Neurotoxioclogy

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate and compare the ability of fourth-year pharmacy students
and graduated pharmacists to identify clinically significant drug-drug interactions (DDIs).
METHODS: A questionnaire designed to measure DDI knowledge was distributed to both fourth-year
pharmacy students (n = 89) in a school of pharmacy and graduated pharmacists(n=65) in community
pharmacies and hospitals.
RESULTS: The question that examine the ability of respondents to recognize the DDI mechanisms,
showed that (38.2%) of 4th- year students selected the right responses, while (48.5%) of pharmacy
graduates selected the correct one. However, the knowledge of respondents regarding drug pairs
interactions showed that 4th- year pharmacy students and graduates correctly categorized an average of
32.99% and 25.125% of DDI pairs respectively. In a question that examined the knowledge of 4th-year
pharmacy students and graduates concerning drugs with low therapeutic index interactions with two
groups of drugs, the correct answers regarding increasing digoxin serum level were (62.9% and 87.9%)
respectively, while the correct answers regarding increasing warfarin serum level were (66.3% and 86%)
respectively.
CONCLUSION: Pharmacy students’ ability to identify important DDIs is generally poor except that for
interactions of drugs with low therapeutic index. However, of the 4 interactions categorized as
contraindicated, the students showed better significant responses in compare to graduates. However,
this finding does not showed any significant difference between 4th-year pharmacy students and
pharmacy graduate regarding identifying drugs pairs that may be used together with monitoring or
categorized as safe.
KEY WORDS: Pharmacy students, pharmacy graduates, drug-drug interaction, knowledge.

Abstract

Aim: This study was premeditated to evaluate the effect of Daucus carota (carrot) smoothie on some biochemical assays in dichlorvos-exposed albino rats.
Methodology: Twenty (30) rats of both sexes were grouped into five comprising six (6) animals each. Group, I served as the negative
control and were not exposed to DDVP. Group II served as positive control and was exposed to DDVP. Group III received 300mg/kg/body weight carrot smoothie throughout the experiment and was not exposed to DDVP. Groups IV and V were exposed to DDVP but received carrot smoothie before and after the exposure respectively. At the termination of the 6 weeks of the experiment, the animals were euthanized, the blood samples collected for some biochemical assays while the organs (kidney and liver) were harvested and subjected to histopathological examination.
Results: From the biochemical assay, it was observed that the carrot smoothie significantly reduced the levels of AST, ALT, urea, and creatinine in study samples. It was also observed that administered carrot smoothie increased the total protein concentration of the blood. The histopathology examination showed that the carrot smoothie was able to regenerate the liver and kidney organs that were damaged by dichlorvos exposure.
Conclusion: This study concluded that carrot tubers possess hepatoprotective, hepatocurative, and nephro-curative properties and could be explored in nutrition and health.
Keywords: Daucus carota; Dichlorvos; Biochemical Indices; Histopathology; Hepatocurative

Neurons are one of the main mechanism of intracellular communication within the body. Bundles of neurons, known as nerves, are responsible for innervating muscles and organs, while neurons within the brain create the complex circuits and pathways responsible for a plethora of thought processes, biological responses, and vital functioning. Neurotoxins are chemical agents that affect the transmission of chemical signals between Neurons, causing a myriad of problems. These chemical agents are extremely destructive and very difficult for the bodies to eliminate. Neurotoxic are substances that act on our nervous system producing behavioral, emotional, or body-movement abnormalities, usually by killing neurons. The sources of Neurotoxins and the foods that these chemical agents are present, and lastly the ways on how to remove these  substances on our circulatory system.

Poisons and venoms from deadly animals could become tomorrow’s miracle drugs.  And few places on Earth harbor so many deadly animals as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

[Australia] has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. . . . This is a country where even the fluffiest of caterpillars can lay you out with a toxic nip, where seashells will not just sting you but actually sometimes go for you. . . . It’s a tough place.
—Bill Bryson, In a Sunburned Country

An earlier age at onset of Parkinson's disease (PD) has been reported to be associated with occupational exposures to manganese and hydrocarbon solvents suggesting that exposure to neurotoxic chemicals may hasten the progression of idiopathic PD. In this study the role of occupational exposure to metals and pesticides in the progression of idiopathic PD was assessed by looking at age at disease onset. The effects of heritable genetic risk factors, which may also influence age at onset, was minimized by including only sporadic cases of PD with no family history of the disease (n=58). Independent samples Student t-test revealed that subjects with occupational exposure to metals and/or pesticides (n=36) were significantly (p=0.013) younger than unexposed controls (n=22). These subjects were then divided into three groups [high (n=18), low (n=18), and unexposed (n=22)] to ascertain if duration of exposure further influenced age at onset of PD. One-way ANOVA revealed that subjects in the high exposure group were significantly (p=0.0121) younger (mean age: 50.33 years) than unexposed subjects (mean age: 60.45 years). Subjects were also stratified by exposure type (metals vs. pesticides). These results suggest that chronic exposure to metals and pesticides is associated with a younger age at onset of PD among patients with no family history of the disease and that duration of exposure is a factor in the magnitude of this effect.