Archives
Three limitations inherent to the research may
Three limitations inherent to the research may restrict the conclusions of this study. First, while we have studied the chemokine regulation in the neural tissue of rats, the chemokine receptor characterization was done in human cells. This is due to limited availability for rat‐specific chemokine receptor primers and antibodies, as well as rat recombinant proteins with commercial suppliers. Furthermore, for evident ethical reasons, it is not possible to harvest human hypogastric and pelvic ganglia following radical prostatectomy. On the other hand, it has been demonstrated that rodent and human chemokine receptor profiles in stem cyclin dependent kinase are highly similar, and our conclusions may thus be extended, with caution, to the rat in vivo situation [32]. A second limitation encompasses the fact that no in vivo recruitment experiments with blockade or knockdown of certain ligands or receptors were included in this study. We chose not to perform these studies, as it is not likely that blocking one single ligand/receptor pair would significantly impair recruitment as we have shown that there are several receptors involved in these migratory processes. Third, both chemokines and receptors are promiscuous. We chose those chemokines that have no or very limited known cross‐reactivity with other receptors present in the ADSC for functional activation assays, to limit this bias. However, although unlikely, previously unknown cross‐reactivity may occur.
In spite of these limitations, our study provides a qPCR screening of the full panel of the 21 currently known chemokine receptors, and an in‐depth structural and functional characterization of the expressed receptors. We are, to our knowledge, the first to assess the complete chemokine receptor expression profile in human ADSC in this detail. Furthermore, we performed calcium‐imaging experiments with chemokine stimulation on adult stem cells to validate migration data, and to bypass the possible bias of manual cell counting in migration assays as a measure for functional activation of chemokine receptors. Our findings may further help in tailoring stem cell sources in the function of pathophysiology of different diseases with different chemokine expression profiles. In addition, upregulation of chemokine receptor expression, or translocation of known intracellular receptors to the cell surface, may very well improve treatment efficacy of cellular therapy for ED [34].
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Over‐the‐counter availability of EC was an important step taken by the Government of India to popularize its use in the country in order to reduce the rate of unwanted pregnancies which would bring down the rate of abortions and associated maternal morbidity and mortality. ECs taken within 72 hours of an unprotected intercourse are 75–85% effective [1]. At present there are seven EC pills available in the Indian market, all of them are sold over the counter. Their cost is about 1.84 USD per pack.
According to service delivery guidelines of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, emergency contraceptive pills can be dispensed by doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, paramedics, family welfare assistants, and other clinically trained personnel as well as community health workers in order to improve their widespread use. However, all providers should be appropriately informed about EC and should also counsel the clients for regular contraceptive usage [2].
The sale of EC has increased manifold. Most clients prefer to obtain EC through drugstores rather than medical facilities, although EC is available free of cost in public sector [3,4]. No previous published study has assessed the knowledge and practices of pharmacists for dispensing EC in India. Therefore, we conducted this study to evaluate the knowledge and over‐the‐counter services provided by the pharmacists in an urban city of India.
Methods
The prestructured proforma consisted of 14 questions along with an extra column for any special remark or any additional information provided by the pharmacists (see Appendix). Filled proforma were collected on the spot and no incentive money was paid. As this study did not involve patients, approval from ethical committee was not obtained.