Eti Nurwening Sholikhah

Additive In Vitro Antiplasmodial Effect of N-Alkyl andN-Benzyl-1,10-Phenanthroline Derivatives and Cysteine Protease Inhibitor E64

Potential new targets for antimalarial chemotherapy include parasite proteases, which are required for several cellular functions during the Plasmodium falciparum life cycle. Four new derivatives of N-alkyl and N-benzyl-1,10-phenanthroline have been synthesized. Those are (1)-N-methyl-1,10-phenanthrolinium sulfate, (1)-N-ethyl-1,10-phenanthrolinium sulfate, (1)-N-benzyl-1,10-phenanthrolinium chloride, and (1)-N-benzyl-1,10-phenanthrolinium iodide. Those compounds had potential antiplasmodial activity with IC50 values from 260.42 to 465.38 nM. Cysteine proteinase inhibitor E64 was used to investigate the mechanism of action of N-alkyl and N-benzyl-1,10-phenanthroline derivatives. A modified fixed-ratio isobologram method was used to study the in vitro interactions between the new compounds with either E64 or chloroquine. The interaction between N-alkyl and N-benzyl-1,10-phenanthroline derivatives and E64 was additive as well as their interactions with chloroquine were also additive. Antimalarial mechanism of chloroquine is mainly on the inhibition of hemozoin formation. As the interaction of chloroquine and E64 was additive, the results indicated that these new compounds had a mechanism of action by inhibiting Plasmodium proteases.

Is there a relationship between personal reflection ability and moral reasoning ability in Indonesian medical students

Objectives To determine the relationship of personal reflection ability and moral reasoning ability of medical students of the Faculty of Medicine Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing questionnaires to 293 medical students in Year-3 at the Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing after obtaining their agreement to participate in this research by signing an informed consent form. Personal reflection ability was measured by the Groningen Reflective Ability Scale (GRAS) questionnaire; moral reasoning ability was measured by the Defining Issues Test (DIT) questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, T-test, and regression analysis were used to analyze the anonymized results. Results The mean GRAS score of all students was 89.59 (SD = 6.80) (GRAS score ranged 0-110) which showed a high level. The mean score of Principled Morality Score (P) DIT of all students was 32.39 (SD=11.04), ranging between 28-41 which indicated a moderate level. In general, personal reflection ability scores of all students were positively correlated with their moral reasoning ability score. However, this correlation was not significant statistically (r=0.080, p=0.239). Conclusions Personal reflection ability of medical students was correlated positively with their moral reasoning ability, however, statistically it was not significant . The high level of personal reflection ability needs to be maintained. The moderate moral reasoning ability needs some efforts to improve it. Further studies are necessary to assess other factors which influence the moral reasoning ability so that appropriate interventions can be developed.

What information and the extent of information research participants need in informed consent forms: a multi-country survey

BackgroundThe use of lengthy, detailed, and complex informed consent forms (ICFs) is of paramount concern in biomedical research as it may not truly promote the rights and interests of research participants. The extent of information in ICFs has been the subject of debates for decades; however, no clear guidance is given. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the perspectives of research participants about the type and extent of information they need when they are invited to participate in biomedical research.MethodsThis multi-center, cross-sectional, descriptive survey was conducted at 54 study sites in seven Asia-Pacific countries. A modified Likert-scale questionnaire was used to determine the importance of each element in the ICF among research participants of a biomedical study, with an anchored rating scale from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important).ResultsOf the 2484 questionnaires distributed, 2113 (85.1%) were returned. The majority of respondents considered most elements required in the ICF to be ‘moderately important’ to ‘very important’ for their decision making (mean score, ranging from 3.58 to 4.47). Major foreseeable risk, direct benefit, and common adverse effects of the intervention were considered to be of most concerned elements in the ICF (mean score = 4.47, 4.47, and 4.45, respectively).ConclusionsResearch participants would like to be informed of the ICF elements required by ethical guidelines and regulations; however, the importance of each element varied, e.g., risk and benefit associated with research participants were considered to be more important than the general nature or technical details of research. Using a participant-oriented approach by providing more details of the participant-interested elements while avoiding unnecessarily lengthy details of other less important elements would enhance the quality of the ICF.