Journal of Research in Pharmacy Practice

Effect of omega-3 fatty acids supplementation on homocysteine level in patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Tahereh Gholipur-Shahraki; Sahar Vahdat; Shiva Seirafian; Morteza Pourfarzam; Shirinsadat Badri

Volume 11, Issue 2 , April 2022, , Pages 80-86

Abstract

One of the most common diseases with high morbidity and mortality rates is chronic kidney disease. Cardiovascular disease affects most patients with chronic kidney disorders, ... Read More

Development of a web-based virtual simulated learning environment for pharmacy practice education

Arash Najimi; Shirinsadat Badri; Mahdiyeh Azizkhani; Samaneh Zolghadr; Shaghayegh Roofeh; Sayyed Ali Sepehr; Sajjad Mohammadi

Volume 11, Issue 1 , January 2022, , Pages 44-49

Abstract

In the present study, we aimed to develop a virtual simulation that allows pharmacy students to play through actual prescriptions and pharmacy practice scenarios productively and on ... Read More In the present study, we aimed to develop a virtual simulation that allows pharmacy students to play through actual prescriptions and pharmacy practice scenarios productively and on a personal computer. If designed properly, this program may serve as a supplementary educational tool without the need for an existing human tutor that could provide learning outcomes as good as those resulting from traditional paper-based pharmacy practice tutorials. Methods: A computer-based simulation of a community pharmacy was developed. This program mainly targeted three basic learning needs of pharmacy students: drug dispensing, patient counseling, and dealing with clinical situations related to the patients' prescription or demand for over-the-counter (OTC) recommendations. Fundamental design decisions were based on breaking down the dispensing process into logical components to provide discrete development elements. For teaching patient counseling and clinical skills, instructors wrote scenarios covering the most prevalent pharmacy practice issues, mainly focused on medication use during pregnancy or lactation, OTC recommendations, information related to drug interactions and adverse drug reactions, and interactions between prescription drugs and patient's underlying disease. Findings: Based on the primary curriculum topics, the development team designed exercises for pharmacy practice units presented to year 5 pharmacy students. Accordingly, exercises were developed to authentically reflect tasks and challenges a community pharmacist would regularly face in the workplace. To fulfill this part, over 2000 real prescriptions were scanned and categorized based on the main drugs included. These prescriptions were used for both activities, namely medication dispensing and clinical scenarios. Furthermore, five senior pharmacy students wrote more than 200 clinical scenarios under a clinical pharmacist's supervision. The main objectives of pharmacy practice courses were followed to cover the most important must-to-know clinical tips, whether related to giving relevant advice as an OTC recommendation, referring the patient to a primary care physician, or just providing a piece of general health advice, which is expected to be comprehensively learned by pharmacy students. Conclusion: This program was designed as a simulated learning environment to help students develop prescription dispensing and clinical skills. To be considered a success, this simulation needed to provide equivalent or better learning outcomes than the current practice approach, which should be assessed in the future evaluation of the software, and then be promoted accordingly.

Potential benefits of selenium supplementation in patients with kidney disease

Shirinsadat Badri; Sahar Vahdat; Morteza Pourfarzam; Samaneh Assarzadeh; Shiva Seirafian; Sara Ataei

Volume 10, Issue 4 , October 2021, , Pages 149-158

Abstract

Trace element deficiency is common among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD); the reason is that since these patients undergo dialysis, they lose these elements more than healthy ... Read More

Summary of COVID-19 vaccine-related reports in the vaccine adverse event reporting system

Shirinsadat Badri; Sahar Vahdat; Morteza Pourfarzam; Samaneh Assarzadeh; Shiva Seirafian; Sara Ataei; Alice C Ceacareanu; Zachary A. P. Wintrob

Volume 10, Issue 3 , July 2021, , Pages 107-113

Abstract

Identification of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in humans toward the end of 2019 triggered a rapid, intensive effort to develop a vaccine. Among the first three ... Read More

Homocysteine-lowering interventions in chronic kidney disease

Shirinsadat Badri; Sahar Vahdat; Shiva Seirafian; Morteza Pourfarzam; Tahereh Gholipur-Shahraki; Sara Ataei

Volume 10, Issue 3 , July 2021, , Pages 114-124

Abstract

The incidence of cardiovascular events and mortality is higher in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) compared to the general population. Homocysteine (Hcy) appears to be an ... Read More

Herbal supplement use and herb–drug interactions among patients with kidney disease

Soroush Mohammadi; Gholamreza Asghari; Afsoon Emami-Naini; Marjan Mansourian; Shirinsadat Badri

Volume 9, Issue 2 , April 2020, , Pages 61-67

Abstract

The prevalence of herb–drug interactions and herb's adverse effects may be serious in susceptible population such as patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). In this study, ... Read More The prevalence of herb–drug interactions and herb's adverse effects may be serious in susceptible population such as patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). In this study, we planned to determine the usage prevalence of herbal products and herb–drug interactions in CKD patients. Methods: A cross-sectional prospective study was conducted on CKD and posttransplant patients with a history of using herbal supplements in Isfahan, Iran. The patients were subjected to a validated checklist, containing demographic and clinical information. The knowledge of herbal use, side effects, and herb–drug interactions was assessed based on patients' responses. Data were reported as prevalence (percent) of the occurrence. Findings: The prevalence of herbal supplement usage among CKD patients was 18.6% in this study. The study included 400 patients (261 males and 139 females). The majority of the study population were in the age range of 50–70 years (61.5%). Hypertension (34.36%) was the most common cause of kidney failure, while diabetes mellitus (21.80%) took the second place. The most frequently used unformulated medicinal herb was Echium (Echium amoenum) (15.27%), and the most commonly used formulated herbal products were anticough and mucolytic based on Thymus vulgaris (24.27%). Eighteen patients (4.5%) used herbal mix with unknown entity and sources. In this study, ginseng has the most possible interactions with prescription drugs (18 interactions), while this interaction (with clopidogrel, warfarin, and heparin) was severe in six cases. Conclusion: The present study provided the information on possible herb–drug interactions in CKD patients on herbal usage. Since the issue of using herbal products may be arbitrarily in the majority of the patients, and considering the importance of adverse reactions or major interactions, health-care providers should play an active role to identify these cases and inform the patients regarding herbal product safety, adverse effects, and possible interactions.

Potential of drug interactions as a cause of adverse drug reactions in patients with kidney diseases

Tahereh Gholipur Shahraki; Fatemeh Yari; Shiva Seirafian; Shirinsadat Badri

Volume 9, Issue 2 , April 2020, , Pages 121-124

Abstract

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are one of the major causes of mortality. One of the major causes of ADR is drug–drug interactions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate ... Read More

Effects of carnitine on nutritional parameters in patients with chronic Kidney disease: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis

Tahereh Gholipur-Shahraki; Awat Feizi; Mojgan Mortazavi; Shirinsadat Badri

Volume 7, Issue 2 , April 2018, , Pages 57-68

Abstract

Protein energy malnutrition is a common problem in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Scattered reports indicate that supplementation of Carnitine may improve patients' clinical ... Read More Protein energy malnutrition is a common problem in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Scattered reports indicate that supplementation of Carnitine may improve patients' clinical symptoms, with significant improvement in nutritional parameters. This systematic review was done to document the evidences of Carnitine effects in nutritional status of CKD patients. Peer-reviewed RCTs on Carnitine administration at any dose in CKD patients with at least four weeks of follow-up were including in the meta-analysis. Online databases (PubMed/Medline, ISI Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus) were searched to October 2017 using selected MeSH terms related to the study topic. Data was extracted independently by two reviewers using a standard form and then cross-checked. Statistical analyses were carried out with Comprehensive Meta-analysis software. Data are presented as standard mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI). According to the predefined criteria, a total of 14 randomized controlled clinical trials were included and screened for data extraction by two reviewers, separately. The preliminary results extracted from meta-analysis have shown that Carnitine can significantly increase the levels of albumin (SMD: -0.861; 95% CI: -1.321, -0.402), total protein (SMD: -0.418; 95% CI: -0.695, -0.141), total cholesterol (SMD: -0.350; 95% CI: -0.564, -0.135), LDL cholesterol (SMD: -0.362; 95% CI: -0.551, -0.173), transferrin (SMD: -1.465; 95% CI: -1.822, -1.108), and hemoglobin (SMD: -0.525; 95% CI: -0.732, -0.318); however there were no conclusive effects of Carnitine on body weight (SMD: -0.057; 95% CI: -0.404, 0.291) and BMI (SMD: -0.567; 95% CI: -1.548, 0.415), in pooled analyses. The results of this meta-analysis showed that there are considerable useful pieces of evidence so far about the effect of Carnitine on nutritional factors; however, there is still doubt about some evidences with this regard. It seems necessary to carry out clinical trials with stronger designs to evaluate the impact of these primary outcomes on the patients' clinical conditions. Having this evidences, the potential role of Carnitine in improving malnutrition consequences in CKD patients would be clearly defined.

Growth hormone utilization review in a pediatric primary care setting

Fatemeh Sayarifard; Fereshteh Bakhshi Imcheh; Shirinsadat Badri; Toktam Faghihi; Mostafa Qorbani; Mania Radfar

Volume 6, Issue 1 , January 2017, , Pages 40-43

Abstract

One of the main problems facing public health providers and administrators in many countries is ensuring the rational use of high-cost drugs. In this regard, on-going process of medication ... Read More One of the main problems facing public health providers and administrators in many countries is ensuring the rational use of high-cost drugs. In this regard, on-going process of medication use evaluation can be considered as a useful tool. In this study, we evaluated certain usage aspects of a highly-cost medication, that is, recombinant growth hormone (GH).Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted from August 2012 to August 2014. Children receiving GH ± gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogs were included in the study. A researcher-designed checklist was developed to evaluate the GH utilization in these patients. Baseline demographic characteristics and background clinical and growth data, as well as any aspects of drug therapy including indications, dosing, monitoring, and discontinuation were collected from the patients' medical records.Findings: Seventy children receiving GH entered the study, of which 23 patients (32.85%) received GH and GnRH analogs simultaneously. At the baseline, 67 children (95.7%) had GH stimulation test, whereas serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels were measured in 63 (90%) patients. Sixty-seven patients (95.71%) had thyroid function test, whereas bone age was determined in 68 children (97.14%). The mean ± standard deviation of GH dose for idiopathic short stature, GH deficiency, Turner's syndrome and born small for gestational age in our study was 0.22 ± 0.025 mg/kg/week, 0.23 ± 0.04 mg/kg/week, 0.22 ± 0.015 mg/kg/week, and 0.23 ± 0.02 mg/kg/week, respectively. Height and weight of all patients were followed every 3–6 months, regularly. Thirty patients were treated with GH for at least 1 year, of which thyroid hormones and IGF-1 levels were measured annually in 25 (83.33%) and 26 (86.66%) patients, respectively; while bone age was evaluated in 13 (43.33%) children, annually. GH treatment was discontinued in 15 patients (21.42%), while financial problem was the major reason.Conclusion: Diagnostic tests and monitoring of height, weight, IGF-1 level and thyroid function was properly performed in this setting. However, a number of patients with ISS and Turner's syndrome were under-dosed.

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Author = Shirinsadat Badri

Effect of omega-3 fatty acids supplementation on homocysteine level in patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Abstract

Development of a web-based virtual simulated learning environment for pharmacy practice education

Abstract

Potential benefits of selenium supplementation in patients with kidney disease

Abstract

Summary of COVID-19 vaccine-related reports in the vaccine adverse event reporting system

Abstract

Homocysteine-lowering interventions in chronic kidney disease

Abstract

Herbal supplement use and herb–drug interactions among patients with kidney disease

Abstract

Potential of drug interactions as a cause of adverse drug reactions in patients with kidney diseases

Abstract

Effects of carnitine on nutritional parameters in patients with chronic Kidney disease: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Growth hormone utilization review in a pediatric primary care setting

Abstract