg/kg (p.o) 2 h before LPS challenge and rats in Group IV were given ZIN only. Survival of the rats was monitored up to 96 h post LPS treatment. In another set, the animals were divided into four groups of six rats. Animals in Group I served as normal control and were treated with normal saline. Animals in Group II were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and served as disease control. Group III animals were treated with ZIN 2 h before LPS challenge. Group IV served as positive control and were treated with ZIN (150 mg/kg orally). The blood samples were collected and used for the analysis of biochemical parameters like alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate transaminase (AST), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), Cr, Urea, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), albumin, bilirubin (BIL), and total protein. Oxidative stress markers malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GSH), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and (DNA damage marker) 8-OHdG levels were measured in different organs. Level of nitric oxide (NO) and inflammatory markers like TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-1α, IL-2, IL-6, and IL-10 were also quantified in plasma. Procalcitonin (PCT), a sepsis biomarker, was also measured. ZIN treatment had shown significant (p < 0.5) restoration of plasma enzymes, antioxidant markers and attenuated plasma proinflammatory cytokines and sepsis biomarker (PCT), thereby preventing the multi-organ and tissue damage in LPS-induced rats also confirmed by histopathological studies of different organs. The protective effect of ZIN may be due to its potent antioxidant potential. Thus ZIN can prevent LPS-induced oxidative stress as well as inflammatory and multi-organ damage in rats when administered to the LPS treated animals.

Nowadays, marine microalgae are recognized to be a considerably novel and rich origin of bioactive moieties utilized in the sectors of nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. In the present study, Nannochloropsis oculata extract (AME) was associated with a wide variety of pharmacological studies such as in vitro antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal and anticancer activity (MDA-MB-231) in cancer cells through in vitro models. In the study, the chemical composition and structure of the bioactive compounds found in the AME extract were studied using the LC-MS technique. The results of the anticancer activity showed a decrease in the percentage of cell viability of the MDA-MB-231 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner (400 μg/mL at 24 h, 300 μg/mL at 48 h, and 200 μg/mL at 72 h). We have also observed morphological changes in the cells that could be associated with treatment with AME extract. Our observation of the AME extract-treated MDA-MB231 cells under light microscopy showed that when the concentration increased, the number of cells began to decrease. As far as LC-MS analysis is concerned, it showed the presence of the bioactive molecules was terpenoids along with carotenoids, polyphenolic and fatty acids. The result revealed that the AME extract exhibited noteworthy in vitro free radical scavenging potential, with an IC50 value of 52.10 ± 0.85 µg/L in DPPH assay, 122.84 ± 2.32 µg/mL in H2O2 assay and, 96.95 ± 1.68 µg/mL in ABTS assay. The activity was found to be highly significant against bacteria (Gram-positive and negative) and moderately significant against fungal strain with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC)/minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values between 15.63 and 500 µg/mL.

Objectives: Internationally, the role of pharmacist has now been extended from the provision of traditional services to patient specific care services. Unlike other developed countries, clinical pharmacy services are very rare in the health care settings of United Arab Emirates (UAE). Hence, clinical pharmacy based education and training is the need of the hour. Materials and Methods: RAK College of Pharmaceutical Sciences (RAKCOPS) through its innovative undergraduate pharmacy curriculum with a practice-oriented training, is enabling the students to acquire knowledge, skills, and practice to apply in a healthcare set up. RAKCOPS established a clinical pharmacy department in the year 2009 at Ibrahim Bin Hamad Obaidallah Hospital of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, which is a 330 bedded tertiary care medical specialty hospital. In the year 2007, RAKCOPS initiated undergraduate pharmacy program of 4.6 years (B. Pharm) with a one semester of practice school training in the last semester. Results: Practice school training as a part of B. Pharm program is mainly designed to help the students to gain confidence in their ability to be an active and useful participant in the healthcare. Clinical pharmacy related services such as drug and poison related information, adverse drug reaction (ADR) monitoring, and reporting are also provided by the department of clinical pharmacy. Conclusion: Pharmacy practice related education and practice-based training provided for the undergraduate pharmacy students will be definitely a major contribution towards bringing up quality clinical pharmacists in UAE, who will be a major asset for the healthcare team.

Objective: Hyperphosphatemia in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is associated with many serious patient-level consequences including cardiovascular events and mortality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of phosphate binders in ESRD patients on maintenance hemodialysis. Materials and Methods: The study was a prospective observational cohort study including adult ESRD patients undergoing hemodialysis at a secondary hospital in United Arab Emirates. Patient characteristics were compared as per type of phosphate binder used. Bivariate and multivariate multinomial logistic regression analyses were carried out to determine variables that were independently associated with use of different phosphate binders. Results: Phosphate binders used at our study site were sevelamer, calcium carbonate, and a combination of sevelamer and calcium carbonate. Bivariate multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that serum phosphorous (odds ratio [OR]: 0.14, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.04–1.09, P = 0.047; OR: 0.10, 95% CI: 0.03–0.89, P = 0.042), calcium (OR: 0.11, 95% CI: 0.02–0.86, P = 0.041; OR: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.01–0.96, P = 0.012), and calcium–phosphorous product (OR: 0.20, 95% CI: 0.06–0.64, P = 0.008; OR: 0.16, 95% CI: 0.05–0.54, P = 0.003) levels were significantly lower in patients on sevelamer per se as well as in patients on combination therapy, respectively when compared to calcium carbonate per se. Multivariate multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that in sevelamer and combination groups, cardiovascular diseases (OR: 0.12, 95% CI: 0.02–0.65, P = 0.022; OR: 0.10, 95% CI: 0.01–0.88, P = 0.038) were significantly lesser compared to calcium carbonate group after being adjusted for other variables in the model. Conclusion: We observed that hyperphosphatemia and related events in our study population were better controlled by sevelamer per se and combination therapy than calcium carbonate per se. Further large scale, multicenter studies are required to confirm and establish these findings.