During the past few years, the pharmacy profession has expanded significantly in terms of professional services delivery and now has been recognized as an important profession in the multidisciplinary provision of health care. In contrast to the situation in developed countries, pharmacists in developing countries are still underutilized and their role as health care professionals is not deemed important by either the community or other health care providers. The aim of this paper is to highlight the role of pharmacists in developing countries, particularly in Pakistan. The paper draws on the literature related to the socioeconomic and health status of Pakistan's population, along with background on the pharmacy profession in the country in the context of the current directions of health care.The paper highlights the current scenario and portrays the pharmacy profession in Pakistan. It concludes that although the pharmacy profession in Pakistan is continuously evolving, the health care system of Pakistan has yet to recognize the pharmacist's role. This lack of recognition is due to the limited interaction of pharmacists with the public. Pharmacists in Pakistan are concerned about their present professional role in the health care system. The main problem they are facing is the shortage of pharmacists in pharmacies. Moreover, their services are focused towards management more than towards customers. For these reasons, the pharmacist's role as a health care professional is not familiar to the public.

Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) may result in the alteration of therapeutic response. Sometimes they may increase the untoward effects of many drugs. Hospitalized cardiac patients need more attention regarding drug-drug interactions due to complexity of their disease and therapeutic regimen. This research was performed to find out types, prevalence and association between various predictors of potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) in the Department of Cardiology and to report common interactions. This study was performed in the hospitalized cardiac patients at Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad, Pakistan. Patient charts of 2342 patients were assessed for pDDIs using Micromedex® Drug Information. Logistic regression was applied to find predictors of pDDIs. The main outcome measure in the study was the association of the potential drug-drug interactions with various factors such as age, gender, polypharmacy, and hospital stay of the patients. We identified 53 interacting-combinations that were present in total 5109 pDDIs with median number of 02 pDDIs per patient. Overall, 91.6% patients had at least one pDDI; 86.3% were having at least one major pDDI, and 84.5% patients had at least one moderate pDDI. Among 5109 identified pDDIs, most were of moderate (55%) or major severity (45%); established (24.2%), theoretical (18.8%) or probable (57%) type of scientific evidence. Top 10 common pDDIs included 3 major and 7 moderate interactions. Results obtained by multivariate logistic regression revealed a significant association of the occurrence of pDDIs in patient with age of 60 years or more (p < 0.001), hospital stay of 7 days or longer (p < 0.001) and taking 7 or more drugs (p < 0.001). We found a high prevalence for pDDIs in the Department of Cardiology, most of which were of moderate severity. Older patients, patients with longer hospital stay and with elevated number of prescribed drugs were at higher risk of pDDIs.

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) is a bioactive compound of propolis extract. The literature search elaborates that CAPE possesses antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic properties. The principal objective of this review article is to sum up and critically assess the existing data about therapeutic effects of CAPE in different disorders. The findings elaborate that CAPE is a versatile therapeutically active polyphenol and an effective adjuvant of chemotherapy for enhancing therapeutic efficacy and diminishing chemotherapy-induced toxicities.

Purpose: To investigate doctors' perception and expectations of the role of pharmacists in Pakistan's healthcare system. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study and the study population consisted of 462 medical doctors from three Pakistani cities in Punjab State, namely, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Lahore. The doctors were selected from government hospitals in these three cities. Results: Three hundred and fifty four questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 76.6 %. Sixty eight percent of the doctors appeared comfortable with pharmacists playing patient-centred roles. A majority (84.5 %, n=299; p=0.022) expected pharmacists to take personal responsibility for resolving any drug-related problem. Furthermore, 76 % of them considered pharmacists as knowledgeable drug therapy experts. Only 50 % of the doctors thought that pharmacists apply their drug knowledge in practice while 11 % indicated that pharmacists routinely counselled their patients. Conclusion: The doctors considered pharmacists drug information experts but their expectation of pharmacists as providers of quality clinically-focused pharmacy services was low. The doctors were also uncomfortable with pharmacists providing direct patient care.

Quercetin (3,3ʹ,4ʹ,5,7-pentahydroxyl- flavone) is a flavonol, and it belongs to a class of plant secondary metabolites known as flavonoids. It is present in man's daily diet and is known for biological activities such as antioxidant, antiviral, anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and many more. Quercetin has been reported for its antioxidant and antiviral applications, hence, it is not only used as such but also its various derivatized forms have potentials for development into drugs for the treatment of diseases caused by oxidative stress and lethal viruses.